carbon build up

[fastauto]

has anyone run into this issue yet with our cars? I think this is a cause of my misfire at idol. did you have an outside shop do it? BMW do it?

[bdaddylo]

I attended a BMW dealership open house on Saturday for the Houston M Club and inquired about this to one of the shop foremen. He said the intake cleaning is covered under our warranty. He also speculated that the walnut blasting smooths out the intake valves and ports to increase flow and slow down carbon build up.

[fastauto]

Originally Posted by bdaddylo

I attended a BMW dealership open house on Saturday for the Houston M Club and inquired about this to one of the shop foremen. He said the intake cleaning is covered under our warranty. He also speculated that the walnut blasting smooths out the intake valves and ports to increase flow and slow down carbon build up.

I was told its an additional cost because of the amount of miles on the car (22k). they said its not possible for me to have carbon buildup at this many miles but do not agree at all. they want to charge me $600.

[MDORPHN]

I did it at 30,000 miles. $600 isn't a bad price, although it can be found for $400 (by an independent, not a dealer).

Neil

[fastauto]

Originally Posted by MDORPHN

I did it at 30,000 miles. $600 isn't a bad price, although it can be found for $400 (by an independent, not a dealer).

Neil

Do you did this as preventative maintenance or did your car show some symptoms? Under wot I am fine however at idol the car is shaking like a crack head going through withdrawal. After BMW ran the original misfire codes on the car they did not come to the conclusion that there are any issues with the packs, plugs and injectors. In my eyes, it has to be the buildup on the stems. I also think BMW uses a foam similar while some of the aftermarket shops near me will walnut blast.

[MDORPHN]

I did it as preventative maintenance although I had noticed that the car wasn't idling quite a smoothly as before.

Foam won't do it. Walnut blasting -- or doing it completely manually with lots of brushes and solvent -- is the only way that really works.

Neil

[bdaddylo]

Originally Posted by fastauto

I was told its an additional cost because of the amount of miles on the car (22k). they said its not possible for me to have carbon buildup at this many miles but do not agree at all. they want to charge me $600.

Some indy shops will charge you for doing a scope to verify if there is carbon buildup. If there isn't any you pay for the scope. If there is then you only pay for the cleaning.

I would try to negotiate this approach with the dealer.

[fastauto]

Originally Posted by MDORPHN

I did it as preventative maintenance although I had noticed that the car wasn't idling quite a smoothly as before.

Foam won't do it. Walnut blasting -- or doing it completely manually with lots of brushes and solvent -- is the only way that really works.

Neil

yea, read good and bad things about the foam. read a lot of good things about walnut blasting. I bet you this is my issue. I have a ton of oil on my charge pipe and the car is thirsty. Let me figure this out and I will keep everyone on here posted. thanks neil.

[ayao]

Originally Posted by MDORPHN

I did it at 30,000 miles. $600 isn't a bad price, although it can be found for $400 (by an independent, not a dealer).

Neil

How bad was the accumulation at 30k?

[MDORPHN]

Originally Posted by ayao

How bad was the accumulation at 30k?

Not too bad.

Mind you, I've been running it hard with both the BMS occ and the Rob Beck pvc valve upgrade.

FWIW, I also run Motul 8100 or 300V and change it more than needed according to regular Blackstone analyses.

Neil

[robertm]

Originally Posted by MDORPHN

Not too bad.


Mind you, I've been running it hard with both the BMS occ and the Rob Beck pvc valve upgrade.


FWIW, I also run Motul 8100 or 300V and change it more than needed according to regular Blackstone analyses.


Neil

I have the exact same parts and use the Motul 8100 xcess oil exclusively. I change mine every 5k but don't see hardly any track time. I'm right at 30k miles now. No buildup that I can 'feel' yet. Time will tell.

I'm surprised you had issues so early with your setup. Are you using the xcess formula Motul? James over at RRT swears by it for reducing build up so that's good enough for me.

I wonder if the amount if track time you see contributes?

With regards to the OP, either get BMW to do it on there nickel or have an independent walnut blast it. That's the agreed upon best method to clean up the top of the vavletrain.

[CarJunkie]

Originally Posted by robertm

I wonder if the amount if track time you see contributes?

I would think that short daily commutes without a good full warm-up and with a lot of idling/low rpm driving would be worse then track time.

Wouldn't sustained high rpm driving at normal operating temp actually be better?

[bdaddylo]

Originally Posted by CarJunkie

I would think that short daily commutes without a good full warm-up and with a lot of idling/low rpm driving would be worse then track time.

Wouldn't sustained high rpm driving at normal operating temp actually be better?

My theory is the opposite. Coking occurs when the engine oil vapors, which are produced at high temperatures, cool and leave a residue on a surface and then is heated back up and solidifies.

I don't think you can avoid this by your driving habits. The 3 ways mentioned in the above threads are the best ways to slow down the accumulation.

1. Oil Catch Can
2. Improved PCV not PVC Valve (sorry Neil )
3. A Cleaner Engine Oil like Motul 8100 X-cess which is LL-01 rated.

[flzrider]

Originally Posted by bdaddylo

My theory is the opposite. Coking occurs when the engine oil vapors, which are produced at high temperatures, cool and leave a residue on a surface and then is heated back up and solidifies.

I don't think you can avoid this by your driving habits. The 3 ways mentioned in the above threads are the best ways to slow down the accumulation.

1. Oil Catch Can
2. Improved PCV not PVC Valve (sorry Neil )
3. A Cleaner Engine Oil like Motul 8100 X-cess which is LL-01 rated.

Where can I find more info on this upgraded PCV?

[bdaddylo]

Originally Posted by flzrider

Where can I find more info on this upgraded PCV?

http://www.rbturbo.com/products/accessories/

[-cj-]

Have you guys considered swapping your plugs for idle misfires?

Also, Cobb has an excellent piece on their website about diagnosing misfires, which may (or may not) help: http://www.cobbtuning.com/BMW-1M-s/70505.htm

Are any of you guys running meth? Did the walnut blasting help smooth out your idle (MDORPHN) afterwards?

[1911A145]

Originally Posted by bdaddylo

Some indy shops will charge you for doing a scope to verify if there is carbon buildup. If there isn't any you pay for the scope. If there is then you only pay for the cleaning.

I would try to negotiate this approach with the dealer.

I went this route with BMW and their foreman close to me.

He said that at 50k miles my valves looked new and very little, if any, carbon was built up.

I called BS. I took off the intake manifold an OMG th eamound of carbon was horrible! BLACK and LAYERED on the valves and ports.

Paid a guy local to me 300 bucks total and the vlaves and ports are like new and the car runs fantastic now afterwards. I find this needs to be done at least every 50k miles and if you can afford to, every 25-30k miles as preventitive maint.

[OneM]

Originally Posted by MDORPHN

Not too bad.

Mind you, I've been running it hard with both the BMS occ and the Rob Beck pvc valve upgrade.

FWIW, I also run Motul 8100 or 300V and change it more than needed according to regular Blackstone analyses.

Neil

The Motul 300V is not a 30 grade oil, its 40 I believe. That may be too thick and encourages carbon build up for a direct injection engine. This was told to me by a Volkswagen engineer when I brought my Tiguan in for servicing. He said I can use any full synthetic oil I like as long as it's 30 grade.

[HP Autosport]

Originally Posted by fastauto

has anyone run into this issue yet with our cars? I think this is a cause of my misfire at idol. did you have an outside shop do it? BMW do it?

Unless you have an OCC, you will have deposit build in a few thousand miles.