cleanish_e46

Pulled the interior out this afternoon and found a wee hole in front of the driver's seat. Solid everywhere else, just spots of surface rust to be sanded. Will have to strip this back to find out how bad it is, but it's in a relatively flat spot so should be an easy patch.

Cheers for that John, does seem unlikely as you say, but still haven't figured it out to be honest. I'll try that.

Made a start on the rust on the 325i today, we’ll call her Goldie for now. Pretty solid behind the bumper. Not so much beneath the battery. One patch. Two patches. This one is the niggliest. Nothing too horrific though, and everywhere else looks solid.

Got the head back today: Tank cleaned, crack / hardness tested and resurfaced at Engine Specialties in Glenfield.

Not the morning I needed after working on my house yesterday. In the few hours I was away last night, someone broke in and stole all my tools that are worth stealing. Not ideal. Anyway, the 325i. Replaced the leaking fuel hose and while I was under there jacked up the transmission and tightened a loose mount. The sunroof was sealed shut and to be fair to whoever did it, they’ve done a good job of keeping the elements out. Was a bit concerned about what it was going to look like but it’s pretty good. I’m not absolutely sure what’s missing but I know the left and right gates are broken and drive cable is missing so sing out if you know where I might source these. Onto the worst of it now. I started sanding around a couple of holes in the rear valance. Those couple of holes are now several, but I expected that. At least it’s easily accessible and so far I haven’t found any rust anywhere else. Will cut out what’s no good and weld some new stuff in.

I've been having a closer look at this since Project Mo has stalled with the B20 head still at the machine shop. Came across an almost complete factory toolkit and service booklet with stamps from new until about 10,000km ago. Almost everything that appeared to be missing has shown up in the glovebox / footwells / under seats or in the boot. Short of the E30 M3, this is a dream project for me and brings back a lot of memories of watching the British Touring Car Championship with my dad at Silverstone. Just opening the garage door is enough to put a smile on my dial at the moment... IMG-2263.mov

Interesting development today. I have been looking for a manual conversion since I bought the car. Long-term goal was to pair that with a B25, and long long-term goal was a stroker build once my knowledge and pocket allowed. Happened across this old girl a couple of weeks ago. NZ new, factory manual 325i. Needs some interior bits and minor rust patches, but starts and runs well. Expected it to be good for a donor, but after chucking it up on the hoist, she’s really not that bad. Justified the purchase by picking it up for what the engine and box would set me back in this market. Happy days. (Much needed after lockdown). Another one to save!

I reckon that powder is casting sand?!

@Eagle I managed to get the crank bolt off with the old screwdriver on the starter trick and a power bar against some timber. I’m going to clean the block and do the seal at the very least. I’ve ordered the Bentley manual for the E30, but while I’m waiting on that, how do I remove the other bits holding the lower timing chain cover on? I’m unsure if it’s one piece or separate.

A bit more done. Got the crank bolt off by jumping the starter with a screwdriver. Going to clean the block and do the seal while I’m in there. FullSizeRender.mov

Thanks for the heads up mate, have ordered one.

Is this still worth buying if you're running a M20B20 as it doesn't cover the 320i?

Appreciate the advice mate. Cheers

I’ve seen the breaker bar against the chassis rail and starter motor flick method, but everything is off now, all wiring and starter! I don’t have crank bolt tools or an impact that’ll do it unfortunately, what would you recommend @Eagle I’ll have a look at acquiring some! I’m rebuilding the head, haven’t decided how far I’m going with the block yet, wanted to give it a good clean and maybe paint, but the further I get into it the more I want to go through everything. If I take it out, will it be easier to get that bolt off? I guess I could take it somewhere with the means to do the job at least!

M20B20 - I need some guidance please. I have removed all the bolts and the cover is loose, do I have to remove the crank bolt to remove the cover? If so, how do I do this? Thanks in advance! Josh

I did get the head to a shop… the day before lockdown! I’ve been doing what I can with all this time we have on our hands, but not having the head back has slowed things down. Boredom got the better of me and so I started removing some of the ancillaries to give the engine and bay a good scrub. I think I’ll replace the engine mounts while I’m at it. I hope everyone’s cracking on through lockdown and keeping well.

2001 (E46) BMW 330i in Titanium Silver Metalic with Flock Raute Cloth Anthracite upholstery. My partner and I bought this car when we found out we were having a baby and she would need something when she's on maternity leave. The only reason we are now selling is that her mum has recently upgraded and she has said we can use her old car. I have the service history from 2009 onwards, which is when the car was imported from Japan and first registered in NZ. Sold by Vision Auto Sales in New Lynn to a friend's grandad with 59,027 certified kilometres. I bought the car at 99,348 kilometres from an elderly man in a private sale, and have since added just over 3,000 kilometres. M54B30 and ZF 5-speed automatic transmission. I can email the service history, and AA Inspection Report that was carried out on 16th March of this year, but you are of course welcome to inspect for yourself and / or arrange for a mechanic to do so on your behalf. I did replace the water-pump at 100,000 kilometres, purely as preventative maintenance. There is a small dent on the boot-lid, about the size of a one dollar coin, I have a spare that is included if the buyer would like. This is the only thing of note, the car is immaculate inside and out and has to be one of the best examples for sale. Genuine BMW roof-racks included. Lovely car to drive, reliable daily driver and a future classic. $5500 for Bimmersport Members.

Spent a bit of time in the workshop over the weekend. Exhaust manifold came off with a bit of pursuasion. Picked up the tools I didn't have and disassembled the head. All the internals looked in good order and have been set aside for when it's time to rebuild. Having trouble getting the studs out that the thermostat housing mounts to, but started cleaning the head up, no signs of excessive wear, will get it to an engine specialist when I have time and see what they say about the scratch. Hopefully it can be fixed and reused. What should I be asking for? Clean, crack test and resurface? In the meantime, I'm interested in learning how I can get the most out of this M20B20 before I rebuild it so I'd appreciate any suggestions people may have. Been good fun so far and quite rewarding.

Had another look this morning, the rings on the gasket are intact but the gasket looks blown around where that mark would be. That being said, cylinder one had the most compression out of the six…

Got there tonight. Couple of nuts seized on the exhaust manifold, but not bad for thirty-five years old. Above: Head gasket is in one piece, but absolutely covered in sealer. Above: As is the head. What's the best method for cleaning it out of all the coolant passages? The two head bolt holes on the right-hand side of this image (cylinder six) were full of oil, none of the others were. Is that normal? Above: This head bolt hole between cylinders one and two was really dry and full of powder, I have no idea what it is or why, can anyone help? Above: This scratch was the most concerning issue, on the intake side of cylinder one. Looks like a scratch rather than a crack. Can't be from removal tonight as I hoisted the head in one go and gently lowered it onto a couple of blocks of wood so the head wasn't resting on the valves. There's no corresponding marks on the block. Any advice is really appreciated as I haven't done this before. Cheers.

Got this much done tonight. Intake, exhaust and head bolts and she should be out. Bloody good to get wrenching again.

Slow progress, but made a start and got my project and tools back in the same garage. I’ve lined up a healthy M20B20 to swap in while I rebuild the original. Any advice on changing from L-Jetronic to Motronic would be appreciated. I’m not trying to make an L-Jet engine run on Motronic, but swap a Motronic engine into a pre-facelift car. Cheers.

I appreciate that, just exploring options as I was going to swap a B25 in when this one shat itself, just happened sooner than planned. I’ve been lucky enough to find one, literally one, but $2500 with a new gasket set is getting up there for me at the moment, or maybe that’s the going rate now! As you say, fingers crossed it’s just a gasket, but I think she’s had a hard life in recent years before I bought her!

In anticipation of a cracked head on my E30 (Currently M20B20), does anyone have a healthy head for sale? Alternatively, does anyone have a complete M20B25 for sale that I can swap in? Every cloud... I'd appreciate any useful advice on either options, things I should check / what I should reasonably pay etc. Prefer to buy from within this community if possible. Cheers.

Cheers for the photo's Kelvin, certainly looks better there. I didn't pay that much which is a good thing. Wouldn't be surprised judging by the symptoms. I did drive it home from the seller's house to my in-laws where it spat out a little coolant from the overflow. Did a run around the block a few days later and was misfiring so gave her a tickle up on the driveway before driving to my place and parking her up in the garage, temp gauge was just starting to climb after twenty minutes of highway speeds. I'll rebuild if I can, but if not will look at options regarding an engine swap.