BMW N54 intake cleaning at 185,000 miles

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I've started the project, but calling it quit for tonight with cleaner sitting on the backs of 3 cylinders. I'll resume tomorrow with mybrush, shop vac, and a super good deal on brake cleaner from NAPA - $2.50 per can!

Car has 185,000 miles and the intake hasn't been off since I bought it at 115,000. About 40,000 miles of driving to and from Chicago, so it's not as bad as it could have been.

https://imgur.com/a/d3DIS
 
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I'm not so sure I would have cleaned it looking like that!

I was expecting things to look much worse given all the doom and gloom over DI deposits.

Did you experience any issues or problems?

Ive seen EGR'd diesels with >200k actually nearly occluded with soot/oil mix and still running well and efficiently...
 
The first pic is after scrubbing it for 10 minutes. The others are untouched.

It was starting to idle a bit rough, and would crank for a bit on a warm start. Mileage was slowly dropping.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I'm not so sure I would have cleaned it looking like that!

I was expecting things to look much worse given all the doom and gloom over DI deposits.

Did you experience any issues or problems?

Ive seen EGR'd diesels with >200k actually nearly occluded with soot/oil mix and still running well and efficiently...


Same thoughts here.
My 99 TDI intake manifold was clogged to the point you could barely fit a pinky into the air passageway that remained, and it still started and ran great.
 
Not sure what everyone else is talking about... Those were definitely due for a cleaning.

Much easier with a walnut blaster, IMHO. Can we expect after shots?
 
Originally Posted By: heynow
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I'm not so sure I would have cleaned it looking like that!

I was expecting things to look much worse given all the doom and gloom over DI deposits.

Did you experience any issues or problems?

Ive seen EGR'd diesels with >200k actually nearly occluded with soot/oil mix and still running well and efficiently...


Same thoughts here.
My 99 TDI intake manifold was clogged to the point you could barely fit a pinky into the air passageway that remained, and it still started and ran great.


my ALH wasn't that bad, due to doing the EGR mod via VCDS.
 
BG PRoducts has their GDI cleaning kit, which is 2-solvent based system, to dissolve the buildup at the intake valves.
 
Originally Posted By: Eddie
If I read this correctly, the valves have only 40,000 miles on them. If only 40,000 miles then I think this is pretty bad. ed

Nope...

Originally Posted By: antonmnster
Car has 185,000 miles and the intake hasn't been off since I bought it at 115,000.

So it is at least 70k miles, assuming it was cleaned by the previous owner. Or full 185,000 miles assuming no one ever cleaned the valves.
 
I bought the car at 115k. There was nothing in the service history to suggest a valve cleaning going back to about 30k, so I'd say I'm the first one in here. (Aside from the half dozen times the HPFP was changed, giving the car a CA "lemon law" title.)

The more I think about it, the more I think the previous owner would have mentioned doing that service. So I'd wager this is original.

As far as owning an N54... it's not for the faint of heart. Fuel injectors have been my big pain. Still on the PO's water pump and thermostat. And this car needs to be aligned every six months...
 
Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
Not sure what everyone else is talking about... Those were definitely due for a cleaning.

Much easier with a walnut blaster, IMHO. Can we expect after shots?


Apparently you've never worked on egr'd diesels...
 
Originally Posted By: antonmnster
I bought the car at 115k. There was nothing in the service history to suggest a valve cleaning going back to about 30k, so I'd say I'm the first one in here. (Aside from the half dozen times the HPFP was changed, giving the car a CA "lemon law" title.)

The more I think about it, the more I think the previous owner would have mentioned doing that service. So I'd wager this is original.

As far as owning an N54... it's not for the faint of heart. Fuel injectors have been my big pain. Still on the PO's water pump and thermostat. And this car needs to be aligned every six months...


Still on original turbos I assume? Fuel injectors, HPFPs and water pumps are the common issues on those, as well as turbo waste gates. Seems like some of them crack the plastic part of the water pump every 30k miles, and others are still on the original water pump at over 100k miles.
21.gif
 
Whew! Finally back together. I was just putzing here and there, scrubbed the last two cylinders and put it back together today. Immediate starts and idles better. Have only driven it around the block so far.

Yes, original turbos - unless they were replaced under warranty. About 80,000 on the water pump; replaced 3 original injectors last year; went through a bunch of HPFPs before I got it, has about 70,000 on the current one.

As long as the flaky parts are continually replaced, these are really nice engines. The mechanicals are very very solid.
 
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