khoratfarooq

Hi all,

I know this may have been aired and discussed at length. But should I really be that worried? I own a 2005 (May) M57 engined 525d with 77000 mile on the clock. I would like to keep the car for many years to come. I plan on oil/filter changes every 10 000 miles, but is all this in vain? Will I get a swirl flap in my manifold inlet and a catastrophic expensive engine failure?

I believe my car has these swirl flaps housed in the manifold inlet (can anyone confirm this?).

I think it has the 4.5mm modified rods in the flaps and therefore in theory be immune to swirl flap dislodgement. I know there is a DIY job to remove them on one of these forums but it appears quite advanced and not for the faint-hearted.

Once removed people say they can not tell a difference in vehicle performance on 6 cylinder diesels but bad throttle response/turbo lag on the 4 cylinder diesels (on the 320d).

Will it fail an MOT emissions test post-procedure?

Is it unnecessary to have the modified swirl flaps removed? I asked BMW about these swirl flaps and they tell the older 4mm rod flaps (pre-2005) were a potential weakness, but to date there has been no such problem with the modified 4.5mm rodded swirl flaps.

What do other M57-engined 525d, 530d and 535d (2003-2007) owners think? I believe the LCI models have no swirl flaps. Is this an admission by BMW that this technology sucks?

Comments?

Regards

Kaz

littlemouse

Phew! that's one less thing for me to worry about, thankfully!!

It probably wouldn't hurt to get an independant garage ( so the bill is not so high!!) to check them out if you are concerned about their reliability

Rislar

Good question, I'd like the answer to that also!!!

Bob525D

I have a 2004 525D and I removed mine following Anzafin's procedure, it isnt for the faint hearted. I was nervious in doing mine but to be honest now that I have done it i wouldnt shy away from doing it again. My car had the so called modified flaps but I wouldnt put too much faith in them and I am glad i removed them, there are rumors of these failing also. BMW should inspect these flaps as part of the service schedule and replace where necessary.

I have not noticed any ill effect on performance, my car still pulls like a train.

hey3688

i removed my swirl flaps yesterday 2004 525 dse 77000 miles, mine had the modified flaps with the 4.5mm spindles they seemed fairly
secure and solid but were full of crud .
it is a fairly big job if you dont know what you are doing but i have always done my own mantanance, i also used anzafins post on this
which was very usefull, i also changed the air filter, crankcase filter for the new seperator,egr thermastat,i also cleaned the maf sensor,
cleaned the egr and removed the flaps i started at 9.30 and finnished about 5.00 . i was amazed at how much stuff you have to remove
from the engine bay and how many different kinds of fixings there are to do all these jobs thats why i tackled them all at once.
although the flaps seemed secure i will still sleep better at night knowing they are gone as there has still been cases of the
modified flaps breaking.
whilst i was at the dealers getting the parts i mentioned that i was going to remove the flaps to the parts person and we had a bit of a chat about it
he recond it was more to do with the 4 cylinder engines but they have had cases of 6 cylinder engines going even with the modified flaps, of
course he just recommended putting a new manifold on it (year right at what cost,no thanks) but he said it was upto me and it would give me
pease of mind if they were gone.the car still runs great without the flaps no issues

Rislar

Great stuff, have we the linky please?

Anzafin

What I can say about this issue again, follows next.

I can't tell anyone wether or not to remove the flaps. It is all up to the person who asks about it, if he is ready to take the risk or not. No one can say that someone's flaps WILL fail or they WON'T, because no one knows. I would say their probability to brake or last is 50/50 .

I can tell, that only way to be sure that they don't fail, is to remove them.

Everything has worked great after the removal, and it did not show up anyhow in the annual MOT test.

You can check it by yourself, does your car have them. Try to find a long metal rod under the intake manifold on the right side (when facing the car). See my DIY thread in the DIY section, or PM me.
- Antti -

khoratfarooq

Thanks for your word of wisdom guys,

Your right, if they are not there then there is no cause for alarm. I think I will get a local garage/BM specialist to remove these and provide them with a copy of your DIY thread Antti.

Any idea of cost (in the UK? ...do not want to be ripped off!)

Why do these swirl flaps get caked in debris?

I thought the modern engine and use of fully synthetic oils would eliminate carbon/sludge deposits....or am I wrong all together. I know little about engines and apologies if it is a dumb question.

Regards

Kaz

pauld30

How did you actually remove the flaps ? did you use blanking plugs or cut them off like anzafin.?

Dandle

No because that is wrong the lower powered 3.0d engine in the 525d has no swirl flaps but the other engines do still have them although they are beefed up and on a stronger rod than earlier engines.