BMW 320d Crankcase vent vortex type filter

V1

Hi,

BMW 320d (E46 - M47N). Anyone know what the replacement interval for the Vortex/Cyclone style crankcase vent filter should be?
I think I read on some forum where they were discussing how these were better than the old bog roll style filter as they did not need to be replaced but I just replaced mine as it was pretty gunged up. Motor factors tells me that they are a service item but I cant seem to find out when they should be replaced. Hope its not every oil change as they are a pricey little beast :eek:
Mine had never been changed in the 60k+ that I've had the car which might explain the smoke I was getting under hard acceleration.:o
Should have changed it earlier - got rid of my swirl flaps also at the same time and my whole inlet manifold and EGR were very badly clogged up with sooty tar like gunge.

On a related note - has anyone used Wynns EGR cleaner? Does it work and is there any risk?

Thanks.

burke027

V1 wrote: »

Hi,

BMW 320d (E46 - M47N). Anyone know what the replacement interval for the Vortex/Cyclone style crankcase vent filter should be?
I think I read on some forum where they were discussing how these were better than the old bog roll style filter as they did not need to be replaced but I just replaced mine as it was pretty gunged up. Motor factors tells me that they are a service item but I cant seem to find out when they should be replaced. Hope its not every oil change as they are a pricey little beast :eek:
Mine had never been changed in the 60k+ that I've had the car which might explain the smoke I was getting under hard acceleration.:o
Should have changed it earlier - got rid of my swirl flaps also at the same time and my whole inlet manifold and EGR were very badly clogged up with sooty tar like gunge.

On a related note - has anyone used Wynns EGR cleaner? Does it work and is there any risk?

Thanks.

Your lucky I'd change it straight away 60k would be the max we would leave one go to be honest. But in all fairness has your car had a replacement turbo as of yet.
Changen the turbo breather filter is only giving the turbo a slight longer life, as they do all fail between 70k to 100k but sometimes longer.

About the egr cleaning and carb cleaner at all will do it but it takes time and make sure you remove the egr off the car completely.

If u need any other advice il gladly help out.

V1

Thanks for that.
Should have said though, car has 177k in total, I put the last 60k on it. I believe the original filter fitted to the car would have been the bog roll style and as the one I just took out was the newer cyclone style I know it must have been changed at some stage in the past and probably by the guy that sold me the car at 115k.
Am thinking in future I will probably change it every time I do the air filter which is ever 2nd or 3rd oil change depending on what it looks like, as its a 2 minute job once I have that f**king air filter housing off
Will probably shorten the interval on my oil changes also - had been going by the service indicator on the car but doing it slightly early i.e. changing it when the service indicator told me I had 2-3k left which worked out at 15-16k but I might bring that down to 10-12k in future based on the state of the oil that come out at the last change
I cleaned the EGR and inlet manifold with petrol first and then smartened up with carb cleaner when I had them off the other day but was wondering about cleaning them in place in future by spraying Wynns EGR cleaner in at the air filter with the engine running. Has anyone done this? wondering if it would harm my turbo. My turbo is still going strong at 177k but I suspect its only a matter of time There is a lot of oily crud in the pipe coming into the EGR from the Turbo. Is there an intercooler in this car? Havent done that much digging yet.