[tomgrey]

Originally Posted by Andy198712

I’ve done my n57 and noticed absolutely zero difference in anything
The inlet wasn’t very dirty either

As a bonus, it’s free for us N57 owners

Hi Andy, why is it free for N57 owners?

[sirleeofroy]

Originally Posted by tomgrey

Hi Andy, why is it free for N57 owners?

No need for blanking plates like the M57, the flaps can simply be removed and the actuator can be replaced meaning no error codes too

[DougNBodie]

I heard BMW fixed the swirl flap issue on U.S. models after 2009 for the M57... is that a bunch of BS? I haven't had any issues yet, but dont ever want to.....Heard a guy at my mechanics say he spot welded his screws on the flaps so he would never have an issue....Is that true?

[Daviebrown]

People love a bit of hysteria, there must be thousands of cars on the road with the flaps removed for no reason other than hysteria, only a small number of one variation were at risk and truly should have been replaced not removed, but if removal helps owners sleep at night who am i to argue. I think the next thing thats going to have people pissing their pants is that you should’nt clear adaptations from your auto box, all because one box failed somewhere after being cleared when it was knackered already, just like corona virus and asbestos, the fear will come and the fear will go

[Silver Streek]

Its not comlete hysteria. I inspected the swirl flaps on my old cars M47 manifold and found two flaps ready to fall off the spindle due to loose screws. Luckily for me i caught them in time or they would have fallen off and destroyed the engine.

[Daviebrown]

Originally Posted by Silver Streek

Its not comlete hysteria. I inspected the swirl flaps on my old cars M47 manifold and found two flaps ready to fall off the spindle due to loose screws. Luckily for me i caught them in time or they would have fallen off and destroyed the engine.

Would you have removed them anyway even if they were in good condition? If so why?

[Silver Streek]

Peace of mind really. Mine was an E46 320d so probably the worst effected. If i had removed the manifold and seen that they were all fine, might as well remove them while I had it all apart.

There were so many i had heard about with trashed engines, hence why i inspected mine. Good job I did too.

One of the reason i bought an E90 that was a 325d with the M57 engine was that it doesn't have swirl flaps fitted by design so one less thing to worry about.

I hear what you are saying about unnecessary work due to reported failures that affect the minority of cars. However if you can provent a potential tragedy is that such a bad thing??

[nomiS330d]

I removed mine. They all looked solid enough but as it’s not an expensive or particularly time consuming job to blank them I figured why not. If the 325d doesn’t need them why does my 330d which has an identical engine?!
Anyway, I’ve had 2 M57 engined cars, done them both and noticed absolutely no difference to how they run or fuel economy .

[Silver Streek]

Originally Posted by nomiS330d

If the 325d doesn’t need them why does my 330d which has an identical engine?!

Good question, for some reason they decided not to use them with the 325d variant of the M57 engine. I have attached (hopefully) a screenshot from RealOEM for my car, you can see it states without flap control. Maybe they use a different manifold for some reason????? I have no idea.

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by Daviebrown

People love a bit of hysteria, there must be thousands of cars on the road with the flaps removed for no reason other than hysteria, only a small number of one variation were at risk and truly should have been replaced not removed, but if removal helps owners sleep at night who am i to argue. I think the next thing thats going to have people pissing their pants is that you should’nt clear adaptations from your auto box, all because one box failed somewhere after being cleared when it was knackered already, just like corona virus and asbestos, the fear will come and the fear will go

+1, except asbestos...that stuff is gnarly. And definitely add the 'don't change transmission fluid if it's done the last 12 years/200k miles on the original fill'...WTF!?

Originally Posted by nomiS330d

I removed mine. They all looked solid enough but as it’s not an expensive or particularly time consuming job to blank them I figured why not. If the 325d doesn’t need them why does my 330d which has an identical engine?!
Anyway, I’ve had 2 M57 engined cars, done them both and noticed absolutely no difference to how they run or fuel economy .

The 325 doesn't get them because it's expected to lack some of the low down torque of the 330. It's intentionally de-tuned from the factory.


It blows my mind the number of people saying that the flaps do nothing (not only in this thread); they definitely, certainly have a positive impact on low rpm performance. BMW wouldn't add expense and complication if they didn't need to. Take them out if you like, and if you can't tell the difference that's fine - who am I to argue? But they are in there to make the engine run smoother, cleaner and produce more torque at low rpm...and they work.

[rasa bmw]

suppose its piece of mind,,and cheap..if it was £1k+ eyc to do,,then i doubt the hysteria would be the same

[sam1er]

A guy at work had a E46 330d, his engine ingested a swirl flap and then there was no more BMW. My old 120d when i had the flaps removed, 1 or 2 of them were ready to fall off, so glad i did that. My current 330d also got them removed but there was no signs of play on them, removed for piece of mind. 1 less thing that can go wrong. Worth it IMO. Why risk it if you know its a known point of failure.

[Tambohamilton]

Because if the priorities are reliability over drivability, we may as well all go and get Hondas. I agree, the outcome is brutal if they go wrong, but the later (post 2005?) flaps aren't known to fail often, so I don't think the risk is high. For me deleting them is cutting off your nose to spite your face... But that's just me.

[Daviebrown]

How much piece of mind do you need if you have taken them out and there is no problem with them? I think sometimes grown ups need an excuse to play with their grown up toys.

[mjn77]

Originally Posted by Daviebrown

People love a bit of hysteria, there must be thousands of cars on the road with the flaps removed for no reason other than hysteria, only a small number of one variation were at risk and truly should have been replaced not removed, but if removal helps owners sleep at night who am i to argue. I think the next thing thats going to have people pissing their pants is that you should’nt clear adaptations from your auto box, all because one box failed somewhere after being cleared when it was knackered already, just like corona virus and asbestos, the fear will come and the fear will go

I have my manifold replaced at circa 89k miles and by 170k they were leaking again. So blanks were used.

[Tambohamilton]

It is really shitty that the flaps aren't available on their own

[chrissyw]

I whipped them out at around 160k on my E90 320d (M47) and no sign of play at all. Not heard of many cases of them dropping down the ports on E90's.