Swirl flaps

[ssrfr03]

Hi all I have a x5 E70 35D  with the euro4 eg engine M57 N2 in it would this engine have the swirl flaps on that will need blanking off .
Thanks

[Riggie]

My 35d had them and although the failure rate is less than before, they still can cause problems. Not worth the risk imho, for peace of mind, take them out.

[Nine468]

My 08 plate 3.0sd had them, not now though , ive had them removed... Piece of mind...

[X5Sport]

Fitted to all diesel E70/71 versions.  Only the E53 escaped.

Does anyone know if there is an impact upon the DPF system?  I know our E46 smokes a little more under heavy acceleration with the flaps blanked off.  That isn't a problem in that car as it has no DPF, but the newer cars do, and soot would kill the DPF very quickly.

[Pinewood]

There is no impact to the DPF at all.  I removed them from my E60 and ran her for 60,000 miles without issue. The only thing that kills dpf's is people doing short journeys for months on end. If that is you, get the car up onto a motorway once a month and drive for 30 minutes with 1/2 a tank of diesel in the tank.

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[IIIRestorerIII]

So I have a Dec 2012 x40d.  Is it worth me blanking these off as well?

[Pinewood]

There were very few cases of injested swirl flaps in earlier diesel engines.  Read 2004-2008.  The owners of those earlier cars blanked them off as a precautionary measure as it pretty much wrecked the engine.
Engines after that time had a modified spindle which meant it didn't break and so the issue has gone away for many people. I wouldn't worry about it on a 2012 version engine.

Sent via the space time continuum

[X5Sport]

The real swirl flap issue was 1999-2002.  Cases since then are very rare, but do happen - and not just on BMW.  There are plenty of other manufacturers using similar technology.

Mine is under OEM extended warranty so has to remain standard.  I have yet to see a single E70/71 case of a member on here having a swirl flap problem.  I don't remember any 'X' owner on here having an issue AFAIK.

[Riggie]

[quote="X5Sport"]
The real swirl flap issue was 1999-2002.  Cases since then are very rare, but do happen - and not just on BMW.  There are plenty of other manufacturers using similar technology.

Mine is under OEM extended warranty so has to remain standard.  I have yet to see a single E70/71 case of a member on here having a swirl flap problem.  I don't remember any 'X' owner on here having an issue AFAIK.
[/quote]

I had them removed when I had a 2006 3.0d sport as I had read the horror stories. When I got my 35d, I read of the improvements  to the later ones and less likelihood of disaster, so I spoke to PMW in Essex who are thought to be experts in this particular field. They said that it was correct that failures were less likely than before due to the redesign of the flaps, but although it happened less frequently than before, it did still happen.

Even though the risk was much reduced, I wasn't prepared to take it and wreck my engine for the cost of the blanking plates. Your choice of course.

[IIIRestorerIII]

Thanks.