Manifold blew up!

[Hobiedave02]

Hi Guys and gals
Well I went to start my 2005 330i about a week ago and I heard a loud bag. It hadn't been started in over 12 hours. Large puff of smoke came from under the hood. Long story short I Had to get it towed due to it back firing continually. I would have worked on itself but I was on my 7 days on shift. Local BMW shop found the manifold blew out a section on the bottom about 5x5 in. My question is what could have caused this to happen? They said the CCV was clogged and replaced the CCV and hoses. I had just replaced the CCV and hoses about 6 months ago. I'm not convinced that's it. I tend to think it was maybe some excess fuel that made the manifold blow. I had no running issues before the blowout 3758937590
37591
Thanks
Dave

[cakM3]

I have never seen this. That's crazy!

[Hobiedave02]

I have heard that from one of the two mechanics that saw this. He has been working on BMW over thirty years. :blink

[Fried_Chicken]

I hope this isn’t another preventive maintenance thing... “Whelp, turns out intake manifolds only last 15 years”.

[Oli77]

Wouldn't you think the CCV system, if clogged (in 6 months), would be the weak point and blow out rather than the manifold?
Find this strange, but I am not sure I understand the whole CCV thing.

[Galapolis]

In case this happens to anyone else here, just a slight nudge towards a possible replacement unit: https://dbilas-shop.com/en/intake-tract/throttle-body-kit/street-version/bmw/m52tu-m54/5764/throttle-body-kit-for-bmw-m52tu/m54?c=19752

:)

[Hobiedave02]

Wouldn't you think the CCV system, if clogged (in 6 months), would be the weak point and blow out rather than the manifold?
Find this strange, but I am not sure I understand the whole CCV thing.

Thats exactly what I was thinking. it would have blown off one of the hoses not blown a hole in the manifold!!!

[t.er]

In case this happens to anyone else here, just a slight nudge towards a possible replacement unit: https://dbilas-shop.com/en/intake-tract/throttle-body-kit/street-version/bmw/m52tu-m54/5764/throttle-body-kit-for-bmw-m52tu/m54?c=19752

:)

lol that thing is cool. Here's another pretty cool solution, but it's homebrew - I love how the stock TB is repurposed!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km98H4jhL1g

[Thatguy_JZ]

In case this happens to anyone else here, just a slight nudge towards a possible replacement unit: https://dbilas-shop.com/en/intake-tract/throttle-body-kit/street-version/bmw/m52tu-m54/5764/throttle-body-kit-for-bmw-m52tu/m54?c=19752

:)actually just saw something about a company in Poland that makes a retrofit adapter to run an n54 intake manifold on our engines. That was new to me. It looked real good too in the engine bay.

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[Vas]

I believe @330i ZHP bought a car that had a blown up intake manifold. Something to do with the fuel system. Maybe he will chime im to correct me

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[johnrando]

No idea, crazy!

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[Will]

Wow. Strange failure, I've never heard of that before. Do you need an intake manifold? If so, PM me. I have one you can have for price of shipping.

[Hobiedave02]

I believe @330i ZHP bought a car that had a blown up intake manifold. Something to do with the fuel system. Maybe he will chime im to correct me

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I'm leaning toward some type of fuel leak myself, maybe leaky injector? just not sure where to start looking?

[Hobiedave02]

Wow. Strange failure, I've never heard of that before. Do you need an intake manifold? If so, PM me. I have one you can have for price of shipping.

Thanks for the offer I have one installed already.
Dave

[BADCLOWN]

That’s actually crazy, I’d say it was a one in a million fluke thing. Wouldn’t chalk it up to anything more than that.

ITBs would be pretty cool as well

[Dave1027]

I'm leaning toward some type of fuel leak myself, maybe leaky injector? just not sure where to start looking?

I agree. Something must have caused a backfire in the intake. I hope the mechanic tested the injectors. It would have been an easy thing to do at that point. Also should have tested the fuel pressure. I don't like the "clogged CCV" story, especially knowing the OP had just replaced it. Can a clogged CCV cause a backfire? I've heard of CCV's causing the engine to suck raw oil out of the oil pan, hydrolocking the engine but not backfiring.

[Hobiedave02]

I agree. Something must have caused a backfire in the intake. I hope the mechanic tested the injectors. It would have been an easy thing to do at that point. Also should have tested the fuel pressure. I don't like the "clogged CCV" story, especially knowing the OP had just replaced it. Can a clogged CCV cause a backfire? I've heard of CCV's causing the engine to suck raw oil out of the oil pan, hydrolocking the engine but not backfiring.

What he told me was that he checked compression and also said that the CCV was clogged. he did not test anything else. But I'm of for a week so I will be doing some testing and checking the injectors and fuel pressure. odd that it was clogged due to the fact I still had oil consumption the same as always 1qt for every 2000 miles. I will check back if I find anything.

[Dave1027]

What he told me was that he checked compression and also said that the CCV was clogged. he did not test anything else. But I'm of for a week so I will be doing some testing and checking the injectors and fuel pressure. odd that it was clogged due to the fact I still had oil consumption the same as always 1qt for every 2000 miles. I will check back if I find anything.

I believe 50sKid has a video showing how to test the injectors and fuel pressure. Also, you might try the 02Pilot Mod to reduce oil consumption.

[GeorgeH]

I've seen this a handful of times, but always E53 X5 B30s. We never attributed it to anything specific and all the cars that had the manifold replaced didn't have the issue reoccur.

But as I think about it the B30s (most often in E53s) were/are very susceptible to flooding on cold start. Down here it is common that on a cold ambient temp and cold start these cars will crank, fire for a brief moment and then flood and stall. I don't know what causes this cold start flood, but if it's a weird over fueling or something like that I could easily see it cause a backfire, especially if the fuel is old.

[Hobiedave02]

I've seen this a handful of times, but always E53 X5 B30s. We never attributed it to anything specific and all the cars that had the manifold replaced didn't have the issue reoccur.

But as I think about it the B30s (most often in E53s) were/are very susceptible to flooding on cold start. Down here it is common that on a cold ambient temp and cold start these cars will crank, fire for a brief moment and then flood and stall. I don't know what causes this cold start flood, but if it's a weird over fueling or something like that I could easily see it cause a backfire, especially if the fuel is old.

It was a cold start that day in the 40's. I removed the injectors and cleaned them and checked for proper operation. I could find no issues. I did have some strong fuel exhaust smell on starting a few times. The only issue I still have that I had before was long cranking but very inconsistent. 5-6 times it cranks on the first touch of the key. then it will crank and I will stop and have to crank it again to get it going. it takes a while to get the engine rpm up. it seems to stumble and very lumpy idle . until I give it lots of peddle. Fuel pressure is good at 50 on initial then down to 40psi and holds good. Fuel pump was replaced 75k ago.
thanks for the comments.
Dave

[GeorgeH]

It was a cold start that day in the 40's. I removed the injectors and cleaned them and checked for proper operation. I could find no issues. I did have some strong fuel exhaust smell on starting a few times. The only issue I still have that I had before was long cranking but very inconsistent. 5-6 times it cranks on the first touch of the key. then it will crank and I will stop and have to crank it again to get it going. it takes a while to get the engine rpm up. it seems to stumble and very lumpy idle . until I give it lots of peddle. Fuel pressure is good at 50 on initial then down to 40psi and holds good. Fuel pump was replaced 75k ago.
thanks for the comments.
Dave

Sounds like a leaking injector or something in the fuel delivery system not holding pressure.

The long crank does it relate to how long the car has been sitting? I.E. long cranks when sits for (2) days, but no issues if it sits for a hour.

Can you connect a fuel pressure gauge and see what the fuel pressure does when the engine is off?

If it is a leaking injector you can get the car to operating temp and simulate a drive cycle. Then pull the injectors/rail out of the intake and prop them up. Place sheets of white paper under the injectors and let them sit. After a period of time look to see if the paper is now discolored under an injector and that would be your leaking injector.

[ZHPizza]

When I had a leaky injector it would do the long crank to stumble if it had sat for ~1-4 hours. The leaked fuel would have time to evaporate overnight so it would start up fine. Was very confusing.

I confirmed it by pulling the fuel rail out (w/ injectors attached), laying a paper tower under the injectors, and turning the key to the on position (not cranking). You'll hear the fuel pump turn on and prime the rail to 50psi or whatever it is. Turn it off and check back in 10 minutes to see if there is a big wet spot on the paper towel under one of the injectors.

[Fried_Chicken]

I installed rebuilt injectors from ebay b/c I got a telltale smell of gas (from the o-rings or something inside the cabin).

Now it runs well.