E30 318i: Noisy exhaust gets a bung / silencer

My E30 has a 4" straight-through Japanese tuner style exhaust back-box fitted, which to the say least is LOUD. In fact, it's one of the loudest I've heard on any car, including a Subaru turbo I had with a de-cat pipe. I figured the centre-box had also been removed from the E30, given the noise level, but find it is still there under the car and looks to have been replaced not too long ago, so I guess the only reason for the volume from this 1.8 litre 4-banger is because it never had a catalytic converter from the factory and is subject to no emission controls that bind (and quieten) modern cars. This E30 is 1988, so must have been right at the end of this phenomena.

While the loud pipe might be fun on a jaunt, working on the engine at home I find myself needing to start and idle the car constantly for testing and this is where the noise causes a problem, mainly with my neighbours and passers-by. They tolerated it for a couple of weeks, but with a few running problems that are still being ironed out and the car unable to move to another location I decided to try and mute it a bit. 

I had two options. Buy a more sociable back-box or get a silencing 'bung' for the current one. I'm not best pleased with look of the Jap-style straight-cut end pipe, I mean I like them but don't feel it suits the boxy E30 and though I'm down with car style juxtapositions all DAY, this isn't the one I would have chosen, so first looked for a replacement. New stock items are not expensive, but too much for this project, so second hand was the way, with twin 'sports' style spurious back boxes and used OEM items going for between £50 and £100. I was tempted by a nice twin square pipe from a German tuner, but the seller had no idea how loud it was and at £55, I still deemed it too pricey at this uncertain stage in the project. People at work fit ‘bungs’ to their motorbikes so I thought this was budget way to reduce the burble by a few dB.

DOES IT WORK?

Yes and no. It certainly takes the edge off the noise level, that ‘crack’ has gone, but it’s still one loud exhaust. The info says it reduces sound levels by up to 15 decibels and I have adjusted to the quietest, most restrictive setting, but without a dB meter I can’t really say if it is that much. In my opinion it’s not to that great an extent but it is somewhat quieter. 

Don’t expect the exhaust to sound as quiet as a stock back box with baffle plates. I suppose you’re never going to get a quiet exhaust tone and still enjoy the slight increase in power a straight-through pipe gives, so as ever there is a compromise, but it has certainly done the trick for me of making the car less anti-social when tuning it in my driveway! Who knows, when I get the E30 out and about over the summer the bung may well be coming back out.

F10 530d: N57 EGR / Cooler related fault-code scan results

 Been getting the 'Drivetrain' malfunction message on my F10 530d iDrive and figured it likely to be EGR (exhaust-gas-recirculator) related, so plugged in a Snap-On Modis scanner and these are the codes I got, which are what I suspected to be honest. The EGR and EGR-cooler are known to pack in on the N57 series of engine, the latter of which can leak coolant into the inlet causing a bit of smoke on startup. 

28E200 - Exhaust Gas Temperature sensor before Cat, open circuit

255C00 - EGR Controller, Position Control, Valve open too far

190900 - EGR Mass Air Flow, measured plausibility calculated too high

240400 - EGR Control, control deviation air mass too low

272F09 - EGR, mechanically faulty close to open position

272E00 - EGR, mechanically faulty close to closed position

So, I have the classic two codes of the EGR failing close to open and closed position, which denotes a stuck EGR valve, which is quite common on all diesel engines, along with the EGR mass-air codes where values are higher and lower than they should be, which clearly ties in to the valve sticking in the open and closed position. Faults for the EGR control-module show that it is struggling to position the EGR correctly and this all points to one stuck EGR valve.

I also notice that I am getting a bit of smoke on startup sometimes which I have never noticed before. This also points to a faulty EGR-valve, or rather the cooler itself. The EGR-cooler is fed with coolant to reduce the operating temperature of the EGR-valve itself and these are known to have problems with leaking after time. They crack inside after prolonged use and start to leak coolant into the EGR and thereafter the air-intake, which causes a bit of white smoke on startup, which I have been experiencing the last few weeks and so it looks like this is the culprit and I will be replacing the EGR / cooler unit at some point I would imagine... watch this space.

E46 318i: Front-of-cat o2 / Lambda sensor replacement [Fault Code 271D, 271A, 271B] [Rear-of-cat 271C, 271F]

E46 failed its MOT on the O/S rear tyre and O2 emissions too high. I duly replaced both rear tyres with a new pair sourced through work for just £23 each and they are V-rated so should be ok for the Touring. As for the O2 level being too high, I was told this was a fault with an O2 / Lambda sensor so I plugged in a Snap On Modis scanner to see if this was right.

The code I got back was 271D, as in pic above, which is the up-stream or 'front-of-cat' sensor heating. Codes 271A and 271B show fault at the same sensor, but are labelled directly 'front-ofcat-sensor' with no heating suffix. This sensor is located slightly forward of the catalytic-convert mounted about halfway down the car's underside, as in the diagram below. The one shown to the rear of the cat is the down-stream or 'rear-of-cat' sensor. Code 271C applies to this rear sensor, along with 271E for Rear O2 sensor-heating. The two sensors, though essentially the same, are different parts and part numbers due to the rear sensor having a longer wire. [List of emission based fault-codes here.]

I got hold of a used sensor taken from another E46 318i from www.marobmwspares.co.uk for £18. I prefer used OWM BMW parts that come with a warranty / guarantee over cheap spurious items. The least expensive spurious items start at about £20 for a sensor that can be used for either front or rear of cat, having a long wire than can be cut to length with two bare wire or universal wire-terminal ends that require the original plug to be soldered on from the broken sensor. On the other end of the spurious price range was Euro Car Parts, who offer an OEM-quality sensor for £68, which is pricey but comes with the correct wire-length and plug fitted.

My old sensor proved very tricky to remove with the car on fixed-ramps and I would not like to attempt it with jack and axle-stands. I was unable to crack the sensor off and unscrew it even with the use of special Lambda-sensor sockets and it began to round so I ended up booking ramp-time in the workshop of the company where I work and lifted the E46 Touring on a 2-post ramp to give loads of access underneath. To avoid the risk of breaking the Lambda-sockets or further rounding the sensor itself, I decided to cut about half of the sensor off using a 3.5" cutting-disc and used a 22mm deep impact-socket with a long breaker-bar to finally crack the sensor off. It was pretty seized on, but once cracked just unscrewed by hand. The replacement sensor screwed straight in and swapping / mounting the plug was easy to make for a 5-10-minute job once the car was positioned on the ramp legs.

RESULTS:

The emission test result went from 2.2, with a maximum of 2.0 allowed, down to just 1.0 with the faulty sensor replaced. There is also a significant drop in neat-petrol smell emitting from the rear of the car when it is started from cold, so I'm glad this problem showed itself and got fixed.

Article on /BMWTech subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BmwTech/comments/d5v30t/271d_lambda_sensor_front_of_cat_which_one_there/

F10 530d: Clutch Replacement [Manual 520d, 530d, 535d, F10, F11]

The clutch on my F10 has felt like it's on the way out for about a year now and over the last month or two I've noticed it starting to slip a few times, mainly when moving off in first gear with the car pointing uphill. Time to throw a new clutch in, one of my least favourite jobs and just as with everything on the 5 Series, way more involved a process than swapping a clutch into a Ford Focus. Even I was tempted to just leave the F10 with someone to do the clutch for me, but with quotes in the £1000 - £1500 range I figured it was better to bite the bullet and do it on the drive. Just as well too, as you can see from the pics to the right just how far gone the clutch was, with hardly any face left on the friction-plate and some lovely hot spots on the pressure-plate! Nice.

I'd love to say this job is the same as the E39/E60, which are pretty straight forward, but it is trickier due to updates in the car's design. The main difference is in the prop-shaft removal, the F10 requiring the rear gearbox-mount to be removed to access the bolts to the coupling. This makes it almost impossible to move the car to rotate the prop and access the top bolts, so a bit more ingenuity is needed. I also notice that the gearbox must be lowered in order to remove the slave-clyinder, which is wedged up in the trans-tunnel, something that was not necessary on the E39 and E60. The hose to the slave-cylinder also needs to be unplugged and fluid drained so the gearbox can be lowered. This is an added annoyance that BMW have engineered in here.

** Before you undertake this job yourself, it should be understood that 5-ers are complicated cars and a lot needs to be removed before the gearbox / clutch can be accessed. This is a short list...

• Main under-tray and both side trays.
• Exhaust.
• Two heat-shields.
• Brackets.
• Rear gearbox mount and bracket on back of gearbox.
• Propshaft coupling and centre-bearing.
• Starter-motor.
• Hose to slave-cylinder. [inc. refilling and bleeding of clutch].
• Only now can you remove the gearbox and swap the clutch...

But hey, if you have made it to this guide then chances are you aren't fazed by this kind of thing! So read on... the whole job can be done at home over a weekend by yourself, taking your time and enjoying yourself... or could be done in one day by two of you...

PROCESS:

** Disconnect the battery negative-terminal and put it safely out of the way. **

1. Remove the front belly-pan under-tray located below the engine and gearbox. It is held in place by 8mm screws all around the edges and a couple in the middle.

2. Remove the left and right middle under-trays. These are located under the sill on each side and held on by a lot of 8mm screws and some plastic clips.

3. Remove the centre cross-brace by undoing the eight 13mm bolts, four on each side. This is a steel plate that runs across from left-to-right near the back of the prop-shaft.

4. Remove the exhaust up to the down-pipe. First loosen the 16mm nut on the flange connecting it to the down-pipe at the front. There are then two rubber-hangers, one next to the rear-axle and one to the front of the back-box. A third rubber-hanger is located to the front of the exhaust, not far back from the down-pipe and this can be separated on its bracket by removing the two screws using an E10 double-hex (female-torx) socket. Finally there is a 13mm nut holding a bracket at the very back, up inside the rear-bumper. The exhaust can now be carefully lowered [watching the rubber-bush that has no purpose on the right of the back-box does not get caught in the bumper], worked free of the flange on the down-pipe and fully removed. If the car is high-up on a lift then you will likely need a second person for the last bit.

5. Remove the main heat-shield located above the exhaust. It is held on by several large, flat metal nuts that can be loosened with a 10mm wrench and then spun off by hand.

6. Remove the aluminium bracket that sits around the centre-bearing of the prop-shaft by undoing the two 8mm bolts holding it to the bearing and wiggling it free.

7a. Place a jack or suitable stand under the gearbox to support it so the rear mount can be removed. 

7b. Remove the rear gearbox mount by undoing the three 13mm bolts on each side holding it to the car and a single 13mm nut in the centre that holds it to the rubber-mount on the gearbox.

8a. Remove the braided electrical-earth strap at the back of the gearbox by undoing the 13mm nut attaching it to the body.

8b. Remove the bracket at the back of the gearbox that attaches it to the rear mount, by undoing the four bolts using a T55 Torx socket. Make sure the socket has good purchase here, as it can slip out easily and round the edges of the bolt-head.

9. Remove the 3 bolts holding the prop-shaft coupling (donut) to the back of the gearbox using an 18mm wrench on either side of the nut/bolt. The bolts on the upper side of the prop-coupling are difficult to get to up in the trans-tunnel. If the rear wheels are not lifted and the prop cannot be turned to get to the bolts, it is possible to get them with CV-joint type sockets as I did.

10. Undo the bracket holding the centre-bearing of the prop-shaft by removing the 13mm nut either side.

11. Uncouple the prop-shaft from the gearbox by pulling the centre-bearing down enough for the locating pin on the gearbox to be clear of the prop-coupling. The front of the prop can now be lowered and moved to the side. If you have the whole car raised on a lift, then you will need to support the front of the prop, or remove the rear coupling to the diff. and get someone else to help you lift it down.

12. Remove the live terminal from the starter-motor using a 13mm wrench and the earth-terminal using a 10mm wrench.

13. Remove the 3 screws holding the starter-motor to the engine using an E10 double-hex socket and work the starter-motor out from the gearbox.

14. Disconnect the reverse-light switch by depressing the metal wire-clip to remove the plug and unclip the wire along the gearbox.

15. Clamp the rubber-hose to the clutch slave-cylinder and disconnect the clutch-line where the slim metal tube enters the slave-cylinder. This is done by prising the metal-clip out of the connector with a small flat-screwdriver and pulling the rubber-seal out of the slave-cylinder. Don't worry too much if you cannot clamp the clutch-hose, but it will involve more bleeding later on, which is a nightmare.

16. Remove the four bolts from the lower half of the gearbox bell-housing attaching it to the sump using an E10 double-hex socket.

17. Remove the remaining 6 large bolts from the gearbox bell-housing holding it to the engine-block using an E12 double-hex socket. [As in diagram.] The 2 down each side of the bell-housing are easy enough to access, but the 2 at the top are quite tricky. There is no easy way to get them, so it might be worth feeling around the top of the gearbox with the socket only until it is on the bolt and then get the ratchet / extension bar or CV-jointed socket to them.



** CAUTION: The gearbox will now be loose and held to the engine only with the locating-pegs, so ensure it is safely supported! **

18. Gently prise the gearbox away from the engine until it is clear of the locating-pegs and held up only by the centre-spline. Rocking it side-to-side should also help here. Draw the gearbox back slowly until the centre-spline is clear of the clutch/flywheel and the gearbox can be safely lowered partially. ONLY LOWER IT ABOUT HALF WAY!

19. Disconnect the wiring-connector from the cars neutral-sensor, located at the top of the gearbox by reaching around the top while it is partially lowered and pressing in the plastic clip on the connector. Fully lowering the gearbox before disconnecting will stretch the wire and potentially snap it!

20. Fully lower the gearbox safely onto the ground.

21. The clutch is now accessible, bolted to the back of the flywheel at the back of the engine. The clutch is removed by undoing the 6 bolts around its circumference using a 6mm allen-key socket [shown in photo]. The clutch can now be prised away from the engine! Be careful the clutch does not drop at this point, so it is best to support it with one hand while loosening the final bolt.

22. Remove the release-module / bearing from the spline inside the gearbox bell-housing. The metal lever should be held in place on the opposite side to the slave-cyinder by a piece of metal-wire and after removing that it should easily pull off. [If your clutch-kit includes a new release-module that is - if you are not replacing this then leave the old one in place.]

RELAX! You are now half way through the job!

23. Clip the new bearing into the new release-module as per the clutch-kit instructions and refit it to the spline in the gearbox bell-housing, replacing the wire-clip.

24. Fit the new clutch friction-plate into the new pressure-plate and mount it to the back of the engine leaving the 6mm allen-bolts loose by a few turns so the friction-plate can be moved around inside, but will hold in position.

25. Use the correct clutch alignment-tool to centralise the clutch, or if you do not have one look directly into the centre bore of the clutch and centralise the friction-plate by hand. It does not have to be perfectly in the centre, so you can get it accurate within about 0.5mm by eye.

26. Fully tighten the 6mm all-bolts.

27. Partially raise the gearbox to leave a few inches clearance above it and reconnect the wire to the neutral-sensor.

28. Fully raise the gearbox so it is in line with the back of the engine and move it forward, guiding the centre-spline into the clutch. Rocking the gearbox left-to-right should locate the spline into the clutch plate without too much fuss and it should then be able to rotate into position to meet the locating studs. The main problem here is the height and pitch of the gearbox on the jack / gearbox-stand, so watch out for differences in the gap at the top and bottom of the bell-housing when marrying it up.

29. Reverse steps 17 to 7. For tightening-torques refer to this post - http://www.beemerlab.org/2018/11/bmw-tightening-torques.html

30. Bleed the clutch - if you clamped the hose you shouldn't have too much trouble bleeding it, but the nipple is difficult to access and it can be easy to let air back in, so I have devoted a post to my bleeding issues here - F10: Clutch Bleeding Guide... the whole nightmare! [Manual transmission / gearbox 520d, 530d, F10, F11, G07, E90, E92 3er etc.]

31. Reverse steps 6 to 1.

E46 Clubsport: Quick rev and exhaust burble...

Quick rev of the CS as we stave off real work by fiddling with Beemers. It finally has that proper vanos whoosh and exhaust note, though there is still a bit of a misfire / bogging down under acceleration and no fault codes are coming up on Autocom GDP, but DIS will find something and I will post the results. Shame, as this is delaying that front bumper splitter...

E60: PAS-Pump + Exhaust Vibration-Damper.

With everything else apparently working, the 530d was still of the road due to the niggling problem of an un-bleedable PAS-system and rattling exhaust.

• Bleed PAS-system with cap off reservoir and engine off, by turning the wheel lock to lock about 30 times and adding fluid until no more bubbles were coming out.
• Remove front-bumper and drive back onto ramps.
• Locate exhaust onto connecting-rods of vibration-damper.
• Modify connecting-rods to fit new exhaust position.
• Refit exhaust and reinforcement-plate.
• Refit engine centre-undertray.
• Drive off ramps, refit bumper and test drive!

PAS-Pump Bleed:

This is the hardest to bleed PAS-system I have ever come across, though the pipes / pump have been off the car for 3 weeks and could have allowed the system to drain and fill with air more than before. The pump was whining on tickover and making an almighty groan when turned in either direction. The fluid in the reservoir was also frothy white. To fully bleed it required the engine and reservoir cap to be off and the wheel turned full lock left to right about 30 times. To do this I raised the front of the car on axle-stands so the wheels were still touching, but with hardly any weight on them. The first turns lock to lock gulped the remaining fluid right into the system and so much air was coming out I kept re-checking the pipes for a leak. Eventually, the reservoir had swallowed the last of my bottle of fluid and is just about sitting up to the minimum mark, but still bubbles were popping up as the wheel was turned. The lock to lock business continued with me and my dad taking turns for quite some time until there were finally hardly any tiny bubbles rising to the surface. This whole thing was a job in itself, but the pump is very quiet now and the steering assistance is back.

Exhaust Vibration-Damper:
During the first tests there was an almighty rattle from the exhaust from tickover up to about 2k rpm. I assumed this to be because I had left off the exhaust 'vibration-dampers' that brace the bottom of the cat to the gearbox and stop it shaking. I discarded replacing it at first as, if you don't remember exactly the way it all fits together and start bolting your gearbox and exhaust back on willy nilly, then it's impossible to figure out. The long bracket with 3 holes fits around the edge of the gearbox bell-housing, held in by one of the large E14 and two of the smaller E10 Torx-bolts that hold the box to the engine. The connecting-rods then run from the foremost stud on the cat to the N/S stud on the bracket; and from the rearmost stud on the cat to the O/S stud on the bracket, as shown in the picture from TIS. Only trouble was, neither of the rods went anywhere near the brackets. I'm not sure if the entire engine and gearbox is in a slightly different position from before, or it's just the exhaust out of line, or both, but the eyelets on the left-right rod were about 5mm too long for the studs; and the front-rear ones were almost an inch too short. After 2 frustrating hours spent removing mounts and trying to relocate the gearbox / bracket to meet the exhaust I gave up and decided to modify the connecting-rods to fit the new gap lengths. The only remaining way to adjust exhaust position would be to loosen the two nuts holding the cat to the back of the turbo, only to do this requires the rocker-cover / injectors to come back off and I'm not doing that, for now at least.
The modified connecting-rods are below and, due to lack of time, are rather crudely done. I bent the left-right rod down about 3/4" at a steep angle to take 5mm length out of it and help bring it down to the bracket at a flush angle and works rather well. The front-rear was a bit less neatly done and makes use of a piece of 1mm sheet-steel, cut roughly to an inch square and bolted to the rod. It's not the best workaround in the world, but it gets the job done.
After all that, the 'vibration-damper' did not get rid of the rattle! Instead, I traced the annoying noise to the front rubber-mount a bit further down the pipe. The exhaust was banging right into the side of the metal bracket on the gearbox-mount and a bit of fiddling with the adjustable eyelet managed to separate them and killed the rattle dead, so there you go.

E60: New Engine finally running!

Changed the injector seals last Sunday and gave the ports another good clean. The mist has stopped, but it still did not want to fire. There is fuel to the injectors and the timing is spot on, so this could only mean 2 things - something electronic isn't working properly, or the entire DDE module has fallen out of sync with the engine...

I don't even want to know what the latter option entails, so carried on swapping sensors on the new engine for those that worked on my old one. I found the crank-sensor was completely covered in dirty oil, in fact the whole slot was filled with it. Engine sensors are funny things and I can see how the oil could stop it from seeing the notch on the flywheel, but it doesn't explain why the engine would not turn over well using a can of Easy-Start. Either way, with the crank-sensor from my original lump in place it fired up straight away! Result.

[Video is with EGR-pipe disconnected and no air-filter / muffler fitted.]

• PAS-pump sounds like it's dying - extreme whine / groan when the wheel is turned - and is now the only thing keeping her off the road. Will try bleeding tomorrow and maybe fresh fluid, but failing that the pump could have packed in or, worse, I've damaged some of the piping / rack while lifting the engine in.
• Rear rubber exhaust-hanger missing. TIS says to remove the screws holding the hanger-bracket, not remove the rubber. I cut mine off to hastily get the exhaust down and will have to buy and annoyingly fit a new one.
• Front exhaust vibration-damper simply will not fit. When fitted to the exhaust, the eyelets on the two connecting-rods are way off the studs on the gearbox-bracket. The left-right rod is only about 5mm out, but the front-rear rod is miles off. I will have to remove the rear and centre brackets and try to relocate the exhaust a bit.

Other than that, no iDrive messages, no engine-management light, no 'Increased Emissions', no leaks, no mist and no funny noises. The gearbox and clutch are working fine and the car is desperate to be driven. Curse that power-steering fault!

E60: Engine Swap Week - Day 7

• Remove inlet-manifold, rail, injectors and rocker cover.
• Improve fit of fuel-rail return pipe.
• Clean injectors.
• Clean out injector ports in head.
• Fit original rocker-cover.
• Adjust injectors to fit collars tightly.
• Look for fuel in rail and rail-pressure when cranking.

The only thing I didn't do today was swap my crank-sensor over. I figured the automatic models have a different flywheel so would have a different sensor, but the two transmissions share the same sensor [exact same part no.] so the one that's on should work.

The banjo on the fuel-rail return hose needed refitting, as the jubilee-clip was now fouling the inlet-manifold. It was a bugger to find a way to refit it and give enough gap - the manifold is still fouling slightly.

I fitted my original rocker-cover because the new one has a crack round the MAF-sensor housing, obviously where the donor car had it's bump. The injector collars were fitting a bit loosely in the new rocker-cover too and are a bit tighter now. My original cam-sensor is back on too, which I doubt will make a difference, but can't hurt.

• Re-attempt start!

NO! The engine is turning ok and there is fuel-pressure. Sadly, there is now a lot of diesel-mist shooting up past the injectors, as in the vid below. Ah well, nothing ever goes smoothly.

E60: Engine Swap Week - Day 6

• Replace snapped T-piece on injector leak-off pipes.
• Torque up crank-pulley and HP-pump.
• Refit drive-belts.
• Refit radiators / coolers.
• Refit headlights and crash bar.
• Refit slam-panel and grilles / ducts.
• Plumb cooling, A/C and PAS back in at the front.
• Loosely refit exhaust and heat-shield.
• Fill with oil and coolant.
• Refit ECU and plug loom in.
• Plug in all wire connectors to engine.
• Refit fuel-rail and pipes.
• Refit turbo and exhaust-manifold.
• Refit rocker-cover and injectors.
• Refit inlet-manifold.
• Attempt start!

NOTE: Fasten engine-mount top nuts! Neaten up fuel-rail return pipe!

Well, sadly, it didn't fire right up in the first few tried like last time, but the battery has been sitting for a month and died quickly, so I will charge it overnight and have another crack tomorrow.

• Check for missing wire-connectors. Crank-sensor?
• Bleed injectors and check for rail pressure.
• Flywheel position sensor - is it a different flywheel? Swap to original.
• Check injector-leads for pulses with multimeter.
• High-pressure pump - does it need bleeding? Is it working?
• Is 'Service Due' warning affecting immobiliser?

If all these check out and it still won't go then I will have to get a computer on it and get some fault-codes. I'm back in work next week, without a break, so I should be able to bring the Launch home.

It's been a hella lot of work the last 6 days so it would have been nice to have the engine fire up on the third go like it did when I fitted the new cylinder head, but ah well, I'm full of optimism at the close of today.

Plastic T-piece nozzle snapped off in the injector leak-off hose. Luckily I got fuel pipes with the new engine [even though the pump itself was missing] and didn't have to buy a new one.

From an '03, to an '09 and now back to an '04 - this is the third head in the E60.

E60: Engine Swap Week - Day 5

• Attempt to lift gearbox underneath car.
• Lift engine back out.
• Fit gearbox to engine.
• Remove bonnet / A/C-duct.
• Lift engine and gearbox in together [mm to spare!].
• Fit prop-shaft.
• Fit gearbox mounts.
• Fit starter-motor.
• Fit oil filter/cooler.
• Fit alternator.
• Fit PAS-pump.
• Fit A/C compressor.
• Fit thermostat.
• Re-attach lower wiring-connectors.

• Loosely fit crank-pulley.
• Loosely attach main electric-cables to alt / starter.
• Loosely fit anti roll-bar.

NOTE: remember sump wire connector + tighten 10mm screw on gearbox!

Gearbox was getting nowhere from below with so little room under the car, so the engine came back out and we lifted the gearbox on very easily.

By removing the plastic air-con duct at the back and popping the bonnet lifters off so it lifts up vertical, it is possible to just about lift the engine and gearbox in together without lowering the subframe / rack.

Just the rads and injectors now and it's pretty much ready to start.

E60: Engine Swap Week - Day 4

Had a lost day yesterday when the engine didn't arrive. It only turned up at 1.30pm today, so I will have to concentrate on swapping over the high-pressure pump, flywheel and clutch, as well as removing the loom etc. ready to patch mine in. Lifting the engine in will have to wait until tomorrow.

• Replace steering-rack / subframe bolts entirely.
• Remove loom and vacuum-hoses from new engine.
• Swap over high-pressure fuel-pump.
• Fit flywheel and clutch.
• Remove oil filter/cooler and rocker-cover for lifting.
• Match engines entirely.
• Lift engine in.

Engine arrived at 1.30pm.

And was finally sat in the bay at 7.30pm.

E60: Engine Swap Week - Day 3

• Drop prop-shaft.
• Remove slave-cyl. / gearshift linkages.
• Drop gearbox.
• Lift engine out.
• Remove parts for new engine.

Once the prop was down it didn't take long at all to get the engine out. The gearbox is huge, but surprisingly light.

Prep for new engine:

• Remove clutch.
• Remove flywheel.

Got the clutch off easy enough, but need a T55 Torx socket to remove the flywheel so that will have to wait until I get it from work tomorrow.

NOTE: Missing bolt from exhaust cross-member.

E60: Engine Swap Week - Day 2

• Remove headlights and front crash-bar.
• Remove starter motor.
• Remove oil filter / cooler.
• Photograph and disconnect vacuum hoses and wiring-connectors.
• Attempt remove engine.
• Remove exhaust-system.
• Remove heat-shield.
• Remove gearbox mounts.
• Remove 2 of 3 prop-shaft bolts [coupling to gearbox].

Sadly, the first attempt did not work. The sump still gets stuck on the sub-frame. TIS says to first remove the prop and gearbox, so it looks like this is the only way.

POA for Day 3:

1. Bolt gearbox mount back up.

2. Loosen remaining prop-shaft bolt.

3. Lift car and put axle-stand under jacking point.

4. Support gearbox and remove mounts.

5. Drop prop-shaft.

NOTE: Cut off rubber exhaust-hanger needs new - Part no. 18207578238

Blue nylon rope not the best for lifting engines, but note a lot of weight is removed from the engine - head, ATF-pump, oil filter-cooler, A/C comp etc.

E21 316: More manifold gaskets for M10...

Stuck the new and much better quality exhaust-manifold gaskets on today from Euro Car Parts. They're thicker than the eBay ones and have steel rings round the inner rim like a head-gasket, should make a better seal. It's got rid of the cracking noise from that dodgy one on cyl. 4 [this post] and the engine sounds sweeter than ever.

Surprisingly the manifold nuts all came off as they should this time and left all eight studs in the head... weird, but it certainly made fitting the gaskets a lot easier.

E21 316: M10 Engine cured! - Culprit: manifold gasket...

After repeatedly timing the ignition perfectly to Z on the flywheel, [see this post], we decided there had to be something deftly wrong to be causing the loud noise and backfiring [in the vid below], rather than just the distributor being out of line.

The first hunch was the exhaust had broken while being twisted to get the cylinder-head out and was blowing like mad, but my initial inspections revealed no damage to the down-pipe or manifold and the four manifold gaskets looked all to be in position.

That is to say they LOOKED in position... Today, in the pouring rain, I got the car up on ramps to see what it was I'd missed and as soon as the torch flicked on I could see the answer at last - one of the exhaust-manifold gaskets had slipped off the stud and was only covering half the hole! Nightmare... Right at the back of the engine where we couldn't see and, ironically, the one for cylinder 4 that started all the trouble.

As you can see the gasket has been totally blown apart by the hot exhaust and has separated quite badly in the middle leaving only the metal. I checked the rest of the gaskets in my set for a spare, but can only find the same shape gasket with an oblong hole, perhaps for the E28, so tentatively decided to re-use the blasted one, correctly seated this time and caked in Holt's FireGum.

As soon as the engine fired up again it sounded like it used to. It's amazing the difference that gap in one single exhaust port made to the noise level. It was still idling low though and revving badly, so I grabbed the timing-light again to have another go, turning the distributor to line up Z on the flywheel - 25 degrees before TDC. Now the 30 year old M10 has really begun to purr once more. Awesome! Still some fettling to do on the carb. tuning, throttle/choke cables and checking to see if my damaged manifold-gasket is holding up, but at least she's back on the road after a tense month!

E21 316: M10 Distributor/Ignition Timing: Strobe Light Ahoy!

So my adventures into re-timing the spark-plugs continue with the purchase of a Gunson Xenon timing strobe-light! I went for the cheapest kit in Halfords, but it was still a slight pain at £45, considering it's in addition to a new dizzy-cap and rotor-arm, set of spark-plugs, compression-test kit, gasket-set, oil, coolant and a 30mm socket to turn the engine from the crank, but as I just can't seem to get the old M10 engine running happily I guess it's just as vital and at least we can use it to time in our old MGA engine this summer (hopefully).

Before I start to moan again about the intricacies of re-timing the distributor I should say that I know there is no need to remove it in order to get the cylinder-head off and the dizzy should really be left in place to save all this trouble, but the diaphragm on mine was blocking one of the head-bolts so that wasn't an option for me.

The timing light works by flashing every time your 1st-cylinder spark-plug fires. There is a timing-mark on the spinning crank-pulley or flywheel that passes a stationary mark on the block at the exact point the 1st spark-plug should be firing. When the flashing light from plug 1 is aimed at the spinning pulley it shows the timing-mark in a fixed position in relation to the stationary mark and allows you to gauge how how many degrees before or after the correct point the spark is. Clever stuff.

On the BMW M10 engine, there are two timing-marks on the flywheel, one for top dead-centre [TDC] and another, called Z, that corresponds to the right point before TDC that the 1st spark-plug should be firing. The marks are visible with the flashing light through a small oblong hole at the back of the crankcase. It's easy enough to find the hole, but seeing into it with the timing-light is a challenge in itself, let alone trying to adjust it or move the dizzy-cap and I ended up having to stand over it with my feet on the strut-tops to steady myself enough without leaning in from the side and crushing the wheel arches. There is another TDC timing-mark on the rearmost rim of the front crank-pulley, which is a lot easier to see with the timing-strobe from the n/s of the engine-bay, but the mark is tiny so when you do find it it's best to file a larger notch across the whole pulley - mine had this done already and it makes things a lot clearer.

It's best to first time your engine to Z on the flywheel, at 2200rpm, using 0 degrees of advance on the timing-light gun - just shine it into the oblong hole and rotate the distributor-cap until the large pointer is lined up with the silver ball, not the TDC line. Now check the front crank-pulley for reference by shining the light at it with 0 degrees advance. The groove for TDC should appear around 25 degrees before the stud on the engine-block. Rotate the dial on the timing gun slowly to 25 degrees and the groove should move in line with the pin. Simples.

Ignition timing isn't too much of a fine art, so as long as the rotor-arm contact is roughly on point no.1 on the dizzy with the engine at top dead-centre then it should fire right up and not need much adjustment to find Z. Mine was still making the god awful noise after repeatedly timing to Z, but this turned out to be a badly positioned exhaust-manifold gasket [in this post] so, obviously, check everything else isn't amiss before starting to mess with ignition timing.