[Tambohamilton]

My M57 330d could really use new swirl flaps, and no harm in having a clean manifold, too. Mileage is 140000. I'm not interested in losing the swirl flaps (non-negotiable), so I need to find either very good used units/complete manifold, or whole new manifold...

My pockets are not deep enough for a new genuine item. I've seen a number of aftermarket ones on offer from various manufacturers, but none that I especially recognise or trust:
https://www.autodoc.co.uk/car-parts/...%2011617800585
Prices are roughy £175 - 300.

But then how much worse could eBay's cheapest offering really be? It's £35, delivered.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Standard-...53.m1438.l2649

So, does anyone have any experience with any of the aftermarket manifolds, especially cheap ones from eBay? I fully understand that if the flaps disintegrate and fall into the engine, the repair bill will be much higher than the £600ish for a new OE item...but at the same time £600 is a lot more than £35, if the £35 one is good enough! I can always just transplant only the swirl flaps themselves into my current manifold, and keep my current actuator etc....

Any leads/advice appreciated

[therealdb1]

I wouldn't buy the ebay one on principle as it is from China.
I am fed up to the back teeth of the Chinese pushing their cheap tat whilst pretending to be a UK seller which is against ebay rules but even when you complain to ebay they do nothing about it because it is $$$ in their pocket.
On top of that, even if you were prepared to buy from this seller, be ready to pay customs and import duty and probably wait several weeks until they have enough orders to send a container to the UK.
If and when you do receive the manifold you'll probably find it won't quite fit properly and may leak air and you'll have no comeback as the seller will pretend he cannot understand the problem because his English language skills suddenly let him down. Read the seller's feedback; 50 negatives in a year does not instill me with confidence.
Given that you are already aware how much damage can be done by dodgy swirl flaps are you honestly suggesting that you will get the full kit and caboodle of an acceptable standard for £35 including postage? And think to yourself if the seller has had to pay shipping and ebay fees and Paypal fees out of that £35 how much is that manifold actually worth to him at cost. I know genuine BMW parts come with a mark up but they are not making that much profit on spare parts.
There is an old addage around motors and that is buy cheap buy twice. Been there and got the T shirt!
I'd rather look around breakers yards and see if I could find a lower mileage genuine BMW manifold second hand if my pockets were not deep enough to buy an alternative from a reputable European or American manufacturer.

[Tambohamilton]

I hadn't checked the feedback - good call. 50neg is no good, I'll steer clear on those grounds alone.

Funnily, I rarely have any issue with Chinese sellers masquerading as UK sellers. Generally postage is rapid (unless otherwise stated in the shipping estimate), and I'm left wondering how the hell they sent me a bag of 200 o-rings from China for £2, in 3 days...If I tried to do the reverse, shipping alone would be £10+! Anyhow, I agree with your frustrations at them masquerading as UK sellers, when they plainly are not.

OT...
I used to make bicycle frames for a living. The cost difference between UK mfg and Taiwan is staggering. We could have bought finished, painted, boxed frames, from a reputable manufacturer for less than the price of the welding gas we used on our own frames; about 10% of our material cost. It's just mind-blowing how it's even possible. Bear in mind also that Taiwanese manufacturing is generally more expensive than Chinese, let alone Vietnam etc... I don't even know how they dig the minerals out of the ground for the money they can sell finished product for!

Rant over

[therealdb1]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

Rant over

Yes more than enough rants for one day!

[rasa bmw]

xr8 on e bay..quality and good grade rubber for gaskets

[Andystobbs]

Originally Posted by rasa bmw

xr8 on e bay..quality and good grade rubber for gaskets

I think BMW set the bar pretty low for rubber standards

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by rasa bmw

xr8 on e bay..quality and good grade rubber for gaskets

Link please?

[nomiS330d]

There’s only one cheap and hassle free solution to swirl flap roulette......

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by nomiS330d

There’s only one cheap and hassle free solution to swirl flap roulette......

Yes; own a different car. Probably a petrol one without swirl flaps.


I'm not 'deleting' them. I know why they're there, I know what they do.

[rasa bmw]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

Link please?

will get it on my e bay purchase history,,here we go..bought for my 335d..but they sell all model blanks...https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6X-33MM-F...72.m2749.l2649 actually x8R not xr8 ha ha ,,bet you searched the for the latter

[jacbo]

Some interesting points in here. I can't get over how cheap that inlet manifold is from China.

When comparing parts I'm usually first one to say "they probably come from same asian factory". In this case it's probably a little bit more complicated. Supply and demand is usually an easy way to see why something is cheap, but in this case, I can't imagine they sell a crazy number of these. From a manufacturing and process engineering point of view, my guess would be they acquired a used mould for the inlet manifolds that is either at the end of it's life or already past it. When manufacturing moulded plastic parts, the mould is super expensive as it's needs to be very accurate and hard wearing. You offset that cost by putting that into the price of the product.

If the mould was super cheap, they only need to pay overheads (rent, electricity, wages etc) which is very low in china. Now if I'm right, that means the manifolds coming out of that mould are gonna be of poor quality and might not be quite the right fit etc.

I totally get the temptation to buy/try this product, but considering this is a vital part of the engine, I would either clean your stock manifold and check the swirl flaps. or try and find a used one that has seen a lot less miles than yours and then clean it. Either way, I would be scared for my engine to put the cheap chinese manifold on.

[Tambohamilton]

Yeah, it's so cheap I'd buy it if I had the spare cash, just to see what it's like... But I don't, so never mind.

Agree with all points so far. Got my eye on a used one on eBay, but may do other things first.

[tlow98]

What does a swirl flap do? Is this the Diesel equivalent of a DISA valve?

[Tambohamilton]

Yeah, I guess it is.

Each of the 2 inlet valves on each cylinder has a separate runner going to the inlet manifold. 1 has smaller cross section than the other. At low RPM the swirl flaps blank off all of the large runners, so all inducted air goes through the small runner. That causes extra turbulence in the combustion chamber, which helps burn the fuel more efficiently (less smoke/soot and more power).

They have an unpleasant habit, after some miles of heat cycles and vibration, of falling off and/or breaking up and getting inhaled. This was most prevalent on earlier years, and is really rather rare on the m57tu2.

Still, despite the drawbacks of doing so (which are real, regardless of what some will tell you!), the vast majority of owners will remove them and blank the holes in the manifold. The only way to buy new is to buy a whole new manifold, which for a genuine part is not cheap!