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Jeepers... Thirsty work, is it?

Firstly, full disclaimer: Ordinarily Time-Sert installs would be done by a machine shop and would also be done on a bare block. BUT I had neither of these options. This thread is purely to assist others, and probably humour the rest of you. Best source of reference is my old mate 50's Kid on youtube, who has a great vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOfxg_Dto-U For those who are interested, I did perform this myself and with success. Took my time, machined up guides to ensure straight drilling, used multiple drill bits etc Scary? Yes. But completely do-able, and without a drill-press IF you are careful. Would I use time-serts again? Yep absolutely. To the point I'd not put headbolts back into an alumium block without doing it. So much stronger. All up this took about 2 hours end to end. And 3 whiskeys. What you need: 10.3mm drill (sharp) 12.3mm drill (sharp) M12 x 1.5 pitch tap 14x Timeserts on their own these are around $80 delivered from https://www.alleuroparts.co.nz/parts in Silverdale. Great team to deal with. A range of drill bits up to 10.3mm and up to 12.3mm A torch An old vacuum or air compressor Cotton buds Good lighting Patience Whiskey Preparation Remove the head mount guides (2x) from the block with needle nose pliers. Don’t bend them as they’ll be reused! Tape over all of the block Drop the head gasket back on and trace around the bolt holes Cut out areas where the holes are (sharp razor blade or scalpel) Drilling out the threads Start with an 8.5mm drill bit drilling out the threads, move up in 0.3mm-0.5mm increments. The depth of each hole is 46mm. Mark this on each drill bit (masking tape and a sharpie work) so you don’t over or under drill. Take your time, start each hole slowly. The drill will naturally straighten in the hole – this is why using small incremental drills is essential. Vacuum away debris whenever possible – aluminium shards go everywhere! Have a whiskey. Drilling the tapered collar Time Serts have a tapered collar to stop them going deeper than necessary into the block. This collar is 12.3 mm Once each hole is drilled out to 10.3, drill out the upper sections of each bolt hole to 12.3 mm. Note: You ONLY want to drill 6mm deep. Again, mark your drill bits (or even better, use a drill bit stopper) and take your time. Start with an 11mm bit and work your way up. This will be tricky! Have a whiskey. Tap the threads Get some oil or cutting oil, and also pack the edges of the Tap with grease to help pick up any threads. A 2 handed tap handle is best as this will keep your tap straighter. Even better, is a Tap guide, which is about $8 USD. Take your time. Every 3 turns or so, turn the tap handle anti-clockwise to break the threads free. This keeps the tap clean to continue to tap. Bottom the tap out in the hole. Wind the tap completely out of the hole and repeat until all are done. Clean up Aluminum is non-magnetic, so magnets in the hole will be useless for debris. A vacuum doesn’t really work as there is no cylindrical force to lift the debris up. A compressor will a little (and spray metal debris everywhere), but by far the best I found was buying 200 cotton buds and using about 10 in each hole until I could see the bottom of the hole clearly with a torch TIP: Put a dab of grease on the end and it’ll sponge up the particles Re-tap Once the holes are clean, run the tap right down and back up in each hole to check for binding and to clear any debris from the threads. Repeat the clean up with cotton buds Guide reinstalls Reinstall the guides in the block for the head. They will fit back into their original location. Time Sert install Take an old head stud and put the Time Sert on the end (even better, get 3-4 and do a production line of them). Apply a few drops of Loctite High Strength (226 from memory). Wind the Time Serts into the 10.3mm / M10x1.5 holes until they bind. Turn a further ½- ¾ turn to spread the lower threads on the Time Sert, which will ‘grab’ into the block. Tip: Use a cordless impact driver to wind the bolts in and out, but a ratchet to tighten the Time Sert into the block 24 hours Wait 24 hours (or more) for the Loctite to work, before attempting any head reinstallation. Re installation Remove all tape from the block, vacuum / clean the area with alcoholic solution. Reinstall the head gasket and head Check hole alignment. Oil new head bolts Wind into the block Perform torque sequence (40ft/lb) followed by 2 rounds of 90 deg tightening Have a final whiskey Once I work out how to embed the image links from dropbox I'll put them alongside the detail above

Vanos Another item that seemed silly not to do off the car, was the Vanos unit rebuild. Ordered the Besian Systems set (which feels ridiculously expensive for a set of o-rings they list as $5 on the parcel...) Pretty straight forward, again 50s Kid video comes to the rescue : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eUVF6OLFFg First thing I did was clean the hideous mess that was the vanos unit. Bit of brake cleaner, a rag etc and it was sorted. Cut out the old seals with a scalpel, then repeat on the thicker seals underneath - these were a PITA but got there in the end. Total job took under 1 hour

Hi team! Thank you very much for letting me join this wonderful group. Cars I've got are: 320i E46 M54B22 Sedan/Saloon 2000 No issues with this one except engine light comes on and off but no known mechanical issues. In the process of fitting new CCV hoses and also changing to a new engine oil level sensor. 530i E39 M54B30 Sedan/Saloon 2001 This one had a lot of issues but getting things done. One big thing I'm currently doing is the conversion of the remote key. changing from the infrared remote control to the radio frequent remote control. I had a post to the other page following someone's DIY on e46 one which I'm trying to do on my e39. Nice to meet you all BMW lovers!

I knew I wouldn't be the only one. Next time get 5l of IPA Olaf. You might need it doing the rear end.

Gearbox Detents There's a stack of info online for this. Particularly 50s kid (again) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRHjnROfRxU I bought the punch set from ebay and the detents from FCP. This isn't a hard job, but there are some tricks to doing it well, as I've learnt now doing 5 of these boxes.... In short: Start with 5th and Reverse pins (big pins) These used to have different pin size oil holes, now they don't. But the springs are different, and the detents need to be installed facing each other. Move on to 2,3,4 (small) detents Punch out the welsh plugs remove spring remove detent insert sleeve (use punch to not damage the lining!) Insert new detent insert new spring insert new welsh plug I now offer Detent replacement as a service to BMW owners - $500 drop in / pickup with a 1 week turn around. This includes me supplying the detents. While I had the box on the bench I also pressed in new front and rear seals. What a prick of a job.

Thank you M3AN. Yeah at the moment I've got no choice lol but will be moving house very shortly so I'll have a proper garage space to do full work on them without getting interrupted by dodgy people or some random asian tourists... I hated it but already used to it now.

Great place, fab guy. Done it in a jiffy on Saturday morning. Can only recommend.

Now the engine is in the hole, that largely brings me up to today, October 2019. The next big items are: Finish rust work Wire engine Install Renault Clio Mk2 brake booster Adjustables 5 stud conversion (E36 328i) Dash replacement Driveshaft hoop and seatbelt plates Install carpet Mount seats While all this is happening, I am ticking away at small jobs around the body such as replacing the rear quarter windows, prepping the new passenger door, installing an IS front lip, chrome-deleting the trim. Most of this I've documented and will upload. Items to document: E46 purple tag install Barina U Joint Reverse plug wiring Pedal install

Hmmm where'd we get to..... The above rust work took the better part of 4 months and isn't all finished yet. Being VERY much over body work, and having landed a ZF 5 speed, I started working on the driveline build. First port of call was to clean up and re-detent the gearbox. All 5 shift pins were replaced. Next up, a new throw out bearing, throw out arm, bushing and clip were ordered; along with a new slave cylinder. I'll add the pics when I find them, for now a placeholder.

I have no idea what's going on but today I saw a 2 series that was: Smaller than a 1 series; and, Four doors... WTF BMW? Please, sort your sh*t out.

Thanks for your comment Dave! I totally agree with what you said. Had been thinking about HELLBM as they’re quite known of doing S54 stuff. I think I kinda know Aaron from our local bmw fb page (if we’re thinking of the same guy). He is the guy who have a red e36 track car and does most of the car stuff with his dad aye. I think he sells shifters for e36 and e46.

It's a genuine Alpina, a cursory look in the engine bay reveals the crossed out WBA vin with the WAP Alpina vin stamped below it, which was usual for the cars before Alpina cars started going down the same production line as the rest of BMW's. I disagree about the seat striping issue, most E46 Alpina cars from Nicole BMW (the japan Alpina source) have the seat stripe on opposing sides, so it makes sense for the earlier generation to have run the same fabric. Blue dials and orange needles in the cluster is also a clue, albeit one that could be faked. I think chalk it down to a car that's had its rear seat changed, everything else matches.