Cover or not engine mgmt systems are very sophisticated by controlling temps in a variety of running conditions. in order to realize max power and efficiency. This N57 is going to run as hot as it is programmed to run regardless of the cover.
Safe to run engine with top plastic cover removed?
- Thread starter wavinwayne
- Start date
There's not much air circulation because the engine bay has what amounts to a gasket encircling it.
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The wife's 08 Malibu LTZ with the 3.6 has a 2 piece cover, I left the front piece on and took the back half off, there is nothing attached to the covers.
On some engines, the direct injectors corrode and get stuck in the cylinder head. The cover can help keep water off of the area and reduce the rate of dissimilar metal corrosion. Especially if there are openings in the top of the hood.
So, while the cover is not designed for that purpose, it does provide some benefit.
So, while the cover is not designed for that purpose, it does provide some benefit.
Some DI injectors are pretty loud and the cover make a big improvement.
The high pressure fuel pump on some DI is also loud.
I removed the cover and took a look. It will be staying on. As the pic shows, the cover has some insulation on the underside. Also the piece on top of the engine that is directly under the cover, to the right of the oil cap, is some sort of soft, rubbery-foam material. I'll give the BMW engineers the benefit of the doubt and assume the cover should stay. I appreciate the discussion with you all about it, though.
Oh that's cool, I forgot all about the V6 version.
You are correct, it looks MUCH better dressed!^^ my goodness it looks like the engine pulled it's pants down. Please put it back on..
I was going to say exactly this. Just today was working on a Venza with 3.5 V6 and the mice thought hanging out under the engine cover was great fun.
For the OP, I tore the cover off my 3.6 in my '19 JL on day 1. It's in a landfill somewhere. I later removed the battery blanket thing because the mice thought small pieces of it were good blankets for them.
Whenever you're weighing alleged concerns about noise, heat, air flow (some argue the engine covers direct air in mythical and magical ways) or battery life against rodent damage.....well I'll virtually always vote to avoid rodent damage.
But when you park it or drive slow, it's a foil wrapped fish on the grille. I prefer to not bake the fuel rail and other underhood sensors and components. I have shut down with orange glowing exhaust at times,
And given BMW reliability records - I don't
put too much stock in their engineering acumen of late.
My H.S. friend just this week sold his 750 li hot V twin turbo V8 at the advice of his mechanic. $95k sticker for
$6,900.
I did greatly enjoy my 1998 M roadster I picked up used in 2001. Best Sports car for the price, IMO
similar -
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I've heard nothing but terrible stories about BMW V8s. I wouldn't have touched one of those with a 10-ft pole
IMO frequent oil changes solve a lot of the problems they're known for. The 7er (like the S Class) has a certain subset of loyal owners that maintain the cars obsessively.
They have less issues (go figure) and those are the cars you want to buy second hand. It has been my experience that most of the cars are bought by fleets, barely maintained, and then bought "CPO" by people that can't really afford them. Hence, the trouble.
I removed it from my 2021 Jaguar F Type. But owners of previous models years are cautioned not to as the cooling vents on the hood on those models were located further back from the nose of the hood and water could drip right onto the supercharger area which was normally covered.
My '14 JGC that gets parked outside has rodent damage to the foam under the engine cover and the under-hood blanket. I bought one of these and placed it just in front of the vehicle. Once the critters start gnawing on wiring, it can get expensive.
Had the cover off our Nissan for about 150k miles. It's still running.
Ya I get it. The engine bay of a reasonably modern BMW is gasketed all around and for that reason during the summer months I would pop the hood to let the hot air out when I got home from work.
The turbo V8 is just a mess. As I understand it the layout was a packaging decision because moving the turbochargers to the outside would've required them to narrow the "V". Granted the "Hot-V" eliminates any sort of lag, but there are so many oil/cooling hoses running under the turbos (although shielded) that repairs are a total hassle.
Not for me. Poison is unacceptable because my mouser or my three dogs could (and would) eat a poisoned carcass.
Our feral cat mouser does a REALLY good job but in a very rural setting he can only do so much
