any benefit in taking the engine cover off?

3TMagnetMan

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I was thinking of removing it for easy access to oil filter since my Strut Bar goes across the engine bay.
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PerformanceSound

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Donā€™t know how a plastic cover that is flammable would put out a fire. If anything it is combustible fuel.
Tell engineer he is fired
Againā€¦.I never said it doesnā€™t burn and melt, I said I was told it helps in keeping engine fires from spreading quicker than if there wasnā€™t one there. It melts slowly and covers the top of the engine to keep the fire lower to either put it out easier or allow longer time to evacuate the vehicleā€¦just like the insulation panels that are bolted under the hood and most cars, they are designed to melt off in the event of a fire and act like a ā€œfire blanketā€ fire-suppressantā€¦.not to put it out completely. Those covers handle very high tempsā€¦.and even though they will eventually melt in a fire, they are pretty resistant to direct flames.

Havenā€™t you noticed that most cars with only an engine cover donā€™t have a ā€œfire blanketā€ panel under the hoodā€¦.including the MKV Supra. Kinda makes sense to me more than ā€œitā€™s plastic, itā€™s combustible fuel.ā€
 
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Rocksandblues

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Againā€¦.I never said it doesnā€™t burn and melt, I said I was told it helps in keeping engine fires from spreading quicker than if there wasnā€™t one there. It melts slowly and covers the top of the engine to keep the fire lower to either put it out easier or allow longer time to evacuate the vehicleā€¦just like the insulation panels that are bolted under the hood and most cars, they are designed to melt off in the event of a fire and act like a ā€œfire blanketā€ fire-suppressantā€¦.not to put it out completely. Those covers handle very high tempsā€¦.and even though they will eventually melt in a fire, they are pretty resistant to direct flames.

Havenā€™t you noticed that most cars with only an engine cover donā€™t have a ā€œfire blanketā€ panel under the hoodā€¦.including the MKV Supra. Kinda makes sense to me more than ā€œitā€™s plastic, itā€™s combustible fuel.ā€

Never "fire blankets" the only thing above the engine is a metal hood. Metal is not flammable. So no, those blankets are heat insulation to protect the paint on your hood and deaden sound.

Now that insulation is under the plastic beauty covers. holds heat and deadens sound.

Please don't take other advice from your "engineer"

There is NO fire protection- zip
 

ShakaDaKine

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Basically, the cover is part of the BMW "encapsulation system". Here's a couple excerpts:

"To keep temperatures within the engine compartment at a high level for as long as possible and to avoid having to warm up the engine from the regular ambient temperature, the engine is fully encapsulated."

"Components in the engine compartment which previously had to be cooled at a great effort are now protected better from engine heat by the encapsulation."

Source: https://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/10/bmw-outlines-intelligent-heat-management-applications-for-reducing-fuel-consumption-and-co2-new-ther.html#:~:text=To keep temperatures within the,the engine is fully encapsulated.

As others have stated, there are tradeoffs for removing the engine cover. Since this is my daily driver, I'm keeping mine on. Those who track their cars regularly may benefit from its removal...my $.02.
 

underdonk

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Basically, the cover is part of the BMW "encapsulation system". Here's a couple excerpts:

"To keep temperatures within the engine compartment at a high level for as long as possible and to avoid having to warm up the engine from the regular ambient temperature, the engine is fully encapsulated."

"Components in the engine compartment which previously had to be cooled at a great effort are now protected better from engine heat by the encapsulation."

Source: https://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/10/bmw-outlines-intelligent-heat-management-applications-for-reducing-fuel-consumption-and-co2-new-ther.html#:~:text=To keep temperatures within the,the engine is fully encapsulated.

As others have stated, there are tradeoffs for removing the engine cover. Since this is my daily driver, I'm keeping mine on. Those who track their cars regularly may benefit from its removal...my $.02.
Thanks for this - it's a really interesting read and I hadn't seen it previously. On one hand, they're saying it's (the whole system) to retain heat to prevent true cold-start conditions, but also saying it's so certain engine components (they don't identify) don't have to be cooled to a large extent and are better protected from heat. Based on the location of all this stuff, and I've harped about this before, I'm assuming it has something to do with why the car received a plastic intake manifold. They could be relying on the engine cover to shield the manifold from some (small) amount of engine heat. Again, an assumption, but it fits.
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