XSeries-forum

Ive just bought a 56 plate X5 3.0d, I have had BMW's before and I always get them looked after at a local indy BMW specialist who was a mechanic at main dealers for years so I have always assumed he knows his stuff!

When I asked him about the car I just purchased he recomended I get the swirl flaps done for around £180 to avoid an engine failure around 80-90000 miles?

I have tried researching on this forum and from what I could find, it says these cars dont have swirl flaps??

I love cars but know nothing about engines!

Any help and advice would be appreciated?

welcome to the forum!
its just as well youve found us as youve researched correctly!
x5's circa your year do NOT have swirl flaps. if a bmw trained mechanic is trying tell you you need them doing, then maybe its time you found a new mechanic lol.
i wonder if you gave him the car to do the job, he would come clean and admit his misatke or just try and make the easiest £180 of his life..

Thanks for confirming that for me, yes Im alarmed by this finding to say the least re the mechanic! I will speak to him about my specific car and give him the chance to come clean, if he doesnt ill be looking for a new mechanic as you say!!

I am yet to find a member with a 3.0d that has these fitted either pre or post facelift.

Of course unless someone else can prove otherwise.

Some mechanics seem to be assuming the EVERY BMW 3.0d M57 engine is fitted with swirl flaps, and that belief extends far wider and to people who really should know better. Even some Dealers believe they are fitted! I had to go through the parts with the Service Manager at my Dealer to confirm with him there aren't any. He had previously offered to to a check to confirm......for about £200.

As you're finding here, the E53 was never fitted with these horrors but it may be the only BMW car with that engine that isn't.

One worry less..

So its not stupid for my mechanic to think it had these then?
I take it I dont need to worry about anything else with the engine on these cars?

No, probably not stupid...a very common misconception.

The actual engine itself is pretty much bombproof as long as you keep to the Service Schedule and change a few things regularly that might generate problems if not checked.

The most obvious one is the crankcase breather. There was an early foam 'bog roll' design of breather that clogs with oil and in bad examples causes overpressure in the system and can cause the turbo to fail. Any sign of excessive smoking is a clue to look at it pronto! The design was supposed to have been revised in 2005 for a 'vortex' type which doesn't clog. Owners of later cars well into 2005 have all found that they have the earlier design and it's just possible you may have too. It's a DIY job without much difficulty. If the air filter is being changed then it's a good idea to have a look at this breather at the same time. It's about £40 in parts from a Dealer and you may not find it anywhere else.

There's a discussion and How to with pics on this site..

Glowplugs are a fairly frequent item on here, as is the thermostat. Look for weeping on the PAS hoses too - the design of the bottom connectors was changed late in production and an extended sleeve fitted to improve service life. Mine were changed under warranty when they started weeping in 2007. If the a/c isn't used much, or hasn't been checked recently then that's probably worth getting done. Your system will have lost a fair amount of its gas since 2006. If the seals fail then it's very expensive unless you can source a rebuilt or secind hand serviceable replacement.