What do you use to clean your engine?

[thunderman]

As some of you know, I just bought a sweet '95 525i and I want to clean the engine and make it purty this weekend. DO ya'll use that engine degreaser at one of those high pressure do-it-yourself car washes, or is there some other way to make it nice and clean?

Mike

[winfred]

most degreasers that can be diluted with water will work, i don't like doing a motor while hot and am not too wild about using high pressure, it tends to force water into places it should not be, most of the connections are splash proof under the hood

[Tiger]

Multi purpose cleaner... such as NOW (Costco), Simple Green ($$)... etc... On warm engine, not hot... soak the engine in cleaner... maybe 5 minutes... the entire compartment... if you see something that should be protected... cover it. Then rinse the whole compartment out with a hose, medium spray.

Drive immediately on highway for 10 minutes and you are done. If car acted funny as you start up, check the spark plug holes and blow all water out... sometime that "BMW" cover leaks and water gets in there... so it would be wise to check under that cover before starting the car.

[Warren N.CA]

And by my indy. If I wanted to get more aggressive, I would use pure, odorless mineral spirits, but I would not use any product that requires water cleanup.

If you must be compulsive about cleaning something, leave the engine alone and work on the paint and interior.



As some of you know, I just bought a sweet '95 525i and I want to clean the engine and make it purty this weekend. DO ya'll use that engine degreaser at one of those high pressure do-it-yourself car washes, or is there some other way to make it nice and clean?

Mike

[MO525]

As some of you know, I just bought a sweet '95 525i and I want to clean the engine and make it purty this weekend. DO ya'll use that engine degreaser at one of those high pressure do-it-yourself car washes, or is there some other way to make it nice and clean?

Mike

Once I bought my '93 525, I spent some serious quality time under the hood with Simple Green and an assortment of brushes, rinsing with tap water from the garden hose.
The brushes broke loose the THICK goo from that pesky valve cover leak (gone now, I might add).
Needless to say, after that THOROUGH cleaning, all engine compartment cleaning is merely touch-up with a gentle spray of water and the occasional Simple Green for the stubborn stuff.

The petroleum based cleaners STINK, Simple Green smells SWEET.

[shragon]

simple green and rinse with garden hose (no nozzle).

[632 Regal]

my Ex wifes bridal gown and kerosene.

[thunderman]

HAHAHA Regal!! That's some funny stuff!

[George M]

personally, I would NEVER take a pressure nozzel to a BMW engine underhood. Risk isn't worth the benefit. You want to clean your motor? Plastic wrap all electronics...garden hose sent on half force...hopefully in someone else's driveway ;-)
a lot of old toothbrushes...I collect them for sundry purposes and Simple Green. Soak with Simple Green or equivalent....toothbrush or slightly bigger small brush depending on area and then rinse off with low speed water. There have been numerous issues with a high speed wand used under the hood of a BMW. I know of one 750 that had its harness burned up due to an electrical fire around the DME. Keep water away from the DME box.
Good Luck,
George

[Paul in NZ]

he is QUALIFIED
http://www.bimmer.info/bmw/kiwi535/M-30DrSdResize.jpg

[George M]

Hi Paul...too funny. Look at that disgusting expansion tank on the firewall...now replaced :-) along with a new radiator (not shown). The best way to clean an engine no question is to take it apart and detail everything off the car. This of course isn't practical for a daily driver. Personally for a daily driver, a little bit of grease on the engine IMHO is not a bad thing. It is not worth risking the electronics etc to make the engine look perfect. Have to be careful taking any kind of water under the hood as all the guys above have stated. Safest route is what Warren wrote...dry rag off the grease and use no water.
George

[zmuff]

I used the George M method (except for the part about taking everything apart) and got excellent results. Lots of toothbrushes and scrubbing...that cosmoline was tough to get off too! I did my engine last summer and it still looks great. Thanks for the inspiration George!

http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/4/web/556000-556999/556352_8_full.jpg

[thunderman]

Guys those engines look great!!

Hey george and zmuff, now that i have your attention..... this is my first bimmer, 95 525i with 114k. What can things can I do to make it run well?

[George M]

Bruno's site is the most comprehensive single best tool for maintaining your BMW on the web. Don Gale, Sean/Johan (E-32 owners) and others also have excellent website's which will help you tremendously. As in any walk, the best at anything are students of what they want to be good at...you never stop learning and no single person knows it all. This board has helped me greatly...some very knowledgeable people here.
Best of Luck with your new Bimmer,
George

[thunderman]

Is that bmwe34.net?

I am lovin the learning process, I also have a friend here in town with a Lexus is300 with 550 hp that he has done a ton of work on, he will help me with some cosmetics. But as for oil choice, gas choice and others, where do I get that info?

[George M]

yup bmwe34.net is the one...a must bookmark for any BMW enthusiast. Read it front to back and you will learn a lot. As to oil, there is almost unanomous praise for Mobil 1 on this site. I personally love the stuff for my engine and use it elsewhere also.
Any synthetic is pretty much better than dino oil and name brand oil is generally better than not.
Sky is the limit on mods...only limited by money and imagination.
Good Luck,
George

[thunderman]

Thanx a ton george, btw you 35 has a sweet looking engine!!

Do you know anything about 6 disc CD changers? LOL

[George M]

no sure don't...don't have a 6 disc CD changer in my car nor want one...or at least an OEM changer. OE changers get a bit finicky with age. There are people on here that know a lot about them however.
Good Luck,
George