[jwalker87]

With 54k on my N54, I've been looking around at how to clean my intake valves. I refuse to pay BMW $700, and the DIYs for walnut blasting seem to be less than ideal. I found this at n54tech.com. A guide to cleaning them using cleaning solutions. Not sure if it's frowned up on to post a link to another forum, but it's great info and it's not here. I'll probably be trying this sometime in the near future.

LINK: http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12258

[JamesM3M5]

I did a manual cleaning with carb and choke cleaner (get 5 cans), brake clean, lots of rags and paper towels, compressed air, and a few different gun cleaning brush kits from WalMart. Takes a lot more effort than walnut blasting, but you can get them really clean. Mine were severely crudded up with very thick deposits all the way down the port and on the back of the valves.

Count on at least 3 hours, maybe 4 or so. Careful with the tiny nipple that goes to the DVs. It can break off the manifold if you're not careful!

[KyLu II]

Originally Posted by jwalker87

With 54k on my N54, I've been looking around at how to clean my intake valves. I refuse to pay BMW $700, and the DIYs for walnut blasting seem to be less than ideal. I found this at n54tech.com. A guide to cleaning them using cleaning solutions. Not sure if it's frowned up on to post a link to another forum, but it's great info and it's not here. I'll probably be trying this sometime in the near future.

LINK: http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12258

it is on here, i used it last year to clean my valves.

[GOTMH8N]

Very good write up

[BOosted335i]

Is it easy to remove the intake to check to see if its caked up. Are the gaskets reusable.

[JamesM3M5]

Originally Posted by BOosted335i

Is it easy to remove the intake to check to see if its caked up. Are the gaskets reusable.

Yes. They're quite thick and resilient. Should have no problems holding boost after reusing them. I reused mine last October when I did the cleaning.

[BOosted335i]

Originally Posted by JamesM3M5

Yes. They're quite thick and resilient. Should have no problems holding boost after reusing them. I reused mine last October when I did the cleaning.

Thanks.I have 28000 miles but have been running a oil catch can for the last 10000 miles. May be a good idea to check it.

[Rotorocious]

Hey thats me! lol

I plan on doing it again soon. Its been about 15-20k

[Slow_335i]

Originally Posted by BOosted335i

Thanks.I have 28000 miles but have been running a oil catch can for the last 10000 miles. May be a good idea to check it.

Honestly I wouldn't touch it if your only at 28k miles. probably not enough to justify the work to remove the intake.

[Outlaw 06]

I just bit the $800 bullet and had the intake valves "carbon cleaned" (a.k.a. walnut blasted) on my E90 335i's N54B30 engine at my local BMW dealership. The parts came to $115.46 and the labor was $699.00.

FYI, if you're going through all the time and effort to remove the intake manifold, you might as well replace the $40 set of Profile Gaskets while you're at it. The BMW P/N is 11-61-7-547-242.

My 335i has 57k miles on it now and the intake valve cleaning made a very noticeable improvement on the motor's throttle response, performance (and idling). In my opinion, the intake valve cleaning on the N54 probably needs to be done at every 45k mile spark plug change interval.

For those of you who might be wondering, the valve clearance adjustment on my E46 M3's S54B32 engine only came to $150.74 for parts and $630.00 for labor. I just mention that because the periodic intake valve cleaning on the N54 is every bit as necessary as the periodic valve clearance adjustment on the S54. This is just one more reason why I contend that the FI/DI N54 is more costly to maintain than the S54. The N54 isn't anywhere near the motor the S54 is either...

[gtaccord]

I did the walnut blasting method myself this weekend. I am not sure if my car was particularly bad or if my setup wasn't that good but it took me a long time (6 hrs cleaning time alone) and I wasn't particularly happy with the results.

The valves are cleaner and thankfully the car performs much better now so at least I got some benefit from it but I was not able to clean them as good as some of the other people I have seen on this forum.

In my opinion it is worth the $800 at a dealership to get this done and it is definitely worth it to get it done at a indy shop if they charge less.

Just my 2 cents.

[JamesM3M5]

Originally Posted by TJDiCandido

This is just one more reason why I contend that the FI/DI N54 is more costly to maintain than the S54. The N54 isn't anywhere near the motor the S54 is either...

Bah, the N54 is the wave of the future. The S54 is nice and all, but it's heavier, has just as expensive moving parts that are S54-specific (i.e. not cheap), and doesn't make the same torque/liter as a stock N54. The water pump for an S54 is just as expensive as an N54, too. Mildly tuned S54s still overheat on track, too, even though they come with decent radiators and big oil coolers.

Both engines need expensive upgrades and maintenance once tracked, too. You get more revs out of the S54, but the N54 makes so much more midrange torque that you'd be hard pressed to call either engine "better" in a drag race to turn 1. You just don't see as many (hardly any, actually) hard core track guys running the N54 due to its complexity, but it will catch on. The E36 M3 was the dominant track car until the past few years when the E46 M3 dropped in price.

[BOosted335i]

Originally Posted by Slow_335i

Honestly I wouldn't touch it if your only at 28k miles. probably not enough to justify the work to remove the intake.

The car runs fine.so maybe ill wait little longer

[sjobusen]

Can anyone who made this cleaning, tell me what bad symptoms you had before cleaning the valves?
Or did you guys just noticed after the cleaning that your car performs better?

[335xi Kevo]

Originally Posted by sjobusen

Can anyone who made this cleaning, tell me what bad symptoms you had before cleaning the valves?
Or did you guys just noticed after the cleaning that your car performs better?

Valves are caked. Removing this increases the potential air flow thus resulting in increased hp, one individual posted a 14whp increase post cleaning. That will definitely be felt.

[jwalker87]

I'll definitely post back when I do it, but it is needed. I just bought an OCC, but haven't installed it yet. I'm having the car enter limp mode MOST of the time if I floor it with the revs high (>3k). I think this may be a culprit. If not, I'm sure I need it anyway.

[Outlaw 06]

Originally Posted by sjobusen

Can anyone who made this cleaning, tell me what bad symptoms you had before cleaning the valves?
Or did you guys just noticed after the cleaning that your car performs better?

Pre intake valve cleaning symptoms: At about 50,000 miles, the motor began intermittently misfiring at idle. It was subtle and barely perceptible at first, but I noticed it. I initially thought it was a bad ignition coil or something. At about 55,000 miles, the motor began to really bog down at around 3,000 RPM with the throttle wide open. The power loss was so noticeable that I thought the HPFP was failing again. That's when I stopped by my local BMW dealership and took the Master Tech along for a test drive in my car. He diagnosed the problem as carbon buildup on the intake valves (which is one of the downsides of Direct Injection engines like the N54).

Post intake valve cleaning results: My 335i definitely performs much better after the intake valve cleaning. It has much better throttle response and much smoother power delivery all the way up to red line.

[BMW_Belgier]

Very stupid question:

Do i need to do this with a N55 (Valvetronic) ?

[gtaccord]

After the cleaning my car is like a whole different animal.

Before I would get some roughness and "bumps" in acceleration during part throttle usually in the higher gears. This would come and go but it was always there (even when I test drove the car before I bought it). I worried that it was my injectors but I figured I would try the cleaning first.

Now the acceleration is smooth all the way to redline. Also the car seems much more responsive and just overall feels better. Some of this may be a placebo effect but the car is definitely better.

[SirCook3141]

I bought a 2007 335i a few months ago, it was a pretty good price, $10k with 68,000mi. so I wasn't surprised when it began this running rough nonsense after two months. I brought it into the dealer for troubleshooting this intermittent rough running issue which turned out to be the carbon cancer on the intake. Also had the oil filter housing gasket replaced and got a new splash guard for under the engine.

So, $725 for walnut blasting the intake valves
$961 for changing the oil filter housing gasket
$300 for the splash guard

Now she runs like the wind!

[MysticRob]

So you got raped on maintenance and reanimated a 6 year old thread.
Good job? LOL
Technically the carbon is on the intake valves, on the head, not the intake.
Interesting damage on the tray. And odd grooves dug into the intake valve runners.

[SirCook3141]

Originally Posted by MysticRob

So you got raped on maintenance and reanimated a 6 year old thread.
Good job? LOL
Technically the carbon is on the intake valves, on the head, not the intake.
Interesting damage on the tray. And odd grooves dug into the intake valve runners.

.