I put a new motor in approx. 23k miles ago, No catch cans (until last few hundred miles). I was changing throttle body, vacuum solenoid (making crazy kazoo noise) and vacuum canister and hoses and was a little shocked at the state of the intake valves after only 23k miles.

 

I cleaned them without walnut blasting because I don't have the adaptor that faces backwards...I used Berryman's and some brushes.

 

N14? Based on what I’ve read, looks normal to me. What are your driving habits? I understand that short trips around town will cause the build up to come quicker. Longer highway trips tend to extend accumulation a little better.

 

N14 turbo yup. Yes indeed this car sees mostly city use. Looking at other pics of n14 valves this looks pretty standard.

 

I have a walnut blaster and 80-gallon compressor but I didn't have enough walnut or the vacuum cleaner attachment I didn't feel like making a huge mess doing this.

Is the only good option the metal BMW made vacuum hose adaptor?

 

There is a 3D printed version available from ECS, but the metal adapter will last for multiple blastings.

 

Thanks nj. I'll order it for the next cleaning.

My other direct injection car (Japanese) takes about 2x longer to get this dirty.

 

Not all catch cans are the same. I just swapped a used Mishimoto 10oz for a Turner 8oz with baffles and improved connectors. While installing the new hose can I noticed some visible oil sitting inside the return line. However, the Mishimoto was a simple line in/line out design with zero baffles and I figured it would not be 100% effective. Considering it managed to consistently capture a significant amount of oil over the course of 6000 miles (2 oil changes), I figure it's better than nothing. Send a little Seafoam down the tube every couple years and you should be good to go.

 

Its better than nothing but not much with the addition of potential leaks in the lines and freezing.

 

Does not look that bad, mine was really greasy and took a couple brushed as they got covered in gunk. The pick i used really helped, then the blaster did the rest. Pick=>Brush=>blaster thats how i did it.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ke-valves.html

Greasy look, tar type.