• Swirl flaps. I know most people simply remove them and put a blanking plate in, but is there any way of replacing them so they function but they're not a threat to the engine?

    Car has done 75k, I was thinking - instead of removing the swirl flaps, could I replace the manifold instead? Is that a stupid solution. I don't mind paying more for the part as removing the flaps increases emissions and decreases engine efficiency.

  • Yes but consider the price of a brand new inlet manifold to replace the swirl flaps.

    Although BMW did manage to increase efficiency and reduce emissions by introducing swirl flaps, they only managed to do so by introducing a risky point of failure. It seems negative to remove something doing good, but if the cost of doing good is the large potential of major engine failure, I'd suggest foregoing that.

  • Yes but consider the price of a brand new inlet manifold to replace the swirl flaps.

    I'm starting to discover that it's probably not going to be possible to source a new one anyway!

  • Yes but consider the price of a brand new inlet manifold to replace the swirl flaps.

    Yeah, pricing it up on this had it looking at around £670 if I don't replace EGR and sensor. Definitely food for thought. But it's also about 80k miles of not worrying about ingesting a swirl flap.

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