Member
Originally Posted by genuity
Sorry for the delated response bud, didn't see the thread.
Your gonna want to clean the Disa thoroughly, windex will work for this, i happened to use 409, nothing special...
once its nicely cleaned and wiped down, you want to spray it down with some WD-40, also flap the actually valve and spray where the movement of the pump is in action... you know what im talking about it...
You also want to WD-40 the slots above and below where the DISA inserts into the manifold, WD-40 and clean, than WD-40 again....
As for the sealant, i used a High quality silicone sealant..
I put the sealant on the part that attaches to the manifold (circular seals)
And also on the actually flap seals that are inserted into the manifold....
Overall it's a lot more quiet and smooth...
Member
Ive read that to find out if its the DISA adjuster is to unplug it while the car is idling and if the clicking ceases then well there you go. BTW what does the DISA adjuster do exactly.
Saving BMWs one basket at a time.
BMWs saved 2
Stretch Haters Club #1
BMW CCA Member
Post #92 in this thread explains what the DISA does:
http://forums.my330i.com/showthread.php?p=55148
Check out the rest of the thread for far more information than you ever needed to know about optimizing the E46.
Member
First thing....thanks for wasting my entire day! I clicked on that link and then ended up reading all 48 pages of that thread. I won't ruin it for anyone else but suffice to say the last 3 pages were shocking!!!
Anyway, I changed my lower intake boot today. This is what I found:
I was having problems running "lean condition" codes. Ever since I changed it the car has been running a lot smoother. It wasn't running too badly before but the idle was a little rough (now as smooth as butter) and there is a noticeably pick up in low end torque. Overall for $20 this was an amazing fix. So glad I did it.
Member
Ya, well thats good....
Have you done your VANOS yet?
Member
This is on my to do list, when I changed out the plugs couple days back figured it be a good time to get at the ICV and give it a good cleaning, got the DISA off cleaned it up nicely, lots of carbon build up on it, now time to move onto the ICV, got to the lower intake boot, and found that little sob bastard clamp, that everyone seems to know about! Got to wiggling, prying, crying and noticed a little tear in the boot, shoot, stop right there, and order a new part first, put every thing back on car, and wait for new lower intake boot to come in and then finish the job.
After reading through this thread, encountering that clamp, and not getting it off, I know me, that boot is gonna get ripped to shreds. And then I'll drink a beer, and clean the ICV.
Member
No but I have the seals ready and waiting. Just need the weather to warm up. Garage is a bit cold still to spend hours in there. It's the next project.
Member
rofl
good luck, keep us posted.
Last edited by dabdibridgep; 02-20-2010 at 02:30 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
Member
I was seeing codes P0171 and P0174. "Large vacuum leak" caught my eye, so I browsed the hoses and intake run and found the obvious break in the smaller hose that branches off the main body of the lower intake boot.
After tearing up my hand and wondering "how the heck...?" I hopped on the internet and found the forum here. The thread had some key hints I needed, and I thought it only right to sign up and share some of the other tricks I figured out. I'm an new BMW owner, and this is only my second maintenance task. They are a blast to work on, since you have to think to get it done (and the battle seems to typically be won with style over brute force, and so far, the victory includes making it adjustments so it should be a much easier task if it is ever needed again).
1) New boot was only $20 from my dealer in Austin, vs $15 online, so I drove 10 minutes and made sure I had it in hand (which turned out to be a really good plan, since destruction of the old one made it much, much easier).
2) I worked down the flow, filter cover off (great place to hold the parts along the way) , upper boot off, mating flange off. 6mm short and long sockets helped for up to that point. Vacuum pipes popped off best by taking the Y fitting out of the upper boot, rather than trying to get the bigger of the two off the fitting.
3) The flow adjuster was next. Only the top two of the four visible T-40 screws are holding it in. The rear screw need the adjuster's connector removed, which comes off by squeezing clip that is mounted on the back (manifold) side. Once the two screws are out, bring the adjuster straight out, then schootching the other tubes/cable runs and tipping and gently twisting. Make sure it's free of the internal guides before twisting. In my first pass, I thought the trick was tipping it onto it's back, but on the way back in, the twist made it nearly simple.
4) Kill the boot. I used heavy duty kitchen shears to take the smaller pipe back nearly to the clamp, and to cut the rearward half (at least) out of the larger one. No benefit to leaving much more than a grab section on the bigger one, but you don't need to get it all out.
5) I ended up using an open-end 1/4 inch wrench to do the teensy bit at a time loosening of the smaller tube's clamp. A 6mm may have been better, but I didn't have one, and as it turned out, the bit of slack in the 1/4 to 6mm conversion seemed to come in handy. I box-end 6mm may be the ultimate, but if you're not getting the angle or wiggle room you need, you might try the 1/4. It didn't take that much before it got finger loose and could be loosened the rest of the way by hand.
6) Pry off the smaller with an appropriate blade screwdriver, then tackle the larger boot's clamp in the same basic way. Patience makes it go much quicker.
7) Once the boot was off, it made sense to me to gently swing up the intake butterfly and clean off inside what could be easily reached with fingers and a carb cleaner soaked rag. I'm not saying I know it's ok to swing that butterfly valve open, but I've never had a challenge of something getting out of calibration when gentle was the watchword. (Also surprised to find that the throttle pedal didn't swing the valve... didn't know I was driving a drive by wire machine.... cool).
8) Re-assembly is straight-forward, cleaning along the way. One thing I figured out with the clamps was to reorient the innermost ones so they could be easily accessed from the top. I ended up using a few different screwdriver sizes, as sometimes the angle allowed using a long one from above the hoses and clutter, while other ones were best with a short enough one to fit under the hoses (hand at manifold level).
Victory! Runs like a champ, and a substantial low end hesitation has gone away.
Member
nice job... yea that lower intake boot is a torque/power killer....
when i replaced mine... the result were stunning... truthfully the car performs completely different... of course i did this right after replacing my VANOS seals... so i think the combination of the two transformed my car into the monster it was born to be... i shift much earlier now and get through gears faster in lower rpms because of all the torque.... if i step on it in 4th @3k RPMs i'll be gone.... now, if i dont shift to third in that same scenario... ill be history !!!!
have you done your VANOS seals yet?
Member
Thanks,
Nope, haven't looked into the VANOS seals, but I saw it mentioned, and will look into it the next time I need take a wrench to the car. I have bathroom and kitchen renovations in process, as well as 95 Suburban in the drive that needs a tranny swap, so it's more about survival repairs right now (emissions codes = inspection troubles, plus the light, so I was motivated to figure this one out). If the light doesn't go away (didn't buy a resetter yet), I may be looking for other "leaks", including the VANOS if it's a contributor, sooner rather than later.
Member
Want to never have to replace the lower and upper intake boot ever again?
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=742302
Stett is making silicone boots for the 330(would have to use an adapter for 323/328/325, but it's doable), AFAIK it will be a 1 piece unit, and pricing for the group buy is very, very fair. I have the Stett silicone radiator hoses(as well as many members on E46F), they are very very high quality.
Member
good info... unfortunately neither my boot or radiator hoses need replacing, but when they do i will Mos Def look into this.
Member
Well worth it if/when they doI dunno about you, but I plan to keep my E46 until it can no longer physically hold the wheels on, so that's just one less maintenance item.
Member
ya i hear you, i'm gonna have mine for a while too, but i think im gonna get rid of it before it can't hold the wheels any more
Stretch Haters Club #1
BMW CCA Member
Well worth it if/when they do
After that incident with the busted CAB housing, you've only got three more wheels to go...
Member
After that incident with the busted CAB housing, you've only got three more wheels to go...That one got put back on, though the busted subframe mount makes it closer to 2 right now
Member
This is definately my problem... I'm fixing it tomorrow after work.
Member
cool, let us know how it goes.
Member
Why get torn up, I paid 65 bucks parts and labor at my indy shop; dealer wanted 350!!!
Member
If you have an indy shop that can do it reasonably, that's an available choice. Tricky part is figuring out what's broken so a good shop, even an indy, can go straight to it, rather than "fixing" everything it might be, but not what it is.
Also seems plenty of BMW enthusiasts like the challenge of the repairs, especially when it can get very pricey to get simple things done, even when they can be quickly figured out. I suspect most of our day jobs are continuous, and never really "get done". Something like this boot is diagnosable, has a cheap part, and when you "figure it out", like a puzzle, you get the "ah-ha" satisfaction, along with something broken being fixed, done, and not likely to return for a long time.
Member
I changed this when I put on my new CAI. It was really not that hard, just have to use your fingers for your eyes like every mechanic does. A shop will charge you $50 to do this when you can take an HOUR MAX to do this yourself and get your hands dirty.
Extremely special Member
Wow, thanks for posting this OP. I've been noticing a surge at 3k Rpms, especially since I rebuilt my Vanos, and I've always felt like my car is lacking a bit in the torque department. Gonna look into this right away.
Member
NP.... huge difference maker... do you have a SES light on?
Extremely special Member
No, no lights... Ever
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