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      11-19-2010, 11:24 AM   #12
AlwynMike
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Drives: F36 440i GC.
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Lincolnshire Flatlands

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Quote:
Originally Posted by rsmallwo View Post
How much we looking at to remove my intake flaps.......hehe

Serious, how much labour/blanking plates ££

Thanks
I am guessing here.
For the 5er, there are two sizes of blanking plugs. I understand that most suppliers will supply both types and refund for the unused set. PMW charge £9 + VAT each for the plugs, although there are others cheaper. BMWLand has an informative article on Swirl Flaps, including engine types that are affected.
I would imagine a non-specialist would take about 1.5 hours to replace the flaps - knock off half an hour for someone who's done it before.

When I did mine, it took me about 2.5 hours, but I went the cheapskate route and just removed the flaps and spindles, plugging the spindle holes with a suitably sized and sealed bolt, so mine cost a couple of pence for the bolts and about 20p worth of Loctite that I had in the garage anyway. (When the spindles are removed - the screws that are supposed to hold the flaps to the spindle have to be filed/ground off - the bush that the spindles run in has to be tapped to the same thread as the bolt. The bolt is then sealed with Loctite and screwed in from the outside, so there is no possibility that the bolt can drop into the engine and do the same damage as a swirl flap!). The actuator and mechanism remains on the car, so the ECU doesn't see anything missing - unplug the actuator and an error code will result. With the manifold off, you take the opportunity to clean the EGR valve and inspect everything else that is normally covered up!

Mike

Last edited by AlwynMike; 11-19-2010 at 11:31 AM..
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