E90 320i Engine Flushing? And Odd colour under the gunk in Valve Cover

[LemonHunter 583]

Two part question

Thoughts on flushing N46B20 engine before oil chanhe? What product if any? A bit of build up visible. 

Looks like rust colored staining in valve cover, wasn't visible till I degreased it. Anything to worry about? 

[Jacko 2180]

No expert, but I did a bunch of reading on engine flushes, and came to no conclusion. Even some BMW sources say do not use engine oil flushes, and other provide it as a service... God knows whom is right (there is logic to both sides of the argument) That does look pretty nasty to be fair, so flushing its probably a good idea, just be prepared for leaking seals if any of the carbon blocking holes gets loosened. 

 

On the rust coloured stuff, thats just shmoo in the oil thats had the oil stripped out of it, from the degreaser, and it just cakes on. Its hard to get off short of media blasting (maybe vapour blasting would sort it?)

Edited September 26, 2019 by Jacko

[BreakMyWindow 1891]

That just looks like condensation build up mixed in with engine oil. The result of a lot of short running trips.

Clean up the nice gouging marks if you want the valve cover to seal.

[LemonHunter 583]

[Gaz 1063]

Engine oil flushes can be hit and miss. As what sometimes happens, bits of gunk or whatever can come loose and then get stuck in oil galleries or oil pump and make things worse

[LemonHunter 583]

This car sat in a driveway for 2 years so I'm gonna roll the dice. 

Fresh oil filter and some fancy flush, then new oil and another filter. 

[zero 1162]

There is differing opinions on engine flushes, but I know some old school mechanics will mix in some atf with the engine oil, run the engine and then flush and put in fresh engine oil. The atf has alot of detergents in it.

Someone like Glenn would be worth asking as he has alot of experience.

[M3AN 4016]

What's all the silver stuff on the filter? I'd be more interested in that than caked oil.

Flushing isn't cleaning but it is a worthwhile exercise you just need 12 litres of inexpensive full synth oil and a couple of cheap filters (optional really).

1. New filter, fill, run to 25% temp, drain.
2. New filter, fill, run to 50% temp, drain.
3. New long term filter, new long term oil, all good.

That'll properly flush any contaminates that aren't baked on. I wouldn't use an additive, all modern oils have cleaning agents.

Edited September 27, 2019 by M3AN

[KwS 2431]

A better option is to fill with a diesel oil as it has far more detergents, run it for a bit, drain it and then fill with preferred oil. I wouldnt use a kero based engine flush, they're pretty aggressive. 

[Olaf 3357]

8 hours ago, M3AN said:

What's all the silver stuff on the filter? I'd be more interested in that than caked oil.

Well spotted Dave.  That's got more silver than my hair.  And that's no mean feat!

@EUROLESS it's gotta be worth a crack, eh.

Hmmm.  There will be a Wurth product you can trust.  There'll be differing opinions, and many of these products will be snake oil.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Olaf
Wurth

[LemonHunter 583]

I think the silver stuff is just light catching, sunny day, I'll have a closer look tomorrow. 

Old Oil seems to have finished burning off the manifold and exhaust which is nice. 

First time the vanos opened up under full throttle it dumped a bunch of smoke out the back which made me panic, but that hasn't happened since. 

Been driving it around to Loosen everything up before the compliance tomorrow.

It seems to be running well, there is a slight tick on the drivers side of the engine bay which I hope is just somthing loose and rattling. It gets a little faster as the revs come on and seems to dissappear over 3000ish

[LemonHunter 583]

On 9/27/2019 at 8:46 PM, M3AN said:

 

1. New filter, fill, run to 25% temp, drain.
2. New filter, fill, run to 50% temp, drain.
3. New long term filter, new long term oil, all good. 

I don't have the patience for the secret menu to see engine temps. 

I dumped one of these in it. 

https://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/p/nulon-nulon-pro-strength-extreme-oil-flush---500ml/561575.html

If the oil comes out like tar I Will get some random full synthetic and another two filters. 

Its been really nice to drive, I need to keep reminding myself E90/N46 it's a lemon and I need to move it on

Seems bloody economical too. 

[Olaf 3357]

It's like you say, certainly worth a crack!