Vass

I wouldn't tighten it more than that, those threads are really easy to strip out. Wouldn't mess around repairing the valve cover either, just straight replace. Should be cheap enough from Pick-A-Part or similar.

Haven't touched an N46 in an E90 but am tinkering on an N42 in an E46 which is pretty much the same engine. That rear right one is a bit fiddly to get to but still easy enough, not might be a bit more room to play around with on an E46 for whatever reason, I'm not sure. I found a regular 1/4 ratchet and deep wall 10mm worked just fine, up to the point it was loose enough to thread out by hand. At least on an E46, the protruding stud is for a small bracket on the vacuum line going to the brake booster to keep that in place, then another 8mm nut that goes over top.

The plastic valve cover itself could be cracked, seems to be quite a common occurrence. Worth checking it over thoroughly every time it's off, cracks can be hard to spot being black plastic and caked in gunk.

Hope you're not dead set on a BMW. I'd be real hesitant recommending any small BMW petrol engines that aren't 20+ years old, which probably is a no go in this case. Most modern 4-cylinders are riddled with problems, which is manageable if you don't mind some DIY, but not something I'd go for if your main goal is trouble free motoring. And the ones that aren't will be well beyond that budget. Honestly, I'd probably look at something small and Japanese, a Honda Fit, Suzuki Swift or similar. Should be plenty to choose from in that price range.

Gave the spare exhaust a quick lazy polish before bolting it up and dropping the car off at the shop. Even on the way there I still hadn't fully decided on the final course of action - whether to cut out the resonator or the secondary cats. Sound wise both would probably have had the same effect but the smelliness of it all was my main concern. Had the guys at the shop start up a couple of decatted cars to get a sense of what life would be like cat-free. Don't know if I got an objective feel for it or if my sense of smell had simply been decimated from sniffing all the brake cleaner fumes over the years but it didn't feel as bad as I had feared so cat delete it was. Somehow turned out to be a bit more work than I thought it would be, they cut out a bigger section than I'd envisaged but the end result looked really nice, the welds were tidy and the sound exactly what I was after. This was a progress photo they'd sent through, I forgot to ask for a full underside photo at the end. I'll be taking the exhaust off shortly to fit new exhaust gaskets, refit the damper at the back of the resonator and finish off the polishing mission so will take a photo of the rear section then. Loving the end result, the purr at startup is awesome, has a nice deeper tone to it throughout with a tinge of the signature BMW rasp. Loud enough to be enjoyable but not loud enough to be obnoxious so shouldn't annoy the neighbours too much. Once warmed up it's still surprisingly quiet at idle but definitely feel a bit more kick when giving it some beans. Took it onto the motorway to see if there's any droning but all good on that front too. The smell isn't nearly as bad as I'd feared as well, probably would only ever be an issue if left idling inside the garage for a while. VIDEO: Cold Start VIDEO: dB Meter Test VIDEO: Before Comparison with the 325i Exhaust Took it out for a quick bash along the hills the other weekend with @Carbon and his Honda mates, as well as a certain infamous M5. The muffler-deleted V8 and well as my newly opened up exhaust reverberating off the surrounding hills was a bloody nice soundtrack. Have now clocked up a couple hundred km's on the new exhaust setup and couldn't be happier, a nice finishing touch. Quickly running out of things to improve on this car. Thanks again to @Gaz for the hookup. Wifey called me a bogan as I pulled up into the driveway so that's the mission well and truly accomplished.

Mangere https://www.pickapart.co.nz/eziparts/Display_Vehicle.asp?PriceListID=0&VehicleID=216197&$Location=112105099107097112097114116099111110122&LocationID=3&VehicleDesc=BMW M5 That's crazy tho, must be a blown engine or something major. Insane that something like this would end up at PaP regardless.

Got back to tinkering on this little nugget this past weekend. Since it was still misfiring, I decided to do a compression test to make sure the issue isn't with any of the valves getting jammed. Shockingly, the result was 225-230 PSI on all cylinders. I was a bit taken aback by such high numbers. I then noticed that I had disconnected the valvetronic motor and the eccentric shaft sensor plugs when removing the coils. Wasn't sure if it'd influence the results I reconnected them and redid the test, this time around getting 175-185 PSI on all cylinders. That ruled out compression being the issue. I then moved onto the smoke tester to check for vacuum leaks. Having removed the airbox and throttle body to insert the smoke tester adapter, I discovered a major f**kup, which turned out to be the cause of the backfiring - a vacuum hose from the EVAP valve was left dangling loose, unconnected from the intake manifold. It took a fair bit of force for it to clip in properly, not sure if I had missed it completely or hadn't seated it properly when reinstalling the intake. The throttle body and airbox obscure it pretty well so would have been easy to overlook but silly mistake on my part none the less. I went ahead and did a smoke test anyway, which didn't reveal anything obvious. I then took off the valve cover and rechecked the timing - all perfectly in time still. Got everything reassembled last night and did a quick test start this morning before running off for work - she now idles buttery smooth. Then took her for a quick test run after work - far from a pleasant driving experience as things stand, but at least she's back up and running! The tyres are barely holding air, the brakes are garbage, the steering is vague, the shifter sloppy and the AC compressor will likely grenade itself as soon as I press the button but felt a nice sense of achievement clocking up some 10km along some backroads for the first time in years. Will need a fair bit of love to be put back on the road but hopefully this means she's not destined for the scrapyard just yet. Happy days. It'll definitely need new tyres, and probably the rotors machined at the very least to pass but will book her in for a WoF to see what all she needs to be made roadworthy before throwing any money at it. Hopefully it's nothing major. I'm growing quite fond of this quirky little thing.

Could be a number of things. Might be a random stab in the dark but one possibility is the ignition switch. Had that on my E46 a couple of years ago, would just intermittently not even crank until I cycled the key 4-5 times, became more frequent as time went on. Cleaned it out and has been fine since. Could also just replace it as they're fairly cheap. Haven't checked but fairly certain it'll be a very similar part on the X5, if not completely identical. Worth cleaning out regardless as they can cause a number of weird electrical issues, access should be pretty easy too, just need to remove the bottom cover from the steering column.

I didn't even know clownshoes came with non-M engines... Why would you even bother

https://www.trademe.co.nz/5368550104 What am I missing here? Yeah, it's a clownshoe, which is rare I suppose BUT it's an M52B28 automatic...? LHD, imported in 2020, never registered in NZ and by the sounds of it whoever buys it will have to take it through compliance themselves... All that for $30k!? Is this insane or am I?

You might as well just get an automatic one and get it modified, can't imagine it being too costly. Main reason you wouldn't do it is that they'll require driveshaft hoops if modifying a driveshaft but since you're increasing power by over 50% you will need then anyway?

^ That looks like a good jack but feels way overpriced for what it is. Might not be spoilt for choice down Otago way but I'd wait for a bigger sales event at Repco or Supercheap. But that's just me being a bargain hunter, hardly ever pay full price for any tools nowadays. I myself have one of these. Cheapish no brand but probably made in the same factories as most others on the market, just without the brand name slapped on. I tend to look after my tools but a few mates have the same ones and they've hurled a tonne of abuse at them, still going strong. Find it to be good value, not sure if they do shipping tho or what shipping something this heavy would cost.

I got one of them adapters when doing mine, can't remember where I got it from but looks identical. Paired it up with some ancient, fairly low profile trolley jack I borrowed off a mate, but that's not the point. The whole thing ended up being too damn fiddly to use... Trouble I ran into was, even with the car raised to the max height allowable by the jack stands, the combined height of the trolley jack and the adapter was such that even lowered all the way, the transmission was left wedged in the transmission tunnel with no way of wheeling it out. It then became a whole new mission lifting up the transmission while trying to slide out the trolley jack from underneath. In hindsight, would have been much easier without that adapter, either resting the rear of the transmission directly on the saddle or a wider block of timber and manhandling the bellhousing end. Unless you've got some extra tall jack stands, I honestly wouldn't bother. Only ever "used" that adapter once and now it's essentially scrap metal on the shelf somewhere.

Was at barber shop last month, grabbed a magazine to flick through while waiting and stumbled upon this article, my turn came up just as I finished reading it. Very cool to see such well looked after oldies.

Thanks mate! Me too. On a side note, I found it rather amusing how we're moving in polar opposite directions on the exhaust front. Saw you were diagnosing the exhaust flap vacuum solenoid the other week to quieten yours down whilst I'm here raging about mine not being loud enough Also, happy birthday buddy! Have a good one, hope you get spoilt by the fam!