[mobilejo]

I spent the evening/most of the night (finished after 2.00am) de-flapping my 320d and sticking in the blanking plugs, changing the breather filter, cleaning the EGR and changing the air filter.

This isn't a write up/how-to as there are loads of them already, just thought i'd share my experiences.

It was a straightforward job but I it did twice on my 535d so that's like cheating. I will say that despite having 6 cylinders, the process was easier on the 5 as there were less others bits to take off (or so I remember it at least...). The fiddly bits like disconnecting the connectors under the mani without losing the little metal pins took me a while, the main job was very quick.

Oddly, my breather filter was already a vortex type, I expected it to be a loo roll type as I checked the part number on top of the case last week and it was supposedly the part number for the loo roll type case so I went and bought a vortex breather.

Once I took it off and realised I had a vortex already, I had to change the gaskets anyway so I just fitted the new one. I can see why the vortex is problem free - there is nothing in there to clog - just plastic.

My air filter was black and my EGR and manifold were gunked up. I spent about an hour scraping out crap and cleaning them with brake cleaner (had no carb cleaner), changed the air filter (what a b*tch of a job that would be if I wasn't doing the swirl flaps etc) and put it all back together.

I test drove it and it ran sweet - seemed to breath easier and pick up much better at lower revs. The main thing though is the piece of mind - I have read that the e90 doesn't have a swirl flap issue due to the design but its clearly BS - mine had 24mm flaps of the old style and one was quite bent which is what can lead to the screws working loose

[makkan00]

Good job....post some photos now.

[Giff]

Could you also measure the diameter of the shaft that holds the flaps?
There was some info recently that it was larger than the E46 and it would be nice to confirm it.

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by Giff

Could you also measure the diameter of the shaft that holds the flaps?
There was some info recently that it was larger than the E46 and it would be nice to confirm it.

Which bit do you want measuring - red, orange or purple?



My flaps are in the bin but I can pull one out and whip out my ruler!

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by makkan00

Good job....post some photos now.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I still haven't cleaned it since I bought it last Friday, luckily silver doesn't look filthy too easily

[F31-340i]

I recall it was the spindle diameter that changed, as well as the way the flap was attached to the spindle. Not sure if 24mm is relevant, as the actual flap & inlet tract size is probably the same?

Did any e9x ever have the loo roll breather? I thought it was history before the end of E46 production?

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by ///ajd

I recall it was the spindle diameter that changed, as well as the way the flap was attached to the spindle. Not sure if 24mm is relevant, as the actual flap & inlet tract size is probably the same?

Did any e9x ever have the loo roll breather? I thought it was history before the end of E46 production?

24mm is the red size, its relevant if ordering blanking plugs as some cars have 32mm holes, some have 24mm.

The larger 32mm ones (like my 535d had) have a thicker spindle and the flap itself is different, along with that jacket thingy around them. Still recall my flaps being attached by screws to the spindles. They are less liable to fail IIRC, but I don't know if they are 100% safe.



On the breather you are probably right - the problem was when I got the part number off the top of the casing, I googled it and a forum result said that was the part number for the loo roll type casing, so I just went with it and bought a vortex.

[Giff]

Originally Posted by Bungle009

The swirl flaps on an e46 series had a 6mm pin fixing. These tended to break. Newer cars like E90 i think have 8mm fixings, and I haven't heard of a single issue on these later engines.

mobilejo - if the pin is 8mm which I think is the part you highlighted in orange then all is good.

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by Giff

mobilejo - if the pin is 8mm which I think is the part you highlighted in orange then all is good.

I'll measure it for you in a bit.

The swirl flaps on an e46 series had a 6mm pin fixing. These tended to break. Newer cars like E90 i think have 8mm fixings, and I haven't heard of a single issue on these later engines.

There have been a few cases on forums etc (I saw one on BMW Land a while back and heres a guy who claims to have seen it happen twice http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/...25/index2.html), but nothing like the e46.

For me, the miniscule chance was enough to make me whip em out - I was going in there anyway to do the general de-gunking maintenance and the blanks are £24 so it just made sense.

As you can tell, I just don't trust flaps, but I wouldn't want to tell anyone that their car is totally safe if there's even a tiny risk.

[AlwynMike]

AFAIK, all E9x have vortex breather filters.
Earlier E6x (pre LCi??) had loo roll type, which obviously caused problems.
BMW then decreed that the breather filter should be changed every 3rd oil change (along with the air filter). The part number for the loo roll and vortex type are the same.

Also, I understand that the E9x had the "later", larger spindles fitted. My late '04 E60 530d had the larger spindles, but earlier E6x had smaller ones - IIRC the shaft diameter was increased by 0.5mm.

Mike