JLinardi

Ok so im gonna tell you guys my predicament.

Im in the UK and about 4 years ago we got a 97 E39 523i and at first I loved it always had it out driving around, I loved the sound of the engine when you pushed hard and all of that. But it began to develop faults and low and behold it has recently been diagnosed as a Nikasil block victim . Im gutted about this because it has ruined the whole experience of driving the car, I darent stop anywhere incase it doesnt start up again and there is an annoying vibration at idle. And im just worried in general everytime I think about the car.

Now recently we have seen a gorgeous 525d it is an 05 reg, silver with what I think are chrome M6 alloys on it doesnt have the skirts on it but the alloys really set it off nice. But because of my experience with the 523i this time I decided to research and issues with E60's and straight away in google I found the post off this site 'swirl flap failure = broken engine' (which is what led me to this beautiful site ). More extensive searches shown this to be not just a one off.

Now I dont want to have my BMW owning experience ruined again by being constantly worried when driving about that at anytime this swirl flap could break, completely ruin the car and leave us with a bill of thousands I shouldnt have to hav this worry in a (only just) 4 years old car made by such a prestigious brand. The Nikasil was bad enough but it appears they havent learned. In the E39 now, if I park up I try and park far away from the place where not many people are incase it doesnt start back up. Its quite embarrasing in a 'normal' car but 10 times as bad in a BMW. And its so annoying that the faults are not just minor faults, even just 2-300 pound fixes but are catastrophic engine failures.

My point is that how' afraid' should I be of these damn flaps and have is it likely withe the car being an 05 model that BMW have since improved the design??

Thanks.

Anzafin

Welcome to the forums!

About swirl flaps... They can broke or last. No one can say. Actually it doesn't matter, because here's your answer:
Removing the swirl flaps in a diesel engine

There's couple of links into couple of threads where you can learn more, but the simpliest and the best solution is to remove them.
No bad effects, just pure pleasure after removal!

AlwynMike

Firstly, Welcome to the site - there's lots of reading to be done on here!!

Secondly, I stand to be corrected here, but does the 525d have swirl flaps?? I thought it was just the 2 and 3 litres that had them.

Thirdly, I removed mine today!! It's not a long or difficult job to do - it's just a pain that we should have to do it "just in case"

Mike

JLinardi

I asked on another forum and apparently the 525d auto has them but the manual doesnt. Also Im not as mechanically gifted as alot of you guys on here, would no way have the confidence in myself to start unscrewing things and removing parts!

Anzafin

Believe me, it's an easy job. But if you wouldn't like to do it yourself, I am SURE you would find a member near you who could do it for a beer!

Member Palmo has more information which 525d's have swirl flaps and which don't. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you contacted him. And you can always check it by yourself too, does some particular car have them or no.

Please don't let the swirl flaps be a thing that pushes you away from E60!

edit: Oh yeah, please put your location in your member profile.

Dr Dave

well done mike, did you do it yourself or in a garage?
did it all go ok ?

welcome to the un-flapables

DD_545i

Admission time : I have no idea what a swirl flap is.

Anzafin

As long as you don't have a diesel you don't have to ...

JLinardi

Apparently the 525 auto has the flaps but the manual doesnt.

Location added

AlwynMike

Hi Dave,

I've been considering the flaps for a while, even though my car has only done 43k, but, it was a nice afternoon, so I decided to give it a go.
All went reasonably well - the worst thing was the strut brace bolt that is now round instead of Torx! Cold chisel, hammer and memories of doing the same thing on 60's and 70's Jap bike engines!! I looked at various adhesives, and decided on one of Evo Stik's brand - it claims to be good for up to +130 degrees, whereas Araldite is "only" good for +70 degrees. The way the bolts went into the plastic, I think the adhesive is probably overkill (I tapped the hole and used M6 bolts).
Mine is a mid-'04 car, and the flaps are date stamped April '04, and have, correction, had 4.5mm shafts.
There was a fair amount of crud in the inlets - not a serious build-up, just dirty. The crud was soft and wiped off easily.
I've got to put the manifold back in the morning - lack of light got the better of me, and I'd prefer to let the adhesive cure before I'm tempted to start the car.

I just hope that jump leads on the engine bay terminals will let me open the boot, as the batterys disconnected, and I couldn't leave it open all night!!!

Mike