Swirl Flaps

derk

derk

derk

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
2,937
Location
Lancashire
Been making a few inquiries at some local indy's about getting the E46 330d serviced and a guy I visited
yesterday started telling me about the risk of getting a massive bill by not having my swirl flaps modified with blanks.
Have read a bit about it since but as is the case with most things on forums there are contradictions.
He gave me a quote of £200 to have this done, if some of the stories I read are true then this will get done on Monday.
Just looking for some confirmation/reassurance on here.
 
That at least confirms it has flaps. I'd probably get them done, especially given that they will now be 9 years old, and most likely as brittle as they can be.

Got to be worth the relatively small outlay to prevent the engine lunching itself on a broken, brittle swirl flap.
 
Really easy job to do yourself, did my 320d using the blanking plates, save yourself some cash and get your hands dirty.
 
Darryn said:
Really easy job to do yourself, did my 320d using the blanking plates, save yourself some cash and get your hands dirty.
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:eek: who me, not a chance :D


So could we agree that £200 is reasonable, it might not be the most competitive but I do live up in the hills and its going in for service anyway.
 
£200 seems reasonable ish to me - a mate paid £290 to have his done at a garage....

Looking at it another way, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than a new engine.

Workmate has a 53plate manual, and foolishly though that it had lasted to 170k, why would they fail now? - I'm sure you can guess what happened next....

He's currently running around in an old Escort whilst deciding if its worth the cost of a replacement engine, plus the labour to fit it....
 
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Scania said:
He's currently running around in an old Escort whilst deciding if its worth the cost of a replacement engine, plus the labour to fit it....
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Old Ford Escort, that scares me more than the flaps, decision made :p
 
I'm in the process of doing my 2004 320cd.

Ive got the guide off bimmerforums.co.uk and going to attempt it myself.

I bought 22mm & 33mm as its a bit hit and miss on my year as to which size i will need.

You can get the blanks for about £25 off ebay, so he is essentially charging you £175 for doing the job, which I'm led to believe a competent mechanic should be able to complete within 3 hours!

Also, make sure he cleans out the inlet manifold & the EGR valve! May as well do the job properly while its in pieces!
 
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I bought the blanks of eBay and replaced them myself. Wasn't a particularly hard job and I cleaned the EGR valve and inlet at the same time. This was about 4 years ago (late 2004 car with around 50k) and the flaps were very dodgy back then, so I dread to think how bad they would have been now. Get them done, ASAP.
 
I didn't need to on my 530d but I did anyway using the glued screw method. Took about 2 hours total, replaced the EGV loo roll while I was there too. Felt a bit smoother afterwards actually but all of the flaps were operating smoothly anyway and I have the later type. There is a school of thought which suggests the flaps closed all the time leaves the regen cycle in operation mode all the time, but I haven't noticed any ill effects
 
It really is fantastic that everything bolted onto a half way modern diesel engine seems engineered to cause the maximum amount of problems posssible.

Dont worry your car has a EGr, PDF, DMF and swirl flaps! nothing can go wrong!
 
dalin80 said:
Dont worry your car has a EGr, PDF, DMF and swirl flaps! nothing can go wrong!
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[stress level rising again :(]

I appreciate people saying do it yourself and save the money but it isnt going to happen.
Besides changing a wheel the only thing I have ever done on a car was about 4 months
ago I decided (after watching a youtube video) to replace the rear disc's and pads.
Went ok but took ages to undo the bolts on the calipers, messing with the engine is a
totally different situation. Is there a youtube video for that :p (he says jokingly)
 
dalin80 said:
It really is fantastic that everything bolted onto a half way modern diesel engine seems engineered to cause the maximum amount of problems posssible.

Dont worry your car has a EGr, DPF, DMF and swirl flaps! nothing can go wrong!
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+1

But not on mine! :D

I have a (near enough) 20 year old Social/Domestic/Pleasure vehicle (LC80) and a 30 year old "Works" one (VW T3)!

I intend to keep both going for as long as physically possible!
 
d_brennen said:
I know a guy who bought a 330d private, it chewed on it's flaps within a month. Expensive :eek:
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Another good reason to get a garage to do it, come resale time you have proof that it's been done.

You could read all day about the problems some people have with thier BMW but I am happy
to tell you that in 4 years I have not had 1 single issue with my car - fact.
But now I find myself in a situation were I need to have a lot of work done to stop other things
from (possibly) happening, you just cant win can you :rolleyes:
Would that stop me from buying another BMW.......no, but the snow might!
 
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