DISA REPLACED!!! :)

[SSG S]

So this morning i woke up with the intent to clean my DISA unit becuase i was pretty sure it had never been done. And sure enough it hadn't.... But it was worst than I thought. The thing was litteraly falling appart and in desperate need of replacement. This whole time the rattle my car had wasnt from what i thought was the vanos, but infact it was from the DISA unit...

Here is my bay with the air intake box removed. If you have all the tools and the parts needed for this swap, it should not take longet than 15 minutes. Its super easy.

When i removed the unit i felt sick... it was crazy dirty

and the lap moved freely with no problem.... ITS NOT SUPPOSED TO!

and one of the scariest parts was when i turned the unit sideways this happened...

then this

then it just completely fell out...

This is the gunk i got on my finger from just lightly running it though the base

Here are a few pictures of the old unit with the gunk as well as the ware on the top of the flap.. Notice how there is a chunk missing on each side, one closer to the corner than the next... Enjoy.

So shortly after i realized cleaning this thing wasnt going to be enough, and i wasnt going to feel safe driving it around like this. So i went online and i decided to look for the nearest BMW dealership that had the part in stock... I ended up going over to BMW of Monrovia which had the part for about $306 after taxed
I went online to their site and i saw that they had a cupon for 15% off all parts and i walked away paying $262 i felt better already. I took the part out of the box and it was like night and day. very solid, lots of pressure on the flap to stay open with little to no play what so ever Here are the part numbers for both just for yet another refference

And as you can see the new one has the flap open like its supposed to, u push it to the closed position and it comes right back, now look at the old one next to it.... lazy ass DISA

I put the new unit in the car and drove off thinking i wasnt going to feel any difference.. Well correct me if im wrong, but it could be the placebo effect, but when i step on the throttle it feels way more responsive, the low end felt crispier and the best part of it all is that the rattle is gone!!!!! She idles quieter and rides smoother. Im a very happy camper right now. Hope u guys liked my little saturday moring adventure Next week ill post a thread on my replacement of my vanos unit with the DRVANOS unit just for preventative maintenance Cant wait!!!

SSG S

 

[daveg]

Great pics - I really want to see how bad mine is now.

How old is your car - how many years/miles of gunk do you reckon that is?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[SSG S]

I have a 2003 3.0 i with 58-59k miles on it. And im sure this thing has never been cleaned out before. This will be something i check every 15-20k miles from now on. Easey removal and cleaning it im pretty sure will extend the life of it quite nicely. Post pics of urs when its out of ur car

SSG S

 

[daveg]

Thanks SSG - same age as mine but slightly more miles, I think I'm going to be upset in an odd way if mine isn't grubby!

It's parked 10 minutes away as I can't get it home due to snow. Will probably have to wait till it warms up

How can it get so dirty - is that just crap in the air that gets deposited?

 

[czechT698]

simply wow. Imagine what must I have after 140 000km Will check ASAP.

 

[tomTVR]

How difficult is the DISA unit to replace? Mine is rattling but havent got round to changing it, would be useful if i could save money by doing it myself.

 

[Andy]

Top post, well done 8)

 

[SSG S]

How difficult is the DISA unit to replace? Mine is rattling but havent got round to changing it, would be useful if i could save money by doing it myself.

Not hard at all, like i said, about a 15 minute job if ur have the tools and parts ready to go (remove airbox, 2 bolts from the DISA, pull out, replace with new one, reinstall air box and ur done very very simple

simply wow. Imagine what must I have after 140 000km Will check ASAP.

Take pictures when u do take it out and post them if its not too much trouble. That way we can see the difference in build up depending on miles

Top post, well done 8)

Why thank you

 

[Sticks]

Excuse my ignorance but what is it supposed to do? DISA stands for?

 

[gannet]

sticks - see here: Differentiated Air Intake System

 

[Sticks]

Thanks, that's interesting, something I didn't know. Are the E46 320s swril flaps, which are famous for failing, something similar? Btw, where's all the crud come from? Surely not via air filter, is there a crankcase vent involved?

 

[tomTVR]

Just changed the DISA unit myself. The old one was rattling to hell so assumed it would be falling apart but it actually looked quite clean and only around 1-2mm of 'play'. New DISA has solved the problem nonetheless.

I am useless with a spanner but thought i would give it a go, heres my POV from a total mechanical DIY novice.

Had a bit of trouble removing the electrical plug which i ended up pulling to bits. There is a metal clip at the base which needs to be slid out before pulling up on the plug.

The clips joining the airbox to the MAF section i found needed a screwdriver to prise them off before the airbox could be totally removed. Much easier when refitting.

When refitting the airbox i found it rather fiddly trying to slot it cleanly into the rubber collar going to the air feed from the front of the car, got there in the end.

You need a size 40 torx head screwdriver bit for the DISA unit itself, i got mine from B&Q.

Finally dont drop your socket head in the bottom of the egine bay, mine is still in there somewhere

Overall well worth saying a few ££'s and doing it yourself

 

[powerontap]

Thanks SSG - same age as mine but slightly more miles, I think I'm going to be upset in an odd way if mine isn't grubby!

It's parked 10 minutes away as I can't get it home due to snow. Will probably have to wait till it warms up

How can it get so dirty - is that just crap in the air that gets deposited?

Don't be concerned too early, mine is also a 2003, but with 45K and the DISA was impeccable when I removed it a few weeks ago. Just needed a little wipe as it was quite clean, and very solid!