Chef's E39 530d

[Peter@AEW]

Well done DJ, Colin and Gordon.
Nice write up.... and encouragement for all the fanatics who may want to DIY but are scared.

That thing that cannot be named is actually a vacuum box or in every day parlance a vacuum actuator

And a s a last thought thanks to the three musketeers for the reps

 

[ChefDJ]

Vacuum actuator :rollsmile:

Thanks Sir Greek!

 

[Flash-Gordon]

May I just add that Colin gave the manifold ports a good clean as well!! That EGR looked brand new again! Although it really wasn't in bad condition at all raise:

May you now have MANY swirl flap free miles!! :bravo: :rollsmile:

Learnt A LOT, thanks to all! :ty: raise:

 

[petrivanzyl]

Great work.:thumbs:

 

[Ralf*]

very very interesting

some questions, from a "fellow" 530d owner
1)did any of the swirl flaps show any signs on breaking loose (rivet) etc and falling in to the inlet
2)How many KM's does yours have...mine is just short of 230K ?
3)Is there any extra computor mapping software required now that the swirls flaps are gone
4)Apart from your initial loss of power (you must have been shitting yourself, that the DIY had gone wrong)...have you noticed any advantages in power/economy etc ...yet ?

thanks for the write up.....depending on your answers, it might be something I would consider on mine....I am not looking at more power, or beter economy, I am just looking for RELIABILITY

---

Oh and another question......as a "one-man-DIY" job, what sort of time scale would one look at for doing this job ?

 

[RAArmstrong]

Good write up!! :thumbs::thumbs:

Must be nice to now have the peace of mind that you no longer have a ticking time bomb in your motor :rollsmile:

 

[Andy1GP]

Well done chaps! You're right in saying that there is no DIY that covers every aspect 100% and each car and job is uniquely different. Luckily you had some help and expertise at hand and got it done

I also had a boost problem on my car after I refitted everything, turned out I didn't connect the map sensor properly (on the back of the manifold)

With regards to the vacuum actuator you can remove it alltogether. (unless you haven't done so already)

Give that man a bells :thumbs:

 

[Peejay]

Well done guys. :thumbs:

 

[ChefDJ]

:ty::ty:

very very interesting

some questions, from a "fellow" 530d owner
1)did any of the swirl flaps show any signs on breaking loose (rivet) etc and falling in to the inlet
2)How many KM's does yours have...mine is just short of 230K ?
3)Is there any extra computor mapping software required now that the swirls flaps are gone
4)Apart from your initial loss of power (you must have been shitting yourself, that the DIY had gone wrong)...have you noticed any advantages in power/economy etc ...yet ?

thanks for the write up.....depending on your answers, it might be something I would consider on mine....I am not looking at more power, or beter economy, I am just looking for RELIABILITY

---

Oh and another question......as a "one-man-DIY" job, what sort of time scale would one look at for doing this job ?

---

1. All the swirl flaps were still in pretty good condition as you can see, just a bit dirty. I think one of them was slightly floppy, if I can say that. But nothing serious. They were either replaced at some stage, or the motor was bloody well looked after!

2. Mine has just over 240k km on the clock.

3. No extra software required because we put everything back as it should be, except for of course the flaps themselves. You're basically forcing the ports to stay open. The only time an error would come up is if the flaps are closed when they should be open.

4. I haven't noticed anything major yet, except that my engine doesn't seem to be so noisy. Maybe it's just psychological... But this mod really shouldn't change performance much.

As far as time is concerned, it took 3 of us around 8 hours to do the job. This included a short break for lunch, and a bit of fooling around. I wouldn't recommend you do this alone... That manifold is tricky to get in and out and you you would need an extra pair of hands.

Good write up!! :thumbs::thumbs:

Must be nice to now have the peace of mind that you no longer have a ticking time bomb in your motor :rollsmile:

Peace of mind FTW :rollsmile:

Well done chaps! You're right in saying that there is no DIY that covers every aspect 100% and each car and job is uniquely different. Luckily you had some help and expertise at hand and got it done

I also had a boost problem on my car after I refitted everything, turned out I didn't connect the map sensor properly (on the back of the manifold)

With regards to the vacuum actuator you can remove it alltogether. (unless you haven't done so already)

Give that man a bells :thumbs:

The reason we replaced the rod and actuator was purely for possible errors, as there are pipes connected to it.

Also, if one day (probably never) the swirl flaps need to be replaced, then the actuator is there and I don't have to look for it.

 

[Radyn]

Hi guys

Thanks for all the tips and information.I dont want to hi-jack your thread
but i need some help 2.

I would like to know if any body know where in Cape Town i could have my swirl flaps removed. I a have E46 320d 200000km.
And where do i get the replacement parts to fit.

Thanks

 

[Rayzor]

Awesome stuff Guys. :bravo:

 

[Mr H]

Well done and nice write up, Chef! :thumbs:

 

[Dippies]

Awesome Feedback now give those men some reps :thumbs:

 

[ChefDJ]

Hi guys

Thanks for all the tips and information.I dont want to hi-jack your thread
but i need some help 2.

I would like to know if any body know where in Cape Town i could have my swirl flaps removed. I a have E46 320d 200000km.
And where do i get the replacement parts to fit.

Thanks

Order the parts from eBay. You can't get them in SA unless you have them made.

Awesome Feedback now give those men some reps :thumbs:

You're a bit slow :tease:

Reps were given yesterday already :rollsmile:

 

[Solo Man]

I would remove the swirl flaps as soon as possible. if you read any of the UK BMW Forums you will find many stories of broken flaps going into the engine and wrecking it. I removed the flaps on my E39 530d the hour i got it. Started on it at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and was done by about 22h00. Did it all by myself and put some copper screws with nuts in the place of the swirl flaps. Put some Pratley Putty on the screws and then gave them a few blows with a hammer to flatten the thread to stop them from working loose. They still in there doing nothing after two years and 50k km's

 

[SP33DYV]

Nicely done. :thumbs:

 

[herr bmw]

nice write up chef:thumbs:

i think it wouldve been quicker,but like dylan said we were joking around abit,which made the day more fun,especially with dylans girlfriend on whats app and his nut and nutsack:fencelook::roflol:

also thanks to flash for driving over 180km to give us a hand and being part of the madness

and then i got a call saying car has no power,then my heart dropped and everything went through my mind,quickly loaded up the tools and around to dylans girlfriends house and started to find the problem,bloody vacuum pipe

a word of advice,replace them all when manifold is off,if you dont you end up taking it all off again,which we did on sunday and again more jokes between myself,dylan and his girlfriend.

thanks once again for the oppertunity of helping and working on my first bmw motor,wont be my last either:thumbs:

thanks to peter,even though i didnt speak to you on the phone(was driving when you spoke to dylan)your knowledge and willing to help is out of this world,you deserve not 1 bells,but the whole bells factory:thumbs:

oh by the way,please send flowers to flash in the hospital,i gave him a heart attack on sunday and all i heard was a loud thud over the phone:fencelook: hope he is okay:fencelook:

 

[ChefDJ]

:bravo::bravo::bravo:

 

[Flash-Gordon]

:biglol::roflol:

Still kicking

:bravo:

 

[sash]

Nicely done guys, big ups to those that helped.