M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
DISCUSSION => Swaps, Turbos, Buildups => Topic started by: bmwman91 on May 07, 2012, 01:33:26 AM
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As some of you know, I had a recent, and final issue with my motor's timing chain system. In short, last year the idler sprocket's bearing blew out and I replaced that and a lot of other stuff, and then about a month ago the idler sprocket snapped off its casting from the timing case! Add to that some stripped threads and mystery noises, which ended up being somewhat related, and I decided that 220k miles from this motor was enough.
After much deliberation about getting a new car or fixing this one, I decided to pursue my dream of having a Metric Mechanic Rally 2100 motor with all the bells & whistles. I believe that I should be getting the motor around mid-June. So, for fin I figured I would maintain a little checklist on here to track the progress. Since the motor will be out, I am going to address a couple of other issues that are easier to get at that way, and some that I have just been lazy about! So, here's the list. Feel free to copy & paste these fun little characters (assuming they display properly in your browser) if you have a list to make sometime!
These aren't necessarily in order. I am probably forgetting a few things, so hopefully someone will remind me or I will just remember tomorrow! As of now, the motor is ready to come out once the hood is off, the hoist is out front and I have a couple of buddies over to point & laugh.
Engine Swap, Removal:
DONE!
☑ Disconnect battery
☑ Remove exhaust system (muffler, cat, header)
☑ Remove heat shields
☑ Remove driveshaft
☑ Disconnect all shifter linkage and reverse-switch
☑ Remove clutch slave cylinder from tranny
☑ Remove skid plate
☑ Disconnect all grounds, sensors & senders
☑ Remove all V-belts
☑ Disconnect fuel rail lines
☑ Disconnect brake booster vacuum line
☑ Drain coolant and remove radiator
☑ Remove alternator
☑ Drain PS fluid & remove reservoir
☑ Remove PS pump
☑ Remove starter motor
☑ Remove hood
☑ Attach hoist & remove motor mount arms
☑ Remove motor & tranny
☑ Drain motor oil
☑ Drain remaining coolant from block drain
Engine Swap, Prep
☑ Remove tranny from block
☑ Install new guibo
☑ Install new driveshaft CSB
☑ Bleed-down brake fluid level from clutch slave cylinder
☑ Replace clutch master cylinder
☑ Replace clutch slave cylinder & hydraulic hard-line
☑ Replace broken lower radiator hose bracket on chassis
☑ Replace broken heat shield on motor mount arm
☑ Replace all rubber exhaust hangar parts
☐ Replace front sway bar links
☑ Swap all water & vacuum plastic/rubber onto new motor
☑ Replace radiator return hose with correct one
☑ Do the "mess under the intake" clean up mod
☑ Swap oil filter housing + gasket/seals onto new motor
☑ Swap thermostat & housing onto new motor
☑ Make sure that new timing chain tensioner piston is released
☑ Align crank position sensor bracket
☐ Install pulse chamber intake manifold and fuel injectors/rail onto motor
☑ Buy small hose clamps and replace fuel rail lines
☑ Clean oil & gunk off of skid plate
☑ Assemble & align clutch disk & PP
☑ Add input shaft grease
☑ Assemble TOB, pivot arm, pivot pin and retaining spring
☑ Fluch tranny fluid with RedLine MTL
☑ Install tranny on new motor
☑ Install M20 pinion gear in starter
☑ Install starter motor on new motor
☐ Weld in engine mount tab reinforcements
☑ Install Delrin shifter bushings
Engine Swap, Installation:
☑ Insert motor & tranny into chassis
☑ Install exhaust header while motor is still hanging (not enough room when mounted)
☑ Attach motor & tranny mount arms/brackets
☑ Reconnect shifter linkage & reverse switch
☑ Reinstall driveshaft
☑ Reinstall heat shields
☑ Reinstall PS pump & reservoir
☑ Reinstall alternator
☑ Reinstall radiator & all coolant hoses
☑ Reconnect all grounds, sensors & senders
☑ Attach clutch slave cylinder to tranny
☐ Reinstall skid plate
☑ Reinstall exhaust system & center muffler tip in rear valence
☑ Reinstall V-belts
☐ Re-fill PS fluid
☐ Re-fill coolant
☑ Add 5qt Pennzoil 10W-40 dino-oil
☑ Top-off brake fluid & bleed clutch clutch hydraulics
☐ Reconnect fuel rail lines
☑ Reconnect brake booster vacuum line
☑ Reinstall hood
☐ Reconnect battery
☐ Bleed PS system
☐ Bleed coolant system
Other Misc Stuff:
☑ Replace all brake pads, rotors and sensors
☑ Re-weld broken bracket in driver's seat frame
☑ Repair dashboard cracks
☐ Re-level dash by adjusting keeper-nut on driver's side
☐ Re-cover seat back covers w/ black vinyl-leatherette
☐ Wash car!
☐ Thoroughly vacuum interior & condition plastic/vinyl surfaces
☑ Finish MAF conversion unit and test it out on a couple of M42's
☐ Fix left-side horn button (HOOOOOOONNNNNNNKKKKKKKK!)
☑ Retrofit E34 535i air box
☑ Install MAF Conversion
I'll update the list in this post as I make progress.
Last update: 08/04/2012
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Your list is superb. Wish I had your attention to detail.
Subscribed! I want to see some MM car p0rn!
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Haha, there will be M42 pr0n, worry not!
I get antsy about these sorts of projects, and since there's nothing to do but wait, I decided to kill an hour before bed making a list of stuff to do.
Any tips on where I can rent a steam cleaner for the engine bay? Pressure washers are easy to find, but I am hesitant to go blasting water in there at 1000PSI...seems like no good can come of that!
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Remember to replace your rubber fuel lines in the engine bay and by the tank. Also good to replace the filter too.
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I replaced all that stuff about a year ago, so I'm planning to reuse most of it. Actually, I put in new rubber [everything] last year lol...and the damn thing still blew up!
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Will Metric Mechanic provide you with detailed pics of your build etc so you can update us i think it would be cool
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I'll see if they can do that. I know that others have had that done for them.
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Subscribed!
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Other Misc Stuff:
☑ Replace all brake pads, rotors and sensors
☑ Re-weld broken bracket in driver's seat frame
☑ Repair dashboard cracks
☐ Re-level dash by adjusting keeper-nut on driver's side
☐ Re-cover seat back covers w/ black vinyl-leatherette
☐ Wash car!
☐ Thoroughly vacuum interior & condition plastic/vinyl surfaces
☐ Finish MAF conversion unit and send to tuner for Rally 2100 motor tuning
☐ Step back and bathe in the glory of my AWESOMENESS!![/SIZE][/U][/B]:cool:
I'll update the list in this post as I make progress.
Last update: 05/06/2012
I'm living vicariously through you.:D
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I added another Misc work item. The left side horn button on the steering wheel started sticking when I was almost home with the failed M42. Sheesh, as if the dying motor wasn't enough, there I am cruising down the highway randomly honking like a moron! This car must hate me.
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That was the car begging for a new MM motor!
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I eBay'ed myself an E34 535i air filter box today. The plan is to retrofit it into the E30 engine bay. Based on some rough calculations from dimensions found on K&N's site for the panel filter replacements, the M30 panel filter has at least 50% more surface area than the M42's when just taking the rough length x width. I think that the M30 filter is also taller, which means a total of 60-65% more surface area. Once I have my hands on an M30 paper filter element, I can make more concrete measurements.
The plan is to run a stock paper filter, no matter what. All of the various "high flow" & open-element filters out there let a lot of particulate matter through, which wears the hell out of the cylinder walls & gets into the oil. Jim Conforti & an E34 club did a study years ago that demonstrated that K&N filters let more dirt through, and the same or less air! This motor is too damn expensive to ruin with some cheesy "high flow" air filter!
Oh, and another advantage of the E34 filter housing is that it has a ROUND outlet, which is good for running a MAF for obvious reasons. It is large enough that I can fit a nice long DIY velocity stack through it. With these MAFs, you really want a MINIMUM of 8" of straight tube in front of the sensor to get a nice, laminar air flow (low/no turbulence).
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wanna buy my dBilas ITBs? They're brand new and I can set you up with somebody in the bay area that has a damaged (but likely salvageable) dBilas chip that could be downloaded.
After demolishing the oil pan on a rock (dropping off my M3 calipers for sandblasting) and replacing it, the engine seized in Modesto. I bought a 2012 Tacoma 4x4 ;) Now I'm considering an M54B30 swap
email me, bwawuz02@yahoo.com, I'm in the N. Bay Area and the ITBs are basically brand new.
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Hey, thanks for the offer. I am going to have to pass on them though. The MM motor I am having built will be using their modified stock manifold ("pulse chamber") & a custom dyno tuned chip. More importantly, I would never pass the visual SMOG inspection here in CA with those awesome looking things on the car!
I have NO doubt that someone on here will want to buy them though.
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I talked to MM today. The motor is 1.5-2 weeks away form shipping! Sweeeeeeeeeet. I need to get my butt into gear and figure out how to retrofit the M30 air box onto the car. They said that a stock M42 air box would definitely restrict this motor and that I want either an open element filter, or an air box from a bigger engine. I may have to use an open element filter for a while while I get the air box figured out. I dislike open element ones because they are usually shitty filters and let lots of dirt in. I also want to maintain a stock look as much as possible since that's just how I roll.
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is the M20 airbox any bigger? I know on my car since I swapped an M42 into an M20 car I was contemplating just using the M20 airbox since the bracketry was all there for it (m42 and M20 mount slightly different).
Just an idea.
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The M20 & M42 use the same paper filter part. So, I wouldn't expect gains from using the M20 box because of that. Surprising, right? Either we got an over-sized filter, or the M20 got an undersized one lol.
From looking on K&N's site at their panel-filter replacement dimensions, here is what I found.
M42 filter is 254 x 146 x 27mm.
M30 filter is 378 x 148 x 29mm.
Assuming that they both have the same pleat spacing (mm/pleat) & foam perimeter size, the M30 air filter element should have up to 62% more surface area through which to draw air. I think that I will have a chance to start working on the retrofit this weekend, so we shall see. The width is very similar, which leaves me hopeful that the M30 box won't hit the alternator!
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Dang, was hoping I had an easy solution for you!
Maybe look at e30 m3?
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Good idea, I hadn't thought of that. According to what I can find, the M3 air filter should have 78% more surface area! Now...the real trick will be finding an E30 M3 air box. That sounds like an expensive endeavour! Still, from what I can see, the M30 air box is going to have a really hard time fitting on the driver's side under my hood, so I will have to look around.
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S14.net. People switch to alpha-n systems frequently and do not need the airbox anymore.
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I looked around S14.net and it could be promising. The problem is that it seems that no new members can register lol. Do you have an account there that you could post a WTB ad with?
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OK, I have a 1985 325e air box on the way from eBay as well now (the older style metal one). It uses the same air filter as the M3, but the inlet is positioned at the headlights, which is what I need. The M3 box won't work well since its inlet would sit in the radiator expansion tank (M3 used a narrower radiator with remote expansion tank). Stupid expansion tank...the M30 box would work fine too, if it wasn't for that.
I will still give the M30 box my best shot. The issue with it is that it is about 6" longer than the M42 box. It sort of interferes with the PS reservoir, but I think that things can be shifted to accommodate that. The real issue is that the outlet is not co-axial with the intake boot/MAF at all. To get it to fit cleanly, I will chop off the output flange and seal over that entire face. Then I will use a hole saw to make an opening for my MAF's velocity stack (6-8" length of 2.75"OD steel tubing) somewhere more in the middle so that I don't have to bend the hell out of the intake boot. It is nice & narrow, so it has no problem fitting between the ABS unit & alternator. It's the length that makes it tricky...damn you, integral expansion tank!
I think that the M20B27 (1985 & older) box should be an easier fit since it was intended for the E30. I am a little suspicious that it may interfere with the alternator since it is about 1.3" wider than the stock one & seems to sit lower. Still, at least it should work with the brackets in there (maybe, the old 325e ones look sort of different). The thing that I do NOT like about it is that the air filter looks really restricted with the narrow air passages in the upper & lower portions of the housing. All of that extra filter surface area might not be worth it if it is all constricted. That's one reason that I want to try like hell with the M30 box. The M30 filter has ~10% less area than the S14/M20B27 one (but still 60% more than the M42 one), but it is all in a big open box with a lot less restrictive-looking stuff.
Ultimately, I guess it does not matter really. MM did say that the stock M42 box would be restrictive when going WOT, but it won't be an issue for me to swap it on for SMOG testing. I want a clean OEM looking solution just because I am anal retentive like that, and because I do not trust open element filters to keep dirt & grit out of the motor!
Whatever I come up with, I will post pics for everyone!
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I made some good progress with the M30 air box today. It looks like I should be able to use it after all! While the old-style 325e filter panel may be a bit larger, the design of the air box looks kind of restrictive, whereas the M30 box is very open. I measured the M42 and M30 air filter elements and here were my findings:
M42 filter: 68 pleats, 46mm x 137mm
M30 filter: 112 pleats, 46mm x 137mm
So, the M30 air filter has 65% more pleats / surface area. That should more than account for the ~53% increase in power that my new M42 will be making. Sweet. Enough talk though, let's see what the situation looks like under the hood!
This first shot shows the general positioning & fit of the M30 box under the hood. Easy, right? Well, I had to make some modifications to the PS reservoir bracket, charcoal canister position, the brake lines coming out of the ABS unit and the M30 air box itself. It isn't exactly plug & play lol (well, it sort of is now).
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw001.jpg)
That intake boot sure looks close to the box right? Right. The top will be chopped and I am thinking about what will be the cleanest way to attach an adapter plate over the cut-out. The MAF needs a 6" or longer tube / velocity stack in front of it to work best. The easiest thing for me to do would be to cut the box, bend some 20ga mild steel sheet metal to cover the opening, and weld in some 70mm steel tubing...then the MAF can couple to that and it also serves as my velocity stack.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw010.jpg)
The line I marked on the box shows where the MAF ends when put into the boot, and its approximate angle.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw011.jpg)
So, how tight IS the M30 box in there? Well, it just clears the PS reservoir. I can always push it up a little before tightening the band to buy more clearance, but the air box goes in & out fine as it is now.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw002.jpg)
The hoses have a decent amount of room now too. Just for reference, the reservoir bracket was modded to move things back 13mm and up about 25mm (more on this later). I hand-bent the brake lines a tiny bit here to keep them from contacting the PS lines, although it probably doesn't matter much.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw004.jpg)
LOTS of room up by the expansion tank. It seems like a lot compared to how it fit before I moved the PS reservoir & charcoal canister, anyway.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw003.jpg)
The rear stock rubber foot of the M30 box actually manages to sit nicely on the chassis. I do not like this though, and I will be machining a "socket" for the box so that it locks into the rubber cap thingy that the stock M42 air box uses.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw005.jpg)
The front rubber foot is just a few millimeters off of the sheet metal. No matter though, they are both going away!
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw006.jpg)
Alternator clearance...check! servicing it is not an issue. The M30 box is actually the same width as the M42 box, and even a little less tall. It is just a LOT longer.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw007.jpg)
The fit around the ABS unit is very tight. I hand bent a couple of the brake lines to make sure that they weren't going to touch anything, and chopped off a couple of plastic ribs on the M30 air box that were interfering. The box now stays at least 5mm away from all parts of the ABS unit, and it will sit further once I make the box use that rubber mounting cap under it.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw008.jpg)
I needed to space the box out from the bracket to get the right clearance from the ABS unit. This was easily accomplished with washers. I may opt to bend the bracket though, to get an even cleaner stock look to this.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw009.jpg)
This is the area now that it is all cleared out. The black rubber thing in the middle is what I was talking about earlier. I'll get this box to sit nicely on / around it to keep it constrained while driving. As it is now, it can bounce up & down on its rubber feet, which is not tolerable.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw012.jpg)
So, what did I do to the PS reservoir bracket? First, it needed to move back toward the firewall about 13mm. That was fairly easy. I drilled a new bolt hole in the bracket 13mm from the original, and then cut off 13mm from the locking tongue at the bottom.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw013.jpg)
Next, I needed to move it UP. I drilled-out the spot welds holding the hoop to the mount. I then rotated the clasp so that it was not hitting the air box, and then I moved the hoop up on top of the bracket where I welded & ground it. I will probably clean & paint this to avoid rust.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw014.jpg)
Aaaah the MIG welder...the hot glue gun of steel!
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw016.jpg)
Moving the charcoal canister was super easy. All I had to do was take the bracket off of the car, turn it upside down and reinstall everything. DONE!
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw015.jpg)
Gee, it sure was convenient that I could just screw those rubber mounts into the air box! Well, not really. I had to drill some holes and put panel fasteners there (the M30 box comes with the nice one, on its other side).
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw017.jpg)
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The front mount wanted to be right IN a rib in order for the box to be where I wanted it. I settled for moving the mount ~5mm forward (so the box moved back) to clear the rib, rather than chopping it out.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw018.jpg)
The rear mount also wanted to be in a rib...sheesh. To finish fitting it, I ground down an M6 nut so that it could fit & hold the mount.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw019.jpg)
I also chopped off some extraneous plastic mounting bosses. The M30 box came with a heat shield since it is next to an exhaust manifold in the E34 535i. Since it is not near the exhaust in my application, I removed it and chopped off the screw bosses. There isn't really any good reason for it, but I am nit-picky like that. The plastic stuff holding the rubber feet will also go away eventually.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw020.jpg)
So, I was saying that I am nit-picky. This may not look like a nit-picker's cutting job. Oops.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw021.jpg)
A little sanding helped things a bit. Ultimately, I will fill this with black RTV to smooth things over a little.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw023.jpg)
Another hack-job lol.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw022.jpg)
Interestingly, the M42 air box's muffler tube fits the M30 box. It won't work like this since the M30 box sits so far forward. I plan to chop it down so that it will mate nicely to the plastic headlight shroud to try to keep hot engine air away from the intake.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw024.jpg)
So that is where I am now. Obviously, I have some heavy chopping to do to get the MAF to interface with the box, but that is fine. My main concern was getting it under the hood cleanly, which seems to have been accomplished. More to come!
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Looking good
I love the "OE" look you are going for, despite the effort involved
Fight the good fight!!
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Thanks. My goal is to have this setup pass CA SMOG testing without having to swap anything around. That really depends on which shop I go to lol. It is also nice to pop the hood and have something relatively OEM looking living in there. I did my years as a silly kid with cone filters and bad wiring...I am well past that now!
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Well, no turning back now!
I got the box top mounted on the mill as best I could. The initial chopping was done with a hack saw, and then I refined it on the mill with a long 1" cutter. This was the most clamping that I could get on it. It would have been nice to find a way to clamp the top & sides, but that wasn't really possible.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw025.jpg)
It came out reasonably clean. This material is sort of a pain in the rear. It was chipping in a few places, probably because the sides are tall & unclamped. This thing was making awful vibrating noises while cutting lol...sounded like some sort of wild animal howling.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw026.jpg)
From the other side. I ended up needing to cut it an extra 0.5" further back because a big fat piece chipped out just as I was finishing it the first time. #&%(@)$*(*@$#! Oh well.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw027.jpg)
On the inside I chiseled out the support ribs around where the cover/adapter plate is going, and where the intake tube (velocity stack) will be to buy me some room. It was too dark to take pictures of how it sits under the hood, unfortunately. It is going to be tight, but no worse than the stock setup really. I am not wild about how low the cut had to go to knock out the original outlet since it will restrict air flow from the back of the filter a bit. I am thinking about building up an air cavity to the side in the rear to permit more air flow. Then again, maybe I am obsessing over nothing.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw028.jpg)
The plan is to use some 16ga mild steel sheet metal to make a cover. At its simplest, it will only require one 90 degree bend, as tight as I can get it. A 2.75" OD steel tube will be welded in at the proper angle & position, which will serve as the coupling for the MAF and the velocity stack. I will paint it black to keep things sort of uniform. It will be attached with a combination of screws and black RTV adhesive.
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Alrighty, a bit more progress today. I am almost done with the intake!
I figured out how I want to build the adapter onto the air box. It is roughly modeled like this (tabs & tube are to be MIG welded to the flat plate).
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw034.jpg)
From the outside, it will look pretty clean. The actual part will get a coat of satin black epoxy paint to help it blend in. If I can clean the air box cover well enough, I will see about painting that too. The seal will be made with some standard black silicone RTV adhesive, which will also help to hide cosmetic imperfections in the joint. There will also be some countersunk screws in the plastic that thread into nuts behind the little tabs. The heads will be filled with black RTV as well, unless I can find some black oxide coated ones.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw035.jpg)
This is more or less how it will sit on the inside. This many tabs may seem overkill, but I do not want this thing moving or breaking the thin RTV "gasket". Better safe than sorry. I will run a bead along the seams, and a heavy one along the inside perimeter. The inlet tube will get 3 or 4 1" weld seams to hold it in place, and the perimeter sealing will also be done with RTV.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw036.jpg)
So how did the actual article turn out? I started with some heavy art-board paper + masking tape and mocked up the flat portion. Once I was satisfied with the fit, I traced it onto some 16ga mild steel sheet (0.065") and cut it out with a band saw. The inlet pipe hole was done on a vertical mill with a rotary table.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw029.jpg)
For a first-try, it came out surprisingly well. It is good enough that I will use it. RTV can hide the cosmetic imperfections!
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw030.jpg)
Since I do not have a sheet metal brake (bender), I had to improvise. I ran a 1/8" end mill at 3000RPM down the bend line I had marked on the back side, about 0.030" deep. Then I put the flat part into a vise and used a big aluminum plate to bend it over this groove. Since the metal was much thinner there, it bent easily & accurately. This isn't structural at all, so the thinner section is of no concern.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw031.jpg)
From about 1ft away, it looks like a perfect fit. It isn't perfect in reality, but it is more than good enough functionally and cosmetically.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw033.jpg)
Here it is with a 2.75" x 6" long tube inserted. I have not welded it yet. The tube is stainless; I found it at a local place with a scrap of 2.75" OD tubing. I have some mild steel tubing on order though...I don't have stainless MIG wire, and this stuff is a pain in the rear to cut since it is really hard. It ate a parting tool when I was trying to trim it on the lathe!
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw032.jpg)
So, once I get the mild steel tubing I will weld that and the mount tabs into place. I need to order up some fasteners (thinking M6, may go smaller to make sure that the head gets below the surface of the plastic so I can hide it.
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I've only skimmed the thread, for now.
All I can say is you'll f-ing love that motor. If I could afford one when my motor goes tits up I'd be all over one.
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Added in some fasteners...
I have black oxide ones coming from McMaster (M4), so I may not need to fill the holes with RTV after all. The nuts are nylon locking ones.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw037.jpg)
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw038.jpg)
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More progress...
I am done fabbing up the air box-MAF adapter plate. As of now it looks a little rough. Hopefully I will have a chance to drop it off for some bead blasting and powder coating at lunch today!
I used a bunch of tack welds to hold the tube to avoid warping things too much. The MIG welder was set to 75A, which gets very good penetration on 16ga steel. It almost burned through in a couple places where I wasn't working fast enough! So it is sound, structurally. I will just use some silicone RTV to seal everything up after this gets powder coated. The bead blasting should give a nice matte finish on the outside, hopefully similar to that of the plastic air box. The inside isn't visible, but I want it pretty too lol...and that will ensure that all blobs of slag are removed so that they can't fall off and get into the motor. I spent a lot of time with a grinding wheel, Dremel, hand files and wire brushes/wheels getting the welds cleaned up. Some welds were just too hard to get at, so I let them be. God, why am I so anal retentive about the inside looking good lol...so silly.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw039.jpg)
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw040.jpg)
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw041.jpg)
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw042.jpg)
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw043.jpg)
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw044.jpg)
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I got the adapter back from the powder coating place. They bead blasted, acid dipped and painted it. I went with a matte/flat black + texture coating, and it looks AWESOME! Now I need to figure out how to get the cosmoline off of the plastic air box top so that it looks as good as the adapter, without damaging it. Any tips for that?
I would post photos, but I am sitting a good 6400 miles away from it right now (business trip). I'll post up some pics when I get back in 2 weeks. The motor is also scheduled for delivery on 7/13 and I will probably take the following monday/tuesday off of work to take care of the big ugly list in the original post!
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Pure awesome!
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Alrighty, I am now done with the top of the air box and the MAF adapter! It doesn't quite qualify as "stock" but it is pretty clean for a DIY air intake mod. The metal adapter is powder coated with a flat textured black, and the air box plastic was cleaned and painted with some satin black epoxy paint.
Not too bad...
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw045.jpg)
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw046.jpg)
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw047.jpg)
The seams/gaps are sealed with black silicone RTV. That should be perfectly fine for this application.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw048.jpg)
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Looks really nice!
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Alrighty, I am basically done with the retrofit now. All I need to do is paint the bottom housing & little socket thingy.
I was pulling the pictures off of my camera and came across some from my last business trip to China that I had forgotten about. My last day there was spent in Hong Kong and it was the last weekend of the Dragon Boat Festival.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw049.jpg)
My hotel room had a pretty sweet view of HK Harbor. HK is easily my favorite city in the world (NYC'ers forgive me!). I rarely go there for business, aside from passing-through, but I have been there for vacation a couple of times. My fiancee speaks Cantonese, so it's nice when we go since I have my own personal "tour guide" lol. Her dad lives & runs a business there, so we basically get to stay for free.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw050.jpg)
Anyway, time for more car-nerd stuff.
I wanted to use the three stock mounting points (two screw slots on the fender, rubber nub thingy down on the frame rail). The screws were already taken care of, so I went to work getting things working with the rubber nub.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw061.jpg)
I had some 1.25" black nylon rod stock laying around, so I stuck it in the lathe and did my best to duplicate the cup geometry found in the stock air box. I put the thing into a vise and eyeballed an angle, and then used the mill to cut one end at an angle so that it would sit tangent to the box bottom.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw059.jpg)
It is held in place by two screws, from the inside of the box. The nylon part had M6 thread inserts installed because...well, plastic threads...you know.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw060.jpg)
How does it fit? Well, not too bad really. With everything just sitting there, the MAF is only 5mm off, which is not an issue at all since the rubber boot has probably 20mm of flex in it before I would start worrying about stressing it.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw056.jpg)
I stuffed on an ugly old rubber coupling and everything is great!
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw057.jpg)
Here's my little creation, happily sitting on the nub.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw058.jpg)
I wanted to get a better fit between the curved housing and the flat face on the cup. So I wrapped the housing in saran wrap, gooped a bunch of plastic-weld epoxy onto the cup and then screwed it all together for a few hours.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw052.jpg)
After it had a couple of days to cure, I started cleaning it up on the lathe.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw051.jpg)
The epoxy actually cuts pretty well, if you are using a low enough feed rate. I had the lathe set to 0.0011" per revolution which worked perfectly. No chipping! A super sharp tool also helps.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw053.jpg)
So here it is, all cleaned up.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw054.jpg)
Assembled...just needs a little paint.
(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw055.jpg)
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Teddy from MM just gave me a call to update me on the motor's status. It looks like I am getting an upgrade to a 240mm M30 clutch/flywheel arrangement due to a shortage of M20 flywheels and the impending deadline where I need the motor. The whole clutch/flywheel assembly will probably come in ~2.5lbs heavier than the lightened M20 setup I had ordered, but that's fine since this clutch will basically be indestructible on an M42.
As it all stands now, they are putting the cams in the head and everything should be good to ship on Monday. MM is going to send the motor as a "high priority" shipment and I'll have it on my doorstep on Thursday. They were very apologetic about the delays & a mix-up about when the motor was shipping, but I don't mind too much since they are really nice and are super patient in talking through all of the finer points of the motor over the phone. As long as I get it by next thursday, I am good since I am on call for mandatory jury selection. The good County of Santa Clara sent me a nice random letter saying that I failed to show in May and that I get one more chance to serve before I have a warrant with my name on it, despite not having proof of summoning me in the first place.
I am also hoping to test out my MAF converter on my sister's E36 318iS this weekend to make sure that everything is golden there. Bench testing it indicates that it is good to go, but I want to make sure.
The M30 air box is also complete. The bottom & cup thingy were all painted with satin black epoxy paint to match the top, and it looks really slick. I will get the pictures posted soon.
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Excellent news on the motor. Can't wait to see pics/video of it in the car.
Nice pics of Hong Kong, looks like you were there on one of the few days where it's clear and not filled with smog.
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Excellent news on the motor. Can't wait to see pics/video of it in the car.
Nice pics of Hong Kong, looks like you were there on one of the few days where it's clear and not filled with smog.
HK is sort of hit-or-miss with the smog from the mainland. Whenever I have been there in the summer (the rainy season), the air has been clear & nice despite the ridiculous heat and humidity. It is the winter time when the air gets gross and smoggy, although the temperatures are almost pleasant. You just can't win lol!
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that airbox work is a thing of beauty. You should be immensely proud of it!
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Make sure the M30 flywheel/clutch assembly will fit in the getrag 240 bellhousing. I bought a M50 lightweight flywheel and clutch setup which did not fit as the pressure plate diameter was too big.
I compared the M20 pressure plate to the M50 and the M20 is about 20mm smaller in diameter from an eyeball measurement.
My solution is to switch to a ZF320 since I wanted to go that route eventually anyway.
Just a heads up! The 240 bellhousing is small!
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(http://bmw.e30tuner.com/images/my318is/pic/rally2100/bmw048.jpg)
:confused:
One word.... (http://www.worldwidewebdot.com/yamaha%20ytr-8310zbp-black%20phoenix.jpg) ;)
:D
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Make sure the M30 flywheel/clutch assembly will fit in the getrag 240 bellhousing. I bought a M50 lightweight flywheel and clutch setup which did not fit as the pressure plate diameter was too big.
I compared the M20 pressure plate to the M50 and the M20 is about 20mm smaller in diameter from an eyeball measurement.
My solution is to switch to a ZF320 since I wanted to go that route eventually anyway.
Just a heads up! The 240 bellhousing is small!
Hmmm, this thing had better fit. I asked MM over the phone if they had done this on an M42 before and they said that they do it all the time. The M42 flywheel is 215mm in diameter, the M20 is 228mm and the M30 is 240mm. I will be mightily PISSED if this doesn't fit!
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Just make sure they realize the e30 transmission has much less room than the e36 unit!
There is room for the flywheel, the diameter of the pressure plate is the issue.
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Well, I will keep my fingers crossed. The clutch parts will arrive early tomorrow morning. MM indicated that they use M30 flywheels/clutches with M42's and Getrag 240's all the time.
I made some progress today. The old motor is out and I am swapping some things onto the new motor. I will be using the tranny from the 318iS I wrecked in 2005 since it has a lot less miles on it and I remember it shifting better in cold weather. Most of today was spent getting things cleaned up and replacing all of the clutch hydraulics.
I didn't get as much done today as I wanted, but I was taking frequent breaks and running a couple of errands. Renting a canopy thing to work under was a good call since the sun really starts to beat on you! I also had to bike 6 miles to pick up some special BMW input shaft grease and then 17 miles to get from my place to my parents' place where my car is, with a ~30lb backpack full of car goodies, laptop stuff, and some changes of clothes since I am spending the night here.
I will be taking my time over the next two days since MM got behind and will be mailing me my chip and injectors on Monday, arriving Tuesday. They say I can run the thing with a stock tune & injectors if I don't floor it, but I don't want to swap fuel rails so I will wait to do final assembly until the injectors come. Being that I am on call for jury duty on Monday, I will just rent the cheapest car I possibly can for two days so that I don't get into trouble.
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I dont know about the m30 pressure plate but the m20 pressure plate does not fit in the g240.
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I dont know about the m30 pressure plate but the m20 pressure plate does not fit in the g240.
Not true at all! I put almost 80k miles over 8 years on a stock M20 flywheel/clutch with the Getrag 240. The flywheel will not fit unless it has been lightened (material on the back side removed so it doesn't hit the rear main seal cover), OR if you remove the steel spacer ring thing from the stock M42 flywheel and use that with the M20 flywheel. Note, you can ONLY use the 1988+ M20B25 flywheel (from the "i" motor, not the "e" motor), and you will either need to swap the M42 ring gear on, or install an M20 pinion gear into the M42 starter (that's what I did).
Also, I can confirm that the M30 flywheel and clutch assembly fits just fine in the Getrag 240 bellhousing. I didn't measure or anything, but the M30 PP's outer dimensions actually seem smaller than the M20 PP's, and it certainly is no thicker. This is despite its 12mm larger OD friction surface. On the phone, Teddy at MM assured me that they use M30 flywheel/clutch assemblies on M42's all the time, mostly on boosted motors.
I made good progress today. Most of the more annoying accessories/brackets were installed on the new motor before putting it back into the chassis, and I have to say that working on a motor when it is outside of the car is SO MUCH EASIER! I rented an Easy-Up canopy thing for working on the car in the driveway since I was expecting the sun to beat me down pretty bad. Well, it actually rained/sprinkled a little today, which is totally uncharacteristic for this part of CA in August. I got hit with a flash-downpour in July 2011 when I was rebuilding my timing case too. The motor was mostly apart and exposed...and it freaking rained in the hottest, driest month here...I was really pissed lol. Today, whatever, I had the canopy lol. I think that it is sure to rain if I am doing a large car project.
Anyway, I still need to reinstall the driveshaft and exhaust stuff. Hoses and electrical connections also need to be made. I started the mess under the intake mod, but need to modify my setup a little more since the hose arrangement hits the electrical box under the intake manifold. A little trimming and turning should fix that. I opted to go with the method that jumps the port on the head to the water pipe, rather than plugging the ports. I don't really think that it matters either way, but I want to maintain the original BMW coolant flow system.
I have lots of pictures and stuff. They will get posted in a day or two.
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I got the oil filter housing sorted out tonight (see other threads where I get neurotic about excess RTV lol). The skid plate was reinstalled and I took the front kidney grill off to re-paint it black since it was chipped up & sad looking. Maybe I will paint the other grilles in the near future since they are fading.
As of now, I just need the 24# injectors and chip from MM. They said that they were overnighting them when I called this morning, so the end is near! Tomorrow I just have to install those items, bleed the PS system, bleed the coolant and seat the rings. I am a jumbled mix of excitement and worry right now! Wish me luck that I got it all put back together properly. I can rest more easily since I know that the guys at MM assembled all of the motor's internals, so I am confident that those will be solid.
Oh, I also got selected to be on a jury, so this week is, uuuuh, EXTRA fun. At least I usually get done with that earlier in the day than I would if I was at work, and the court is much closer to where my parents live / where the car is, so I can hopefully get an early start finishing it up tomorrow!
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Loving this thread.
You can fit a M/S5x 240mm clutch setup in a G240 but it takes a bit of "clearancing". I bought a M42/G240 package and the bellhousing was not pretty, but did work. The very outer corners of the pressure plate were also ground down slightly.
An M30 flywheel and clutch maybe a different profile however as the "m3" setup my thing had was a direct replacement for dual mass flywheels, and the flywheel had a massive offset. If the M30 is more like a conventional M20 single mass flywheel and the pressure plate cover is not excessively thick you may get away with it.
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Not true at all! I put almost 80k miles over 8 years on a stock M20 flywheel/clutch with the Getrag 240. The flywheel will not fit unless it has been lightened (material on the back side removed so it doesn't hit the rear main seal cover), OR if you remove the steel spacer ring thing from the stock M42 flywheel and use that with the M20 flywheel. Note, you can ONLY use the 1988+ M20B25 flywheel (from the "i" motor, not the "e" motor), and you will either need to swap the M42 ring gear on, or install an M20 pinion gear into the M42 starter (that's what I did).
I forgot that im using m42 flywheel with m20 pressure plate.. Strange hybrid clutch setup. Vac built the flywheel for me
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Well, hopefully it all works out. I have not had a chance to fire the thing up because MM has forgotten to ship the chip and injectors 3 times now. I am a patient guy, but it is getting old. I just called them and it sounds like they still have not sent the stuff, despite it all being ready to go otherwise.
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Update?
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OK, updates...
As some of you may have seen in another thread here, there was an "issue" with the engine about 70 miles in. In short, the rear-most exhaust valve spring for cylinder #2 broke at the 3rd coil from the top. That was about a month ago.
MM has been awesome since then. They paid shipping both ways and repaired everything at no charge to me. The engine is on a truck right now, passing through Kansas City on its way to me. Delivery will be this Friday and I should be cruising around by Saturday evening. Jim at MM also didn't like how a couple of the cam lobes on the intake side were wearing the lifters, so he re-polished the lifters and sent the cam out for inspection & re-grind. These guys are certainly thorough! I have a feeling that they want to see this engine come back to them again about as much as I want to have to send it to them again.
The broken valve spring is probably just a one-in-a-million thing. MM has been using these springs for at least a decade, and thousands of them. They have seen broken ones before, but only in race cars that have spent many many hours at red line. This was a real shock to them since they have never seen it happen like this before. MM is sending me the broken spring so that I can have it as a sort of keepsake lol.
Anyway, hopefully this weekend will be the last time that I need to wrench on the car for a long, LONG time.
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Awesome news dude!! Good Luck with it.
Now I just need to get mine up and running!
Cheers,
~Ralph
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Great news! Glad to hear they are treating you right!
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Sweet!!
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Haha well this saga never ends. I got the engine back and it looks good, except for the missing flywheel. My lightened M30 flywheel with an M20 ring gear is sitting in their shop somewhere (well, it had better be) and I sort of need that. Looks like the action will happen NEXT weekend. Normally I would be pretty pissed, but since I have a lot of wedding planning stuff that I need to do this weekend, this logistical "oops" by MM is more or less OK with me.
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I hope you are well taken care of by MM...
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Yeah they have been great so far. There have been a number of logistical issues, mainly involving shipping things, but the customer service is great and I still trust their reputation for building the best BMW engines in the country.
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Alrighty, I got the fixed new engine installed over the weekend. So far everything is wonderful. It is like a completely different engine after the repair. MM stood behind me 110% and probably lost their entire profit margin on this engine, and never once asked me to pay for anything. This was all due to a broken valve spring, which isn't even entirely their fault. Despite numerous logistical frustrations with them, it has been a very positive experience working with them, overall. They know their stuff and will gladly talk your ear of about M42 engines.
My suspicion is that the valve spring that broke was partially collapsed from the first start, and that one of the exhaust valves was just never really seating properly, and possibly bouncing. Now, it idles perfectly fine, it runs quieter and it pulls far more smoothly. With the hot cams and pulse chamber intake manifold, it even sounds a lot meaner than the stock one! On top of that, the raspy noises when accelerating are gone, and replaced with a slight whine. I think that all of us have assumed that the raspy noises were from the exhaust, but I am really thinking that they come from the timing chain's idler sprocket. Playing with the one from my old engine, it is entirely conceivable that that sprocket's bearings make all that noise. Now, I just have a neat whine as the chain moves over an M44 rubber guide rail in that place. No more sprocket!
As of now, I have only put maybe 40-50 miles on it. Wedding plans and business travel keep me super busy, and I don't expect to do a lot of driving for the next couple of months. Still, I have given it a few WOT runs up to 5000RPM and it pulls really hard and smoothly. This thing has a lot more mid-range torque than the stock M42, and it just feels great. The 11lb M20 flywheel that is in there also makes it feel really alive. One I get 1000 or so miles on it, I will put in some 15W-50 full synthetic oil and run it up to redline. THAT should be a lot of fun!
I am still hesitant to let my guard down with this car, sadly, but I am fairly optimistic that future problems will be with things other than the engine. Really, my only concern now is surrounding the transmission. At least those are cheap and plentiful, and relatively easy to replace. At idle with the clutch pedal up, I get a lot of mechanical noise from the input shaft. Both of my stock 318iS' were like this, but it is now a lot louder. This might be due to the lighter flywheel, and the fact that the new engine runs so quiet that the input shaft noise appears louder.
I swear that I am also getting some sort of vibration noise on the highway, and it sort of seems RPM related, but it is totally intermittent and I don't seem to get it around town. It may just be the worn out solid rear sway bar links, which ARE noisy, hitting uneven patches in the road. When I was putting the driveshaft back together under the car I was hot, tired and pissed off. As far as I can remember, I got the little white alignment marks aligned properly. I put a driveshaft back together improperly once in 2004 and it was immediately apparent at any speed in excess of 35mph. If it is misaligned now, it is only so by 1 spline, but I would assume that at 75mph it would make for a pronounced vibration. Anyway, I am probably over-thinking things. No more wrenching until 2013!
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I'm willing to bring that car back to Virginia and work out all the bugs so you don't have to worry about its reliability.
I'll be gentle with her.
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Haha, for now, I will live with the uncertainty!
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pics and vids of this minter please pretty please lol
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Haha I will see what I can come up with.
As of now, I think that a lot of the driveline noise that I am hearing is a result of installing Delrin bushings between the upper shifter arm and the transmission (the thing that the infamous "bitch clip" goes through). I will be double-checking that I tightened all of the various mounting bolts, and that I have fluid in the tranny, this weekend. I am pretty darn sure that I did, so the noisiness is something that I will either need to live with, or go back to a nice rubber shift arm bushing! The shifter does feel a lot crisper now, though...decisions, decisions!
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I suspect you're correct about the delrin bushings. I installed a B&M shifter in my old Jeep TJ and noticed a buzzy noise from the transmission. I realized it went away when I held my hand on the plastic T-handle, so I switched back to the stock rubber shift knob and the noise went away.
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Glad to hear you are loving the new engine!
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Thanks! I met my dad at lunch and drive around a bit. Yeah, there is some rattling going on in the driveline, but I do not think it is too sinister. The rattle at idle seems to have gotten the nickname "Getrag Rattle" across the internet so that's probably fine. I still swear that I get new ratling noises when decelerating / engine braking and sometimes on the highway, but it could honestly be something existing. Maybe I just need to step back and relax lol. I will get under there this weekend and double-check all of the fasteners in the driveline, and see about using UUC's recommended gear oil + tranny lube mix to quiet things down.
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The rattle is worse with synthetic fluids. I used some Lucas gear oil mixed in mine to help combat the noise.
I noticed the noise once after doing the clutch the first time. Thought I did something wrong. Nope. I was just listening more closely than before since I was paranoid!
If everything checks out OK, just roll with it!
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Yeah, so far things seem fine. Over the weekend I removed the RedLine MTL and put in RedLine MT-90 (GL-4 stuff, NOT the GL-5...GL-5 fluid is for LSDs and will eat the synchros). It helped a bit since it is thicker, but I'll just have to live with the noise.
The rattle at idle does not bug me too much. I am still a little weary of the gear noise during acceleration and endgine braking, but I didn't find excessive metal chips in the tranny when I drained the fluid so it is probably just the disengaged gears on the output shaft rattling against their partners on the layshaft. I also get a little tranny grumble on the highway, but I think it is OK. At least I have a spare G240 lol. Aside from the noise, it shifts smooth, runs smooth and my mileage is great!
At 70mph on flat highway with no wind, the MPG needle is pegged at ~38, which is definitely better than with the old stock engine. Gotta love higher compression!