You’ve probably already heard about the well-known EGR valve, the anti-pollution valve. It is not always appreciated by motorists because it has a tendency to develop more concerns than anything else… In reality, according to the use you are going to make of your vehicle, it can become congested and cause you a lot of concerns. If this is the case, you are probably wanting to know how to clean the EGR valve of your BMW 4 Series ? Don’t worry, we’ve made this article to help you with this task. To achieve this, we will first look at the role of the EGR valve, then what are the failures that the EGR valve of your BMW 4 Series can provoke and finally the part that will probably interest you the most, how to clean the EGR valve BMW 4 Series?
How to Clean your BMW 4 Series EGR Valve: Role and Operation
Goal of the EGR valve
The EGR valve of your car has been integrated to diesel engines primarily to reduce pollution emitted by cars and to meet EURO requirements on BMW 4 Series . It will as a result influence the quality of exhaust gas output and reduce toxic particles, mainly Nitrogen Oxide.
Operation of the EGR valve
Before we discover how to clean the EGR valve on your BMW 4 Series , we will examine how it operates. As described just before, its objective is to clean the exhaust gases, so it will be located at the engine outlet, thanks to a valve, it will be able to return the unburned exhaust gases to the engine for a second burn which will reduce all unburned toxic particles. It will function principally at low speed because at high speed the combustion is enough to burn all these gases.
How to clean your BMW 4 Series EGR valve: Identifying faults
The EGR valve, although very important to limit the pollution emissions of your BMW 4 Series , will regrettably tend to clog up because of soot/gas deposits that will build up in its mechanism, which will finally risk obstructing the operation of the valve, until completely blocking the engine unit, here are the signs of illness that a faulty EGR valve on your BMW 4 Series can provoke:
- Motor light on
- Power loss
- Technical assesment refused
- Black gases
- Vehicle that grazes at low speed
- Low RPM settings
How to clean your BMW 4 Series EGR valve: In practice
And now we’ll start the part you are most excited about, how to clean the EGR valve of your car. Here are the two methods that you can use.
Do it yourself
How to clean your BMW 4 Series EGR valve system: Without dismantle
Even though this methodology is less effective, it is however possible to consider a “rough” cleaning of your EGR valve, in reality, you will only need to use fuel additives, equivalent to the products used to clean the injection. These specific products must be injected into the running engine, at the right operating temperature, diluted in about 20 litres of fuel and run the engine for 3 or 4 minutes in high rev to clean the EGR valve of your BMW 4 Series.
How to clean your car EGR valve: With disassembly
Here is the more effective methodology, which will require enough access to the EGR valve to do the treatment yourself. If so, the operation is fairly simple. You will need to disconnect the electromagnet from the EGR valve, remove the few screws that hold it in place, and remove it. Once these guidelines are done, now comes the time for cleaning. To do this, you will need to use a product such as solvent, petrol, oven cleaning product, which you will leave to act for ten minutes, then scrape off the rest using a scraper, finish cleaning with wire brush. If you want to go further, you can as well clean the two conduits on which it is connected which may be scorched, for this, use a scraper and a vacuum cleaner to avoid dropping deposits in the conduits. You will only have to reassemble it and you will have finished cleaning the EGR valve of your BMW 4 Series.
Have it done by a professional
If, your EGR valve is not reachable because of the series or the engine of your car and if removing it would cause too many difficulties (removing too many parts that hinder access for example), how to clean the EGR valve of your BMW 4 Series? In such a case, it would be better rather than launching yourself into an overly complex task, you turn to an auto mechanic. He will be able to perform the job more cleanly and will be able, if required, to change the valve if it is dead. The cost of cleaning according to the difficulty of access is between 70 and 300 €.
Remove the EGR valve of your BMW 4 Series
Finally, some people make a more radical decision to limit the risk of a failed valve. Instead of cleaning the EGR valve of their BMW 4 Series, they just prefer to block it in the closed position. This treatment will have the result of greatly increasing the pollution emitted by the vehicle, of no longer complying with pollution requirements, of having an engine warning light all day on and eventually risk fouling the engine. We highly suggest against making this choice. If you have other questions or want to learn more about your car, don’t think twice to take a look at our dedicated page.
In the event that you have any additional questions about the BMW 4 Series, do not hesitate to consult our BMW 4 Series category.
