Cleaning the M54 ICV - Idle Control Valve

B

BobZ4

Member
I found this really useful and informative you tube video that takes you through how to clean your Idle Control Valve, this is for the M54 engne and though it is an e46 being worked on its the same for the Z4 minus the air guide removal at the start. Please note I didn't make this video it was a guy called Xionunjust on youtube, I hope this is useful to you guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STy-J10DtiU
 
cj10jeeper said:
Ah no - is this something else I have to worry about and strip out just for the hell of it.
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You know it makes sense - and what else would you be doing on a Sunday in 25 degrees of heat.... :driving:
 
Well actually fixed an exhaust rubbing noise that was as the new system had settled. Sure the neighbours liked the angle grinder running, but job done :thumbsup:
 
cj10jeeper said:
Well actually fixed an exhaust rubbing noise that was as the new system had settled. Sure the neighbours liked the angle grinder running, but job done :thumbsup:
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That's the sound of a UK Sunday.... mowing machines, electric drills, angle grinders and the 2 tones horns of the ambulance collecting the DIYers who thought they could.... :rofl:
 
I cleaned my ICV yesterday and it only took me around an hour, my car has done around 63K miles and it was black but it still moved. I cleaned it anyway and now it moves alot more freely.

The only thing i hate about the Z4 is it is so damn low, my back hurts when working on it.
 
I had the following problem (in my 2005 2.2 E85) which was solved by cleaning the ICV...:

About 2 weeks ago I started my car in the garage on a cold morning. the first thing I notivced was the yoyo-ing idle revs.
This seemed to dissapear after about 10 mins.
A couple of weeks passed and the problem didnt happen again so I forgot about it.

A couple of days ago I was (luckily) in the garage working on the car's bodywork...
When I tried to start the engine it ran for a while then suddenly stalled.
I started again and tried to rev it but everytime I would press the gas pedal, it would stall. The car was idling a bit lumpy but any pressing of the gas pedal would cause it to stall immediately.
After looking on the net for possible causes of the simptoms, I suspected the ICV.

I removed the IVC (as per instructions above) and upon examinatino it was very dirty inside and clearly stuck.
I cleaned throughly with petrol and refitted.
The car started first time with no problems and has been working fine since then... :)

p.s. My car has 102000 km on the clock.
 
nealjr said:
Do N52 Owners need to worry about this?
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No, the valvetronic system manages the idling.

Warning! Trivial factoids follow. Some engines achieve idle control by having a little gadget move the main throttle linkage a bit so the throttle valve remains cracked open, allowing idle. The M54 idle valve is a completely separate air intake system. The main throttle can be completely shut and the idle valve provides enough air for the engine to idle. One benefit is the throttle valve can return to a solid home position without risk of stalling the engine, which allows the electronic throttle control to positively know where the throttle valve position is, independent of sensor data.

The separate intake system takes idle air to just outside one of the intake valves. The benefit of this arrangement is the idle air can be used to induce a swirl into the main intake air under certain load conditions to ensure complete and rapid combustion. Additional complexity? Yes. Cool engineering? Absolutely!
 
bcworkz said:
nealjr said:
Do N52 Owners need to worry about this?
Click to expand...
No, the valvetronic system manages the idling.

Warning! Trivial factoids follow. Some engines achieve idle control by having a little gadget move the main throttle linkage a bit so the throttle valve remains cracked open, allowing idle. The M54 idle valve is a completely separate air intake system. The main throttle can be completely shut and the idle valve provides enough air for the engine to idle. One benefit is the throttle valve can return to a solid home position without risk of stalling the engine, which allows the electronic throttle control to positively know where the throttle valve position is, independent of sensor data.

The separate intake system takes idle air to just outside one of the intake valves. The benefit of this arrangement is the idle air can be used to induce a swirl into the main intake air under certain load conditions to ensure complete and rapid combustion. Additional complexity? Yes. Cool engineering? Absolutely!
Click to expand...

Gotta love this forum for gems like this, especially the last sentence
 
BobZ4 said:
I found this really useful and informative you tube video that takes you through how to clean your Idle Control Valve, this is for the M54 engne and though it is an e46 being worked on its the same for the Z4 minus the air guide removal at the start. Please note I didn't make this video it was a guy called Xionunjust on youtube, I hope this is useful to you guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STy-J10DtiU
Click to expand...


Hi Guys, I have noticed that when I start the car and leave it to tick over it does rev a bit lumpy, Its doesn't effect the starting/driving of the car and doesn't stall. I've never really thought about it until I read this thread. the revs go up ad down about 100rps ( no more ) has anyone got any feedback on this? could doing the above fix this?

Any information is much appreciated :)
 
Hi, New to the forum so hello to everyone. 2003 z4 SE. Having a problem with my Z where when the revs dropped back to idle the car jerks a bit and at times has appeared do so much it almost kangaroos down the road. No problems with accelerating. Generally happens going from 1.5k revs down to idle. Do you think this is due to the the ICV valve? Any comments will be appreciated 👍
 
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