Ballistic

I did plug it ofcourse But i have the error even when i have it connected.

The valve is squeaky clean and the when looking at the insides, the actual valve part is clean and shining so i assume its working. Still i have the damn Increased emissions light with 4501 errorcode.

Anzafin

If everything is connected and fully working, the error may go away in time by itself. Or then you can go to the dealer or some independent and get the error cleared.

- Antti -

Ballistic

I have the BT tool so i can clear them myself but they always come back.

Today i am planning to replace breather filter and clean intake manifold.

virgil

Hello,

Sorry to bump this old thread, but I cleaned my intake manifold and EGR on the weekend and wanted to report my findings and ask some questions.

Firstly, thanks to this great thread, I was able to complete the job myself. My car started running like a farm tractor last week. I had to drive it around in manual mode at high RPM to get any power at all. Starting from traffic lights was a disaster, especially if I was heading uphill. There were plumes of smoke and the engine just would not rev above 1200-1500 RPM. I dropped into my local BMW dealer who diagnosed an intake manifold fault. The diagnosis cost me $270. The quote to replace the manifold was $3300. For that money, I thought I’d give cleaning it myself a go.

I have a 2005 E60 530D M-Sport Auto with 160,000km on the clock. A VIN check reveals I have the M57N2 engine which should have the larger swirl flaps. I’m located in Sydney, Australia.

The whole process went smoothly. The instructions in this thread were excellent. The dirtiest part was the EGR. It had ˝” of sook baked on. The valve needle in the middle was buried in a 1” soot column. It took me an hour to clean. I spent a further 2 hours on the swirl flaps and manifold itself. I confirmed the swirl flaps were the larger 33mm size. They looked in good condition. The manifold had plenty of soot, but with failing light I wanted the car back together the same day, so I was unable to remove it from hard to reach areas.

After reassembling the engine the car started immediately. Being no expert, I was thrilled that it started. I took it for a drive. For a few minutes it blew smoke when I put my foot down, but that stopped after a while. The car is very responsive and the engine is full of life. I did a couple of steep hill starts with no trouble at all. I’ve done over 100km since the weekend. I’ve got to say, I’ve fixed the problem. I’m pretty sure it was the EGR rather than the manifold, as the swirl flaps weren’t that dirty at all.

So, a big thank you to the OP for posting this guide. It is well written and gave me the confidence to do this job myself and save $3,000.

Now, a few questions arising from my experience:

1. My engine looks different to the one in the photos. In particular, if you look at the 6th photo in the OP, it shows the EGR and labels the “Clamp” the “Metal Clip” and the “Plug”. My car has the cable and pin connector, but not the part it plugs into. My pin connector has a proprietary cap on it and is not used. The part behind the word “Plug” is missing, as is the part between the EGR and the “Metal Clip”, so, my black hose clamps directly to the EGR. I think the missing part is called the “Anti-Shudder Valve”. Is that correct? Why doesn’t my car have one? Is it something to do with Australian compliance? By the way, you can see the parts I’m referring to more clearly on photo 15 – the photo where the author is holding the manifold with a yellow rubber glove. I don’t have that big valve at all.
2. Looking back at photo 6, there is a black tank with a cap to the right of the EGR. It has a green circle on it labelled “CHF 11S Only”. My car doesn’t have those parts at all. They were never fitted. My acoustic cover has a plastic blanking plate, which covers where that cap would be. I always wondered why it had that plate. So, what is the tank? I thought it was power steering, but mine is in a different place – note I have the Active Steering option, which I swear by!
3. I reassembled the engine leaving the swirl flaps in place. Do you recommend removing them and installing the blanking plates, even though they are the larger size?
4. Could I remove the flaps themselves by undoing the two small screws and leaving the shaft and flap assembly in the manifold?
5. I found an EGR blanking plate on line. Do you recommend installing this? My guess is that it will solve future clogging problems and is probably a good idea.

Stevemeister

Question - how long did it take to just remove the manifold and how long from starting to getting everything back together again. I'm trying to get an idea of how long this job takes broken down into the following parts . . . manifold removal, cleaning, reassembly. Did you consider decarbonizing the intake ports are the same time. I've just had decarbonizing done at the dealership but after they cleaned it the car was giving a P2008 error code. I want to remove the swirl ports and install blanking plates that I purchased from the UK and hopefully as part of that process I can figure out what is causing the P2008 error code.

Anzafin

Hi Stevemeister. I just read your recent post on my cell phone. It is too late here now to give proper answers so I will get back to this tomorrow .

- Antti -

Anzafin

Ok. I know your post was meant to member virgil, but I can give you something as I happened to take a look at it.

Removing the intake manifold takes around 45 mins, if you have done it before. If not, then maybe 60-90 minutes.

Cleaning the intake manifold and EGR may take several hours. It is just annoying. The best way to clean the intake manifold is to sink it in some detergent for overnight. Paraffin/Kerosin is a good solution.

If you want to remove the swirl flaps, which I strongly recommend, it will take some more time. Removing the is simple, but takes about 45-60mins. Here's my DIY guide: https://5series.net/forums/diy-do-yo...-engine-70452/

Putting everything back takes around 45-90 mins, depending on your experience.

I hope this helps.

- Antti -

virgil

Hello,

Back again. I had another EGR fault recently. Apologies for not replying to questions. I've now subscribed to the thread and should be able to help if asked.

Symptoms: Immediately after service from local mechanic (not BMW specialist), my 530D was running like a slug and blowing smoke everywhere. Had absolutely no power. It would be like this for 5 - 10 seconds, then come good for a while, then go bad again.

Now: really simple test, which I discovered later: Remove the vacuum tube from EGR and tape up with electrical tape. If the car works fine the EGR has failed (return spring fail) and needs replacing with new or blanking kit. If the car still has trouble, reconnect EGR vacuum - the problem lies elsewhere.

Back to the story. Here's the long version:

1. Took it back to local mechanic. He said failed turbo and big $$$.

2. Went to local BMW dealership and paid $270 for a diagnostics. Told it was EGR fail. Replacement cost and associated programming was $2,900. Said I'll think about it. Thinking ... thinking ... thinking ...

3. Took the car apart on the weekend only to find the EGR was clean. I was expecting it to be blocked up again after my last clean in 2015. See earlier post in this thread.

4. Put car back together and went for a drive. Still sluggish and blowing smoke. I was beginning to doubt BMW and worried the turbo might be stuffed.

5. About to book car in for new turbo when I had a brain storm: Maybe the problem is EGR valve not closing after activation. What to do? Prevent activation! So, I disconnected the vacuum hose to the EGR. The valve never opens. The problem went away. I've driven over 300km since.

I'm now going to buy the blanking kit. I'm thinking to buy a new manifold too as the old one is full of oily carbon again. If I do, I'll buy the swirl flap blanking kit as well and put the whole lot together, swap the old stuff out, clean it up and put it away.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers

V.

double-trouble

Reviving an old thread to say "Thanks" to the OP - good clear info, very useful And... to try and add a bit of info/clarity on the intended purposes of the Swirl Flaps and EGR system.

1/ The purpose of the Swirl Flaps is to promote better combustion at low load/revs. (this is my understanding - I could be wrong - it's happened before.). I think they are supposed to do this by closing down or restricting the flow of air through one of the intake valves. This imparts more turbulence to the air in the cylinder, which persists and increases on compression stroke. The air then mixes better with the fuel at the point(s) of injection and combustion. The reason for this is to promote a cleaner burn at low load/revs - and less soot for the DPF and EGR to deal with....

So, you'll probably not notice much difference in performance - maybe even a slight improvement in responsiveness - if you remove or stop 'em working. BUT, you might have a dirtier Exhaust (dpf will need to re-gen more often and the EGR system might get dirtier more quickly - as might the streets in which you drive :-)

2/ The purpose of the EGR system - very crudely - is to reduce NOX emissions. It does this by feeding back burnt fuel/air into the inlet manifold at some sites in the load/revs map to reduce the available oxygen, This lowers combustion temperatures and leads to lower (or close to zero NOX emission). Another German manufacturer has had 'some' bad press over their Systematic cheating on NOX emissions - Google Rupert Stadler for the latest on that one.

While cleaning the crud out of my EGR system periodically is not much fun, neither is breathing NOX. So my flaps and egr will remain in place - and I'll clean them every now and again, using the info posted above.

Thanks Anzafin, and others!
Mark