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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > BMW E90/E92/E93 3-series General Forums > General E90 Sedan / E91 Wagon / E92 Coupe / E93 Cabrio > Just an FYI regarding the plastic engine cover.



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      10-13-2007, 12:52 PM   #1
Driver72
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Just an FYI regarding the plastic engine cover.

So I thought I would take the plastic engine cover off the BMW (the part that covers the actual cylinders and has the BMW logo on it.
My reasoning was simple: this engine runs hot, so having a plastic TENT over top the engine would do nothing more than trap heat in.
Removing it would allow the heat to escape and dissipate faster.

I've done this on other cars of mine too since they are almost always exclusively cosmetic (so the engine looks pretty when you pop the hood).

However, as I was pulling it off, I noticed a couple things.
One, there is thick padding all around it on the inside, and there are a God-awful amount of wires and connectors underneath it.

I concluded the padding is for noise reduction and keeping the vibrating engine from rattling the plastic cover and other things I'm sure.
And I thought that on top of that, the plastic cover and apparently heat resistant padding would help keep water and dirt off the numerous wires and connectors located underneath.

So in conclusion I put the thing back on.
I'm confident without it, the engine would run a bit cooler and allow more heat to escape, but unlike the other cars I've removed that from, the BMW clearly had thick padding and lots of wires and connectors under it, so I felt it more important to protect them and keep the cover on.
Plus that without that padding on, I might hear more engine noise and possibly a vibration or two if that padding was keeping anything from rattling.

Sorry so long, but just wanted to give anybody else who was thinking of removing that cover a heads up as it may not be worth the trade off.
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      10-13-2007, 01:52 PM   #2
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Im pretty sure most people are happy where their cover lives and have no plans to relocate it
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      10-13-2007, 02:03 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Driver72 View Post
I'm confident without it, the engine would run a bit cooler and allow more heat to escape, but unlike the other cars I've removed that from, the BMW clearly had thick padding and lots of wires and connectors under it, so I felt it more important to protect them and keep the cover on.
Plus that without that padding on, I might hear more engine noise and possibly a vibration or two if that padding was keeping anything from rattling.

Sorry so long, but just wanted to give anybody else who was thinking of removing that cover a heads up as it may not be worth the trade off.
What do you base your confidence on? In a trade-off, there's usually a benefit. What is the benefit to removing the engine cover? If cooler is better, why not remove the thermostat (on a regular motor) which would cause the coolant to never reach operating temp.
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      10-13-2007, 02:12 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by lvwirelessguy View Post
Im pretty sure most people are happy where their cover lives and have no plans to relocate it
i think its safe to say about 98%-99.5% of people dont have any plans of removing it lol
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      10-13-2007, 05:43 PM   #5
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I relocated mine to where the spare tire should be.
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      10-13-2007, 06:03 PM   #6
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there is a reason for all those covers. heat dissipation occures in 3 forms: radiation, conduction and convection. the designers designed those components with specific colors for different forms of head dissipation. irradation plays a great part in those choosing those colors, hence certain places of the intake tracts are all black while exhaust components are silvered, just like your coffee thermos, they are vital. i wouldn't want to change those elements based on convection methods alone. leave those parts on, they are vital to the thermodynamics of the car.

off topic, but people changing their mirrors and trunk lids are changing the aerodynamic coeff. as well. wonder why the draft angle on the e92 trunk lids are much smoother than e46's? they located the turbulence trips at a different location; hence there are larger gaps between the rear glass and the forward portion of the trunk lid on the 92's than 46's. they are intentional, not relaxed tolerances. remember the little dots on the tops of the mirrors of e36's, they changed those trips as gaps between the colored fwd portion of the mirror and the black plastic part.

every design element has a purpose, leave it alone.
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      10-13-2007, 06:36 PM   #7
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Good points, but as consumers of the end product we can't always know the exact reason behind something. Rather than an engineering basis, it could be a cost driven issue (e.g. black is the cheaper plastic color), an aesthetic decision, etc.
Covers do help keep dirt, dust and water off sensitive components and make a mechanics job easier - for example who wants to replace spark plugs in spark plug wells that have gotten caked full of dirt and road grime that might drop into the cylinders? Covers can trap heat, but they also muffle sound and can help the engine warm up to operating temps faster. The seals around the engine bay serve similar purposes.
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      10-13-2007, 08:30 PM   #8
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I only stopped in because I know exactly what your talking about with removing engine covers. Fortunately these cars have them to serve more purpose than to make that big thing under the hood look pretty. Plus I bet 90% of the owners dont even open the hood if they dont have too.
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      10-13-2007, 09:30 PM   #9
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They test these cars running full load in Death Valley in the heat of the summer and in Alaska in the dead of the winter to make sure everything works (although they might have missed the oil cooler), so don't waste your time trying to find ways to change things.
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      10-14-2007, 08:32 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by halB View Post
They test these cars running full load in Death Valley in the heat of the summer and in Alaska in the dead of the winter to make sure everything works (although they might have missed the oil cooler), so don't waste your time trying to find ways to change things.
Then they make sure the car running full load in Toronto with weather of both extremes
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      10-14-2007, 08:40 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chrisalano22 View Post
I only stopped in because I know exactly what your talking about with removing engine covers. Fortunately these cars have them to serve more purpose than to make that big thing under the hood look pretty. Plus I bet 90% of the owners dont even open the hood if they dont have too.
My CA said she doesn't know how to add oil or washer fluid to her 328. I opened my hood on the first day and found a piece of plastic that was loose so I removed it. To this day not sure what it was for, but it's been 10 mos. so I guess I didn't need it.
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      10-14-2007, 08:22 PM   #12
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Guys, they are mostly there for cosmetics only.

I'm guessing most of you people who think they serve a big purpose are younger guys (below 30).

For decades and decades, engines weren't covered by plastics and did just fine.
I believe it was Lexus who started covering their engines in the early to mid 90's so they look pretty.
Other car manufacturers followed.

One of the more recent of my car's whose plastic cover I removed: my G35's was simply a plastic cover, and frankly I liked the looks of the 6 cylinders rather than a plastic cover that said "3.5 V6" on it. Like owners don't know what size engine the car had.

I don't know why some of you think it's such a foreign idea to remove them or think the engines "need" them, but whatever you want to believe, no sarcastic responses from you guys needed or wanted.
It was just a point to those who DID consider removing it, that for the first time in MANY cars I've owned where I did remove the plastic engine cover, the BMW's seemed to have more of a purpose than just too look pretty.
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      10-14-2007, 10:59 PM   #13
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      10-14-2007, 11:05 PM   #14
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I wasn't gonna post in this thread again but everything in there, including the covers are not just for looks. Please when are people going to understand. I am not under 30 and I've been an engineer and have done this kind of research before. Thermoplastics are not cheaper in black either. Why do you think most parts are either black or silvered?? Even if you take the decorative cover off of a mercedes motor or any other make of car, certain parts are black and certain parts are silvered, for thermal purposes. when an engine bay is designed, it is done so with many loads, thermal loads being one of them. engineers utilize ducting and thermoplastics for different cooling effects. in the end, its the formula of irradiative cooling, convective cooling and conductive cooling channels that culminate to certify a car for safe use under normal operation. I don't see how any of this has anything to do with age.

"for decades and decades" has nothing to do with anything. please, a big block, carb'ed motor has been in use for decades and decades. you won't destroy the car or unbalance the heat dissipation properties but it is all there for a purpose, no matter how little. take the damn covers off if you want to and believe that its decorative if you've done it on other cars but this has nothing to do with age. its engineering..
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      10-14-2007, 11:19 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by homerunball View Post
I wasn't gonna post in this thread again but everything in there, including the covers are not just for looks. Please when are people going to understand. I am not under 30 and I've been an engineer and have done this kind of research before. Thermoplastics are not cheaper in black either. Why do you think most parts are either black or silvered?? Even if you take the decorative cover off of a mercedes motor or any other make of car, certain parts are black and certain parts are silvered, for thermal purposes. I don't see how any of this has anything to do with age.

"for decades and decades" has nothing to do with anything. please, a big block, carb'ed motor has been in use for decades and decades. you won't destroy the car or unbalance the heat dissipation properties but it is all there for a purpose, no matter how little. take the damn covers off if you want to and believe that its decorative if you've done it on other cars but this has nothing to do with age. its engineering..
You didn't read my entire post.
I clearly stated in the BMW it had a purpose other than decorative covering like in most/many cars I've seen and dealt with.
Therefore, as I said before, that's why I did not take it off in the BMW.
As an engineer I would of thought you would of read and comprehended that??
Again the reason for my post was to point that out.
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      10-14-2007, 11:28 PM   #16
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I do find it amusing when some guy scratching his head in his garage thinks he can out engineer a multi-million dollar corporation... I'm looking at you guys who take a dremel to their intakes.
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      10-15-2007, 12:20 AM   #17
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In the early 80's SAAB put covers on their turocharged engines to keep the heated air rising off the turbo from cooking the paint off the hood. Too bad the shielding never protected the battery. I never had a battery last more than two years in the turbo while a coworker with a non turbo averaged five years.
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      10-15-2007, 05:37 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by homerunball View Post
there is a reason for all those covers. heat dissipation occures in 3 forms: radiation, conduction and convection. the designers designed those components with specific colors for different forms of head dissipation. irradation plays a great part in those choosing those colors, hence certain places of the intake tracts are all black while exhaust components are silvered, just like your coffee thermos, they are vital. i wouldn't want to change those elements based on convection methods alone. leave those parts on, they are vital to the thermodynamics of the car.

off topic, but people changing their mirrors and trunk lids are changing the aerodynamic coeff. as well. wonder why the draft angle on the e92 trunk lids are much smoother than e46's? they located the turbulence trips at a different location; hence there are larger gaps between the rear glass and the forward portion of the trunk lid on the 92's than 46's. they are intentional, not relaxed tolerances. remember the little dots on the tops of the mirrors of e36's, they changed those trips as gaps between the colored fwd portion of the mirror and the black plastic part.

every design element has a purpose, leave it alone.

Thanks for a refreshing perspective
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      10-15-2007, 06:58 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Driver72 View Post
Guys, they are mostly there for cosmetics only.

I'm guessing most of you people who think they serve a big purpose are younger guys (below 30).

For decades and decades, engines weren't covered by plastics and did just fine.
I believe it was Lexus who started covering their engines in the early to mid 90's so they look pretty.
Other car manufacturers followed.

One of the more recent of my car's whose plastic cover I removed: my G35's was simply a plastic cover, and frankly I liked the looks of the 6 cylinders rather than a plastic cover that said "3.5 V6" on it. Like owners don't know what size engine the car had.

I don't know why some of you think it's such a foreign idea to remove them or think the engines "need" them, but whatever you want to believe, no sarcastic responses from you guys needed or wanted.
It was just a point to those who DID consider removing it, that for the first time in MANY cars I've owned where I did remove the plastic engine cover, the BMW's seemed to have more of a purpose than just too look pretty.
Because decades and decades ago most cars weren't fuel injected and needed that room for a carburator...!!

All that "crap" is high level engineering, and if you think BMW spent millions designing and tweaking an engine only to throw any cover for aesthetics your simply lost on what you've bought. EVERYTHING and I mean everything is thought out and engineered to be that way.

That cover probably has a specific thickness known to BMW to dissapate heat at a given rate, possibly so that the hood doesn't get to hot and bubble the paint, or a plethora of other reasons. It probably took months to design, tests and thermal image the heat dissipation before they settled on that design.

This is the reason people buy Bimms






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      10-15-2007, 09:05 AM   #20
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ill be the first to post.....


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      10-15-2007, 02:18 PM   #21
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Other than the heat reasons for having the engine cover on there, have you ever heard a 335i engine run without that cover on? It sounds like a diesel motor because of the direct injection.
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      10-15-2007, 03:26 PM   #22
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I think you guys are arguing a bit too much about engineering an engine cover. Who gives a shit.
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