MAF sensor

[khooger]

Is there a thread of cleaning the MAF sensor on the E53? Thanks.

[mrBrigante]

a good and easy way would be to detach and spray with maf sensor cleaner and let dry ...........

[tetonguy]

copy that mrb.....its easy to do just be careful with the rubber housing gasket putting it back together...its easy to pich the gasket and let unmetered air into the intake.....don't ask me how I know this...haha.

[diorodriguez]

mrbrigante says it exactly how to do it.

[m5james]

It's a waste of money and your putting off the inevitable. They degrade like spark plugs, so just replace it.

[B5M4W0]

[QUOTE
It's a waste of money and your putting off the inevitable. They degrade like spark plugs, so just replace it.
]


I disagree, they do not degrade. They colllect a film of carbon dust on the resistor which can cuase the SES to come on. It will show codes concerning fuel trim and bank 1/2 to lean. Remove the two tamper proof srews that hold the sensor into the housing of the MAff. Pull the sensor out of the housing and clean it well with CRC Mass air cleaner. It may take a couple of clean/ dry attempts. Most of the SES light issuses on this forum could be fixed by doing the above proceedure. People just panic and want to spend money I guess.

[m5james]

Actually you're wrong. They do get resistance over time, as well as carbon buildup. The MAF's actually overheat once in a while in an attempt to clean themselves, but after time, it'll in fact just lose it efficiency and have a slower reaction time just like 02 sensors. As I said, cleaning the MAF would be like cleaning spark plugs, 02 sensors or anything else that has direct contact w/ air, fuel, contaminants in the air, etc.

Cleaning vs replacing the MAF has been discussed for years on the E34/E39 540, E38 740 and E39 M5 boards long before an X5 even rolled off the assembly line. M5 board members, who have to deal w/ two MAF's, actually learned about the compatible VW MAF after one of the members did his own testing via the fuel readings on the OBC and bench testing using an ohm meter. At the end of the day, cleaning them was putting off the inevitable and we found a cheaper, compatible replacement. Sure, you can clean them and it MAY temporarily fix some problems...but it won't be back to operating 100 percent like a new one would, and it'll go bad again soon enough. People just panic and want to cheap out I guess.

[flatlander]

Based on my experience with MAF sensors, I have to agree with m5james.

I also have engineering design experience with low tolerance, high accuracy resistors, like those in the MAF. Over time all resistors have drift; not Tokyo drift :P Their value drifts away from what it was originally. The software in all the cars I've owned does not seem to account for this drift. So eventually the signal from the MAF will have changed enough for you to notice (better or worse fuel economy & less or more power).

I've also had the MAF in my X5 go completely dead. Mine lasted to around 100K Miles.

[Dutch1]

Just in case someone reads this...I had an 01 740il and the same oem bosch maf was in a VW beetle and Jetta. Just different housings, So, for 68.00 I replaced the MAF and used my original housing. Maybe the same for my 4.4i but haven't checked the numbers yet. Hope this helps furture DIYers

[TerminatorX5]

Originally Posted by Dutch1

Just in case someone reads this...I had an 01 740il and the same oem bosch maf was in a VW beetle and Jetta. Just different housings, So, for 68.00 I replaced the MAF and used my original housing. Maybe the same for my 4.4i but haven't checked the numbers yet. Hope this helps furture DIYers

are there more details on this this cross-compatibility between the VW and BMW parts? Since the parts are manufactured by third-party vendors (Bosch, Hella, etc...), a lot of times items from different car manufacturers are interchangable - like the projector ellipsoids between Audi and BMW...

So, do we have more specific info about this? say, for 4.8iS - N62 engine...