My 530d M-Sport (Detail and wheels update pg 11)

[sash]

The last thing I wanted to change was the start button, not bad after 215000km. Of course working with an e60 had to be more complicated. I had to removed the vent above to loosen the lower section. Then there were these tiny torx screws that even my precision set of screwdrivers couldn't open easily. I winged it with a tiny flat, but if I ever decide to open that section again, I will have to replace the screws.

Sent from my MAR-LX1M using Tapatalk

 

[michael.joseph]

Looking great as always Sash

 

[Shido]

Just a small update, I sprayed my oem grills, but it always peeled. I kept painting them and finally decided to bite the bullet and replace them. I had the option of original design, gloss black or dual slat gloss, I preferred the dual slats.

You can how 'nice from far, far from nice' the previous grills were.

Sent from my MAR-LX1M using Tapatalk

Hi Sash, where did you source the dual salt grills and how much were they, I'm also looking to do this upgrade soon.

Thanks

 

[sash]

Just a small update, I sprayed my oem grills, but it always peeled. I kept painting them and finally decided to bite the bullet and replace them. I had the option of original design, gloss black or dual slat gloss, I preferred the dual slats.

You can how 'nice from far, far from nice' the previous grills were.

Sent from my MAR-LX1M using Tapatalk

Hi Sash, where did you source the dual salt grills and how much were they, I'm also looking to do this upgrade soon.

Thanks

Ebay, paid around R500 with delivery IIRC

 

[sash]

Really missing my car... It has been basically parked off since just before the lockdown....

The only time its gets started and driven is just to charge and thats basically around the block a couple of times. I have covered no more than 20km since March 23rd

 

[BeemerFanatic]

I take the longest routes I can and drive atleast once or twice a week. Also you can go onto the highways .

 

[sash]

I managed to take it out today, got to stretch her legs a bit on the highway as well. It was still short in some respect but at around 20km, for me at this point its a win.

 

[Dewald Basson]

:fencelook:

 

[billionairebum]

I heard this thing got faster over lockdown.

 

[Yuben]

Let's hear it

 

[sash]

I heard this thing got faster over lockdown.

eish..., no.., not yet.., seems i need to update this thread....

 

[sash]

It seems like so long ago.., but its still a pain today...
In November last year i started off by doing an oil service, but after draining out the oil and stripping off the airfilter housing i noticed the following
alot of oil around the turbo, clearly something ate the blades.

 

[sash]

At this point I had to contemplate continuing with the service, driving the car as is, because it was driving, but my only symptom was a lack of boost at low revs. The risk of the turbo getting worse over time, especially considering i dont know how long it took to get to this point. The turbo was replaced and a billet wheel was added in December 2018, so it was frustating to see this. I chose to remove the turbo and send it for overhaul. To say i struggled to get the turbo out, is an understatement. Every single person I spoke to about removing the turbo, who had removed a similar turbo on the e90 or e46 seemed to have more joy than i did.

The options I had was
1. remove the manifold, but from what i read, it meant removing the injectors as well.
2. remove the turbo from underneath, removing the engine mount as well.

I chose the latter option, although there was one bolt that just refused to be accessible, again from internet and videos, its seemed that the aircon compressor and belt needed to the be removed ( both of which i had replaced not even 3 weeks prior). After days of swearing and trying to remove the parts, i ended up having to get some 3/8in tools which allowed me to get into the spaces that the 1/2in tools couldn't.

Eventually the turbo was out...

 

[sash]

Turbo was dropped off at Gabby to put in a replacement billet wheel while i continued with other items on my list. I figured it was the best time to do these since the car was stripped already. I had purchased an EGR delete kit from @Reece7brown well over 6 months ago and just never got around to doing the delete. The kit was quite complete with me only needing to get the 90deg silicon bend, everything else was included.

 

[sash]

The actual process to remove the egr was painless and made me wonder why i didn't do it sooner. Simply
-removing the boost pipes
-removing the egr as well as the vacuum pipe and blocking it
-undoing the EGR cooler and inserting the block offs
-removing egr thermostat
-removing the pipe that comes from the manifold and adding the blanking plate.

While i was here, decided to clean up the intercooler and boost pipes so they were removed as well

seems like alot more space has become available.


The machine piece fitted and the silicon hose trimmed to fit.


blanking plate on the manifold fitted


other block offs fitted


not needed parts

 

[sash]

While waiting for the turbo, I was advised to do the swirl flap removal by my pals on the diesel group and decided to get the kit off amazon, it was delivered about a week earlier than expected.

Removing the intake was simpler than expected, there was the 12 bolts on the top, 2 on either side of each runner,
7 nuts , essentially between the runners
removing the dip stick attachment
unplugging the rail pressure sensor at the back of the intake
unplugging the vacuum hose running to the swirl flap motor.

I noticed on the cylinder closest to the firewall there was extra oil deposits, which could be a failed seal, or just age and torque of the nuts.


in general, it looked good no other issues found.


manifold out, the seals looked fine but they were going to be replaced anyway


obligatory clean up, with as much degeaser as possible


the swirl flaps were actually in good condition, no excessive amounts of soot, or signs of degradation.

 

[sash]

all cleaned and assembled, the blanking plates were a good fit, i removed the arm in order to get the flaps out, but put it back thereafter I ensured that the arm is still able to move with the motor and put it back .

 

[sash]

And thats the end of the good news...

I got the turbo back from Gabby, and spent the better part of 3 hours trying to get it back in, but due to lack of space , not having a lift, my weak arms and just about any other excuse i can find..., i could not get the turbo through the bottom. In my infinite wisdom i figured..., the actuator and its bracket makes the turbo much wider than it is.., lets remove the bracket and said actuator in order to get through the gap.

It worked, stripped off the actuator with its bracket, got the turbo through, fitted it back on and eventually got everything bolted back together... Car started on the first turn ( well not exactly first turn as i also changed the fuel filter, so it had to prime first)...Happy days... or so i thought.

Once on the road.., there was no boost at low revs, eventually when i managed to get it into the higher revs, you could feel boost, but not as good as before. After speaking to lots of guys, including Danny, the first problem would be the fact that i removed the actuator bracket. At this point, I knew that without spending excessive amounts of money to improve my garage setup ( be it a bigger jack, bigger stands or even a lift) i was never going to be able to get the turbo in.

I chatted to Danny, who agreed to assist to remove the turbo, get it to Gabby again to set the actuator and refit. I managed to drive the car to Danny, driving in sport or manual is drivable, just not D as your always out of boost ( or rather there isnt any), he did his magic, swore about as much as i did, got similar amounts of cuts and bruises, ( Sorry about the eyebrow Danny). He mentioned there was definitely a lack of flow on the turbo, but Gabby sorted it out. When i went to pick up the car, it felt better, but still not as it was. I then drove to Keithan to have the map checked out and even after some changes were made, the problem still persists.

I have checked the Maf sensor, Map sensor, checked for vacuum leaks, rechecked my swirl flap delete, boost leaks ( visually), but have not found any issue. Work and life have been hectic, so it has not been a priority for me to sort out, but every now and then when i do drive it, it really gets annoying and then I try to do something about it.

From the software side, Keithan has tried to get the vanes to close earlier, but it didn't seem to help, the next step is to remove the open vanes in the file, if that doesn't help, go back to stock until the issue is resolved. In my head, a boost leak would see the car reach target boost at some point, but in my case , it never does. An actuator issue, would see the car perform poorly at one point and good at another, but at peak its still not achieving target boost. I'm not sure if the software is able to affect the actual boost, other than by getting the actuator setting way off, but in my case the file , initially did not change from before the change and after.

 

[gavsadler]

Nice DIY going on there.

Have you inspected your air filter? I’m assuming that is knackered somewhere to allow large enough debris in to chew up the wheel like that?

Otherwise maybe a replacement is necessary, or one of the more premium brands? My 2c

 

[sash]

Nice DIY going on there.

Have you inspected your air filter? I’m assuming that is knackered somewhere to allow large enough debris in to chew up the wheel like that?

Otherwise maybe a replacement is necessary, or one of the more premium brands? My 2c

The air filter i took out had no signs of damage or wear. The airfilter was fitted and supplied by the shop that previously did the turbo, so i have no idea on the brand. During the service ( that i started with) i did replace the air filter with a OEM Mann filter. The one thing i did notice is that on the intake pipe to the turbo, there were some metal shards stuck in there. Keeping in mind that my previous turbo went in catastrophic fashion, it left some metal pieces in the intake pipe. I personally sent the intercooler for cleaning as well as all other boost pipes, but the shop working on the car had the intake and assured me they cleaned it, but it seems they didn't get to the shards that were stuck in the pipe.