M54 checking DISA valve (need to replace seals?)

[tomrdy]

Hey guys,

I wanted to do some preventative maintenance as my car is about 150k kms soon and wanted to check that my DISA valve is OK or needs to be replaced.

I was going to just pull it off and take a look to check the pins/flaps/vacuum etc but for some reason my brain is telling me there's something about not being able to re-sit the unit without new seals after pulling off even if everything is fine???

Couldn't find anything to back this up (or rather that the seals will break on the m54 if I remove it) but it's definitely in my head for some reason. Am... I going crazy and made that up? :| :| :| :|

Cheers,

T

 

[ERX]

You can check the DISA valve without replacing any seals. I checked mine a few weeks ago

 

[tomrdy]

You can check the DISA valve without replacing any seals. I checked mine a few weeks ago

Cool thanks mate! So just pop it off, inspect, if all good - pop back on?

 

[ERX]

Cool thanks mate! So just pop it off, inspect, if all good - pop back on?

Yes mate, just check a couple of guides if you're not sure how to get it off and on though

 

[tomrdy]

Will do cheers!

 

[john-e89]

Will do cheers!

Pointless taking it out and not fitting an upgrade kit though Tom. The kits are approx £50 and use a threaded shaft instead of the pin that can fall out and sit on a piston waiting to be crushed. The flap arm will probably be worn too, the kit has a new one plus an alloy flap rather than plastic and new seals. Easy job to do.

 

[tomrdy]

Ah didn't know there was an upgrade for it!

Is it something like this?
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F222256111739

I'd be keen on that. Threaded rod sounds good and would put my anxiety of engine-grenading to rest lol!

 

[ERX]

I think you should have a look at your one first. When I had a look at mine, I was confused as to how the pin can actually come all the way out as it doesn't look like there's enough clearance for it to. My DISA valve was perfectly fine too, so I didn't bother with an upgrade kit.

This is the upgrade kit I was going to kit if you want to have a look
https://www.i6automotive.co.uk/bmw-disa-valve-intake-adjuster-unit-aluminium-repair-kit-3-0-only.html

 

[kis]

Not sure about the ebay one but i6 are well known for their DISA and Vanos kits

 

[tomrdy]

@ERX yep will plan to take a look at it regardless! I'm removing the airbox to clean up some wiring for my halos anyway so it'll be 2 birds

Thanks for the link. Will check it out if a repair/upgrade is needed. Fingers crossed it's fine tho!

 

[john-e89]

@ERX yep will plan to take a look at it regardless! I'm removing the airbox to clean up some wiring for my halos anyway so it'll be 2 birds

Thanks for the link. Will check it out if a repair/upgrade is needed. Fingers crossed it's fine tho!

:scratchhead: If you’re taking it out to look at it surely you might as well upgrade a known weak point on that engine? Even if it seems ok £50 will guarantee the pin won’t fall out as it’d be gone. 50 quid is a LOT cheaper than a potentially lunched engine no?

 

[Bill10]

Got an intermittant misfire on my 330Ci. It has the M54 engine. Thinking it was probably an air leak in the intake manifold. I checked the DISA valve and intake pipes. In the DISA valve the flap was flapping, no connection to the shaft and coritrol arm. So I replaced the DISA valve and the intake boot and elbow. Still have the misfire. Next step the CCV valve and the crankcase breather pipes.

 

[kis]

@ERX yep will plan to take a look at it regardless! I'm removing the airbox to clean up some wiring for my halos anyway so it'll be 2 birds

Thanks for the link. Will check it out if a repair/upgrade is needed. Fingers crossed it's fine tho!

:scratchhead: If you’re taking it out to look at it surely you might as well upgrade a known weak point on that engine? Even if it seems ok £50 will guarantee the pin won’t fall out as it’d be gone. 50 quid is a LOT cheaper than a potentially lunched engine no?

I’m the same, if it’s okay now... doesn’t mean it’ll still be okay in the next 1000 miles. It’s a known failure like the rear springs. Some are good for 20k some 60k etc etc. I checked my DISA about 5k ago so just need to pull my finger out and fit it now! FYI my current DISA works and looks fine

 

[tomrdy]

@ERX yep will plan to take a look at it regardless! I'm removing the airbox to clean up some wiring for my halos anyway so it'll be 2 birds

Thanks for the link. Will check it out if a repair/upgrade is needed. Fingers crossed it's fine tho!

:scratchhead: If you’re taking it out to look at it surely you might as well upgrade a known weak point on that engine? Even if it seems ok £50 will guarantee the pin won’t fall out as it’d be gone. 50 quid is a LOT cheaper than a potentially lunched engine no?

Oh yeh but ordering the part will take at least 2-3 weeks for it to arrive (I'm in Australia). Checking it now will just at least let me keep driving my car with less worry as it's my daily.

Also taking it off seems like it only takes 5 minutes or so? Am i missing something?

EDIT: Thought about it a bit more and I think you're right. Probably smarter to leave it alone (my car currently has no symptoms) and remove it just the once to install the upgrades. God knows with my luck sometimes, fiddling with it to check might just cause it to fail lol. I've just put through the order for the i6 kit so hopefully won't take too long to get here!

Thanks for all the feedback and perspective guys! Will update this thread once I've got the bits and done the repairs/upgrades.

 

[Z4 - Kev]

I've just read this with much interest. I checked my disa valve recently expecting the worse - pin sticking out or at least showing signs of doing so. But no! The whole valve assembly looked absolutely fine. See pics below. I certainly wasn't going to poke about with the business end of a screwdriver trying to dislodge the pin. It looks perfectly fine to me. My Zed has just over 120,000 miles on the clock and eats up motorway miles with ease.
After reading horror stories about the disa valve pin coming loose without warning, I was pleasently surprised with the 'good' condition I found mine to be in. The valve flap had plenty of resistance when I moved it with my finger as well.
I refitted it with peace of mind that it's not going to fail anytime soon. A yearly check by me will be sufficient me thinks. I only cover approximately 3000 year a year. Maybe I'm just lucky? must admit a £50 easy fix is deffo worth it - if needed. If it a'int broke don't fix it.

Any comments...........


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[tomrdy]

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Any comments...........


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Your plan was what I was going to do originally - check it; refit if fine; repair if broke. But after finding out there's an upgrade part (I didn't know about it until I wrote this thread and got other member's input!), I figure even if it LOOKS fine, the relatively low cost of the upgrade parts (costed me about $85 AUD to order which is probably less than what gets spent on a week of groceries for my wife and I over here in Aus) and the simple procedure, it just didn't make sense not to upgrade the parts as it appears that it's essentially a FIX for a known weakness/problem. At least for me personally, it would mean there's one less thing that I'll need to keep an eye on which in my books, is totally worth.

 

[kis]

Anyone know what the pots are for in the kit? Bought mine ages ago and finally found it... I’ve looked up instructions on website but can’t find reference to either lubricant? One is blue-ish and one brown-ish. Any insight? Cheers

 

[ERX]

Any comments...........


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That is exactly what I did. I can't even see how the pin has enough clearance to come out of the assembly and get sucked into the engine. I have a feeling that the fault is less common than people think

 

[tomrdy]

Well my parts arrived and I had some time this morning to started the procedure. In the middle of it right now.

GOOD thing I am doing this because...

My DISA valve is ffffff'ed!

- It's missing the O ring (im certain this motor is from a wreck now as the prev owner said).
- Pin is OK but the flap has 0 resistance on it
- Switched on Ignition (no engine start obviously) and the flap only moves about 10% of the way.

Going to begin the teardown/repair now. Hopefully it sorts it!

Update:

Unit looks fine - just the flap and rod/pin way too worn. I could move the rod/pin about 1/2mm in each direction! Upgrade parts going in!

 

[tomrdy]

All done now! Turns out my car DID have symptoms that I simply just got used to.

I found the car a bit sluggish before under 3k rpm but now, it's completely changed. Pulls strong from 2k onwards. I've also noticed that on start-up, I don't have the random shaky idle which I got used to resolving by putting enough gas to keep it at around 1.2k for a second or 2. Sometimes as well around the 3k mark I would have snappy on/off pull which I had always thought was just the way the engine ran. Totally not true. Smooth delivery now

Soooo glad you guys in this thread told me about the upgrade



Super gunky. Looks like (from my quick googling) that the crankshaft ventilation system needs a look at. Anyone know if this is a critical/urgent issue?



Comparing the old bits and the new. Good thing about the upgrade is even at it's worse case scenario (the aluminium rod loosens), nothing should fall into the motor - the valve just probably won't run smoothly which definitely soothes my paranoia. *Note the rod goes in from the other side - I just put it like this in the pic for comparisons sake.

If anyone is doing this upgrade, I would say that make sure you put enough grease on the parts and don't over tighten the rod. I went a bit ham and it actually hindered the flap's movement a little. It doensn't need a lot of force - especially if you're using loctite.