[raceyBMW]

Center of the biggest pulley on the front of the engine.

#3 http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...39&hg=11&fg=18

[ianthegreat]

I just finished my walnut blasting and the car runs so smooth again. The only downside is I didn't have enough power from the blaster to "JUST" do the cleaning with it. I broke down and scrubbed a little with carb cleaner. I used my blaster to do 80% of the work, but the last bit I couldn't get. I imagine the BMW tool is much better at getting in the tight spots.

I spent probably $300 in tools and equipment (can use them all for different jobs... compressor, air tools, guns, etc), but the BMW tool would have made it so much quicker.

As far as rotating the valves. Use a 22MM socket and turn the crank shaft. The most common method is accessing from underneath the car. I couldn't get enough space (or I was too lazy and gave up), so I just removed the entire fan which was extremely easy (1 torx bolt, an electrical clip, and a side clip). I was then given clear access to the crank shaft and could watch the valves as I rotated the engine.

[son_of_siggy]

Originally Posted by iBoost

Wow, nice write up!



where do they rent these blasters???

Not sure where. Was saying we might when we're done using it .

[Dackz]

Great write-up. I just had mine done at the dealer this week. Car is super smooth and throttle response is greatly approved. Mpg is up too. I think this is needed every 50k and should just become expected maintenance on the car over time. My car is super smooth now, it feels like when I first got the car.

[335i-boy]

Another great review from Alpina_B3_Lux. I can appreciate how long it would take to photograph and document each step. Best writeups on the forum by far.

Thanks for sharing... again.

[MattyKHZ]

Stumbled across this thread as I have a R56 Mini Cooper S and teh Direct Injection used has known issues with carbon build up.

Reading up on this it seems no-on e in the UK offers a walnut shell decoke service and it seems most garages prefer teh expensive head off approach.

I was thinking of getting this kit myself but did you not say you got teh last one available?

Was wondering if it was available elsewhere ie non BMW but your review states it is made by TVR Group and I am sure the mini instructions found on this site state that the manufacturer is WEZAG.

Any advice you could give would be appreciated. I would even conemplate driving to Luxembourg and back to get this done if you mechanic could work on a Mini????

[happy4nk8er]

Originally Posted by MattyKHZ

Stumbled across this thread as I have a R56 Mini Cooper S and teh Direct Injection used has known issues with carbon build up.

Reading up on this it seems no-on e in the UK offers a walnut shell decoke service and it seems most garages prefer teh expensive head off approach.

I was thinking of getting this kit myself but did you not say you got teh last one available?

Was wondering if it was available elsewhere ie non BMW but your review states it is made by TVR Group and I am sure the mini instructions found on this site state that the manufacturer is WEZAG.

Any advice you could give would be appreciated. I would even conemplate driving to Luxembourg and back to get this done if you mechanic could work on a Mini????

Bought one last week from Tischer BMW here in the US, supposed to be delivered today or tomorrow. I think they are still available.

[son_of_siggy]

We too ordered one last week and it's supposed to arrive this week at some point, so I think they're still out there.

[RWD Man]

you rock man

subscribed for future reference

[Blubaron79]

My car feels like they literally put a new engine in after I had mine cleaned last month. The pics the SA showed me were dirtier than any intake I've seen posted here yet. The SA wouldn't email me the pics though.

I'll be using top tier gas from here on out..

[ETS Michael]

Originally Posted by son_of_siggy

Awesome post and pictures! We've just purchased a BMW Walnut blaster too to do my Dad's 335i. Might look into renting the tool and/or helping others do it in the Pacific NW if all goes well .

Where you located

[phazen23]

Originally Posted by ETS Michael

Where you located

hey, me first ;-)

[son_of_siggy]

I'll post something up in the regional's once we've had a change to take it apart and do it on our vehicle. Going to do a write-up and possibly a video as well on doing it. The OP did a fantastic job on his write-up, and I think between the various entities we'll have people covered on the how-to .

[MattyKHZ]

I was told by my local Mini dealer that there is currently zero availability worldwide.

Maybe there are some within BMW or outside the BMW network.

If anyone knows of anywhere in Europe I can order from I would appreciate it.

And does this need a seperate compressor for air supply or does this have something built in?

Thanks in advance.

Matt

[STONEY_M5]

can u use just a compressor?

[Alpina_B3_Lux]

Originally Posted by Dackz

Great write-up. I just had mine done at the dealer this week. Car is super smooth and throttle response is greatly approved. Mpg is up too. I think this is needed every 50k and should just become expected maintenance on the car over time. My car is super smooth now, it feels like when I first got the car.

Originally Posted by RWD Man

you rock man

subscribed for future reference

Thanks for the positive feedback!

Originally Posted by MattyKHZ

Stumbled across this thread as I have a R56 Mini Cooper S and teh Direct Injection used has known issues with carbon build up.

Reading up on this it seems no-one in the UK offers a walnut shell decoke service and it seems most garages prefer teh expensive head off approach.

I was thinking of getting this kit myself but did you not say you got teh last one available?

Was wondering if it was available elsewhere ie non BMW but your review states it is made by TVR Group and I am sure the mini instructions found on this site state that the manufacturer is WEZAG.

Any advice you could give would be appreciated. I would even conemplate driving to Luxembourg and back to get this done if you mechanic could work on a Mini????

I think you should be able to get one of those machines from the US, I believe there's still some availability there although the shipping costs will of course be higher.

Otherwise, the system I have is also perfectly usable on a Mini as they're also direct injection. However, you'd need a different adapter (I don't have the BMW part no. for the Mini adapter) and I would have to ask my friend whether he would be interested in trying this out with a Mini. I would however think it's more practicable if you ask around in the UK forums as there also seem to be some guys who are going to do this with a simple blasting tool plus compressor.

Originally Posted by 335i-boy

Another great review from Alpina_B3_Lux. I can appreciate how long it would take to photograph and document each step. Best writeups on the forum by far.

Thanks for sharing... again.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by son_of_siggy

I'll post something up in the regional's once we've had a change to take it apart and do it on our vehicle. Going to do a write-up and possibly a video as well on doing it. The OP did a fantastic job on his write-up, and I think between the various entities we'll have people covered on the how-to .

Thank you!

Originally Posted by BX TT3

can u use just a compressor?

What would you do with a compressor? It only compresses air. You need a blasting tool in order to be able to mix the compressed air with the granules and inject it into the intake ports.

Alpina_B3_Lux

[sammk]

Silly question but with all the pain involved in removing the manifold, I would want to clean the seat surfaces of the valve as well, not just the body of the valve. Seems to me like that seat area of the valve would be prone to carbon build-up from ventilation gases passing over it when the valve is open.

Downside with that is, the valve needs to be open when cleaning, which means that the granules end up inside the cylinder, and that's not a good thing.

Any thoughts on this...?

[Alpina_B3_Lux]

Originally Posted by sammk

Silly question but with all the pain involved in removing the manifold, I would want to clean the seat surfaces of the valve as well, not just the body of the valve. Seems to me like that seat area of the valve would be prone to carbon build-up from ventilation gases passing over it when the valve is open.

Downside with that is, the valve needs to be open when cleaning, which means that the granules end up inside the cylinder, and that's not a good thing.

Any thoughts on this...?

With the walnut shell method that is not possible, as the valves need to be closed during the cleaning procedure as you mentioned yourself, in order to avoid that they get into the cylinders.

The only way I know of cleaning the underside of the valves as well is either (i) taking the head apart (which is obviously impracticable) or (ii) using dry ice instead of walnut shells as cleaning material. Then you can leave the valves open during the cleaning procedure. I recently heard that a garage in Munich is offering this service, and I think a good garage close to you could also set this up.

Alpina_B3_Lux

[shaginwagon13]

Originally Posted by Alpina_B3_Lux

using dry ice instead of walnut shells as cleaning material.

Explain???

[Rob@RBTurbo]

IMO the walnut blast procedure will clean up all you could wish for. Anything else is really just asking for the unnecessary and unworthwhile. Most of the build up (99.9%) is effectively removed during the walnut clean. The rest on the other side of the valve seat is burnt in the standard combustion cycle. If you really want to get over the top with it, perhaps try some good induction cleaner to run through the motor while running (ie. BG cleaner, etc). Definitely do the standard walnut cleaning first though. Otherwise be very careful using any foreign objects around the valve seat... it is very import that it seals with the valve perfectly and if nicked or worn unnaturally in any way it can cause you much bigger problems than a very tiny amount of surface discoloration.

Rob

[Alpina_B3_Lux]

Originally Posted by shaginwagon13

Explain???

Someone on the German forums is offering this right now. Apparently instead of using walnut shell granules, they are using dry ice which does not leave any residue. Therefor the valves can stay open during the cleaning process and the back side of the valve can also be cleaned.

I agree, however, that almost all of the carbonised material is removed with the walnut shell method and that the dry ice method will in practice not produce noticeable better results.

Alpina_B3_Lux

[deamon32]

I started getting really bad misfires and extreme shaking in my N54 after about 43k miles.

Ended up getting my valves cleaned at Bulletmotorworks.com, I would highly recommend them to anyone in the SoCal area. These guys are extremely knowledge about the cars they work and and very helpful.

Here are some before and after...