The BMW N54 engine is one of BMW's most popular engines they ever produced. However, like all direct-injected engines, it has one major flaw—and that's intake valve carbon buildup. You could go to the dealer and pay over $700 to have your intake valves cleaned, or you can do it yourself for a fraction of the price using BMW's Walnut Blasting Vacuum Attachment.
Carbon buildup on the BMW N54 engine (as well as N55 engine) can become severe over time, almost completely closing off the intake tracts and valves. BMW recommends intake valve cleaning in the form of walnut blasting roughly every 30,000 to 50,000 miles. That may seem extreme; however, testing and dyno graphs show that you could be losing up to 40HP just from carbon buildup. If your N54 or N55 is built or tuned to make more power than stock, it might be wise to walnut blast the intake valves even sooner than what is recommended.
This walnut blasting tool manufactured by TKL and sold by BMW makes cleaning the carbon buildup out of your intake valves a simple task. Specially engineered for this one job, the tool fits perfectly into the intake tracts and creates a seal while the other end connects to your shop vacuum. While you're using your media blaster and walnut shell media to remove the carbon buildup, it's sucking the debris back into the vacuum rather than leaving it behind. This saves you the hassle of having to remove the cylinder head like other methods of cleaning would.
BMW N54 N55 Walnut Vacuum Blaster Adapter
This walnut vacuum blasting tool fits a wide array of BMW models:
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In the video below, Gareth Foley, our BMW Catalog Manager, shows us the tool and explains how to use it. If you like this Really Quick Product Review, subscribe and check back here for regular releases in the future.
