Update Time :smilebounce:
So last week Friday I made a booking to take the car in for a Carbon Clean to Marchand@CarbonDoctor, I was really curious to see what those ports looked like after 276k km.
So before I get started I would like to say thank you to Marchand, the guy is more than accommodating and offered me some solid advice which I really appreciate. I opted to work at his office while waiting for the car, so I could pop in to the workshop and take a few before and after pics.
So while waiting, I received some good and bad news.
The Bad: Marchand explained that the ports on the N57s are almost twice the length of the N54/55 and if he started with the carbon cleaning process I could potentially risk having a fair amount of shavings left behind in the chamber. He advised that he is not comfortable doing the cleaning but left the decision for me to make. I agreed with him and decided to rather just clean the intake manifold seen that it was already out.
The Good: Marchand told that the build-up on my car was really not that bad as it actually looks(pics below), he went on to explain the build-up on my car wasn’t hard and clumpy like what you would find on the n54/55s and explained that with water/meth injection together with the high boost that my car produces will actually aid in a safer cleaning process with the benefit of added power of course :smilebounce:.
Once everything was reassembled and I made my journey home.
So the question, "Was there a difference with the car after the intake was cleaned"? The answer is no, I couldn't feel any major difference.
Seen that I had some time on my hands I decided to tackle an annoying issue I picked up with my Gear Selector.
Up-shifts in Manual mode were completely gone, sometimes not even engaging sport mode.
I did some research on the issue, It is caused by the wiring on the gear selector that is fitted to tightly and over time wears out due to the friction cause when moving the lever to sports mode.
DIY steps if anyone needs it:
1. Removed the gear lever, Placed it in neutral and pulled up, lots of force needed.
2. Remove the trim from between arm rest to ashtray.
3. Remove two connectors(one blue, one white) from selector to the trimming.
4. Remove 3 T30 bolts that hold down the selector.
5. Remove 3 screws to the bracket that sit on the right above an actuator.
6. Investigate the wiring, you would need to remove the factory insulation tape as the damage is hidden.
7. Reconnect the broken wires.
8. Place the wires in a place where it will have some slack, (does not need to be put back to OEM setup).
9. Test to see if everything works
10. Re-assemble and enjoy manual mode again.
Once done, I gave the car a nice clean up at the local carwash :tiptoe: which included my dirty calipers. i must say I was blown away by the results.
BEFORE:
AFTER: