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Official Forced Induction Maintenance/Service Thread

35K views 53 replies 27 participants last post by  Bdave 
#1 ·
I don't see this *important* info posted often so thought I would start a thread to see what everyone is doing to keep thier F/I cars running at top performance. Hopefully everyone is aware that F/I puts a lot more stress on your car's parts that are designed to wear and be replaced. Please post what's on your list of items to check and how often. Here's mine.. :)

Engine Oil/Filter: I believe BMW recommends servicing the oil/filter every 15k miles, even for a n/a car with no mods that seems a little long to me. I may be on the extreme side of caution but my cars gets new oil/filter approx every 2 -3k miles.

Air Filter: Easily overlooked, if you're sucking in a lot more air your filter is going to collect dust and debris a lot faster. Last time I cleaned mine I was a bit overdue. I now clean and oil my filter with each engine oil change.

Transmission Fluid: BMW claims the tranny fluid is good for the life of the car, although they even recommend service @ 100k miles. My car has 50k miles on the clock (most of that was n/a) - I'm planning to change the tranny fluid soon.

Differential: Don't recall what BMW advises - I just changed mine recently. (Wear some kind of gas mask, the diff fluid smells like Sh!t.)

Flex Disk: If you're unfamiliar this is the ultra strong circle of reinforced rubber that connects your transmission to your drive shaft, I replaced mine about 5k miles ago as it was cracked and splitting everywhere. Replace as needed.

Spark Plugs/Coils: I generally replace these as needed. I keep saying I'm going to pony up for the Okada Coils, so far the $1k+ price has deterred me. If you own a HPF car they have recently upgraded to a new high performance plug that is quite expensive, but runs cooler, is pre-gapped, operates more efficiently, lasts longer and puts less stress on your coils.

Tires: uhh.. :shhh:

Brake Pads: :shhh:

Methanol Injection: If your car has this remember to add two teaspoons of "Alcohol Fuel Lubricant" per 1.25 gallons of methanol. See this thread for more info: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=680125&highlight=alcohol+fuel+lubricant

Coolant: I live in Texas and it gets HOT during the summer months. In the summer I add a mix of distilled water and 2 bottles of Watter Wetter. In the winter months I go back to the oem BMW coolant.

All I can think of for now. Look forward to hearing other's rec's.
 
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#2 ·
hope this gets stickied :)
 
#11 ·
Great post scott!

I havent done my air filter yet i should probly do that very soon.
My flex disk was cracked also pretty bad.
<a href="http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/RobErT77712/?action=view&current=IMG_9850.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/RobErT77712/IMG_9850.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
#19 ·
Great thread!

I suggest changing the OEM fuel filter every 15-30k. This really depends on your power levels and how hard you push the car, as the more power you make and the harder you drive, the more fuel is flowing through that filter for each mile driven.



x2, Wait till I post pics of mine!

is there any symptom when the flex disc is bad or do you just have to pull it out to see if it is bad or not
oh trust me you will know. you will feel a very bad vibration coming from the driveline.
I never noticed any symptoms, and mine was very very torn apart.
 
#13 ·
cool thread.. ive done all of this.. except for the additive to meth kit, but i am only running a 50/50 mix
 
#21 ·
For the HPF guys when it comes to the fuel filter there really is no need to replace is even thou its pretty cheap. Its meant to be takin a apart and the little screen inside is easily cleaned. However the surface area on this new filter is much smaller then that of the Factory one so it needs to be clean or replaced more often, Id say 15-20k Would be safe. Below is a picture of the HPF fuel parts, the piece that says edelbrock is the fuel filter.

 
#25 ·
Funny, I cleaned my maf once & I don't remember it being that big of a pita....and I'm not even a mechanic. Maybe I just got lucky & had a good day. Now I'm afraid to try it again...lol!
 
#28 ·
I don't see this *important* info posted often so thought I would start a thread to see what everyone is doing to keep thier F/I cars running at top performance. Hopefully everyone is aware that F/I puts a lot more stress on your car's parts that are designed to wear and be replaced. Please post what's on your list of items to check and how often. Here's mine.. :)

Engine Oil/Filter: I believe BMW recommends servicing the oil/filter every 15k miles, even for a n/a car with no mods that seems a little long to me. I may be on the extreme side of caution but my cars gets new oil/filter approx every 2 -3k miles.

Air Filter: Easily overlooked, if you're sucking in a lot more air your filter is going to collect dust and debris a lot faster. Last time I cleaned mine I was a bit overdue. I now clean and oil my filter with each engine oil change.

Transmission Fluid: BMW claims the tranny fluid is good for the life of the car, although they even recommend service @ 100k miles. My car has 50k miles on the clock (most of that was n/a) - I'm planning to change the tranny fluid soon.

Differential: Don't recall what BMW advises - I just changed mine recently. (Wear some kind of gas mask, the diff fluid smells like Sh!t.)

Flex Disk: If you're unfamiliar this is the ultra strong circle of reinforced rubber that connects your transmission to your drive shaft, I replaced mine about 5k miles ago as it was cracked and splitting everywhere. Replace as needed.

Spark Plugs/Coils: I generally replace these as needed. I keep saying I'm going to pony up for the Okada Coils, so far the $1k+ price has deterred me. If you own a HPF car they have recently upgraded to a new high performance plug that is quite expensive, but runs cooler, is pre-gapped, operates more efficiently, lasts longer and puts less stress on your coils.

Tires: uhh.. :shhh:

Brake Pads: :shhh:

Methanol Injection: If your car has this remember to add two teaspoons of "Alcohol Fuel Lubricant" per 1.25 gallons of methanol. See this thread for more info: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=680125&highlight=alcohol+fuel+lubricant

Coolant: I live in Texas and it gets HOT during the summer months. In the summer I add a mix of distilled water and 2 bottles of Watter Wetter. In the winter months I go back to the oem BMW coolant.

All I can think of for now. Look forward to hearing other's rec's.

There are two very strong threads in this forum that have data backing up the fact that the synthetic oils lubricate the engine better if they stay in for the recomended service usage that is based on fuel consumption. So you might be doing more arm than good by changing your engine oil that often.
 
#36 ·
Well, we won't ever really know if it's a huge diff unless some of those hard driving F/I guys submit their oil for testing.
 
#42 ·
Remember to use some kind of injection cleaner every now and then , dunno how ESS/VF kits work but AA routes the CCV to the intake of the S/C , which puses quite abit of oil through the intake, which will eventually clog injectors and give missfires.

Lambdas could also be an item which requires replacing with F/I , but you'll notice when it's time :D
 
#48 ·
During the summer the distilled water/water wetter mix (nothing else) is the most effective for transferring heat. "Antifreeze" or the oem BMW coolant (which is a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze) must be added during the winter to prevent the engine coolant from freezing, which could easily crack your engine block.
 
#53 ·
Tracking down K&N Filter Part Number

I have a Dinan supercharger kit on my 2.8L Z3. I need to replace the K&N filter, on the cold air intake, but I don't know the K&N part number. I presume the part number is molded into the filter, but I work long days and don't have time to pull it out and replace it just to find the part number. Anyone already know the K&N part number? My local parts store carries K&N - it's just a matter of cross-referencing...

Any experience with those pre-filter "socks" that I've heard are available?
 
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