E60 is dead. Swirl flap!! Why?! Why didn't I remove them?!

Yes, it's happened. Owning an E60 wouldn't be complete without it... No. 4 swirl flap has broken and been sucked headlong into the engine!

This is the start of a big thread I can tell...

I pulled away in 2nd on my way home and the engine let out an almighty clunk and then started to sound very dead. I managed to get home on 3 of the 6 cylinders [duh duh duh, duh duh duh :)], but the lump is finished. Spent Thursday and Friday nights ripping the cylinder-head off it and the result is not good. The inlet valves on cyl-4 are stuck and the swirl-flap has been sucked so far into the head that I can't reach it unless I drop the valves out. That sounds like a job for someone else... As for the block, cylinders 5 and 6 are full, literally FULL of neat diesel. Ooh dear.

I started this thread on BMW Land - E60 530d sudden rough running / misfire? - with the verdict of swirl-flap or injector, but now I've thrown some pics up of the cylinders peeps have gone a bit quiet. I will have to do an engine post-mortem.

It is now I should mention I have recently got hold of a 51-plate E46 318ci, which I will detail a bit in another post as it really in bad shape. This thing was going to the crusher and I saved it saying I could use parts off it, the wheels alone are 17" MV2 copies and they're worth at least a ton. The owner just gave me the car for free and said I'd done him a favour. Once I got it home I found it to be running fine! The running gear and suspension is also in good shape, it just had seized brakes. I started re-conning the callipers, fitted 4 new discs and bought a second-hand master-cylinder as the old one was just pumping air and air alone. With this little lot on there is brake-pressure, but now I can't bleed them as the nipples are well seized!

What a difference 7 days can make! Now I'm stuck with a road-legal, but completely dead 5-series and a running 3-series with no tax. If I can get the nipples off this E46 then I will throw 6-months tax on and start using it, but really, this was not the Beemer switch I had in mind!