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      03-09-2014, 03:50 PM   #1
romanonj
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Design flaw?

Gents,

purchased 2014 Msport X3, luv the truck so far. Rides great, with sh1tty weather in the NE I finally get a chance to get her to shine again. With 2500 miles on the clock I decided to do my first oil change as a precautionary measure, and install magnetic drain plug. As I opened the hood I was shocked to see how much salt and grime is in the engine compartment.. N55 is covered with salt!. WTF, I don't remember e90/e92 or e83 have engine compartment get that dirty that quick. Is this a known design flaw? Anything can be done to protect better without impacting cooling? Feedback appreciated.

Thanks!
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      03-09-2014, 06:27 PM   #2
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Look what I found... !!!!

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=756292
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      03-09-2014, 06:41 PM   #3
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I'm in NJ as well, manalapan. Suffering the same as you with spray getting into the engine bay. As the previous poster said, Bimmerpost has a whole thread on this whereby he added extra weatherstripping. He just did it so we do not yet know how well it worked.
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      03-09-2014, 07:40 PM   #4
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I opened the hood today. It also surprised me...seems the salt didn't come from the surrounding seals, but from the bottom. The entire engine lower part is full of salt. No idea how to clean. Can I use the pressure washer?
I also opened our 4-yr equinox...it is clean inside.
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      03-09-2014, 08:05 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kwcbimmer View Post
I opened the hood today. It also surprised me...seems the salt didn't come from the surrounding seals, but from the bottom. The entire engine lower part is full of salt. No idea how to clean. Can I use the pressure washer?
I also opened our 4-yr equinox...it is clean inside.
Its not coming from the bottom. I had the entire lower panel down today when performing an oil change and it is clean on the inside. Radiator fan is clean too.. It looks as the weather stripping is to blame..
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Last edited by romanonj; 03-09-2014 at 08:11 PM..
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      03-09-2014, 10:40 PM   #6
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Are you going to show this to your dealer? I have had my X3 is for four month now and have yet to crack the hood open.
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      03-10-2014, 10:40 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flavius View Post
Are you going to show this to your dealer? I have had my X3 is for four month now and have yet to crack the hood open.
I went to the dealer today. here is what they did and explained:
Correction: washed engine bay of salt. No missing body (as I asked them if any wrong with the under engine cover?). salt is from an opening between front grilles and engine bay. PART OF VEHICLE DESIGN.

I also asked how to clean it myself, and was told to pressure wash it (I believe this was what they did to my car). As I worried about the damage to the inside components and wiring, they said as long as I keep 3-4 feet from the car, it's ok.
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      03-12-2014, 07:13 AM   #8
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I clean my bay every spring. Hose & cloth. Looks great when done for another year. I've been doing that for 3 years and no troubles with the electrical. Dealership advised the same process to me.

Dave
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      03-13-2014, 09:51 AM   #9
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I don't look forward to lifting the hood of my car... after yesterday's drive from Buffalo. DOH
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