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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 Excessive Carbon on Exhaust Tips? |
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01-03-2012, 06:19 AM | #1 |
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Excessive Carbon on Exhaust Tips?
So this is part question and part story...
A few weeks ago I noticed what I would consider excessive carbon buildup on the decorative exhaust tips. In 1,200 miles, the BMW has more carbon on the chrome tips than my IS350 did in 28,000 miles. I happened to be at the dealer for something unrelated so I decided to pop my head into the service department and ask the question. Being a new customer and having a new car, I do not have a service adviser assigned to me, so I just asked to speak to someone. Dude comes out and real nicely I ask if this condition is normal. His response killed me... SA "What kind of fuel are you using?" Me "Premium, all the time." SA "Oh... well... you see, the engines in the 5-series are bigger than the engines in the 3 Series... and with the bigger engines you get higher performance. You see, carbon is a... well, you see there's a lot more combustion going on in those cylinders because they're bigger... bigger than most engines. All that combustion is going to cause carbon. It's because it's a high performance engine." Me "I see" SA "yeah, I mean, if you told me it was all over the back bumper I would say there's something wrong. But if it's just on the tips it's normal." Me "Well it looks like crap" SA "Yeah... uhhh, just use some cleaner on it. It'll come off." At this point I'm so stunned by this completely uneducated and BS answer I kind of walk myself backwards out of the service area and get back in my car. I don't know if the amount of buildup on the pipes is normal or not, but I would have liked someone to LOOK at it and provide an educated response. I mean, I'm not some boy racer in his 3-Series with cheesy mods. And here I was told I would get more respect from the dealer/service guys as a 5-Series owner. huh. So I'll ask this crowd... is the carbon buildup on the pipes normal with such little mileage? I probably need to take a pic, but I'm at work right now. Oh, and just because it's my New Years resolution to hold people accountable, I will be calling the service manager. And I will let you know it was Fairfax BMW in Virginia. Didn't get the SA's name. |
01-03-2012, 07:44 AM | #2 |
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I feel your pain, not with the SA, but with the carbon buildup.
I have a special exhaust tip rag, lol, and is part of my weekly cleaning. I didnt clean it when I first got the car and after a few weeks it built up pretty bad and took some elbow grease to get it off. I only assumed it was normal, I am curious to see if anything intelligent comes out of your service department on this. Keep us posted.
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01-03-2012, 07:55 AM | #3 |
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Well, now that I know I'm not the only one I'll put some pressure on them to find out what's up. I'll keep you posted.
BTW, what are you using to clean it off? I was thinking some metal polish like NEVR-DULL? |
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01-03-2012, 08:09 AM | #4 |
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I try to use things that are more on the environmental friendly side to earth and my car.
I use the residuals in the bucket from washing my car with the Swissvax car wash. Normally the soapy water in the bucket I use to wipe off my rims and the exhausts. When I had my car detailed by Swissvax they put a special rim wax on and with just light soapy water the rims wipe clean.
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01-03-2012, 10:54 AM | #5 |
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I don't know why you're getting so upset. The carbon buildup is completely normal and removes easily with a towel and some APC cleaner. wait till you get a load of the brake dust.
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01-03-2012, 12:02 PM | #6 |
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Oh, I'm not upset about the carbon. I was just curious. I was annoyed with the response I got from the SA.
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01-03-2012, 12:19 PM | #7 |
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Don't sweat that, odds are you know a lot more about your car than the dealer. I have been using MF towels and Optimum power clean to tips. Then mothers metal polish to make them shine and Menzerna Powerlock to keep them protected. (All of this while the tips are cold of course).
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01-03-2012, 12:28 PM | #8 |
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Sad but true. I imagine most SA's don't own BMW's so I would think the desire to truly know the car is not there like an owner/aficionado would.
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01-03-2012, 10:18 PM | #9 |
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I think the carbon buildup is also related to how high you rev it. When I use my 911 on track days and run it to red-line over and over, a tremendous amount of carbon gets deposited (along with dead bugs and pieces of rubber). My 535 is a 6 speed and probably sees higher revs than most. Anyway, for some reason the carbon comes off the Porsche tips a lot easier than the BMW although they are both chrome.
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01-03-2012, 10:24 PM | #10 |
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I use a product called White Diamond and it works wonders. A really amazing product for this issue.
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06-28-2012, 03:28 PM | #11 |
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I am experiencing this same exact problem; constant carbon / exhaust buildup on my chrome exhaust tips. And unfortunately, I haven't kept up with cleaning and now they're impossible to get clean.
Does anyone know how Nevr-Dull compares to White Diamond? And any other tips / tricks to share? Thanks! |
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06-28-2012, 03:44 PM | #12 |
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I noticed the same thing soon after I picked up my car and was told by my service manager that this was normal. It is easy to take care of with chrome polish and a rag. I don't think a special chrome polish is necessary. I used Turtle Wax that I happened to have around.
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06-28-2012, 09:29 PM | #13 |
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Same issue - more carbon on my tips than any other car I've owned. Cannot for the life of me find anything that removes it fully including elbow grease. However, if this is one of my biggest gripes with the car after a year of ownership, I'm doing okay.
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