[old grey steve]

Hi This is Farokh's 325i



and very clean it is too. Jobs required were a brake fluid change, check replace brares where necessary, carry out a transmission fluid change including changing the sump and lastly seeing if 325i's and 330i's need the walnut blasting as much as the 335i's Apologies if some of the photo's are in the wrong orderand as you'll see a little later apologies for the inlet manifold shots pre walnut blasting for some reason this cylinder heads more difficult to get a decent shot of the valves than the 335i no matter what angle I tried I just couldn't get a decent shot but more of that later

So brakes



When checked Farokh's brakes wer noted as lightly scored but have gone through a heat cycle and lipped corroded especially on the inner surfaces






Having checked the pads they were Okish on the outside butmore worn on the inside especially the front off side pad the heat cycle though not easy to see in the photo's was evident Farokh had reported a fluctution in the CBS data for brakes that was flagging up on the dash the inner pads would explain this as the front were wearing thinner than the outside pads the rears one of the inner pads was close to metal to metal therefore the sensor had had its day too.

Having spoken to Farokh to report this(we managed to get his car in the air for a quick check not 2 hours after he'd dropped it in on Saturday morning he was given the feed back from the technition and was left to make a choice, choice taken was to put safety first and replace all as the time had jst come early if it hadn't of been done now it would have to of been done soon after and Farokh's time is limited I know due to his job.

So on Saturday befoer we closed we got on with the job and manged to get the front's on



wheels off and the rears were done too




at the same time I asked Kieron to have a good look aroud the car to check the obvious things out like leaking shocks for instance




as you can see all is well

so prior to sorting out the rear discs and pads to fit or not to fit the hand brake shoes that is the question. The inner disc area where the drums operated were corroded also lightly scored as stated earlier so it was 505/50




but the answer is no these are good to go again after a damn good clean and this was done



and that's the brakes all hubs as one would expect were thoroughly cleaned pads were of course treated to some of the best copper grease around(we'd rather spend money than skimp on something like this and have a car back with squealing brakes)and re assembled

Next transmission, like ESS(Seb's car) a genuine ZF kit was ordered up



and the work begun. Sadly again like Saturday when Seb's car was being done missed some chunks of this process as I've got the rest of the business to run but you get the story after looking at the pics





Just over 6 litres out and 6.6 litres in bang on the money only a very light sweating sump was seen when covers were off and the old sump was viewed so it was in better nick overall than many I've seen and the pilot plug was very dry, but as we're there this was changed as its been in the car for a good few years/miles. So I was pleased with that.

Brake fluid next



nothing really to report here

So the next task.. Walnut Blasting

For me this was going to be intersting Interesting as this si the 1st non Turbo direct injection engine we'd seen so here goes. Firstly inlet manifold, this is more difficult to get off than the 335i still it has to come off to see the ports in all their glory. Though sadly I don't have a picture of the manifold(forgot to bring my camera over I can report is was sweeting oil very shiny in there(this will be cleaned prior to re fitting) And as stated for some reason these ports are a damn sight more difficult to geta decent pre work photo than the 335i leading me to think the casting is different.

But here goes









its damn dark in there the picture below is port 2 from memory




and port 2 and 3 from an angle



and this is port 1



Notthe best pics to make a judgement(sorry) but what I will say is this theyare no as gummed up as the 335/135i's that I've seen but if you were thre and you had a good look down the valves wre coked up(but again not like the 335i's you've seen me post pics of on the forum) There was a lot more what I'd call runny oil matter in the ports which made some of the photo's quite difficult withthe flash as the light bounced off the oil and you couldn't see a thing.

But from what I viewed it looked different but was 100% gummed up so the cleaning began(which is hard work on the back you know)





and the net result sfter all this backache was this








Photo wise as you can see it was so much more easy to get some detail the oil coating the port sthough thin mad it difficult to get a decent detailed shot the above was just so easy to do no contamination what soever.

I'm well pleased with the out come of this first non Turbo walnut blasting attempt, we didn't honestly know what quite to expect but the picutres prove these suffer the same symptons though the residue left if Farokh's example is the same for all 325's and 330's isn't quite so gummy but nevertheless the thing this proves is that idrect injection engine suffer this inlet manifold coking problem.

Thanks for reading

Car will be bttoned up by Wednesday for Farokh(pleasure meeting you by the way)

Steve

[breathe3asy]

Great work Steve & interesting write up.

What is it about BMW wheel hubs that make them rust so quickly?

[Ess]

Nice!

I'd be interested to hear Farokh's comments on how it drives after the walnut blasting and also about the gearshifts with the fresh oil

[afalton]

This is interesting, I always thought the direct injection turbos would have this and not the na live and learn!

[Phil325i]

Thanks for the post Steve. Pity that the 'before' pics aren't clearer, but I'm heartened by the fact that the valves are nothing like as bad as the turbo engines. I'm thinking that an OCC will go a long way towards keep the need for blasting at bay for some time on an NA engine...

And +1 on some feedback from the owner on how it drives please.

[tc535i]

Originally Posted by afalton

This is interesting, I always thought the direct injection turbos would have this and not the na live and learn!

anything "direct injection" will have this occur, since there's no longer fuel coming thru the intake runner and washing over the valve

it's more of an issue in turbo cars, due to oil blow-by under boost, as well as generally hotter crankcase temps causing more oil vapor to be redirected back into the intake

[afalton]

Good explanation thanks!

[tc535i]

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by afalton

This is interesting, I always thought the direct injection turbos would have this and not the na live and learn!

Mini's for instance to name but one car have this issue and it's well versed on the various Mini forum too, our focus on here has been steered towards the 335i but it's a by product of any direct injection that these things will take place. Efficiency it seems brings other problems for the owner to contend with.

Originally Posted by Phil325i

Thanks for the post Steve. Pity that the 'before' pics aren't clearer, but I'm heartened by the fact that the valves are nothing like as bad as the turbo engines. I'm thinking that an OCC will go a long way towards keep the need for blasting at bay for some time on an NA engine...

And +1 on some feedback from the owner on how it drives please.

im sure Farokh will let us know what the difference feels like. But this evening we finished it off it's been driven drives lovely(I actually haven't driven it so I can't say what the differences are but I'm told its spot on)

But re the photos you're right no matter what I did they just didn't come out post work photos done photos come out which kinda tells you there was stuff in there, it was more can I say "oily/slippery" than the caked on stuff from the 335i's we knew we'd see deposits goes with the territory re direct injection but end result pre work was a surprise.

Farokh's cars covered just over 55k if that tells you something, the thing is did we catch it early, would say a 88.000 mile 325i be more gummed up? We're going to have to wait and see but an educated guess says yes, but not I think to the same degree as a 335 where things get a little more 'heated' due to the combustion cycle with high crankcase temps and the strain of the on/off boost characterises hence the need for support on Turbo cats to help such as the need ideally for a catch-can and the various Rob Beck, Forge valve offerings.

Originally Posted by tc535i

anything "direct injection" will have this occur, since there's no longer fuel coming thru the intake runner and washing over the valve

it's more of an issue in turbo cars, due to oil blow-by under boost, as well as generally hotter crankcase temps causing more oil vapor to be redirected back into the intake

as above couldn't agree more. The turbo cars on here due to how they operate are always going to get the press and the more gory pre/post photo's and they'll show the biggest improvement visually too.

On a final note re things combustion I understand sparks are relatively new but seem to be OK.

[fm]

Right hi guys I'm assuming everyone has been long awaiting this review. I've taken a while to respond as I wanted to get settled with the car after the new brakes, transmission fluid change and walnut blasting. From the time of writing this I have 400 miles worth of driving post transmission change/walnut blast.

First of a huge thanks to Steve and his team with their exceptional levels of service that was received. Along every step of the way I was kept informed and plenty of photos to show me what was going on and the reason why things were done and how they were done. More so than this thread shows! Steve and his team look after the car as if it's their own which have a great deal of trust to me.

So I will start first with the transmission fluid change. Before I took it in to Steve it wasn't bad but I got the odd snappy/jerky shifts when on WOT and in manual mode. Generally speaking I thought the shifts were comfortable for a car of this nature. Since the change the first mile or two had a little slam to it I assume as the fluid was moving around whilst the gears were changing. Now it is at the point where you cannot feel gear changes at all. Including WOT and in manual changing. Bmw's idea of lifetime fluid is nonsense, the fluid that came out was a markedly different colour to what went in. It truly is a night and day change. If ZF the manufacturer state to change the fluid at around 50k (correct me if I'm wrong) I would stick to that, and it definitely paid dividends. Well worth it. Steve reset the gearbox adaptations as well. This did feel a bit odd at first as the car is learning from scratch but it was nothing to taxing.

Now on to the bit where everyone's interest has been lingering. The walnut blasting. The major difference I have noticed is a marked increase in economy. I used to average 32mpg mainly in London City driving and the odd a road/motorways when further travelling for work was needed. Now it has increased to 36mpg. Whether this is related to the walnut blast I am not sure but certainly feels like it. The car was quiet before but now it is even more so. Never realised that idle could be even more quiet. Hard for me to explain but the car feels brand new out of the factory with both changes. Very quiet idle and the throttle response is better. Before there was a very slight hesitation on throttle input. Now it is instant. I think as Steve mentioned I wouldn't notice a night and day difference. But there is a difference and it is noticeable.

Happy to answer any questions people may have. But I feel it is definitely worth it.

[AlanYoro35i]

Steve , can you get the walnut done in a day? I really don't want to leave the car and collect next day. The traffic goig home is horendous both to london and basingstoke.

[M5rius]

Originally Posted by tc535i

anything "direct injection" will have this occur, since there's no longer fuel coming thru the intake runner and washing over the valve

it's more of an issue in turbo cars, due to oil blow-by under boost, as well as generally hotter crankcase temps causing more oil vapor to be redirected back into the intake

So it's only apply to the n53 engines as n52's still have normal injection true manifold.

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by fm

Right hi guys I'm assuming everyone has been long awaiting this review. I've taken a while to respond as I wanted to get settled with the car after the new brakes, transmission fluid change and walnut blasting. From the time of writing this I have 400 miles worth of driving post transmission change/walnut blast.

First of a huge thanks to Steve and his team with their exceptional levels of service that was received. Along every step of the way I was kept informed and plenty of photos to show me what was going on and the reason why things were done and how they were done. More so than this thread shows! Steve and his team look after the car as if it's their own which have a great deal of trust to me.

So I will start first with the transmission fluid change. Before I took it in to Steve it wasn't bad but I got the odd snappy/jerky shifts when on WOT and in manual mode. Generally speaking I thought the shifts were comfortable for a car of this nature. Since the change the first mile or two had a little slam to it I assume as the fluid was moving around whilst the gears were changing. Now it is at the point where you cannot feel gear changes at all. Including WOT and in manual changing. Bmw's idea of lifetime fluid is nonsense, the fluid that came out was a markedly different colour to what went in. It truly is a night and day change. If ZF the manufacturer state to change the fluid at around 50k (correct me if I'm wrong) I would stick to that, and it definitely paid dividends. Well worth it. Steve reset the gearbox adaptations as well. This did feel a bit odd at first as the car is learning from scratch but it was nothing to taxing.

Now on to the bit where everyone's interest has been lingering. The walnut blasting. The major difference I have noticed is a marked increase in economy. I used to average 32mpg mainly in London City driving and the odd a road/motorways when further travelling for work was needed. Now it has increased to 36mpg. Whether this is related to the walnut blast I am not sure but certainly feels like it. The car was quiet before but now it is even more so. Never realised that idle could be even more quiet. Hard for me to explain but the car feels brand new out of the factory with both changes. Very quiet idle and the throttle response is better. Before there was a very slight hesitation on throttle input. Now it is instant. I think as Steve mentioned I wouldn't notice a night and day difference. But there is a difference and it is noticeable.

Happy to answer any questions people may have. But I feel it is definitely worth it.

Hey Farokh that's pleasing to hear everyone's been asking but I hadn't heard anything then again I forgot this thread

Gearbox wise it was a done deal and you'll notice an improvement and this would of also had an impact re the fuel economy as well especially re setting the adaptations as the cars started from scratch and re learnt the procedure so to speak.

Re the walnut blasting it would of made a difference but as stated not as much as the turbo cars, the areas I think you'd of noticed re tick over and throttle response you've immediately noticed, which is awesome news for me as this was the one I was uncertain about, but I'm pleased you've seen the results of all this work as for the normally aspirated cars this was trial/error to a degree as we were entering the unknown but I'm glade it seems to of shown positive results as we were all wondering what the difference would be.

I'd say in percentage terms the increase in the fuel economy would of been down to both the gear box and the walnut blasting and again when your driving the car the mere fact that the gear box is now working more efficiently and the engine is breathing better will all play a part in giving you a much nicer car to drive.. Really pleased with this one

If you could leave a review for us Farokh http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews182031.html we'd be very grateful..

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Yoro35i

Steve , can you get the walnut done in a day? I really don't want to leave the car and collect next day. The traffic goig home is horendous both to london and basingstoke.

Usual procedure for you Alan drop off collect a car and come back the following day and it'll be done


Steve