What is this engine part? (Getting to know my M54 engine bay)

The Reference Librarian at work.

Looks like others are asking what this part is also:
- P0174, P0128, P0171, P0313.. New Bimmer and need help

Part at left is just a grounding block, or a nice way to ground a lot of wires as far as I know. Note all the wires going to it are brown. Brown = chassis ground.

The circled part on the right is the expansion tank bleeder screw.

And, circled is a good view of Michel's starter motor:
[/QUOTE]

Bluebee, that looks like a starter solenoid with the larger round case below the actual starter motor.

Originally Posted by Mark@EAC

all the wires going to it are brown. Brown = chassis ground.

Thanks Mark.

You've helped a lot on this thread; and I appreciate your efforts!

that looks like a starter solenoid with the larger round case below the actual starter motor.[/quote]

Ah, I see what you mean. Thanks for the update. The hope is that we can identify ALL the 'objects' in the E39 M54 engine bay.

This is not only for me; but also for anyone asking where a certain part is. The hope is that this one thread contains pointers to everything visible, so that we can just point 'em to this thread to learn about their engines.

Originally Posted by fortunateson

that looks like a starter solenoid with the larger round case below the actual starter motor.

Ah, I see what you mean. Thanks for the update. The hope is that we can identify ALL the 'objects' in the E39 M54 engine bay.

This is not only for me; but also for anyone asking where a certain part is. The hope is that this one thread contains pointers to everything visible, so that we can just point 'em to this thread to learn about their engines.

Today, I ran into this picture from 16valex of an E39 engine part from this thread:
- E39 (1997 - 2003) > 2001 525i, pcv location-replacement

What it is, though, I'm not sure.

16Valex was responding to this post:

Originally Posted by poolman

It's located behind the reservoir for the power steering and under the intake manifold--one hose coming in and one going out--there will also be an electrical hook up on it--when I had this code come up I cleared it by tightening the gas cap on the car and that worked for awhile--then I removed the rubber 0 ring on the gas cap and on the 0 ring there on the outer edge of it I filled that area with black Permatex gasket maker and let it sit up overnight. By doing this -it made a tighter seal around the cap.. Year later my purge valve did fail and need replacing at that time though.
Hope that helps

So, I 'assume' this is the 'purge valve' from the prior discussion; and, it may be worth noting the picture itself was saved as 'breather valve'.

Originally Posted by bluebee

Maybe we should just stick to engine parts ... but this is pretty:
Wheel speed sensor

Hm, that's the front. How does the one in the back work? (sorry to go off topic).

Originally Posted by bmw_n00b13

How does the one in the back work?

Are they not the same?

BTW, today a poster asked about this part below.
- E39 (1997 - 2003) > Help ID this Part??

It turned out to be either the rubber boot at the bottom of his radiator (which means he probably has a tilted radiator) or a part of the air-filter housing.

For the record, today, golfreak asked about this part:
- E39 (1997 - 2003) > Please help me identify this connector

Here are nice pictures of the oil pressure switch sending unit in situ:
- Oil temperature switch replacement

Oil Pressure Switch:



Oil Level Switch:

Lol nice pop quiz

i always wash it while the engine is running....first have a spray nozzle attached to the water hose water the engine while its running then use an engine cleaner spray can leave it for about 2 minutes and keep the engine running the spray it back with water the heat of the engine and the spray cleaner will clean it like its a new engine....after you spray the engine with water get an air hose and dry your engine with an air nozzle and you will see the big difference..

Based on this thread today:
- What is the purpose of these funny-looking wires in the battery box next to the fuses

This picture below is of a ...

Originally Posted by JimLev

Don't have them in that location in my car.
They look like the "ground shoes" that are bolted to the body just below my RR tail light in my car.
It's a splice point to connect many wires together.
If all the wires in them are brown it's a ground connection.

Originally Posted by bimmerteck

x2 JimLev is correct, they are splice strips often used from the factory instead of butt splices where wires may need to be added/removed. you can absolutely test from them, assuming you know what your doing.

Likewise, this picture below is a comb-type ground connection.

Based on this thread from yesterday ...
- Pictorial discussion of charging, testing, removing, & replacing the BMW E39 battery

This is the (normally hidden) battery vent tube.

Regarding spraying down the engine bay: I do not know enough about it to give an opinion myself. But I used to work at a BMW dealership for 5 years, and we used to spray the engines (with a high pressure spray gun) for every car that came through for service, as well as any cars getting detailed. Many people at the dealership would bring up issue with this practice from time to time, and the mechanics reassured us that there was no damage we could do unless we held the nozzle within inches of a radiator hose or something. In fact, we even used to spray degreaser all over the engine before giving it a blast with the high pressure hose. All I can say is that after seeing literally thousands of cars get their engines blasted with the high pressure hose, there was never a problem; at least that we ever heard about.

Originally Posted by SlorpBop

Regarding spraying down the engine bay: I do not know enough about it to give an opinion myself. But I used to work at a BMW dealership for 5 years, and we used to spray the engines (with a high pressure spray gun) for every car that came through for service, as well as any cars getting detailed. Many people at the dealership would bring up issue with this practice from time to time, and the mechanics reassured us that there was no damage we could do unless we held the nozzle within inches of a radiator hose or something. In fact, we even used to spray degreaser all over the engine before giving it a blast with the high pressure hose. All I can say is that after seeing literally thousands of cars get their engines blasted with the high pressure hose, there was never a problem; at least that we ever heard about.

Dagnabbit, Up until you said that I nearly had 'em believing the the dealer cleaned motors with pixy dust and magic wands.

Originally Posted by bimmerteck

Dagnabbit, Up until you said that I nearly had 'em believing the the dealer cleaned motors with pixy dust and magic wands.

I only posted this because someone mentioned earlier to NEVER spray the engine with a pressure hose. There was a small discussion on how to clean the engine, and I thought I could save some people alot of needless effort.

Originally Posted by SlorpBop

There was a small discussion on how to clean the engine

These links may help for engine cleaning:
- External engine degreaser, engine bay cleaning & engine compartment detailing (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

For the record, this post today shows ...
- E46 (1999 - 2006) > Help identifying a part

Originally Posted by ventsyv

it's an M54 Vanos Solenoid Valve (part # 11 36 1 432 532)

Here are my fuses numbered 1 to 45 in my 2002 525i glovebox:
- Need help with location of the fuse boxs and overview of fuse positions for 528i?


And, here are my fuses F46 to F66 in my battery trunk compartment:


Fuses 75 & 76 are BEHIND the glovebox:
- Auxiliary Fan write up
Quote:
*******> ********> *******> ********>

Originally Posted by SleekBMW
This is a pic of fuse 75 and 76 lookin lying down above into your glove compartment from the passenger side foot well. That panel needs to be pulled BACK towards the passenger side seat with SLIGHT pressure to the floor and should come out. THE AREA THAT 75 and 76 are in is circled. you will reach in there, and grab the fuse and push UP towards the sky and it will come out.

I'm not sure the numbers, but there are some fuses in the passenger side cabin air filter ebox:
- Request clarification of what is inside the ebox under the passenger cabin air filter


And, here is the high-amperage fusebox for fuses #F100 to F106 in the battery trunk compartment:


From JimLev, here's what's under that white F100 to F106 fusebox cover (looks like 8 fusible links?):


And, fuses 107 to 114 are under the passenger seat carpet (this picture from cn90's Bimmer):
- DIY: Troubleshooting S.A.S. and How to Replace the Famous Fuse # 107!





Note: Newer E39s have three relays above these fuses; older E39s have four relays instead of three:

• Rear window defogger relay
• Central locking relay
• Unloader relay (arrow below is pointing to it)
• Fuel pump relay <== only in older E39

And, here's the BMW battery with the two decals pulled up ...


EDIT: Bentley, Volume Two, pages 610-29 to 610-37 shows the 88 fuse spots (F1-F5, F1-F114 inclusive) in the 6 fuse locations listed below (spots F67 to F74 & F77 to F99 don't exist):

• Fuse panel 1: F1 to F45 <= in the glove compartment top panel (45 fuse spots)
• Fuse panel 2: F46 to F66 <= directly above the battery (21 fuse spots)
• Fuse panel 3: F1 to F5 <= at the back of the ebox under the passenger side cabin air filter housing (5 fuse spots)
• Fuse panel 4: F107 to F114 <= under passenger side front seat carpet (8 fuse spots)
• Fuse panel 5: F100 to F106 <= above the battery positive terminal (7 fuse spots)
• Fuse panel 6: F75 to F76 <= behind the glove compartment (2 fuse spots)

I was researching DISA valve autopsy photos when I ran into this nice E46 M54 engine picture showing the location of the DISA valve (aka "adjuster unit"), idle control valve, and throttle body engine-attachment ports:
- **Rough Idle**p0174 and p0171**Vacuum Leak**ALL FIXED

Here is the M54 engine fuel line test point Schrader valve:
- Where is the M54 fuel line schrader valve (to test lean conditions fuel pressure)?



This is where I plan on hooking up the Autozone fuel system pressure tester:
- Actron CP9220A Fuel Pump Diagnostic Kit

Passenger side cabin air filter ebox (containing wires, fuses, and relays):
- Request clarification of what is inside the ebox under the passenger cabin air filter

M54 engine AUC 'stink' sensor ...
- E39 (1997 - 2003) > Purpose of the Sensor F. Auc

It's not a great picture but here are the five fuses in my M54 ebox under the passenger side cabin air filter cabinet:
- Request clarification of what is inside the ebox under the passenger cabin air filter

Originally Posted by JimLev

The fuse functions are in Bentleys, but depending on the year and model you have they don't always match the Bentleys description, see page 610-34.
This is fuse panel 3 for F1 to F5
According to Bentleys:
F1 open (no fuse)
F2 30 Amps, Fuel injectors, Engine control module
F3 20 Amps, Cam sensors, MAF, Crank Sensor, Thermostat
F4 30 Amps, Heated O2 sensors, Tranny control module
F5 30 Amps, Unloader relay, power to coils

Here is what my 2000 540/6 really has. (might be more that below, this is what I could trace out)
F1 30 Amps, MAF, Cam sensor #1, DME, T-Stat, Evap emission valve
F2 30 Amps, Fuel injectors, Both Vanos solenoids, Cam sensor #2, Secondary air injection pump electrical valve.
F3 30 Amps, Cam sensors, MAF, Crank Sensor, Heated O2 sensors.
F4 30 Amps, DME
F5 30 Amps, Unloader relay, power to coils