BRE/BRD intake manifold swirl flap

[Pie-eyedpiper]

Has anyone deleted their swirl flaps and was there any benefit to it?
I'm not having g any issues, but I love to get rid of unnecessaries that can cause problems.
The manifold is still likely to be coked up even after removing the EGR valve and could do with a clean. Deleting the flaps at the same time seems the obvious thing.

 

[Damian_S]

I have, used a Bkd manifold with egr and dpf delete, no obvious downsides, just something less to break in the future!

 

[Pie-eyedpiper]

I've just bought a spare manifold to clean up and replace mine.
Part number O3G129713. No H.
Apparently the H refers to it having swirl flaps.
I've read that somehow low end torque is reduced due to the smoothed out airflow.

 

[Damian_S]

I wouldn't say it was noticeable in my experience

 

[Pie-eyedpiper]

Good stuff, thanks.

 

[tr7]

I've just bought a spare manifold to clean up and replace mine.
Part number O3G129713. No H.
Apparently the H refers to it having swirl flaps.
I've read that somehow low end torque is reduced due to the smoothed out airflow.

I thought the idea was to buy one with no swirl flaps?

Interested in doing this myself having saw and had to clean out my own.

 

[Pie-eyedpiper]

I thought the idea was to buy one with no swirl flaps?

Interested in doing this myself having saw and had to clean out my own.

That's just what I've done. Bought a manifold with no flaps, less to go wrong. Going to clean it up and change them over.
Think it's BLB doesn't have them, no idea why some engines codes do and some don't.

 

[Damian_S]

I've used a Bkd manifold, for several cars, this is also the same manifold Darkside offer for this conversion.

 

[tr7]

Yeh don’t remember having them on my old BLB. Def a mod I would do if found the right inlet

 

[Pie-eyedpiper]

BKD manifold arrived, without swirl flaps. Going to give it a good clean up, and reshape the plate where the EGR valve would go (I've removed mine). This enables the oil filter to be accessed much easier.
The manifold is pretty coked up, but I've seen worse. My BRE manifold must be pretty bad as I only removed the EGR valve at 110k. But it should stay fairly clean from now on.

 

[tr7]

Blank off the Inlet manifold flap hole, and fill it with a citrus degreaser over night

 

[Pie-eyedpiper]

Good idea, does the citrus make a difference?
Was going to use Mr Muscle and Jizer.

 

[tr7]

100% the best thing I found to clean it.

 

[Pie-eyedpiper]

That's clean.
Do you have a brand name?

 

[tr7]

Don’t remember, it wasnt commercial grade stuff though.

Any clean care/suppliers will have something

 

[Pie-eyedpiper]

Ok thanks.
I've got 5 lts of Deb Jizer needs using up.

 

[Pie-eyedpiper]

Cleaned up the BKD manifold, it was pretty carbines up, up to 5mm in places. They rely aren't the easiest shaped thing to clean. Combinations of Jizer and Mr Muscle eventually got it to an ok standard.
Something less to go wrong now.

My old BRE manifold. Swirl flaps pretty carbond up, 2 years after an EGR delete, but 10 years of eating poo. All working fine though.

Replacement BKD manifold after a good clean up.

Block inlet, bit of a clean up with carb cleaner.

Modified flange, allows easier access to the oil filter.

New manifold refitted. Vacuum hose to the swirl flap actuator valve blanked off.

 

[tr7]

Nice. Looks so good without the EGR valve too.

Would love to know how you get on with. As others have mentioned potential idling issues, though can't see how since this is a factory part.


Is that Darkside EGR delete or where did you source it @Pie-eyedpiper ?

 

[Pie-eyedpiper]

Had no issues without the EGR in 2 years and no e since changing the manifold on Saturday.
I looked at Darksides 'billet"tube, for about £90. They say it's better having no welds to crack under the weight of the ASV.
I bought a cheaper Allard one off eBay for about £40 and it's fine, no issues at all.

 

[Pie-eyedpiper]

Bit of an update.
4 months on, absolutely no issues. Would recommend it for peace of mind.

Next step, steam clean the manifold and valves with sodium hydroxide.

 

[Jamsmoo]

Mine arrived today


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[Jamsmoo]

Nice. Looks so good without the EGR valve too.

Would love to know how you get on with. As others have mentioned potential idling issues, though can't see how since this is a factory part.


Is that Darkside EGR delete or where did you source it @Pie-eyedpiper ?

Reckon it’s a decent pay off ,slight idling issue /guarantee your engine will never ingest a flap


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[Pie-eyedpiper]

Did it need a lot of cleaning, it did you fit it straight away?
Is your idle lumpy now then?

 

[tr7]

Is swirl flap an engine failure issue on BRD?

They're metal so couldn't see how they could be a problem like plastic BMW ones

 

[Pie-eyedpiper]

It's not so much failure as in breaking up, it's the carbon that gets trapped on them, reducing the airflow and basically just clogging up the manifold.
Should go hand in hand with removing the EGR valve really.

 

[Jamsmoo]

Did it need a lot of cleaning, it did you fit it straight away?
Is your idle lumpy now then?

Not on yet mate


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[Jamsmoo]

Still soaking in heavy duty degreaser although it didn’t look too bad ,just a light coating


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[Jamsmoo]

This is what this lot reckon ,maybe just when tuned up


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[Jamsmoo]

Killer Swirl Flaps

What are Swirl Flaps? Swirl flaps are small butterfly valves fitted to the intake manifold just before the cylinder head inlet ports of many modern automotive engines, that unfortunately includes a lot of VAG and BMW Diesel Engines too. What do they do? The Swirl Flap position is adjusted by...

www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk

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[Pie-eyedpiper]

Still soaking in heavy duty degreaser although it didn’t look too bad ,just a light coating


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Ah, got you. I left mine soaking in Jizer for about a week and still had to give it a good scrape out too.
Haven't had any idling issues with mine at all.