[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by mob17

You're an asset to this forum Steve. Love getting your insight!

I've got nothing whatsoever to hide therefore why not share stuff Mo, it'll help some perhaps and in other areas save someone some money and grief.. And we sometimes get work through it too so in a way everyone's a winner.

But thanks for the kind words I'll keep plugging away

[rawbhp]

Where are you based Steve?

I have an E90 335i with nearly 70,000 miles so I'm sure I would benefit from this.

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by rawbhp

Where are you based Steve?

I have an E90 335i with nearly 70,000 miles so I'm sure I would benefit from this.

Stevenage so easy to get too of Junction 7 or 8 A1M

[old grey steve]

Been a while but another 335i(a forum member who very infrequently browses there pages)paid us a visit. This car wasa 57 plate car with under 50k on the clock and the car was reported as having a misfire unsteady idle etc.

So i many ways the ususal symptoms but a rather nasty misfire with the added issue of an issue re coking up No4 spark plug all to reguarly(last plug change 3k ago.

Usual pictures pre work ( though I'll keep these short and sweet )




and the plugs




however this time I though I'd break out the the endoscope camera you may well struggle to make out what is going on with some of these shots but let me tell you the darker area's you'll see are carbonised deposits which we are all used to seeing on these shots yet the lighter coours you are about to see are oily deposits that are building up.

Again like we've seen on all too many occasions the heavier deposits were on cylinder 5 and 6 again due to the PCV valve issue which on this car was 100% letting the side down.



on the shot below the darker area is actually would you believe it a really close up sot of the actual valve from memory the probe was resting against the steam(hence its a shaky shot)



moving the probe up you make out the stem



both the shots above are of ports 5 & 6 Below are the rest of the cylinders and these as you'll notice are a little easier to make out








when you look at the above it makes you think.. but all is not lost after a bit of work





As for the misfire we had issues relating to the JB4 installed(I'm not perficient re all this units functions and nor are the guys working on the cars-therefore anyone reading this and who has one please deactivate the JB4 before we commence work please).

Via ODB the Autologic machine will not communicatee though we tried with the customers assistance but were unable to carry out the diagnostic we wanted to do. But the misfire issue has all the hall marks of an injecotr failure in our opinion.

And tomorrow we've got another 335i

[old grey steve]

This Friday bought us another car again a forum member from SE London who very infrequently posts but is always observing our going ons

Uusual story only real difference really this time is the method I've opted re taking photo's these are quite revealing and also clearer too than of previous






picturs reveal the contamination a little better than the previous pics I'd taken in my view and as always cylinder 5 & 6 were coated in goey oil due to the cars typical failure of the breather system... which will be rectified with a catch can / Robb Beck PCV valve but the other 4 cylinders had a little more goey oil then I'd sen on pervious cars as you can see from the pic below



nice'n'shiny as you can see..... ususal process usual results

[Juz5i]

Great thread this Steve. Thanks for spending the time keeping it updated.

I've owned my 57 plate E92 335i for a few months now and have been looking into having this done soon.
TBH I'm struggling to find much info regards places that do this service in the UK.

I'm up in the north west but may take a day off next year and book my car in with you if I can't find someone up my way.

Keep up the good work, mate!

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Juz5i

Great thread this Steve. Thanks for spending the time keeping it updated.

I've owned my 57 plate E92 335i for a few months now and have been looking into having this done soon.
TBH I'm struggling to find much info regards places that do this service in the UK.

I'm up in the north west but may take a day off next year and book my car in with you if I can't find someone up my way.

Keep up the good work, mate!

Thanks for the kind words.......very much appreciated

As for info facts and making people aware this is probably the quickest way of getting the message over to people about the way direct injection works and what is happening to your engine.

We dine a Cooper S Mini today oddly enough and I'll post photos of that up later but this Mini had done 78k, yet had been apart at 45k due to a turbo issue an chain guides and had been thoroughly cleaned.. But the photos will be an interesting view.

As fir booking in next week, PM me and when I'm in work tomorrow I'll PM dates back that next week will be available.

[old grey steve]

Mini Cooper S

Super knocking misfires the lot(First photo's of this 78k Mini Cooper S taken with the help of our endoscope camera-I'm taking shots form the screen on the first lot whoch I hope you can all make out)We use this camera to check each port to ensure as much crap as possible is clear and that thre is no debris left before the valve is opened for the first time




oddly as stated elsewhere this one had been apart and put back together by a BMW main dealer(back in late 2011 this happened when a turbo expired at 47600 miles-documented in the service book at the same time the car also had a timing chain issue which was also attended too and replaced by the same dealer)therefore the head(I hope) had been fully cleaned as oil had been fored through the inlet when the turbo expired) So the pics above and what you'll see below are the result of around 32k's worth of motoring!

Below a cleanish steam



with a heavily coated valve(circled)



pulling back a bit to get an idea of the valves and how the ports look in terms of overall oil contamination on this occassion, which I've circled on the first picture below





this oil was very goey hadn't gone too hard if you like and was clearly from where I'm sitting been reciently formed. When you look at using a camera normally and look in to the Mini's ports you can see when you look in the carbonisation without direct light on the backs of the valves



I thought I'd slip this picture in of the valves cleaned but with walnuts sitting ontop of the vlave(showing just how important it is to ensure every last grain of the stuff is removed, which is why it takes time and on the labour frot costs what it costs to carry out)



but again once everything all cleaned first of all using the endoscope camera





using the torch light and your nateral view



When done this car still sadly had an issue we suspected a breather issue(breathers in thee rocker cover itself)but couln't be 100% due to this contamination, but once put back together tockover was still a little bit off for our liking but once the car was off totally transformed better throttle response and crisper pulling through the revs too. When we had thecar back removing the filler cap confirmed that the breather system in our opinion was struggling (partly due to all the contamination)all we could do and have done was to have this car back repalce the rocker and hopefully recieve as a result a stable tickover)

[old grey steve]

Well its been a while alomost 6 odd weeks since we've done a petrol but this cars been with us for a week. It belongs for forum member SIYAM(pleased to met you by the way)who as you'll disciver has been very very paitent(but this one proved to be a little unwell)

Story is it came in for some service items and a poor starting type issue and possible misfire, well service wise everything went to plan until the oil filter was removed and the filter cover housing actually broke away inside(if this had been re fitted we suspected the car would of soon had oil pressure issues on the drive home, so we opted quite rightly to order a new filter housing cover)but luckily instead of paying £27 odd plus VAT for a cover we actaully found one on a acquird 900 mile engine we had so swapped that out and saved £27. However as this was discoved late in the day SIYAM opted to leave the car with us to look at this misfire/poor starting issue which considering it was driving him mad wasn't a bad call..... and as it turned out it proved a good call as sometimes as we have discovered these things can if rushed prove or provide no straight answer. I hinted on the Saturday we could according to the explaination I'd heard be looking at injecotrs/HPFP etc. But as no HPFP evidence of failure on diagnostic was present I'd kinda ruled that one out, but injectors could be!

So upon Monday we looked at the car discoverd upon start up nothing unusual but within 10 or so seconds(diagnostic machine all hooked up)we were looking at some issues re smooth running, swithco ff leave the car have a lok start it up again you get some different smooth running results..... clearly something amiss here but as the plugs had been changed on Saturday and they were all new you'd have to say these were a safe bet but never say never. So a quick experienmt swapping coild re starting showed no difference but again different smooth running figures but again on the same cylinders. So we have to look a tthe plugs we'd just fitted when pulled No4 well black as you know what 5 & 6 looked a little iffy too 1,2 & 3 looked as you'd expect OK.

Logic tells me something, so injecotr 4 & 5 were swapped then re tried different set of results this time but No5 looked a lot worse so safe to say injector 4 has a problem but No5 when trasnsferd to No4 also as previously stated hadn't looked too healthy where it was before the switch.

Now pity I haven't got the pictures but when the enscopic camera was put down and we could get the injecots doing their stuff low and behold 2 injectors were sprating fuel under ignition sequence straight into the bores(therefore we had on our hands to injecotrs with a problem) the spray was quite advanced. Therefore for all 335i owners the latesst injectors need to repalced in banks bank2 on this car was defective so 3 injecters were required. Which brings me on to the walnut blasting. As this was an 80k plus car its fair to say some of the issues the car had might well be down to the usual coking of the inelt so it was also decided that apart from the injectors the inlet could come off and the inlets can be cleaned as well.

And this is where it gets interesting!!!!!!!

The post work photo's are the usual result i.e. clean.






(notice the slight staining on the right!)this is No4 post work(which will/has be explianed above.....




well heres the nuget with this one, fuel had actually been fired back in the inlet port becasue it stank of fuel when the manifold was removed (I've circled where the fuel sweating was present)and this is the first one we'd seen with this condition.



if you look a the picture above (cylinder 5) you can see wet and dry parts! Below is cylinder No4 the worse one



its reallly surprised us. But expect the unexpected i all I can say.

But the rest of the inlets pre work








Once done this car now runs as sweet as a nut, however as there's loads of carbon and other stuff I suspect still swimming around the cars goinf to need a good clear out and a decent drive, I still feel that the ofdd EML light may well turn up again hence we want this one back again next week for a free post work check just to be 100% sure to chek for any odd combustion misfire issues as this sisues been going on for a time there could well until everythings cleared out be the odd issue..

So apart from the obvious expect the unexpected hence the ned to sometimes rule out the obvious take your time and investigate, this one if rushed on a service appointment could of so easily of been missed. But on the walnut blasting and coking this one apart from fuel in the inets was about the same condition as ths others we'd seen though cylinder 1&2 the carbon appeard lighter in colour than we'd seen! Maybe it was me but it wasn't as dark but it sjust just as stubbon coming off.

So again the answer is yes it works it's the only real way forward with these cars.

[old grey steve]

Been asked a good few times re walnut blasting on non Turbo cars so here's a 325i we did on Friday: This car had coverd 57500 miles








and some post work pics








As per previus 325/330's we've done the muck wasn't as stubbon as the 335i's but was more "runny"shall we say re consistancy. But goes to show the efforts worthwhile(though like the 335i's you'll never cure the issue but by doing this you'll have some control)

[Not a Diesel!!!]

Thanks for that good to see the pics for an NA car. I have a 330i & thinking about getting it done this year.

My exhaust seems to be blacker over the last 6 months. Did I read somewhere this improves?

[Phil325i]

Thanks Steve, very helpful. Out of interest, was the car showing any symptoms that hinted blasting might be needed? And if so, did they disappear after treatment?

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

Thanks Steve, very helpful. Out of interest, was the car showing any symptoms that hinted blasting might be needed? And if so, did they disappear after treatment?

Good question, we saw this car a week or so ago and it had issues of thst we were sure, we understood a BMW main dealer had changed all injectors coils plugs in the past yet there were still issues.

When we first looked we saw a car that on tickover was a little 'unstable' looking at the smooth running once warmed up though unstable it seemed to indicate there was an issue(we were told by the customer that upon startup it was very lumpy and smelt of fuel, but calmed down after a minute or so which = to us suspected injector issues)

The cars done lowish mileage its a 90% town car(London)the customer had done his research and wanted to re book for the blasting, but we all knew that though the valves may/could be coated the while solution lies elsewhere.

Pre blasting we confirmed that the main dealer had changed 5 coils(why 5) they'd inspected injectors but hadn't replaced them only inspected them(confirmed as we have the full BMW ISTA system and therefore as part of the package have full access to service records recorded for all cars on that system-but not the individual dealership record systems called Kerridge of course)so we knew though injectors had been removed none had been replaced(car at the time was under extended BMW Warranty) so we knew since production they'd not been replaced and a simple visual check confirmed this.

Post blasting(bare in mind car had stood for 8 to 9 or so hours upon start up it seemed a little smoother, but we smelt the fuel straightaway(injectors were removed by us pre work as were sparks)sparks looked tired No1-3 plugs were black (so all plugs changed)but also suspected by us contaminated re the leaking injectors but injector stock availability stopped us from going any further)post work smooth running showed a slight difference once warmed up but on cold start up as we'd not had the opportunity to have the car overnight/cold start difficult to say but our opinion re injectors leaking still stands.

So we are going to have the car in store it over night(will scope the car internally to check for leaks)but strongly feel thst the situation and especially the smell of fuel from the tailpipes on startup which calms down is cantered on injectors smooth running clearly demonstrates 1-3 are all over the place and compensation on the others is taking place as well.

Therefore fully expect 6 injectors, 6 coils another 6 plugs-if required(which we'll do to help)required coding of injectors, update ECU software/re set all required adaptations which hopefully will sort it. We've had 2 525i's and another 325i in will similar issues the above action in all cases resolves the issue Phil. But it's a painful wallet experience as each injector and buffer on this 325 is over £200+VAT to supply let alone fit, code coils aren't too bad at £18+VAT each though.

So we've made a small dent, but until injectors are sorted, work in progress Phil.

[Phil325i]

Thanks Steve, very helpful. Interestingly my 325i has similar mileage and I have for a long time had an intermittent hesitation/hiccup which I thought could be carbon build-up. However my local indy recently acquired some new BMW diagnostic software which diagnosed a problem with the low pressure fuel pump control unit. Had that replaced, and the problem has disappeared. So I'll not be having a 'blast' for the time being. I hope my OCC is keeping the worst at bay!

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

Thanks Steve, very helpful. Interestingly my 325i has similar mileage and I have for a long time had an intermittent hesitation/hiccup which I thought could be carbon build-up. However my local indy recently acquired some new BMW diagnostic software which diagnosed a problem with the low pressure fuel pump control unit. Had that replaced, and the problem has disappeared. So I'll not be having a 'blast' for the time being. I hope my OCC is keeping the worst at bay!

Re low pressure issues not uncommon as it goes done a few low pressure sensors and a like in the past if your car has a fuel filter(in line which can be swapped out)worth getting this done as well, though many of the later BM's have an in tank unit, which to me is a travesty.

Re your oil catch can you're on of the few that have obtained one for a 325i be interested to know what you got.

[Phil325i]

1. Interested in your comment about fuel filter Steve. I share your disappointment that BMW rely solely on an in-tank strainer these days. Do you have a suggestion for what and where to install an in-line one then?

2. I got my OCC from the USA - here:

http://www.saikoumichi.com/

3. To help further reduce cr*p entering the inlet air, I've also introduced a partial blank on the EGR, similar to this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EGR-Blanki...item20ddddbb54

This also eliminated a surging issue I had during cruise, which is apparently a product of too much EGR flow:

http://www.motor.org.uk/documentlibr...20May%2010.pdf

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

1. Interested in your comment about fuel filter Steve. I share your disappointment that BMW rely solely on an in-tank strainer these days. Do you have a suggestion for what and where to install an in-line one then?

To help further reduce cr*p entering the inlet air, I've also introduced a partial blank on the EGR, similar to this:

interesting re your EGR solution we all think this item is only associated with diesels which sadly it isn't over time the amount of stuff that can be thrown back through the inlet via this device for the sake of emissions really does make the whole idea questionable and when it fails costly to sort out. As you know the EGR isn't exactly placed within easy reach on these cars.

As for the fuel filter sadly nothing springs to mind an in line filters far more 'manageable' and can be factored in to your service regime. Poor quality fuel, running cars low on fuel have an effect this item therefore if contaminated can then be swapped out if in doubt in tank doesn't allow you the same comfort, mind you more and more modern cars are going in tank so is there a reason apart from cost for this?

[nik patel]

Hi Steve

The 325 you did last week, has the customer provided you any feedback on MPG, engine response etc?

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by nik patel

Hi Steve

The 325 you did last week, has the customer provided you any feedback on MPG, engine response etc?

Simple answer No as he still has other issues and I'm awaiting conformation of a re appointment to sort these out(namely injectors as described earlier Nik)then once done everything will fall in to place.

We've done a couple of others however smoothness better cold starting none have come back however re fuel economy though to be fair most don't drive for fuel economy they want better response which they are getting

[nik patel]

Still in 2 minds weather to get it done, be good to speak to someone who has it done for a few months

[old grey steve]

So the other day a 40k 135i but an N55. The difference as I'm sure you'll be able to see from the pictures is a lack of gooey deposits in all 6 intake ports and indeed on the valve and valve stems







yet the car was a tad lumpy and felt a little flat low down, something that the custoerm reported as well. The pictorial evidence would suggest coked valves for sure but looking at them compard with the countless other pictures I've posted they look fairly healthy by comparison, but as ususal the post work results speak volumes for this process's worth






http://s33.photobucket.com/user/SB33...workshop/story

These really did clean up well, perhaps the cleanest I've seen, but on start up car sounded quieter throttle response immediatly was crisper it was noted that the car on the post work test drive was more eager to rev.

The good news is on the drive home the customer reported that the car felt so much better, more urgent and was able to pull harder in the highere geas without hesitaion and as stated the tickover noted as smoother, the car quieter overall too.

So somehting that I wasn't expecting to make too much difference has made so much difference

[Russbmw]

That's what I noticed on mine as well Steve, when I had it done.