WOROS & PICTURES

Michael Whitestone

T
::::~arge
chunk of o ur
te chnical
queries were
concerne d with the
question of the Nikasil
engines, but the se d ays
we're seeing a stead y
flow of e nquirie s from
re sder s worrie d about
their diesel e ngines.
Regular readers
will be aware of
the controversy
surrounding the
design of the
inlet maifolds on
BMW's common
rail diesel engines
and the potentially
disastrous e ffects of

fai
The problem lies
in the
0

~;;:~,.;;::~~~;~~;~~:~:==~~~~!!!!~!!!!!~~=·~~~d-~~J
lure.design of the inlet manifold,
which includes butterfly flaps The best
(commonly known as swirl flaps). The As a rough guide,
idea is that by opening and closing
they lengthen or shorten the effective
solution is engines affected will be
those produced from
best solution is simply to eliminate
the problem by removing the flaps
length of the manifold which in turn
should alter the torque output of the
simply to 2001 to July 2005,
although specialists
completely.
It's not as serious as it sounds, since
eng ine. The eng ine normally runs with
the flap s open, giving a shorter tract.
eliminate the engines
report having seen
from 2004
the effect of removing the flaps is
apparently a very slight increase in
Unfortunately, it isn't known
for them to break up a nd the
problem by flapswithfittedthe updated
at the factory.
emissions at idle and the car will drive
no d ifferently: off idle, the engine runs
consequences can write off the
engine. Although t he flaps themselves
removin Although BMW UK will
generally treat each case on
with the flaps fully open in any case.
You will of course need to block the
a re made from plastic and will its merits and "listen with holes created by removing the flaps
generally either lodge inside the the flaps a sympathetic ear" to and spindles, and although you will see
manifold or simply pass throug h the any claims on a car posts on the internet from people using
engine without harming it, the metal out of warranty, the epoxy glue and self-tappers, who can
fix ings can b e ingested into the trust them not to break free and get
cylinders. ingested into the engine one day?
The result can include a ruined ENGINES AFFECTED To do the job properly, we
piston, valves and cylinder head .. visited Peter Mould at Chelmsford
while on their way out, the bits will M47TU (four cylinder) and M57TU (six cylinder). The 'TU' stands BMW specialist PMW Ltd who has
also take out your turbo and then just for 'technical update' and signifies that they are the successor of researched the subject carefully and
for good measure the catalyst too. the earlier engines and so have the swirl flaps. can supply and fit supply and fit neat
BMW addressed the problem by billet aluminium blanking p lugs in
introd ucing s tronger swirl flaps a nd Engine code Introduced Applications the holes left in the manifold . If you
larger diameter spindles - made from M47TUD20 2001 E46 320d, 320Cd, X3 2.0d want to do the job yourself, PMW
plastic - in 2006. This however is no M57TUD25 2004 E60/E61 525d can supply the plugs to you via mail
help to the owners of older models, M57TUD30 2002 E46 330d/330Cd, X3 3.0d, X5 3.0d order at £ 14 each plus VAT and as
especially as they are now coming out E60/E61 530d/535d, E65 730d you'll see from the following steps
of warranty. it's easy DIY.

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Remove the screws holding the elaborate plastic engine cover and The strut brace needs to be removed to gain access to the top of the
lift it away to access the manifold. engine. It is attached the top of the struts and fixed to the bulkhead.

After loosening the EGR tube, the manifold can be removed. Don't let
Remove the bolts which hold the manifold to the cylinder head. anything fall into the inlet ports!

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Tech

This is the swirl flap in the open position. This is the unit that we will
remove altogether, but it is interesting to compare this metal version
with BMW's uprated version in the next picture. Incidentally, the oily This is a manifold from a later engine. Note that BMW has changed
soot is common for a diesel engine. the design to a one-piece plastic butterfly without the meta l fixings.

The swirl flaps are held into the manifold by two screws. After
these are undone, the flaps can be withdrawn. Although they will
The swirl flaps are actuated by a rod that links them to a small servo. be discarded, you might want to examine them to see if they were
This can be removed and discarded. about to fail...

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Note the two tiny screws which hold the flap to the spindle. They
can work loose from vibration and just one of these sucked into the This is an example of a broken flap from a 320d e ngine. The
combustion chamber would write off the engine. conse quences of this failure are sh own in next two pictures.

Here's what can happen when a foreign object hits a piston 60 times .. . and as you can see the damage to the cylinder h ead matches the
every second... piston quite well.

84 TOTAL BMW MAGAZINE I MAY 2009

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Job done. The original swirl flap is on the left and the inlet port on the
PMW produces sin gle-piece aluminium billet blanking plugs right shows the very neat replacement. You can either discard the bits
complete with 'O ' ring. As these are a solid piece and are fitted from or squirrel them away somewhere but the car won't feel any different
the outside of the manifold, the re is no danger of these being drawn to drive and you won't have to worry about the bill for a replacement
into the e ngine. engine, turbo and catalyst.

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