Thanks for the video, I have a method for next time. There is a quick way to clean the intake manifold. This method worked very well and does not damage the plastic. 40 liters of water, 300 grams of washing powder and 1.5 kg of drain cleaner. Mix everything carefully and then insert the manifold for 4 to 6 hours. Then wash off. Finished. You will be enthusiastic. Many intake manifolds have already been cleaned in this way.
Firstly, thanks for great vids - and all respect to your efforts - under the circumstances and conditions. The very best and most appropriate way of cleaning the intake manifold and all associated parts, is to put it all in an ultrasonic bath. I did that with my n57 parts, were everything was looking like new when I got it back - awesome!!!!
Hi mate, I have done pretty similar work on my E70 40d 260.000 km. There was more carbon in the manifold. I did not do any brush but I sprayed egr degreaser, gave it a night to do the work. Then I was able to take the rod out, put out the swirl flaps and clean them. Eventually went to car wash and used jet washer. It got nice and clean. After reassembling my car took shorter to start,it was like 5 secs of that awkward moment when you were thinking what you've done wrong but it eventually stared. Nevertheless - great work!
Well done did mine on my 330d e92 after 94k 11 years old with my old mechanic friend and yes it was a pain to take out. Took 3 hours to remove , 2 hours to clean and about 2.5 to put back together thankfully the weather was kind. Car started straight away and runs much better now nice and responsive , putting plenty of liqui moly cleaner through it . Good job done
Not many people these days who will give it ago but have you done alot of work on engines before as dont seem to struggle with anything saves you alot of money through the jobs u have done I try but break things lmao.
Wow that was a LOT of carbon. Did a similar cleaning with my N55 at 90k miles and it wasn't nearly as bad. Hats off to you sir. The car definitely needed it. Now I'm second guessing buying an N57 here in the states lol.
Sawier bmw has the N57 here in the states but it wasn’t all that common. They have since given up on diesel models now.
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My audi a3 is now at 150342 miles. Have used an intake cleaner which was pretty effective but now going to try Revive turbo cleaner. Once it warms up a bit going to remove the intake manifold and give the egr and manifold a good clean. My most effective cleaner is bilt hamber surfex HD, really cleans carbon out. Also plenty of brake cleaner. Did my golf fsi engine this way. Cleans like new. Final rinse with a power washer is each port to remove and residue.
If it's an ex police car they spend a lot of time idling to power the lights when they are at accident scenes etc , this constant idling is not good for diesel engines , they start to cool down especially in the winter so the egr opens to allow hot air back in to the inlets , this let's in soot and oil vapour in large amounts.
Great job as always. I love your attitude of tackling anything. I was getting worried for you whilst dismantling, and wondering how you would remember were everything went when re building. Turned out alright, well done.
Yes, me too... I didn’t imagine there would be so many things to disconnect & remove just to get the manifold out. I was a bit concerned too 😧 Funnily enough, that’s why I originally recorded myself doing new jobs on cars - so I could review it if I got lost. It was my daughter who suggested putting them on TH-cam in case other people were interested 👍
I know this is an older video but I'm still going to leave a response. This is one of those ugly jobs that you have to do. I also believe that this was totally necessary. I was watching someone the other day who was doing the math on what percentage of space that brings in the air to the engine and how much of a reduction in it really was. He calculated that he was losing 45% of airflow due to the carbon buildup. I'm hoping to get this done this week. I'm not under the clock so I can take the extra steps and do things while I'm in there. I am fortunate enough to have a shop size air compressor add a walnut gun. I also plan on using my power washer. If the manifold wasn't so expensive to replace I was just order a new one. I did enjoy your video and I made sure to give you a big old thumbs up. I also hit the subscribe button and I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos.
Thanks for the video, you did a fine job there. That was really caked up. I always find it amazing at how the intake side gets in that state as the fuel is directly sprayed in the cylinder and only air is coming in, shows how much crud gets recirculated on the emissions side. Great job and thanks for sharing.
Completed this on my N47 and blanked my EGR. Nice video! Spent hours cleaning 😂Luckily mine started straight away slight rough idle went within 5 seconds. Mines only at 95k and extremely dirty, would recommend!
Steve Ellis yeah mate, engine light came on 10mins after driving it. But I would mention since doing this I’ve now got a back pressure fault come up and now and my DPF is blocked. Getting a straight de cat down pipe and a new turbo as my turbo is fucked because of this. I was unable to get my car remapped but they mapped my egr out of the ECU. So hopefully after all this all my problems will be gone
@@Nut_Job. what is your opinion in liqui moly diesel intake decarbonization? Do you think will make any difference, i see that all the crud is disolving like water in all the reviews but i want to know your specific opinion. Would you use one?
Hey. Great Video!!! Have couple of questions, just purchased a 535d with N57 engine, same as youth. Long story short, how much of a vibration you fell inside the cabin, I have similar issue with the engine when it idle, on camera it shows really well, it's floating, but if you put the hand on the top cover it vibrates, same on the starting wheel, and only when idle on park or drive, and when rpm gos over 800 it feels sealky smooth. just wondering if you ever notice it and if yes, was it there for as long as you had a car? Engine and tr. mount's was replaced, the air filter duct and housing to turbo was replaced, not engine light, no hick-ups. will be huge halp if you respond! Will be posting video on troubleshooting and all the repairs soon by the way. Thanks!
I was laughing at you at first seeing the amount of disco' going on … . then when the clean-up began I started to take notice. By the end I was suitably impressed.
Brill video as usual! I've just finished a very similar job on my e92 335d . First time I'd attempted it and did the added job of deleting the swirl flaps and changing the glow plugs + glow plug module too. I found the whole job very finicky but quite straight forward, keeping your cool is definitely the hardest thing. I'd say the e9* looks a little easier to work on. Mine started first crank first time 😯😯😯 watching your video I obviously got lucky
Hi mate I think some carbon must of gotten under the valve seats and compressions being lost therefore not being able to start. After lots of cranking the valve seats would of cleaned themselves
GDI, strikes again. May I suggest you wear eye pro when spraying brake cleaner. Would have luved to see the exhaust immediately post start. Maybe add a oil catch can? Most of that crap is EGR and crankcase blowby.
Great video for DYI job. What error codes made you decided to clean the intake manifold? My 2014 535DX (F10, N57 engine like yours) got two error codes, P22D2$07E8 (turbocharger turbine inlet valve stuck open) and P22D3$07E8 (turbocharger turbine inlet valve stuck closed). The car has only 71,730 miles driven in 10 years, not much driving though. I am thinking the inlet valve cannot be stuck open and closed in two stages, it has to be modulated, right? The turbocharger sounds fine (no noise) and works fine while car is running; however, check engine light is on. I am planning to replace boost pressure sensor (MAP or MAS) first and the turbocharger electronic actuator next if first doesn't solve the problem. Do you think the valve actuator in the intake manifold shown in your video may cause my problem? Any thoughts? Thanks.
@@ralfrisberg8009 i have an 03 sl500 and was thinking of just blocking off the port from the exhaust to the egr valve. it was ok on my vw but will just try it on my benz
Mate hat off to you trust me I’m hugely impressed I mean it I wish I’ll be like you a real petrol head simply brilliant great job you’ll be a brilliant teacher to some of these useless bmw expensive gits
One problem with decoking with valves not fully shut is the mix of solvent and carbon seep into the piston rings and seize them on the piston causing low compression thus requiring a full block and piston strip to clean it out.
Yes, I would advise against spraying any cleaning agents into the intake ports if they are open. I think I used brake cleaner when I did this, and as long as you don’t spray like crazy it’ll evaporate off pretty quickly anyway - so not a massive risk imo. You won’t be turning the engine over for a good time if you’re in this position with the manifold removed, and any bits of carbon mush that may have fallen into a cylinder won’t hurt the engine - they’ll just burn up when running 👍
I know it may sound wierd, but if you have direct injection car, take atleast once a year and turn the engine on, go out for a spirited drive, open the hood, then take off the hose close to the throttlebody AFTER the maf and start the engine again if you have turned it off, now here comes the crazy part: take a bottle filled with water that has a spray nozzle and spray that into the intake and have the engine revving around 2500-3000rpm and spray a moderate amount. This will remove enough carbon deposits to have your car running much longer and better. Do this for atleast 10-15 minutes.
Yeah I took off the whole damn intake to take that bolt out to remove the coolant pipe. You actually dont need to take that pipe off. Just remove the bolts against the block to remove the entire system. Even had to take out the ecu box 328D F30 N47
I have M57N and hope it won't be this bad when I take it apart but if it is this advice will come in handy! I think I will probably blank off the EGR valve too while I'm in there - the amount of crud it chucks back into the engine is unbelievable! I will also me doing the swirl flat delete which us much easier on the M57, though I think they are better designed on the N57 and less prone to breaking off especially if they are cleaned regularly.
Thanks John, I have an electronic engineering background but work with industrial automation in the utilities/gas industry. I love tinkering with my cars for fun 😁
i lived beore in north spain and hadn't room for that jobs, always rainning too!!! noW i live in a house in catalonia (pENEDES). i have garage and sun. THANKS FOR SHARING!!!
Was starting to get palpitations watching you stripping it down, then relaxed while watching cleaning section. However they returned with a vengeance when you tried to start it. Then when you started to look worried 😜 Excellent video as always, should maybe have had health warning at the start though! 🤣🤣🤣
I was definitely getting worried.... and I even cut out some of the parts when I was cranking the engine! 😱 That’s why I included the footage of first start... so you know what it’s like in case anyone tries it 😉😁
Thanks for the video, I was told if you install an Oil Catch Can on a diesel vehicle it aims to reduce the amount of oil vapors re-circulated into the intake of the engine.
Yes, that’s part of my plans. The catch can aims to cool/condense/catch the recirculating vapours from the crankcase. That should slow down the formation of the black gunk... but never stops it completely
So, you cleaned the intake part of the head close to the valves with a brush with some valves opened..? I have done that before on my 535 D but I made sure the valve were closed, then I did a thorough cleaning without being worry. You know you could turn the engine from the bottom pulley on the crankcase using the center nut. From what I've seen your brushes could not reach the inside part of the manifold since they were not flexible unless I am wrong. It is better to remove all the swirl flaps and add a locking paste on the screws holding the butterflies, since those screws could get loose with vibrations and could easily go into the chamber, and then you need a new engine or an expensive rebuilt.
I have a 2009 335d (here in the states) and am thinking of adding a oil vapor catch can like the AUS ProVent system. Is that type of mod popular in the UK?
It’s something that some people do here 👍 I thought about it & nearly installed one, but I do remember that the can + hose route was a bit tricky in this engine bay. Loads of space available in the 5 series engine bay, but it wasn’t a 5 minute job to do it well 👍
Here’s me who had the manifold out just to put a new packing in and did not clean it at all. 270k km. Had some carbon but the mechanic didn’t have time to clean it. Took him 1 hour to remove and about 10-15mins to put back in. Feel so annoyed that I didn’t get it cleaned.
Also, due to the length, I cut a lot of the video where I’m trying to start the car... I’ll be honest - I was beginning to worry I’d knackered my car. Especially since I have work in the morning 😂
Just removed mine for a clean up. Find out 1 swirl flap is completely loose and the other 3 are also starting to get loose. Now I have to order new ones...
I was about to ask if you manually moved the engine so that when you’re cleaning a intake , the valves would be closed , but from the struggle at the end it looks like no , you didn’t . So where did the carbon go , you vacuumed it I hope , either way if the valve was open the junk went itn and so did the brake cleaner used to clean right ? You must rotate the engine to keep valves closed as you clean each cilinder
Yes, you’re right about the valves & turning the engine over by hand… however it’s really difficult to see which valves are slightly open/closed with all the gunk. A bit of carbon build-up falling into a cylinder shouldn’t really cause much of a problem - I was more concerned about loose bristles coming off my brush etc.
Is it not possible to clean all 6 valves in one go because some are open and some are closed? Is that right? What would be the solution here? Try your luck another day basically?
I used a degreaser that I bought from Screwfix for £10, made a solution with 3 parts water and 1 part degreaser in a bucket, soaked the manifold in it, and after 15 minutes, it was sparkling clean inside and out.
I think it was just bits of carbon dirt in the intake valves stopping compression. It’s only soft though, so it soon gets squashed out & then burned up when the engine runs.
My turbo wasn't kicking in because the swirl flaps wasn't opening far enough, got a bung off ebay for the n47 and I had to snap the swirl flaps out pain in the arse but definitely worth it and the turbo was back on form
Well, I don’t think anything should have affected the fuel system so I don’t think it needed priming. I’m assuming that some of the valves had a bit of carbon crap stuck in them which prevented them fully closing (no compression for a few cycles). After the valves had opened/closed a few times perhaps the carbon mush got crammed out and the valves started to seal properly again… it’s only a guess though 🤷♂️
The main reason is because it's a direct injection system. They wanted to defeat the traditional design and failed. Now these engines will have injectors on the intake that will run from time to time in order to clean up the valves with the fuel. When that's the case, there will be two injectors per cylinder, one on the rocker cover and the other on the intake manifold. Even without the EGR, just with the PCV alone, it will clog up like that eventually. Nothing you can do to defeat the carbon, you can just make it a bit better.
@@hussssshie I don't think that applies to diesels. I know of the older direct-injection petrol ones certainly suffered from carbon build-up. Then like you said they added another set of injectors on the intake to clean up the valves etc.
@@ThermoNuclearLlama Nope, just a handful of diesel engines use this system, I think Citroen and Renault are the ones that have tried that. Because diesel is an oil, not a solvent like gasoline.
Probably cause of that rest of the carbon dirt and shit like that, that was still in the cylinder ports. Once all that was burned off and out of the system, then the car would only burn and work on good and nice diesel again
Awesome job! Did you notice if the engine runs better\smother after the clean? Did this job on my E46 320d, 136 HP engine. The job itself with removal was waaay less painful. For cleaning I just put the intake manifold into a hot bath of water and generous amount of caustic soda (hope that translated well) for 3-4 hours. The solution eats all of the carbon\oil gunk and it looks as new. I now have an 330d F11 and might give a stab at this job myself. Not sure I dare cleaning the channels for the valves though.
Is it a good ideea to remove the egr? My car doesn't have dpf and I am worried that an egr off may damage the engine on long term, also will it smoke or have bad exhaust smell?
If you don’t have a DPF then you can definitely remove (but also electronically map-out) the EGR valve. Removing your EGR will only do good for your engine if you don’t have a DPF. Some say it may impact your fuel economy for long-runs but I didn’t experience that on my Range Rover TDV8 when I blanked off the EGR’s (no DPF on that either).
@@Nut_Job. thank you. I noticed the egr thermostat was broken and the engine didn' reach it's working temperature, it was only around 70 celsius. Do you think that I done any damage to the car by driving a long distance on the highway with high 3000 rpm? I am a bit worried that I destroyed the engine
I’m not sure which thermostat you mean. There’s one in the cylinder head just behind the EGR sensing the coolant temp, and there’s a temp sensor in the exhaust manifold (probably some others too)... so have you replaced this broken thermostat now? And are there any signs of problems?
@@Nut_Job. the egr thermostat is not working, its a common thing for e46 e39 and in this case coolant temperature stays at 70 celsius while driving. My question is, was it a catastrophic thing to drive the car over 2500 rpm for more than 300 miles if coolant temp was only around 65-70 degree ? I guess if coolant is not at 90 degrees than oil is neither at working temperature...and engine may wear, isn't it?
Hi. Appreciate it’s an old video but have (or did) you not try a “TerraClean”? They’re supposed to make a huge difference. My DPF is slowly blocking with ash (155k) so about the right time. I’m unblocking the DPF with a removal and jet wash then a TerraClean. I’ll look into an EGR delete too.
Hi there, I never tried a TerraClean & I’m not sure how it works really. If you remove & jet wash the DPF it should be fine after that in theory. Although I agree a EGR delete is good for prolonging your engine life, it would only result in clogging your freshly cleaned DPF quicker. The engine relies upon the EGR to routinely increase exhaust temps & burn-off/regen your DPF, so it can’t do that if you blank/delete the EGR. You’d need to either leave both in ‘stock’ form, or delete both (but you’d have to carefully ‘gut’ the DPF & weld back together to pass the MOT).
It’s an oil ‘catch can’, so you install it on the crankcase breather outlet & it cools the hot oil vapour to prevent it mixing with the EGR recirculated exhaust back in the intake manifold. The idea is that less oil vapours means less black gunk forming inside the manifold/ports like mine.
Awsome video I just wonder can you visually determine which intake ports are closed and vice versa? If not, is the only way to tell this by removing the rocker cover?
Hi, nice work, i have e39 3.0d and i saw the intake, it looks a little bit whith carbon, but i dont know what to do, bc the services shop i think dont make a good job to clean it, it has effect whit black smoke when u clean it? Regrads
Any gurus still active here? I just cleaned the whole intake manifold, the swirl flaps and it's still in limp mode. Why is that? None of the swirl flaps are broken or covered in carbon, the sensors are cleared and carbon free, no check engine, no warning lights on the dash, it's idling really nice..I'm clue less.
I'd say it is quite a risky operation... isn't it? I suppose you did this cleanup before your timing chain broke. Would you say it might have something to do with it? Just guessing... BTW since today i own a 2014 530d f11 190kw :) Let's hope it'll run as long as my old, trusty A6.
The only risky part is dropping something non-compressible into a cylinder port (like a brush bristle) I think. That worried me slightly. I don’t think that could have anything to do with the timing chain breaking though. It was just stretched & worn out. Your 530d is the same power as mine then, but the LCI version 👍
I need to replase a leaking coolant connectoe flange under the manifold that is held with three torx bolts (as seen on the video). Do i need to take the manifold off?
Have you definitely loosened all the bolts? There’s at least one bolt that’s really difficult to see close to the firewall, and maybe another down close to the HPFP 👍 (Plus, it’s attached to the EGR with 2 bolts, and the throttle body by 3 bolts)
There are 7 bolts holding the intake plenum down (captive bolts), plus the others I mentioned. Detailed instructions with pictures can be found here: www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f11-530d-tou/repair-manuals/11-engine/11-61-intake-manifold/5WQfhyN
All good mate but please, dont clean ur intake ports like this ! No liquids, just light scrubbing with vacuum cleaner next to the port u are cleaning on full blast to extract any loose debris straight away. Thats why you had engine start issues with that horrible knock at the end. Best of luck buddy !!!
Seen worst on these with lower mileage. Main thing to prevent this once vehicle is off dealership network delete EGR valve via remapping and physically replace both cooler and valve with delete kits
@@Nut_Job. No regeneration problems will occur, just reduction of dpf lifetime since due to more repeatable regeneration yours is already high mileage, it is on its last leg anyway - manufacturer gave dpf 140-160k lifetime for component anyway.
It’s the result of modern turbo Diesel engine design. When your EGR valve opens & sends dirty exhaust gases back through your intake manifold it mixes with some hot oil vapours (from your crankcase breather) and this thick black gunk slowly builds up on everything before your inlet valves. Exhaust soot + oil vapour = carbon build-up unfortunately. An EGR delete (illegal in UK) would stop this, but other than that all you can do is take the inlet apart to clean it every 60-80k perhaps?
@@Nut_Job.thanks, I've just done a carbon clean today I noticed a bit different tho, not a lot of smoke come out just noticed some weird smell coming out of exhaust. Thats all
Emergency release latch small trim piece in the middle of the boot lid at the bottom pop the trim push the latch handy when you have a estate bmw I learnt the hard way when my e61 went dead
I felt your tension when it wouldn't start! Wouldn't one of these carbon cleaning companies have been a better bet? I wouldn't have the balls to do it... mainly because if something dropped in the engine block.
Having spent the day scraping this stuff off I just don’t think anything other than mechanical scraping would shift it... I’m sure these machine cleaners can help, and perhaps now would be a good time to run it through my intake- to get the last bits out.
Thx for your channel/tips etc... I'm looking into a USA version N57 Xdrive. Winters here in Illinois with snow would be much more fun in this type of car. Worried about timing chains and HPFP issues though. I know you had your chain let go. Was there any rattle etc... prior to the chain breaking? Any X drive issues? Thanks again! Subbed!!!!
Hi there 👋 Actually mine is only RWD so I can’t comment on X-drive issues... (maybe my next purchase) In retrospect there may have been some subtle chain noise, but it certainly wasn’t striking enough to catch my attention before it broke. Hard to say really, but I’d say there weren’t many signs... 😔 Personally I’d start seriously thinking about getting the timing chain done at ~120k+ miles 🤷♂️
Thanks for the video, I have a method for next time. There is a quick way to clean the intake manifold. This method worked very well and does not damage the plastic. 40 liters of water, 300 grams of washing powder and 1.5 kg of drain cleaner. Mix everything carefully and then insert the manifold for 4 to 6 hours. Then wash off. Finished. You will be enthusiastic. Many intake manifolds have already been cleaned in this way.
Easiest way to clean the intake manifold is just use a jet wash after letting it soak in degreaser
How are you so chilled out. I was panicking just watching.
Well done
Firstly, thanks for great vids - and all respect to your efforts - under the circumstances and conditions.
The very best and most appropriate way of cleaning the intake manifold and all associated parts, is to put it all in an ultrasonic bath. I did that with my n57 parts, were everything was looking like new when I got it back - awesome!!!!
Hi mate, I have done pretty similar work on my E70 40d 260.000 km. There was more carbon in the manifold. I did not do any brush but I sprayed egr degreaser, gave it a night to do the work. Then I was able to take the rod out, put out the swirl flaps and clean them. Eventually went to car wash and used jet washer. It got nice and clean. After reassembling my car took shorter to start,it was like 5 secs of that awkward moment when you were thinking what you've done wrong but it eventually stared. Nevertheless - great work!
Sounds like a good job mate 👍
Well done did mine on my 330d e92 after 94k 11 years old with my old mechanic friend and yes it was a pain to take out. Took 3 hours to remove , 2 hours to clean and about 2.5 to put back together thankfully the weather was kind. Car started straight away and runs much better now nice and responsive , putting plenty of liqui moly cleaner through it . Good job done
which liqui moly cleaner did you used ?
Take my hat off to you sir.... I think if i had done all that and it didn't fire up I would have burst in to tears lol....
Not many people these days who will give it ago but have you done alot of work on engines before as dont seem to struggle with anything saves you alot of money through the jobs u have done I try but break things lmao.
Wow that was a LOT of carbon. Did a similar cleaning with my N55 at 90k miles and it wasn't nearly as bad. Hats off to you sir. The car definitely needed it. Now I'm second guessing buying an N57 here in the states lol.
do they even sell diesels in US? its never gonna be this bad on petrol
Sawier bmw has the N57 here in the states but it wasn’t all that common. They have since given up on diesel models now.
My audi a3 is now at 150342 miles. Have used an intake cleaner which was pretty effective but now going to try Revive turbo cleaner. Once it warms up a bit going to remove the intake manifold and give the egr and manifold a good clean. My most effective cleaner is bilt hamber surfex HD, really cleans carbon out. Also plenty of brake cleaner. Did my golf fsi engine this way. Cleans like new. Final rinse with a power washer is each port to remove and residue.
I know that feeling. Somewhere between consternation and wanting to cry when they won't start.
You got some balls doing that job man....id be shiting my jocks....total respect to you 👌
If it's an ex police car they spend a lot of time idling to power the lights when they are at accident scenes etc , this constant idling is not good for diesel engines , they start to cool down especially in the winter so the egr opens to allow hot air back in to the inlets , this let's in soot and oil vapour in large amounts.
Great job as always. I love your attitude of tackling anything. I was getting worried for you whilst dismantling, and wondering how you would remember were everything went when re building. Turned out alright, well done.
Yes, me too... I didn’t imagine there would be so many things to disconnect & remove just to get the manifold out. I was a bit concerned too 😧
Funnily enough, that’s why I originally recorded myself doing new jobs on cars - so I could review it if I got lost. It was my daughter who suggested putting them on TH-cam in case other people were interested 👍
I know this is an older video but I'm still going to leave a response.
This is one of those ugly jobs that you have to do. I also believe that this was totally necessary. I was watching someone the other day who was doing the math on what percentage of space that brings in the air to the engine and how much of a reduction in it really was. He calculated that he was losing 45% of airflow due to the carbon buildup.
I'm hoping to get this done this week. I'm not under the clock so I can take the extra steps and do things while I'm in there. I am fortunate enough to have a shop size air compressor add a walnut gun. I also plan on using my power washer. If the manifold wasn't so expensive to replace I was just order a new one.
I did enjoy your video and I made sure to give you a big old thumbs up. I also hit the subscribe button and I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos.
Thanks for the video, you did a fine job there. That was really caked up.
I always find it amazing at how the intake side gets in that state as the fuel is directly sprayed in the cylinder and only air is coming in, shows how much crud gets recirculated on the emissions side.
Great job and thanks for sharing.
Soot from the egr and oil vapour from the turbo and crankcase ventilation
Completed this on my N47 and blanked my EGR. Nice video! Spent hours cleaning 😂Luckily mine started straight away slight rough idle went within 5 seconds. Mines only at 95k and extremely dirty, would recommend!
When you blanked the EGR did you have to have it mapped out?
Steve Ellis yeah mate, engine light came on 10mins after driving it. But I would mention since doing this I’ve now got a back pressure fault come up and now and my DPF is blocked. Getting a straight de cat down pipe and a new turbo as my turbo is fucked because of this. I was unable to get my car remapped but they mapped my egr out of the ECU. So hopefully after all this all my problems will be gone
@@JonniH18 EGR delete fucked your DPF and your turbo? 😲 Think I'll just keep the EGR after all! 😂
Must have been almost brown trousers time with that cranking and waiting 😯
Little bit.... 😫
@@Nut_Job. what is your opinion in liqui moly diesel intake decarbonization?
Do you think will make any difference, i see that all the crud is disolving like water in all the reviews but i want to know your specific opinion.
Would you use one?
I’m not actually aware of how it works to be honest. Is it one of those cleaning agents that you spray into the intake?
Thanks for making the video and sharing. I don't even drive a diesel but I appreciate the effort.
I never done it my self but first I watched this video and I done it my self easy
Hey. Great Video!!!
Have couple of questions, just purchased a 535d with N57 engine, same as youth.
Long story short, how much of a vibration you fell inside the cabin, I have similar issue with the engine when it idle, on camera it shows really well, it's floating, but if you put the hand on the top cover it vibrates, same on the starting wheel, and only when idle on park or drive, and when rpm gos over 800 it feels sealky smooth. just wondering if you ever notice it and if yes, was it there for as long as you had a car?
Engine and tr. mount's was replaced, the air filter duct and housing to turbo was replaced, not engine light, no hick-ups.
will be huge halp if you respond!
Will be posting video on troubleshooting and all the repairs soon by the way.
Thanks!
I was laughing at you at first seeing the amount of disco' going on … . then when the clean-up began I started to take notice. By the end I was suitably impressed.
Was thinking of doing this on my e90 335d myself after watching this think I've had second thoughts lot bigger job than anticipated
You’re right, it is a big job. If I weren’t backed into a corner with this situation I’d never have chosen to do it if I’m honest....
Brill video as usual! I've just finished a very similar job on my e92 335d . First time I'd attempted it and did the added job of deleting the swirl flaps and changing the glow plugs + glow plug module too. I found the whole job very finicky but quite straight forward, keeping your cool is definitely the hardest thing. I'd say the e9* looks a little easier to work on. Mine started first crank first time 😯😯😯 watching your video I obviously got lucky
E90 335d is an M57...NOT an N57.... MUCH more work than the N57, AND much more buildup, usually clogged by 60kmi
Why is it much more work on the M57?
Hi mate I think some carbon must of gotten under the valve seats and compressions being lost therefore not being able to start. After lots of cranking the valve seats would of cleaned themselves
GDI, strikes again. May I suggest you wear eye pro when spraying brake cleaner. Would have luved to see the exhaust immediately post start. Maybe add a oil catch can? Most of that crap is EGR and crankcase blowby.
You can unplug your egr valve so it doesn’t put the gasses back in your intake
no you can not idiot, you will get engine codes #facepalm
Great video for DYI job. What error codes made you decided to clean the intake manifold? My 2014 535DX (F10, N57 engine like yours) got two error codes, P22D2$07E8 (turbocharger turbine inlet valve stuck open) and P22D3$07E8 (turbocharger turbine inlet valve stuck closed). The car has only 71,730 miles driven in 10 years, not much driving though. I am thinking the inlet valve cannot be stuck open and closed in two stages, it has to be modulated, right? The turbocharger sounds fine (no noise) and works fine while car is running; however, check engine light is on. I am planning to replace boost pressure sensor (MAP or MAS) first and the turbocharger electronic actuator next if first doesn't solve the problem. Do you think the valve actuator in the intake manifold shown in your video may cause my problem? Any thoughts? Thanks.
Do not remove the swirl flaps, you'll lose a lot of low down torque and in turn get worse MPG. Already tried and tested by myself.
On what kind of car. Turbo or NA?
Install an oil catch can to help prevent the build up
Delete the egr Valve , it's the egr's fault !
@@ralfrisberg8009 can you block it off with out setting a light?
@@narcissistinjurygiver2932 on new cars you probably need to connect the damn computer and do something !
@@ralfrisberg8009 i have an 03 sl500 and was thinking of just blocking off the port from the exhaust to the egr valve. it was ok on my vw but will just try it on my benz
Mate hat off to you trust me I’m hugely impressed I mean it I wish I’ll be like you a real petrol head simply brilliant great job you’ll be a brilliant teacher to some of these useless bmw expensive gits
Brave, very brave.
One problem with decoking with valves not fully shut is the mix of solvent and carbon seep into the piston rings and seize them on the piston causing low compression thus requiring a full block and piston strip to clean it out.
Yes, I would advise against spraying any cleaning agents into the intake ports if they are open.
I think I used brake cleaner when I did this, and as long as you don’t spray like crazy it’ll evaporate off pretty quickly anyway - so not a massive risk imo. You won’t be turning the engine over for a good time if you’re in this position with the manifold removed, and any bits of carbon mush that may have fallen into a cylinder won’t hurt the engine - they’ll just burn up when running 👍
I know it may sound wierd, but if you have direct injection car, take atleast once a year and turn the engine on, go out for a spirited drive, open the hood, then take off the hose close to the throttlebody AFTER the maf and start the engine again if you have turned it off, now here comes the crazy part: take a bottle filled with water that has a spray nozzle and spray that into the intake and have the engine revving around 2500-3000rpm and spray a moderate amount. This will remove enough carbon deposits to have your car running much longer and better. Do this for atleast 10-15 minutes.
Absolute rubbish
Im currently doing this on an m57 so this is really helpful. I subscribed anyways based on the fact ur channel is called nut job🤣👍🏽
Good luck with it 👍
FFS I’ve been trying to get my split coolant pipe off but there was a third bolt hidden behind the inlet!! Nice video thanks
Yeah I took off the whole damn intake to take that bolt out to remove the coolant pipe. You actually dont need to take that pipe off. Just remove the bolts against the block to remove the entire system. Even had to take out the ecu box 328D F30 N47
I have M57N and hope it won't be this bad when I take it apart but if it is this advice will come in handy! I think I will probably blank off the EGR valve too while I'm in there - the amount of crud it chucks back into the engine is unbelievable! I will also me doing the swirl flat delete which us much easier on the M57, though I think they are better designed on the N57 and less prone to breaking off especially if they are cleaned regularly.
Really enjoyed that great video , are you an engineer by trade you seem to have that methodical way of working about you
Thanks John, I have an electronic engineering background but work with industrial automation in the utilities/gas industry. I love tinkering with my cars for fun 😁
i lived beore in north spain and hadn't room for that jobs, always rainning too!!! noW i live in a house in catalonia (pENEDES). i have garage and sun. THANKS FOR SHARING!!!
Best off using compressed air to blast the crud out the intake ports! Still a very Good job bud!!!!
Was starting to get palpitations watching you stripping it down, then relaxed while watching cleaning section.
However they returned with a vengeance when you tried to start it. Then when you started to look worried 😜
Excellent video as always, should maybe have had health warning at the start though! 🤣🤣🤣
I was definitely getting worried.... and I even cut out some of the parts when I was cranking the engine! 😱
That’s why I included the footage of first start... so you know what it’s like in case anyone tries it 😉😁
LOL i did this with my 318 diesel e46, had the same starting issue 🤣 now working perfectly fine
It stopped after driving a while?
@@ballaimosa no it wont start at first ! but after a few trys it started and no more issues
Lovely Jubbly, yes your car does have those miles on it, but the Police serviced it, imagine if they hadn't.
Thanks for the video, I was told if you install an Oil Catch Can on a diesel vehicle it aims to reduce the amount of oil vapors re-circulated into the intake of the engine.
Yes, that’s part of my plans. The catch can aims to cool/condense/catch the recirculating vapours from the crankcase. That should slow down the formation of the black gunk... but never stops it completely
I cannot believe the volume of crud build up in the intakes! Wonder if you’ll see a performance gain?
Most likely. You could almost compare it to having the intake side ported.
The struggling to start is just the fuel pressure building up
George Austers might have left bores open
Nope. It's the dirt making intake valves stay slightly open and letting compression pressure to escape.
Yep 👍
Did you replace the intake o rings/seals between the manifold and head?
I used 'oven cleaner' on my N57 de-carb and was very effective/cheap
Did you spray that into your engine?
What kind of oven spray?
So, you cleaned the intake part of the head close to the valves with a brush with some valves opened..? I have done that before on my 535 D but I made sure the valve were closed, then I did a thorough cleaning without being worry. You know you could turn the engine from the bottom pulley on the crankcase using the center nut. From what I've seen your brushes could not reach the inside part of the manifold since they were not flexible unless I am wrong. It is better to remove all the swirl flaps and add a locking paste on the screws holding the butterflies, since those screws could get loose with vibrations and could easily go into the chamber, and then you need a new engine or an expensive rebuilt.
It’s clean as a whistle now... the cylinder head has just been in an acid bath. Timing chain snapped & now I’m busy rebuilding it...
I have a 2009 335d (here in the states) and am thinking of adding a oil vapor catch can like the AUS ProVent system. Is that type of mod popular in the UK?
It’s something that some people do here 👍
I thought about it & nearly installed one, but I do remember that the can + hose route was a bit tricky in this engine bay. Loads of space available in the 5 series engine bay, but it wasn’t a 5 minute job to do it well 👍
The good old fashioned decoke is coming back all DFI ENGINES will have this problem in the future,
Oh dear, my engine has the same start issue, I am charging the battery at the moment. Can anyone please advise me why it’s starting really weird?😢
Did you have a problem with the car that made you think to do this?
Here’s me who had the manifold out just to put a new packing in and did not clean it at all. 270k km. Had some carbon but the mechanic didn’t have time to clean it. Took him 1 hour to remove and about 10-15mins to put back in. Feel so annoyed that I didn’t get it cleaned.
Looks like you need some engine mounts as well .. the engine movement on idle was pretty obvious.
As he was saying it's idling ok now I was thinking no its not 😂 engine mounts are well shot
Well done, I have an X5 35d so interesting watching the jobs your tackling. I don’t think I could face that lol
Now that I’ve done it, I’d be able to do it in 1/2 the time... but I would think twice before recommending the process to someone else 😬😁
Also, due to the length, I cut a lot of the video where I’m trying to start the car... I’ll be honest - I was beginning to worry I’d knackered my car. Especially since I have work in the morning 😂
Nut Job all ok in the end, what’s next?
Gearbox service is the next big (ish) task. Arriving tomorrow should be: air filter, fuel filter, gearbox pan & ATF, pollen filters 👍
Nut Job you might want to read Car Mechanics mag for June, they have the autobox oil change process in there.
Just removed mine for a clean up. Find out 1 swirl flap is completely loose and the other 3 are also starting to get loose. Now I have to order new ones...
Or just remove them all 😉👍
I was about to ask if you manually moved the engine so that when you’re cleaning a intake , the valves would be closed , but from the struggle at the end it looks like no , you didn’t . So where did the carbon go , you vacuumed it I hope , either way if the valve was open the junk went itn and so did the brake cleaner used to clean right ? You must rotate the engine to keep valves closed as you clean each cilinder
Yes, you’re right about the valves & turning the engine over by hand… however it’s really difficult to see which valves are slightly open/closed with all the gunk. A bit of carbon build-up falling into a cylinder shouldn’t really cause much of a problem - I was more concerned about loose bristles coming off my brush etc.
Hi, just wondering how do you rotate the engine, please let me know
You’ll need a special tool which links to the front crank pulley.
@@Nut_Job. Thank you mate
Did the car feel any better
If I’m honest, it feels about the same.
@@Nut_Job. loving what u do always waiting for the next update or new project your on.
Is it not possible to clean all 6 valves in one go because some are open and some are closed? Is that right? What would be the solution here? Try your luck another day basically?
I used a degreaser that I bought from Screwfix for £10, made a solution with 3 parts water and 1 part degreaser in a bucket, soaked the manifold in it, and after 15 minutes, it was sparkling clean inside and out.
Genius 😎
@@Nut_Job. I followed your instructions on this video for removing and reinstalling the manifold. Thank you
No problem, glad it helped 👍
Wow , that's some job man.. Thanks for the video !!!
You didn't explain how different in general the car fet after your carbon clean of the manifold Intake? Thanks
It didn’t really transform the car or anything, but I think it did run a bit smoother in general.
For which reason it struggled to turn on after cleaning?
I think it was just bits of carbon dirt in the intake valves stopping compression. It’s only soft though, so it soon gets squashed out & then burned up when the engine runs.
My turbo wasn't kicking in because the swirl flaps wasn't opening far enough, got a bung off ebay for the n47 and I had to snap the swirl flaps out pain in the arse but definitely worth it and the turbo was back on form
How many KM. has the Car?
Thx.
It was about 165,000 miles at that point. Not sure what this is in km, perhaps 250,000km?
Good job 👍 the e60 when you opened the door the glow plug would start warming up
Is that how it works on e60 I have all ways wondered, I've got e60 and never seen a glow plug light but it all ways starts fine
Brits literally can't work on cars without a cup of tea
😂
If not a cup of tea, it's Golden Virginia in a Rizla paper.....👍👍👍
We need tea for everything. Reduction in tea drinking is why the empire went down hill.
and muricans can't work on anything without their pissweiser
We go to war on tea lol
Why the hard start did you need to prime fuel system
Well, I don’t think anything should have affected the fuel system so I don’t think it needed priming. I’m assuming that some of the valves had a bit of carbon crap stuck in them which prevented them fully closing (no compression for a few cycles). After the valves had opened/closed a few times perhaps the carbon mush got crammed out and the valves started to seal properly again… it’s only a guess though 🤷♂️
was normal for engine to start a bit difficult after all the operations
Bloody hell mate - respect!
I was wondering what you were bloddy helling till I saw those ports. Then I bloody helled!
What is the reason why you cleaning the manifold?
And everything because EGR 🤯
This is why i blanked mine off.
The main reason is because it's a direct injection system. They wanted to defeat the traditional design and failed. Now these engines will have injectors on the intake that will run from time to time in order to clean up the valves with the fuel. When that's the case, there will be two injectors per cylinder, one on the rocker cover and the other on the intake manifold. Even without the EGR, just with the PCV alone, it will clog up like that eventually. Nothing you can do to defeat the carbon, you can just make it a bit better.
@@hussssshie I don't think that applies to diesels. I know of the older direct-injection petrol ones certainly suffered from carbon build-up. Then like you said they added another set of injectors on the intake to clean up the valves etc.
@@ThermoNuclearLlama Nope, just a handful of diesel engines use this system, I think Citroen and Renault are the ones that have tried that. Because diesel is an oil, not a solvent like gasoline.
How much Nm for the thaiting the Nuts of the Airmainfold? Thx
Firstly, tighten to 5nm and then to 10nm. www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f11-530d-tou/repair-manuals/11-engine/11-61-intake-manifold/5ZSMCYP
But you didnt touch the fuel system, did you? Why did it give such a hard time to start? Sounded like it had air in the fuel system
Probably cause of that rest of the carbon dirt and shit like that, that was still in the cylinder ports. Once all that was burned off and out of the system, then the car would only burn and work on good and nice diesel again
Awesome job! Did you notice if the engine runs better\smother after the clean? Did this job on my E46 320d, 136 HP engine. The job itself with removal was waaay less painful. For cleaning I just put the intake manifold into a hot bath of water and generous amount of caustic soda (hope that translated well) for 3-4 hours. The solution eats all of the carbon\oil gunk and it looks as new. I now have an 330d F11 and might give a stab at this job myself. Not sure I dare cleaning the channels for the valves though.
Hows the car doing? 160k miles 4yrs ago :)
That particular vehicle is in the junkyard in the sky now…
Where did you get the cleaning kit from
eBay 👍
Is it a good ideea to remove the egr? My car doesn't have dpf and I am worried that an egr off may damage the engine on long term, also will it smoke or have bad exhaust smell?
If you don’t have a DPF then you can definitely remove (but also electronically map-out) the EGR valve. Removing your EGR will only do good for your engine if you don’t have a DPF. Some say it may impact your fuel economy for long-runs but I didn’t experience that on my Range Rover TDV8 when I blanked off the EGR’s (no DPF on that either).
@@Nut_Job. thank you. I noticed the egr thermostat was broken and the engine didn' reach it's working temperature, it was only around 70 celsius. Do you think that I done any damage to the car by driving a long distance on the highway with high 3000 rpm? I am a bit worried that I destroyed the engine
I’m not sure which thermostat you mean. There’s one in the cylinder head just behind the EGR sensing the coolant temp, and there’s a temp sensor in the exhaust manifold (probably some others too)... so have you replaced this broken thermostat now? And are there any signs of problems?
@@Nut_Job. the egr thermostat is not working, its a common thing for e46 e39 and in this case coolant temperature stays at 70 celsius while driving. My question is, was it a catastrophic thing to drive the car over 2500 rpm for more than 300 miles if coolant temp was only around 65-70 degree ? I guess if coolant is not at 90 degrees than oil is neither at working temperature...and engine may wear, isn't it?
Hi. Appreciate it’s an old video but have (or did) you not try a “TerraClean”? They’re supposed to make a huge difference. My DPF is slowly blocking with ash (155k) so about the right time. I’m unblocking the DPF with a removal and jet wash then a TerraClean. I’ll look into an EGR delete too.
Hi there, I never tried a TerraClean & I’m not sure how it works really. If you remove & jet wash the DPF it should be fine after that in theory. Although I agree a EGR delete is good for prolonging your engine life, it would only result in clogging your freshly cleaned DPF quicker. The engine relies upon the EGR to routinely increase exhaust temps & burn-off/regen your DPF, so it can’t do that if you blank/delete the EGR. You’d need to either leave both in ‘stock’ form, or delete both (but you’d have to carefully ‘gut’ the DPF & weld back together to pass the MOT).
Nice work, now get yourself a Mann and Hummel Provent 150 installed on your PCV system to get rid of the oil in the intake 👍
It’s on my shopping list 👍😁
What does a pro vent do in this engine ?
It’s an oil ‘catch can’, so you install it on the crankcase breather outlet & it cools the hot oil vapour to prevent it mixing with the EGR recirculated exhaust back in the intake manifold. The idea is that less oil vapours means less black gunk forming inside the manifold/ports like mine.
@@Nut_Job. FYI.... The intercooler is a giant air/oil separator. Just pull and drain it. 🤔
Awsome video I just wonder can you visually determine which intake ports are closed and vice versa? If not, is the only way to tell this by removing the rocker cover?
Hi, nice work, i have e39 3.0d and i saw the intake, it looks a little bit whith carbon, but i dont know what to do, bc the services shop i think dont make a good job to clean it, it has effect whit black smoke when u clean it? Regrads
I have cleaned the manifold , but I'm quite scared of touching the intake ports
Any gurus still active here? I just cleaned the whole intake manifold, the swirl flaps and it's still in limp mode. Why is that? None of the swirl flaps are broken or covered in carbon, the sensors are cleared and carbon free, no check engine, no warning lights on the dash, it's idling really nice..I'm clue less.
I'd say it is quite a risky operation... isn't it? I suppose you did this cleanup before your timing chain broke. Would you say it might have something to do with it? Just guessing... BTW since today i own a 2014 530d f11 190kw :) Let's hope it'll run as long as my old, trusty A6.
The only risky part is dropping something non-compressible into a cylinder port (like a brush bristle) I think. That worried me slightly.
I don’t think that could have anything to do with the timing chain breaking though. It was just stretched & worn out. Your 530d is the same power as mine then, but the LCI version 👍
I need to replase a leaking coolant connectoe flange under the manifold that is held with three torx bolts (as seen on the video). Do i need to take the manifold off?
I think you may need to. It’ll certainly make access easier anyway
@@Nut_Job. Ok. While at it I'm going to clean the manifold. Thanks for the response!!!
Did you use any repair manual or anything?
Do you have detailed instructions how to loosen the intake? Mine does not move although i am quite sure, i unscrew everything necessary.
Have you definitely loosened all the bolts? There’s at least one bolt that’s really difficult to see close to the firewall, and maybe another down close to the HPFP 👍
(Plus, it’s attached to the EGR with 2 bolts, and the throttle body by 3 bolts)
@@Nut_Job. How many bolts in total, still not moving for me.
There are 7 bolts holding the intake plenum down (captive bolts), plus the others I mentioned. Detailed instructions with pictures can be found here: www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f11-530d-tou/repair-manuals/11-engine/11-61-intake-manifold/5WQfhyN
All good mate but please, dont clean ur intake ports like this ! No liquids, just light scrubbing with vacuum cleaner next to the port u are cleaning on full blast to extract any loose debris straight away. Thats why you had engine start issues with that horrible knock at the end. Best of luck buddy !!!
Can you not dump the whole thing in petrol to soak it and then pressure wash it?
Yes, you could do that. I just don’t have a tub big enough or loads of spare petrol... 😂
How did you crank the engine to get the valves closed before cleaning?
He didn't close the valves
He probably didn't but definitely should have. This is probably why the car took so long to start.
Turn the crank pulley till they shut
You not going to remove the swirl flaps?
Actually yes, I did it in a later video. One of the videos while I was repairing the broken timing chain 👍
how many miles pls?*
Seen worst on these with lower mileage. Main thing to prevent this once vehicle is off dealership network delete EGR valve via remapping and physically replace both cooler and valve with delete kits
That was my first thought, but that can cause the DPF problems regenerating. You’d have to remove & map-out the DPF too, but risk being caught... 😬
@@Nut_Job. No regeneration problems will occur, just reduction of dpf lifetime since due to more repeatable regeneration yours is already high mileage, it is on its last leg anyway - manufacturer gave dpf 140-160k lifetime for component anyway.
Hi there, whats the cause of that at 4:33 please
It’s the result of modern turbo Diesel engine design. When your EGR valve opens & sends dirty exhaust gases back through your intake manifold it mixes with some hot oil vapours (from your crankcase breather) and this thick black gunk slowly builds up on everything before your inlet valves.
Exhaust soot + oil vapour = carbon build-up unfortunately.
An EGR delete (illegal in UK) would stop this, but other than that all you can do is take the inlet apart to clean it every 60-80k perhaps?
@@Nut_Job.thanks, I've just done a carbon clean today I noticed a bit different tho, not a lot of smoke come out just noticed some weird smell coming out of exhaust. Thats all
Emergency release latch small trim piece in the middle of the boot lid at the bottom pop the trim push the latch handy when you have a estate bmw I learnt the hard way when my e61 went dead
Thanks, it would be handy to open the tailgate when the battery is disconnected 👍
I felt your tension when it wouldn't start! Wouldn't one of these carbon cleaning companies have been a better bet? I wouldn't have the balls to do it... mainly because if something dropped in the engine block.
Having spent the day scraping this stuff off I just don’t think anything other than mechanical scraping would shift it... I’m sure these machine cleaners can help, and perhaps now would be a good time to run it through my intake- to get the last bits out.
Did you ever had a problem with your boot opening up or stucking coming back down? i know notting to do with intake but just wanted to ask
Why diesel from the first place?
why not in the second place?
Thx for your channel/tips etc... I'm looking into a USA version N57 Xdrive. Winters here in Illinois with snow would be much more fun in this type of car. Worried about timing chains and HPFP issues though. I know you had your chain let go. Was there any rattle etc... prior to the chain breaking? Any X drive issues? Thanks again! Subbed!!!!
Hi there 👋
Actually mine is only RWD so I can’t comment on X-drive issues... (maybe my next purchase)
In retrospect there may have been some subtle chain noise, but it certainly wasn’t striking enough to catch my attention before it broke. Hard to say really, but I’d say there weren’t many signs... 😔
Personally I’d start seriously thinking about getting the timing chain done at ~120k+ miles 🤷♂️
@@Nut_Job. Thanks mate. Cheers and hopefully yours keeps chugging another couple hundred k miles :)
Same thing happened but on my m57 sprayed brake cleaner in the intake manifold and it fired up