[F48_Driver]

Going to get this done on the weekend. Any recommendations on what to ask the mechanic to check on while things are disassembled? To ensure things are looking good and dandy.

[decker335i]

Did this yesterday, whoa what a PITA. Took me about 6 hours start to finish with some breaks in between (*beer*).

Couple notes
1. When bumping the starter, don't have tape on the covers, or at least re-seal them. I ended up getting some shells in neighboring cylinders, i think this is inevitable. No harm done tho. I ended up stuffing shop-rags into the cylinders soaked in carb-cleaner while i was working on other cylinders.

2. Get a big compressor, i had a 26 gallon 150PSI compressor and it worked ok. Kept having to wait 5 minutes between cylinders (the "clearing" of the walnut shells with straight air uses up alot).

3. The media blaster jams alot, make sure your shopvac is super clean since you'll be re-using the shells and don't want anything else getting in there (read, sand=bad for engine).

4. Spray some carb cleaner on the valve, enough to pool. If it doesn't pool, you didn't properly close it (bump and try again).

5. If you get some walnut shells in the engine, not a biggie. Just try to limit it as much as possible.

Anyway, two or three of my cylinders were HORRIBLE. I have a '07 335i e90 with about 75K on the clock. I bought it used and chipped it for a year or two and then pulled it after my injectors went. Cylinder one was so bad, the valve was literally surrounded by gunk and barely had a hole for the air. I'd guess about 40% blocked on the left valve. I don't have a oil cooler, so i'm guessing that's the cause of all the blocked valves (i live in GA, super hot)

After starting the car back up, had a super rough idle and CEL, but after shutting down and restarting it purred like a kitten. The low-end power is BACK baby!

Totally recommend doing this, broke a couple clips here and there but overall not bad. Anyway, here's a couple pictures. The picture of the dirty valve is cylinder #6, the second dirtiest. You can't even see the edge of the valve, so I didn't know if it was closed or not.

[Alpina_B3_Lux]

Doing this the first time is not easy and takes a bit of time.

My mechanic can do this in under 3 hours now (lots of practise!).

Alpina_B3_Lux

[06E90Rostik]

This is really interesting since people can feel real results. I always kinda suspected those fuel/oil additives were a snake oil and never really cleaned anything. I can't afford the whole thing, but will definitely just get an adaptor and will mock up the rest.

Question, is this procedure applies to non-turbo cars as well? My sister's 325i is pushing 100k miles and runs rough at times, my 335i is only around 20k miles so I don't think it needs it now, but this will be a great practice for when I need to do it in my 335

[dbjb]

Originally Posted by 06E90Rostik

This is really interesting since people can feel real results. I always kinda suspected those fuel/oil additives were a snake oil and never really cleaned anything. I can't afford the whole thing, but will definitely just get an adaptor and will mock up the rest.

Question, is this procedure applies to non-turbo cars as well? My sister's 325i is pushing 100k miles and runs rough at times, my 335i is only around 20k miles so I don't think it needs it now, but this will be a great practice for when I need to do it in my 335

Fuel additives are good for port injection and will clean the valves on your sisters 325. The 335 has direct injection and thus fuel additives do nothing to clean the valves.

[redEYEjedi]

Does anyone have any good recommendations of shops to do this in Socal?

[Antikki]

Originally Posted by redEYEjedi

Does anyone have any good recommendations of shops to do this in Socal?

67k miles and I have no idea what condition my valves are in. This thread is motivation enough to get this done. I'll try the diy and post pics.

[924er]

Originally Posted by 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...

How much they charge ?

[rooringhusky]

If you need a referral in Socal let me know I know a guy who does it for $250 with new gasket

And they will be much cleaner than the above!

[redEYEjedi]

Originally Posted by rooringhusky

If you need a referral in Socal let me know I know a guy who does it for $250 with new gasket

And they will be much cleaner than the above!

Sweet! Is this just a guy or a shop?

I asked Ivan @ Strassesport in Irwindale and he's willing to do this for $350 and will provide photos of the work also.

I remember reading a few threads where people paid for this work at another shop here in socal and they said they were having problems with their cars after, and others even went so far to say they don't even think the work was done!

[Knightley]

hi everyone after seeing this thread i decided to have mine checked as I'm in europe i have now 78.000 km and my car was running sometimes rough at idle , so anyway i wanted the me performance PPK 2 installed after having PPK STAGE 1 kinda wanted the added cooling for future tunes , but anyway as i was having this done i asked the garage to take the intake valve off and have look!! and this was the result

[Knightley]

ok pictures don't show but maybe this works

[Alpina_B3_Lux]

Originally Posted by Knightley

hi everyone after seeing this thread i decided to have mine checked as I'm in europe i have now 78.000 km and my car was running sometimes rough at idle , so anyway i wanted the me performance PPK 2 installed after having PPK STAGE 1 kinda wanted the added cooling for future tunes , but anyway as i was having this done i asked the garage to take the intake valve off and have look!! and this was the result

I see you're in Austria - I know it's quite a bit to drive but if you want to have the cleaning done we can do that for you in Luxembourg. Also possible on week-ends.

Alpina_B3_Lux

[N44183]

Never done this. Bought my 07 with 44k in early 2012 and now have 144k. It seems to run ok but not sure-I may be used to degraded performance and not know it. Has anyone ever waited till they hit 140k before doing it?

[Knightley]

Originally Posted by Alpina_B3_Lux

I see you're in Austria - I know it's quite a bit to drive but if you want to have the cleaning done we can do that for you in Luxembourg. Also possible on week-ends.

Alpina_B3_Lux

yeh im in austria near innsbruck beautiful area best places to drive to
I've actually asked the bmw garage in innsbruck to clean it now for me , i will post pictures soon of the finished product ,was also a good price €500 for everything . next time i will keep you guys in mind thanks tho for the offer.

[nuklep]

Originally Posted by decker335i

Did this yesterday, whoa what a PITA. Took me about 6 hours start to finish with some breaks in between (*beer*).

Couple notes
1. When bumping the starter, don't have tape on the covers, or at least re-seal them. I ended up getting some shells in neighboring cylinders, i think this is inevitable. No harm done tho. I ended up stuffing shop-rags into the cylinders soaked in carb-cleaner while i was working on other cylinders.

2. Get a big compressor, i had a 26 gallon 150PSI compressor and it worked ok. Kept having to wait 5 minutes between cylinders (the "clearing" of the walnut shells with straight air uses up alot).

3. The media blaster jams alot, make sure your shopvac is super clean since you'll be re-using the shells and don't want anything else getting in there (read, sand=bad for engine).

4. Spray some carb cleaner on the valve, enough to pool. If it doesn't pool, you didn't properly close it (bump and try again).

5. If you get some walnut shells in the engine, not a biggie. Just try to limit it as much as possible.

Anyway, two or three of my cylinders were HORRIBLE. I have a '07 335i e90 with about 75K on the clock. I bought it used and chipped it for a year or two and then pulled it after my injectors went. Cylinder one was so bad, the valve was literally surrounded by gunk and barely had a hole for the air. I'd guess about 40% blocked on the left valve. I don't have a oil cooler, so i'm guessing that's the cause of all the blocked valves (i live in GA, super hot)

After starting the car back up, had a super rough idle and CEL, but after shutting down and restarting it purred like a kitten. The low-end power is BACK baby!

Totally recommend doing this, broke a couple clips here and there but overall not bad. Anyway, here's a couple pictures. The picture of the dirty valve is cylinder #6, the second dirtiest. You can't even see the edge of the valve, so I didn't know if it was closed or not.

Did you by any chance use the Harbor Freight compressor? I'm about to buy that for this job. How about vacuum? How many HP did your vacuum have?

[Kingtron]

Hi,
According to the manual of the blasting device from BMW part# 81292208034

"Only blasting material that has been approved by the manufacturer may be used: nutshell granules with grain size of 0.45 - 0.8 mm."

As mentioned in the first post... The device is made by a German company called TKR, and they are selling the blasting material http://www.tkr-service.com/shop/tkr_...-granules.html



The problem is.. minimum order is 5 bags !!!
I have manged to find the blasting device from BMW in my area ..How many bag do i need for one time clean ?

[Alpina_B3_Lux]

Originally Posted by Kingtron

Hi,
According to the manual of the blasting device from BMW part# 81292208034

"Only blasting material that has been approved by the manufacturer may be used: nutshell granules with grain size of 0.45 - 0.8 mm."

As mentioned in the first post... The device is made by a German company called TKR, and they are selling the blasting material http://www.tkr-service.com/shop/tkr_...-granules.html

Attachment 1387161

The problem is.. minimum order is 5 bags !!!
I have manged to find the blasting device from BMW in my area ..How many bag do i need for one time clean ?

You can use any walnut blasting material with the same grain size. I'm buying mine on ebay, 25kg for 36 EUR, works perfectly.

You need about 3-4kg for each cleaning, at least if you've got a bit of a routine already. You can reuse the grain if you filter the dirt out of them with a sieve. If you do that, the 25kg will be good for about 10 cleanings.

[Kingtron]

Originally Posted by Alpina_B3_Lux

You can use any walnut blasting material with the same grain size. I'm buying mine on ebay, 25kg for 36 EUR, works perfectly.

You need about 3-4kg for each cleaning, at least if you've got a bit of a routine already. You can reuse the grain if you filter the dirt out of them with a sieve. If you do that, the 25kg will be good for about 10 cleanings.

Thanks, what is the product and the brand name from EBAY ?

[Alpina_B3_Lux]

Originally Posted by Kingtron

Thanks, what is the product and the brand name from EBAY ?

Here's the link: 25 kg walnut grains / ebay

[Kingtron]

Originally Posted by Alpina_B3_Lux

Here's the link: 25 kg walnut grains / ebay

Great , Thanks

[musziQluvher]

I'm located in Kaiserslautern. Are you still offering this service?