[Smonkey09]

I received my CBU kit from Bav Auto yesterday. Today I cleaned the intake, tomorrow I blast heads.

I don't know exactly what I was expecting...when I hear "carbon" i think of hard, crusty soot-like build up.

I was not expecting it to be so GREASY. While it is certainly do-able as a DIY task, expect to get filthy. So far it has been the most unpleasant work I have ever performed on a car. If I didn't need the car to get to work on Monday, I would certainly prefer giving the intake manifold over to an engine shop to be cleaned. Multiple soaking plus taking it to a DIY carwash in Chicago winter to be pressure washed (multiple times) was not fun.

Best substance I found for soaking the intake and flaps in was hot water and Charlies Soap (can be found on Amazon). We've used the laundry detergent for years and one tablespoon cleans a load very well. I used the laundry detergent to clean the intake since it is what I had around the house, but they also make an all purpose cleaner that would have likely done a better job. After 4 soakings and two pressure washes, plus scrubbing with a number of brushes and plastic scrapers, the intake is not spotless but is much better than it used to be.

I was a little on the fence about installing a meth kit, thinking maybe this won't be so bad to do every 40-50k miles (I plan on keeping the car until it falls apart), but I never want to do this job again, or pay someone else $1,200 to do it for me. So when the weather gets warmer I will certainly install a meth kit, plus consider an EGR block.

[Mik325tds]

Originally Posted by Smonkey09

I received my CBU kit from Bav Auto yesterday. Today I cleaned the intake, tomorrow I blast heads.

Wow that is ambitious to clean the swirl ports in one day.
That kit from BAV Auot shows only two wands on the picture on their website and one of them is straight - is that what you received or did you get 3 wands (all curved)?

Originally Posted by Smonkey09

I don't know exactly what I was expecting...when I hear "carbon" i think of hard, crusty soot-like build up.

I was not expecting it to be so GREASY. While it is certainly do-able as a DIY task, expect to get filthy. So far it has been the most unpleasant work I have ever performed on a car.

Totally agree on this. Nitrile gloves are a must, and I hate them. But once you get this stuff on your skin, it's a pain to get it off.
The work is about as pleasant as exchanging a leaking waxring on a toilet, it just takes longer and doesn't smell as bad...

[Smonkey09]

Originally Posted by Mik325tds

Wow that is ambitious to clean the swirl ports in one day.
That kit from BAV Auot shows only two wands on the picture on their website and one of them is straight - is that what you received or did you get 3 wands (all curved)?

Ha. I should have listened to my gut and pushed them to provide me with the BMW wands. Or, rent the right ones from you. The wand for the swirl ports was straight. I had to buy a brake line bender to put a curve into it. Still didn't get everything squeeky clean.

Tangential port wand wasn't as bent as it could have been. But it got the job done.

Yea, I finished the head one one day. Started at 10am and continued until 9pm. I didn't clean the valve cover swirl ports as well as I would have liked.

Test drove it and it did seem to be running smoother. Too bad it was snowing and I couldn't really push it. I'll keep monitoring codes the next few days to see if the rough idle comes back.

Again, this was not fun. When the weather gets warmer I will be installing meth.

[Mik325tds]

Did you clear the mean value and MAF adaptions?
That really took care of the last little shiver at idle in mine.

[JOHNNYBRAVO1]

Originally Posted by Mik325tds

Here is a video showing the dirty tangential intake valve opening and closing during advancing of the engine with the remote starter switch:

And a video showing the inspection of the tangential port after cleaning. Note, this is the easy port to inspect, the top port is much harder to get a good view of the valve:

Which ryobI camera did you use? I have a milwaukee but seems the damn camera won't fit down either ports. Just trying to make sure the cylinders are at TDC. Hope to never do this process again.. hopefully the meth with slow it down.

[Mik325tds]

Originally Posted by JOHNNYBRAVO1

Which ryobI camera did you use? I have a milwaukee but seems the damn camera won't fit down either ports. Just trying to make sure the cylinders are at TDC. Hope to never do this process again.. hopefully the meth with slow it down.

I used a Whistler model IC-3709PX ($80 special at Costco). The camera head is 3/8" (9mm) in diameter. Gotta look at the tangential port. You'll never get the camera down the top port without touching the sides and gunking the camera head.

[Chief Orman]

Originally Posted by Smonkey09

I received my CBU kit from Bav Auto yesterday. Today I cleaned the intake, tomorrow I blast heads.

I don't know exactly what I was expecting...when I hear "carbon" i think of hard, crusty soot-like build up.

I was not expecting it to be so GREASY. While it is certainly do-able as a DIY task, expect to get filthy. So far it has been the most unpleasant work I have ever performed on a car. If I didn't need the car to get to work on Monday, I would certainly prefer giving the intake manifold over to an engine shop to be cleaned. Multiple soaking plus taking it to a DIY carwash in Chicago winter to be pressure washed (multiple times) was not fun.

Best substance I found for soaking the intake and flaps in was hot water and Charlies Soap (can be found on Amazon). We've used the laundry detergent for years and one tablespoon cleans a load very well. I used the laundry detergent to clean the intake since it is what I had around the house, but they also make an all purpose cleaner that would have likely done a better job. After 4 soakings and two pressure washes, plus scrubbing with a number of brushes and plastic scrapers, the intake is not spotless but is much better than it used to be.

I was a little on the fence about installing a meth kit, thinking maybe this won't be so bad to do every 40-50k miles (I plan on keeping the car until it falls apart), but I never want to do this job again, or pay someone else $1,200 to do it for me. So when the weather gets warmer I will certainly install a meth kit, plus consider an EGR block.

based on your experience do you think a water meth kit would have prevented the build-up that you encountered during your cleaning? I've been running water meth for about twenty thousand miles and hoping that my car does not need to be Walnut blasted.

[mdlund0]

MAF and mean quantity adaptations are just that: adaptations. Resetting them with tech software should clear up any "shudder" issues immediately, but the MAF adaptations (there are 2) should reset themselves nearly immediately based on conditions. Mean quantity (value) is a learning value that is stored but will change over time. After a few hundred miles, the car *should* automatically learn and apply new and more appropriate values. I say this because Rheingold and Autohex II are expensive and BMWWhat (i.e. Carly for BMW) is not capable of this reset.

[Hoooper]

Originally Posted by mdlund0

MAF and mean quantity adaptations are just that: adaptations. Resetting them with tech software should clear up any "shudder" issues immediately, but the MAF adaptations (there are 2) should reset themselves nearly immediately based on conditions. Mean quantity (value) is a learning value that is stored but will change over time. After a few hundred miles, the car *should* automatically learn and apply new and more appropriate values. I say this because Rheingold and Autohex II are expensive and BMWWhat (i.e. Carly for BMW) is not capable of this reset.

I am not sure that incremental wheel adaptations reset, at least not within a reasonable amount of time. That adaptation is one that BMW added to the software after they finally figured out why they had been replacing so many injectors after CBU cleaning.

[lnxguy]

Originally Posted by Chief Orman

based on your experience do you think a water meth kit would have prevented the build-up that you encountered during your cleaning? I've been running water meth for about twenty thousand miles and hoping that my car does not need to be Walnut blasted.

No amount of meth is going to stop this..

[mdlund0]

Originally Posted by Hoooper

That adaptation is one that BMW added to the software after they finally figured out why they had been replacing so many injectors after CBU cleaning.

I'm not sure I understand why cleaning carbon buildup on the intake manifold would impact the operation of common-rail fuel injectors to the point that they would need to be replaced or why a mean quantity adaptation would mitigate the problem. The injectors are piezoelectric and operate at around 45,000 psi... they do not care about the intake manifold. The mean quantity adaptation is used to correct the fuel-to-air ratio by adjusting the EGR valve such that oxygen entering the cylinder matches the fuel to be injected. After having learned what that value should be with a dirty intake, it will be initially incorrect after CBU cleaning... but it should learn and correct itself over time.

[Nadir Point]

Originally Posted by mdlund0

The injectors are piezoelectric and operate at around 45,000 psi... they do not care about the intake manifold.

Something they DO care about is having dirty tips. That tends to ruin the spray pattern, creating havoc with previously well racked-and-stacked adaptations.

[gavronm]

Originally Posted by mdlund0

I'm not sure I understand why cleaning carbon buildup on the intake manifold would impact the operation of common-rail fuel injectors to the point that they would need to be replaced or why a mean quantity adaptation would mitigate the problem. The injectors are piezoelectric and operate at around 45,000 psi... they do not care about the intake manifold. The mean quantity adaptation is used to correct the fuel-to-air ratio by adjusting the EGR valve such that oxygen entering the cylinder matches the fuel to be injected. After having learned what that value should be with a dirty intake, it will be initially incorrect after CBU cleaning... but it should learn and correct itself over time.

It may very well correct itself over time, but the car will idle like garbage and throw a CEL in the meantime.

[animalchen]

I'm able to see the valves closed on the lower ports but having trouble seeing the top ports clearly. Not sure if safe to blast. Any tips?

[Mik325tds]

Originally Posted by animalchen

I'm able to see the valves closed on the lower ports but having trouble seeing the top ports clearly. Not sure if safe to blast. Any tips?

Yes, it is basically impossible to see the upper port valves with a bore scope when they are still dirty.
The good thing is that they are always in sync with the tangential port valves. So if you have a good closed valved in the lower port, the corresponding upper port is closed as well.

[335dsleeper]

Originally Posted by Mik325tds

Yes, it is basically impossible to see the upper port valves with a bore scope when they are still dirty.
The good thing is that they are always in sync with the tangential port valves. So if you have a good closed valved in the lower port, the corresponding upper port is closed as well.

1+

[BB_cuda]

Yes, this would be definition of a 4 valve head. I've never heard of a 4 valve head where the 2 intake valves are out of synch. None the less, thanks for the tip to look at the lower port. I hadn't got to the point of cleaning yet as all deletes happened at 32,000 miles.

I picked up a used charge pipe for $40 at same place I got the spare ECU for $250. My point is I may try meth/water inj to avoid the cleaning of the ports. I wanted to have a non drilled charge pipe before modifying mine

[Diesel_Mike]

Hey fellas thanks for all the great info in this thread.

I am having issues getting the starter motor to engage. I can get it to Spin with the Bav-auto tool but it just spins and doesn't engage the flywheel. Am I doing something wrong?



I've got the leads connected to the big copper line from the starter solenoid and the positive terminal also on the starter solenoid.

[animalchen]

You put a female connector on the little spade terminal with hole in photo. The connector should have an insulated wire with an exposed end that you can tap as needed to the nut holding the hot red wires.

[animalchen]

I also made an injector puller using a lug nut from auto parts store and a bolt and a sliding hammer from a bearing puller. Worked great.

[Diesel_Mike]

Thanks for the advice. I was able to finish the walnut blasting today. What a pain. Hard to believe how dirty some of the swirl ports were.

It was getti dark but I got it mostly put back together. Not enough to fire it up yet. I should be able finish the job tomorrow. Should I do anything to reset the DDE? Unplug the battery or anything?

I have Carly Pro so I was planning on resetting the CBU codes but is there anything else I should do?

Btw AnimalChen I have a TiAg 2011 335d w/ sport package. Pretty nice car when it's not choking on gunk.

[animalchen]

I don't think you need to reset the DDE. I did not. When I did my blasting I messed up and blew a hole in the valve cover and had to buy a new one. That change was horribly difficult. I blasted to far out of ports.

One thing is the car will be very long to start after injector change. I used my code reader livedata and you will see the fuel pressure real low then builds before it starts. I hooked a charger to my battery.