Vass

The thing that I'm hesitant about with 243 is this bit: "LOCTITE 243 works on all metals, including passive substrates such as stainless steel, aluminum and plated surfaces. It is proven to be tolerant of minor contamination due to industrial oils, e.g., motor oils, corrosion prevention oils and cutting fluid." Seems a bit more than a 'minor contamination' this 😄

I think I'm desperate enough to try. What sort of stuff is it exactly? Just gave it another go, turned the engine on and sure enough oil running down within seconds. Gallery plug of course. The sealant I'm using really isn't up to the task it seems, which is weird as that's what 50sKid successfully used on his. Willing to try anything at this point. Grateful that it's just the 8 flywheel bolts to undo to check every time and not installing the whole gearbox...

Borderline criminal this.

No, definitely the right plug. I actually removed the one from the old engine and used that one this time. Must be some damn good sealant that BMW uses when first assembling these, wish I knew what it was and where to get some. There's only two of those plugs on the whole engine, front and back of the block and they're both the same length. Come to think of it, I suspect the front one must also be weeping as I seated it exactly the same way, although that one is less problematic being behind the timing cover so it would just run straight down into the oil pan. Just hope it doesn't vibrate itself loose. Really don't know why the sealant didn't set at all the first time around.

The UV dye thing turned out to be a dud. Didn't want to blindly pour sludge into the pride and joy so decided to try it out on the new daily, a Suzuki Swift Sport I had picked up a few weeks prior. Did an oil change on it the previous weekend and noticed it pissing out oil quite generously. Cleaned up what I could, poured in a dose of dye and went for a half hour drive onto my mate's hoist. Plenty of new oil dripping out but made absolutely no difference under the UV light. Tested it in some old oil in a measuring cup and looks like it just doesn't play well with oil, just settles to the bottom instead of dissolving in it so is no use in this application. Another expensive shelf filler but worth a try anyway. Checked over the crank sensor, no visible cracks or damage that I could see. Chucked on a new O-ring and drew a ring of RTV in behind it right under the metal plate for good measure. Should be solid enough this time. Got the flywheel bolted up and the intake reassembled, minus the intake boots to have a clearer view from the top. Engine started up very effortlessly, which is encouraging, barely half a crank. No signs of leaks from the sensor so jumped under the car and sure enough, oil started running down the left side of the RMS housing. Video Hard to tell whether there's a leak from the RMS housing and/or oil pan but what's definite is a leak from the oil gallery plug further up, so it could be that running all the way down. Weird one. Thought I had cleaned and seated it all the way in with a healthy dose of sealant. Maybe I just didn't use enough. Then again, not really sure on the correct method of installation. Looking at the old engine block, it sat flush with the block surface so the sealant must have been doing all the work. Feels weird leaving it almost dangling there though as the Permatex sealant I'm using doesn't really harden so much unless tightened fully. There's also a passage that would be almost fully blocked if the plug is driven all the way in. From factory, the sealant looks to be similar to blue Loctite but I was more under the impression it's more to prevent loosening under vibration than stop oil seeping through, so suspect it must be some special BMW magic potion. Looked into ordering a whole new plug with whatever the right sealant is already applied but wherever I've looked, there's 2-4 week wait on them being shipped. Might chuck an order in and have a few kicking around for the future but for now just cleaned it up again, cleaned up the hole and drenched the damn thing in sealant and made sure to drive it in as tight as it would go. Looks to have gone in maybe half a turn further than I had it previously. Pretty crude but seems to have worked for 50sKid. Will let it set overnight and try another startup tomorrow. I'm still sceptical whether this is the only source of the leak but nothing would make me happier than being wrong in this case.

At least it doesn't bang on about a "sunroof delete" anymore.

Yeah definitely one you'd end up regretting. I think a mate of mine went to have a look at a camper van you had up for sale around the same time and also commented on the bimmer. Thanks! Still hunting that leak.

Suzuki Swift Sport and a family vacation to Hawaii

Do these have the same gearbox as the 6-cylinders?

Don't think M539 would touch something like this with a 10 foot pole 😄 Personally, I would avoid due to the shoddy state of the paint (on the rear bumper at minimum) and the electrical troubles - two types of issues I least enjoy dealing with. Could be a good project if you're that way inclined, although at the end of the day, you'd still be left with a 4-pot nightmare driving it. Would be a keen subscriber to your build thread if you do take it on though.

Ewww raisins

Don't have as much time anymore with being back to work but slowly chipping away at it as much as I can. Bolted up the fancy new bracket. Will use the auto flywheel as it's smaller and less hassle to install. Also checked over all the nuts and bolts I had access to whilst being under there, everything is torqued to spec so don't think that would have been the issue. Just to be safe, took out the left side oil pan bolt, cleaned everything and replaced it with a clean bolt from the old engine. Used some thread sealer on it as well although there's no threads below the pan gasket anyway so unlikely that it'd make a difference. Also managed to track down some UV dye finally. Only one I could find was this one that's technically meant for AC systems but should still do the job. Don't think it'd have anything in it that would do any damage to the gaskets or anything. Only thing I'm unsure about is how well it holds up to higher temperatures but I guess I'll find out. Not a cheap endeavour at $200 retail (good guy at the counter at NAPA gave me trade price at $120) but if it saves me from doing this all over again then it's money well spent. Will reassemble the intake and everything around it and try start the car back up over the weekend. Will hopefully help get on top of it.

Beauty! Remember seeing this parked up next to me at Pick-A-Part middle of last year sometime. Must admit I drooled a little. Or a lot. Looked an extremely tidy example next to mine Those wheels especially. Also noticed it going up for sale some months back. Were you the one that bought it or decided to keep?

Go to the closest workshop to wherever it is that you are. You don't have to engage them to do any work if you have trust issues, but the least you can have them do is lift the car up on a hoist and do a general inspection, and probably scan the car for any codes that might pinpoint the issue. Won't cost you much and you'll get a much more accurate diagnosis that you will by posting vague descriptions on here.

What would flicking on the A/C do?

Really need to be mindful of letting the engine idle for too long with new piston rings. Ideally need to get it running ASAP and start giving it some load. Don't have any experience breaking in engines but at what point do I start running the risk of stuffing those up?

BMW special tool #318364. Left two bolts either side of the starter to be safe. Will see how it goes.

What do you mean by roar and hesitant transfer of propulsion? As in you have to rev it higher than before to get up to the same speed? Pretty hard to give you any informed opinions based on some very vague descriptions, you're really just taking stabs in the dark without scanning it or at the very least a visual inspection, both under the hood and underside of the car. A roar and loss of power could be something as simple as a severe vacuum leak. Check your intake boots for any obvious cracks as a first step.

Score! Will take an angle grinder to it later this week.

Got a lead on an old auto transmission that a dude in Ashburton is willing to give away. Might go for a drive tonight and pick it up. Should have just kept my old one What do I even do with the rest of the transmission after cutting the bell housing off? Would a wrecker's take it for scrap? Also started looking at getting a UV dye kit to make it more apparent. Small bottles available on Amazon and such for like $5, yet the cheapest one I found on these shores is somehow this dodgy sh*t. Anyone know of any more reasonably priced kits out there that don't involve a longer wait?

Could be. I'll have a closer look. I think VDO were OE for these? Yeah am asking around. Could have someone make up a plate for it but might be less hassle to cut the chunk off a bell housing instead. Might ask Pick-A-Part of I'd still be fine to cut one up there for a bit less as there's a few autos sitting in there that are unlikely to be of any use to anyone. Are the bell housings the same between 4 and 6 cylinder boxes do you know? Some E36 ones might be the same as well I think? Could broaden the search range a bit.

Yeah there was more oil under the sensor before I dug in, I think it must have drained away from feeling around there and the engine tilting back and forth. There was definitely more of a pool under there before. I used a light coat of silicone paste on all the O-rings when installing. It doesn't look pinched and actually looking at the sensor itself, everything looks dry beyond the O-ring apart from the tip of the connector somehow... That's an awesome idea with the bell housing. Unfortunately gave away the old auto transmission for free a few months ago to clear some space, would have been a good candidate. Will see what they charge at Pick-A-Part.

Intake off, not sure if I'm any wiser. Only sign of oil is under the crank position sensor. No sign of any leaks above it, all dry to the touch so that spot of oil further up on the backing plate is still a mystery. Might have gotten oil on there when removing but can't remember doing that so am left a bit perplexed. Picture is from when I started untightening the screw but I think the slight gap between the sensor metal baseplate was there with the screw fastened as well. Judging by the caked up area on the old engine block I think it's safe to assume that this is one of the leaks. I still have major doubts as to whether this alone would produce enough of a drip to leak as much as it did in the video. Definitely not the greatest design, could really benefit from being held in with two screws, one either side of the opening but what can you do. Not sure how to make it more secure other than using RTV. Not ideal but what else is there? Brand new sensor with a new O-ring and still looks to be leaking... Feeling around back on the transmission side of the block, the area around the gallery plug was slightly damp to the touch and has a yellowish discoloration at the end of the opening but not a clear leak. I thoroughly cleaned the plug from the old sealant and seated it all the way in with white high-temp sealant. This is a bit of a tricky spot as originally it sat only slightly recessed from the flat area so would not have been threaded in all the way. Again though, even if it is leaking, I can't see it producing too steady a stream. Only other thing I can speculate on is the oil pan being damaged? The bottom side looks a bit scuffed up so the previous owner must have bottomed out on something somewhere along the line. Pretty weird as the car did have the aluminium reinforcement plate installed when I got it so no idea how it could have picked up this sort of damage. Could this have somehow transferred the forces to the top edge and bent it out of shape somewhat? Unlikely but I'm just clutching at straws at this point. Then again, might be the machine shop's doing when having it washed. Absolutely no clue at this point. The maximalist approach would be to get the engine out again, clean up the pan from the old engine and seat that on with a new oil pan gasket, new rear main seal housing with the seal pre-installed, new gallery plug with sealant pre-applied, new O-ring on the crank position sensor with a dab of RTV, new flywheel bolts with sealant pre-applied and go again. Basically throwing a bunch more money and effort at it. Not sure what mental state I'd find myself in if the issue were to persist after all that but honestly no idea what other options I have at this point anymore.

Quite like the look of that. I charge my phone pretty often but would be good to be able to close the lid when not in use too, unlike when using a plug in charger. Does it turn itself back on every time you start the car though?

Nah.