[328iX]

Originally Posted by sspade

Ive heard that constantly baby'ing the car, literally over thousands and thousands of miles can cause more carbon buildup than the same vehicle that got wrung out once in a while.

I have no idea if this is just an old wives tale?

Truth be told... I do baby my car around like its a 1987 Cadillac Brougham de Ville most of the time.

I do try to redline or near redline once every few days or once a week though.

No idea how this relates to others driving habits but thought Id share :

Yup that's true it's called an Italian tune up hahaha, my local BMW shop foreman actually told me to drive my car like i stole it because of carbon build up.

[IraHayes]

Originally Posted by 328dX

Yup that's true it's called an Italian tune up hahaha, my local BMW shop foreman actually told me to drive my car like i stole it because of carbon build up.

This was especially true back in the days of carbureted cars. I remember when the shop foreman at our local Buick dealer told my dad back in the day to drive the car like he stole it every once in a while. Every time he did, it looked like a James Bond smokescreen coming out of the back of the car. While I don’t tend to abuse my cars, I do give them a good flogging every once in a while.

[IraHayes]

Originally Posted by bavarianride

Another thought is, does no hard driving before warming up reduces carbon buildup?

Also can ECU do something(e.g. limit PCV blowback?) to alleviate carbon buildup?

Hmm, I’ve never heard that before, but there are a multitude of reasons that you probably wouldn’t want to drive your car hard before reaching operating temperature anyway. I personally wouldn’t drive a car hard before letting it reach normal operating temp. For me, it’s all about the lubrication ( sounds sexual, I know). While the synthetic oils we use these days offer excellent protection, even at start-up in a cold engine compared to conventional oils, it’s still oil. It’s not going to flow as freely and lubricate/protect as well as it would in an engine that’s running at operating temperature. Just my $.02.

I’ve also noticed that my transmission shifts a little “jerky“ when my car is cold. As it gets warmer, the shifts get smoother. This seems to be fairly common. My wife’s Mercedes does the same thing.

One of my best friends whom I’ve known now for 30 years always drives his cars hard, even from start up. He has never owned a car that has never been a money pit, and I’ve always suspected that it has a lot to do with his driving habits.

[bavarianride]

Originally Posted by IraHayes

Hmm, I’ve never heard that before, but there are a multitude of reasons that you probably wouldn’t want to drive your car hard before reaching operating temperature anyway. I personally wouldn’t drive a car hard before letting it reach normal operating temp. For me, it’s all about the lubrication ( sounds sexual, I know). While the synthetic oils we use these days offer excellent protection, even at start-up in a cold engine compared to conventional oils, it’s still oil. It’s not going to flow as freely and lubricate/protect as well as it would in an engine that’s running at operating temperature. Just my $.02.

I’ve also noticed that my transmission shifts a little “jerky“ when my car is cold. As it gets warmer, the shifts get smoother. This seems to be fairly common. My wife’s Mercedes does the same thing.

One of my best friends whom I’ve known now for 30 years always drives his cars hard, even from start up. He has never owned a car that has never been a money pit, and I’ve always suspected that it has a lot to do with his driving habits.

My thought is that carbon buildup is due to incomplete fuel burning, and cold engine under hard acceleration will be one such scenario.

My N26 is rarely kicked down esp. when cold. Usually even for merge/stop-light I will not metal to pedal, but "ease" in quickly, and let ZF 8AT does the rest.

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by IraHayes

This was especially true back in the days of carbureted cars.

Yep, carburetors, mechanical control and ignition systems, mineral oil and all that other stuff of the last century, which is where any mechanic who recommends blowing the carbon out is still residing.

I probably will pass on this unless rough idle and/or stalling shows up

That's like waiting until after you have a heart attack before seeing a doctor on a regular basis. I lost a good friend last summer for just that reason. He seemed the picture of good health, so he hadn't seen a doctor for at least twenty years. With any warnings he dropped dead of a heart attack. The post mortem found his arteries clogged with plaque. If he'd been taking an aspirin a day, as I have since my doctor told me to when I hit 50, he'd still be alive today. I'd rather clean my intakes the easy way even if they might not really need it than wait until they require the equivalent of a quadruple bypass because I neglected to do so.

[IraHayes]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Yep, carburetors, mechanical control and ignition systems, mineral oil and all that other stuff of the last century, which is where any mechanic who recommends blowing the carbon out is still residing.

Unfortunate, but I tend to believe this is mostly true myself.

Originally Posted by Billfitz

I'd rather clean my intakes the easy way even if they might not really need it than wait until they require the equivalent of a quadruple bypass because I neglected to do so.

Totally agree. I've always believed that a little extra money and diligence spent on maintenance in the short term will translate into less money spent on major maintenance and repairs in the long term. My last three cars lasting me past 200k has borne that out for me.

[bavarianride]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

That's like waiting until after you have a heart attack before seeing a doctor on a regular basis. I lost a good friend last summer for just that reason. He seemed the picture of good health, so he hadn't seen a doctor for at least twenty years. With any warnings he dropped dead of a heart attack. The post mortem found his arteries clogged with plaque. If he'd been taking an aspirin a day, as I have since my doctor told me to when I hit 50, he'd still be alive today. I'd rather clean my intakes the easy way even if they might not really need it than wait until they require the equivalent of a quadruple bypass because I neglected to do so.

Sorry to hear about your friend. A daily aspirin seems a bit much, but it will be analogous to a bottle of techron regularly. Both of these are relatively non-intrusive.

The intake valve cleaner appears to be next step up, similar to injecting some artery clearing medicine once in a way that the brain(ECU) will register. The concern is if anything goes wrong, then the doctors(foremen) will blame on tampering of the hardware!

$500-600 walnut blasting does look OK when symptoms start to show up. As seen from utube video, the "procedure" does restore to like new condition, and resolve all issues related to carbon buildup. And intake valve cleaner does get apply in the context it is meant to be used, namely, when intake manifold is removed.

[Rebound]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

It's too soon to justify the expense of walnut blasting, which requires removing the intake manifold and a lot more. But if you clean the valves regularly you may never need walnut blasting. An ounce of prevention...

Personally, I think installing an oil catch can at 35K is a way better bet.