I recently bought a 2001 E46 330i with the 3.0l M54 motor. When replacing the crank position sensor for a separate issue, I took out the DISA valve and noticed it was almost completely gone. I went ahead and looked up on realOEM.com the correct part number DISA valve for my car and found that the part number 11617544805 is what I need. So I went ahead and ordered this part from ECS. After confirming there were no pieces in the intake manifold and the PO just used a broken valve for some reason, I went ahead and tried to install the new one. For some reason, the whole assembly does not go all the way in. I can't really tell what it's hitting but it feels like the little nub on the end is hitting the back of the intake manifold. I tried forcing it in, lubing the seals, and sliding it in, and nothing seems to work (I don't wanna break it). Here is an album showing the old DISA valve, the new one, and how far it goes in.

Did I order the wrong valve?

I think the end of the old disas broke off and stuck to the intake manifold, it seems to be blocked from going in the same distance of the broken piece.
So strange for the disa to be broken like that though.
Can you get a pic with flash inside the disa hole?

 

Was gonna say the same thing.

 

Wow, that is one messy old DISA. Where did all the bits go? Hopefully not into the engine?

You have the correct DISA for a M54B30 engine and it matches the one that you removed.

• It's not a M54B30 inlet manifold and the PO did a chop on the old DISA to fill the DISA hole? Check Manifold serial number. Check Engine code (sump/oil pan level by the dip stick port) to make sure it reads 30 6S 5 = M54B30.
• Have you had a looked into the recesses of the inlet manifold to see if any of the old DISA valve is stuck in there and stopping the new DISA from going all the way in? Attached is a photo of the internal mounting for a DISA. It is of a M52TUB inlet manifold which is the only one on hand at the moment, but your M54B30 should be very similar.

 

I took a good look in there and felt around and I really can't see or feel any pieces. I had a good look down each runner and from what I can see there are no pieces floating around so I can only assume the PO just wanted to fill that hole with something. Here are pictures of the DISA hole and manifold serial numbers. I can't seem to get to the block serial number right now but I think the manifold serial number is from an M54 if I'm reading it right.

 

I think the manifold is for a M54B22 OR B25, not a B30, the disa valve is shorter for those engines.
Whether the engine is a 3l with the wrong intake or it's a 2.5/2.2 engine I can't say.
Maybe the previous owner changed the intake manifold with another one from a b25, then chopped the disa valve to fit inside.

 

It's possible. I can't find the engine identification code but I did find an area near the front of the motor where the oil pan meets the block. It's on the block side and it says 7502900 01. I can't seem to figure out what that means about the motor. Is the VIN supposed to be stamped on the motor anywhere?

EDIT: Forgot to mention, there is no number plate just below the crank position sensor like I have seen in other posts. The stamped numbers near the oil pan are the only ones I can find right now

 

What colour are your fuel injectors?

 

Yeah, I'll probably look around for a 3.0 intake manifold but in the meantime might just run a 2.5l DISA valve. I'll need new injectors then too right? It's got a 3.5" MAF so I really hope it's a 3.0l haha

 

Yeah you got the 3l don't worry about that, just the intake manifolds been swapped.
No need for the 2.5 disa, just hack the end off the one you got xD
But I don't think it'll run like it should with the 2.5 intake manifold. It should be fairly cheap for a used 3.0 manifold. Just make sure to replace all the vacuum lines and vacuum caps at the back when you replace it while it's easy.
Oh and you have the correct, purple fuel injectors for the 3.0l

 

Yeah it's been stuck in limp mode since I bought it anyway so I'll get the intake manifold sorted out soon enough. Currently, I think the issue is the crank position sensor not being an OEM part (thread here) so I'm gonna get that installed and a new intake manifold on order and see what happens. Maybe the issues are related haha

 

B25 and B30 use the same block (B30 has longer stroke so the crank is the only difference) so if you find a casting number or something that's not going to tell you anything. Check this thread to see what you're looking for to actually ID the engine assy., and no there's no VIN stamp.

You may well need an entire 3.0 inlet tract as well as manifold. Check the diameter of the MAF, 3" is the B25 one.

 

I checked the MAF and as I said above it's 3.5" in diameter. I'll take a look for that identification number mentioned in that thread tomorrow

 

You have a M54B30 inlet manifold. Have a very good look at your photo looking into the manifold through the DISA opening.

• There is a piece of black plastic stuck in the bottom track, right at the very end.
• Both the Top and Bottom tracks should look the same.
• The top is a smooth arc in the top inner corner.
• The Bottom inner corner is square.
• Plus you can see a dent where you have been forcing the new DISA up against the broken piece

 

You have a M54B30 inlet manifold. Have a very good look at your photo looking into the manifold through the DISA opening.

• There is a piece of black plastic stuck in the bottom track, right at the very end.
• Both the Top and Bottom tracks should look the same.
• The top is a smooth arc in the top inner corner.
• The Bottom inner corner is square.
• Plus you can see a dent where you have been forcing the new DISA up against the broken piece

There is definitely a distinct split in the intake manifold there. It looks like 2 halves of the molded pieces mated together during manufacturing. If you look close you can see this mold line extend to either side down towards the runners. I just went in and scraped at it with a pick and there is definitely no plastic stuck in there. Maybe I’m not understanding what exactly you’re talking about. Could you take my picture and circle the area you’re referring to?

 

IMO, looks like crappy Uro brand parts at it again, get a used DISA from a junkyard, rebuild with GAS kit and call it a day.

 

It's got a 3.5" MAF

then it's gotta have a 3l manifold, throttle body, etc, unless
someone's made a VERY special bunch of adaptors.
Everything in the inlet tract is larger on a 3 liter.

I think EnZed double ought ZedThree's nailed it- there's chunks in thar.
But Uro doesn't have a 100% fit record either...

t

 

I would love to believe you. But what would explain the purple injectors I have? Didn’t those come on a 2.5l? I really cannot find any chunks in the DISA hole area

 

Here is the split line I’m talking about. I went at it with a pick and can’t get any chunks

 

I was able to find the identification number finally and snapped a picture of it. Very relieved I actually have a 3.0l haha. For anyone looking for it in the future it’s located just behind the drivers side motor mount. Mine was covered in dirt

 

nice. in the future...we try to use "aft looking forward" orientation, like u sitting in the driver seat, i.e., motor id is on the left side. unless specifically stating "as u looking" from the front of the car, or looking at the front left tire...
not everybody here has LHD.
port and starboard.

 

Dimensions for the flapper in the M54B30 DISA valve, at least it should be.

This is from an AliExpress knockoff of the GAS DISA repair kit. OP can measure the flapper on his URO part and see if he's got the right one or if there's an issue there.

 

@Tweinstein - Can you pull the intake boot off, and measure the throttle body diameter? Also, check to see if there's an adapter plate between the throttle body and the manifold.

 

I was looking at the step in the red ring when I commented that there was stuff in the bottom track. Your later photo shows that this is not the case.

The casting lines do look bigger than the ones in my manifold. Is the bottom track flat or has the manifold cracked on the join and there is an offset?

I pulled the DISA out of my M54B30 in a Z3 to take some measurements.

Overall length is about 90mm

From inside face to end of flap pin nub is about 83mm

Trying to measure the top track got about 83mm

The outside hump of my manifold looks like this.

 

I’m pretty certain I’ve got the right DISA valve. My dimensions match @NZ00Z3’s DISA and the dimensions above. @NZ00Z3 were you able to get any pictures of the inside of your DISA hole while you had it out? Would be curious to see what yours looks like and if it has that ridge that mine does in the picture I posted.

@M.Blacktree it’s hard to get my calipers in there but I’ve got a throttle body inner diameter of about 65mm and there is no adapter plate as far as I can see

 

What's the diameter of the throttle body gasket?
From realoem, it says 79.5mm for the 3.0, and 75.5 for the 2.5l

 

I've got the car still in pieces just in case you needed any additional photos.

Here's the one looking into the inlet manifold.

 

I recently bought a 2001 E46 330i with the 3.0l M54 motor. When replacing the crank position sensor for a separate issue, I took out the DISA valve and noticed it was almost completely gone. I went ahead and looked up on realOEM.com the correct part number DISA valve for my car and found that the part number 11617544805 is what I need. So I went ahead and ordered this part from ECS. After confirming there were no pieces in the intake manifold and the PO just used a broken valve for some reason, I went ahead and tried to install the new one. For some reason, the whole assembly does not go all the way in. I can't really tell what it's hitting but it feels like the little nub on the end is hitting the back of the intake manifold. I tried forcing it in, lubing the seals, and sliding it in, and nothing seems to work (I don't wanna break it). Here is an album showing the old DISA valve, the new one, and how far it goes in.

Did I order the wrong valve?

Definitely reccomend a decent aftermarket disa valve, the replacement has an aliminium flap and no floating pin to fall off 👍

 

OP I highly recommend just going to the nearest pull a part and getting a good DISA that still holds vacuum, the condition of the flap doesnt matter. Try and see if it fits, if it does, return the URO disa and rebuild the used unit with the GAS kit.

 

Yeah I probably will do this. I actually did grab a 2.5L DISA at my last junkyard visit but the flap is completely gone on that one so I can’t tell if it holds vacuum. But I’ll either rebuild this one or grab another one. I wasn’t able to make time to measure the throttle body gasket yesterday but maybe after this weekend I can get in there

 

So one simple thing - the o-rings in the aftermarket DISA valves are thicker, I've found, then OE ones. OE seemed to use a rubber film where the aftermarket as an o-ring.

Are you sure you just aren't getting stick at the O-ring going in? I think you've verified you have the 3.0 intake, and I can't possibly believe the DISA is built that off.

FWIW - that DISA is going to go bad very quickly, so rebuilding a good used one is the way to go if you can.

 

Any news on what the problem ended up being?

 

I just replaced my DISA just took about 30 minutes and I cleaned the opening.
What nobody’s telling us is yours is broken when your old one just flaps about.
The butterfly just seems to be disconnected . The new one had no flapping and no movement! So simply take your old one out if the butterfly just flaps about it’s broken simply replace it I read somewhere a technician said that they’re only good for 70 to 100,000 miles anyway so at that point look at it as a where I don’t like brake rotors.

 

The DISA is that black box on the intake manifold, I replaced mine today. it only took about 30 minutes. If you have more then 70,000 miles and your car stumbled at start or low rpm lack of power this maybe your fix. I could not compare a new one with the worn out till now. The butterfly on the old on just flapped around the new one the butterfly was firmly in place, not complicated. New was around $200. I’m at 172,000 miles, I got it as a BMW 325ci 2003 in 2006 as a certified used with ab 50,000 miles on it.

 

If your old DISA's dashpot was good (they rarely, but occasionally fail), you could've rebuilt it using the G.A.S. kit for $70 and made it better than new:

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