What'd you do to your BMW today?

[euroriffic 600]

Oh, and on Xmas eve the father in law gave me this nice wee present after he moved the m3

Was fair to say I was not impressed!!!

Luckily I am a man who is capable of repairing the damage done

Ta daa!

[euroriffic 600]

Yuck.

Hopefully next time will be better. How long have you had it?

Owned it for about 6 months, only driving it those 200kms.

Is still down on power under 3k which I'm thinking is a stuck vanos unit looking at the condition of the oil so a rebuild might be up next

[gjm 3193]

Owned it for about 6 months, only driving it those 200kms.

Is still down on power under 3k which I'm thinking is a stuck vanos unit looking at the condition of the oil so a rebuild might be up next

Could be poor maintenance prior to you getting it? When in the UK, my Audi was like that. Took 2 or 3 quick oil changes to get things sorted.

[euroriffic 600]

Could be poor maintenance prior to you getting it? When in the UK, my Audi was like that. Took 2 or 3 quick oil changes to get things sorted.

Yea was super cruddy all up under the rocker cover and around the valves so spent a Friday night with a brush and a vacuum cleaner trying to remove as much as possible. Even had an oil cap seal in there. Ugghh

[gjm 3193]

Yea was super cruddy all up under the rocker cover and around the valves so spent a Friday night with a brush and a vacuum cleaner trying to remove as much as possible. Even had an oil cap seal in there. Ugghh

Sad. Still, in good hands now, eh?

(May be worth dropping the sump too.)

Edited December 30, 2015 by gjm

[KwS 2373]

My M3 vanos was sticky due to a varnish-like oil buildup (and i suspect, lack of use). Took some decent scrubbing to get the splines to move smoothly again.

Are you running any sort of engine flush through it? Its risky due to the posibility of moving some large chunks and blocking passages or the oil pickup, but hell, if its just crud like in the photos it might help break it down a bit?

[euroriffic 600]

My M3 vanos was sticky due to a varnish-like oil buildup (and i suspect, lack of use). Took some decent scrubbing to get the splines to move smoothly again.

Are you running any sort of engine flush through it? Its risky due to the posibility of moving some large chunks and blocking passages or the oil pickup, but hell, if its just crud like in the photos it might help break it down a bit?

Yea been using some flush, stp stuff first till I got my hands on the wurth stuff. don't normally use it but for this one thought I'd better otherwise it'll just keep coming out and blocking everything up again. The breather valve was well blocked up from all the crud in it so can only imagine the vanos unit!

[Jammasta 0]

Drove it for the first time in 2 months to VTNZ to get a WOF which it passed with no issues.

[gjm 3193]

Had a bit of a squeaky noise from the front of the engine. A quick look didn't show anything and I'd thought it was perhaps one of the pulleys feeling tired. As a result, driving was limited to 'absolutely essential,' and the 500SE pressed into service for shopping. (Mrs M hates going shopping in that!)

Today, pulled things apart and found the aircon belt hanging off the front of the compressor. The smooth side was polished to a lovely sheen, and the ribbed side cracked all the way around, although nothing is missing. We were very lucky - if it had caught on the fan things could have been very bad indeed.

These belts never get changed. BMW don't stock them in NZ, and RealOEM only shows a kit comprising belts, pulleys, and so on - p/n 11282339103.

However (and for anyone who might need to know) the belt is a 4PK 968. If possible, get a 4PK965 as the 968 has the tensioner almost fully extended; the 965 doesn't fully compress the tensioner but does give a teensy bit of stretch leeway.

While you're there, you may want to check the main drive belt, another 'never gets changed' item. Again, RealOEM shows this as a part of a kit, p/n 11282339099.
Again, you can buy the belt separately at ~$90+GST from BMW (they have 1 in Auckland, but more often than not bin them when shelf life expires), or from a factor as 6PK2090.

The aircon belt can be replaced from under the car (remove the engine undertray), but the main belt will require fan shroud removal, which requires removing the fan.

[euroriffic 600]

E46 was making a funny Ticking noise from the rear, diagnosed it to the diff. Drained the fluid and pulled this out :|

One of the teeth off the pinion wheel.

So looks like I need a new 3.91 diff and an abs pump/module for it now.

Looks like the missus is walking everywhere now since she can't drive the others since they're all manual.

Between us, it Will do her some good anyway

[KwS 2373]

the missus been doing too many one wheeler peelers?

[gjm 3193]

Had a bit of a squeaky noise from the front of the engine. A quick look didn't show anything and I'd thought it was perhaps one of the pulleys feeling tired. As a result, driving was limited to 'absolutely essential,' and the 500SE pressed into service for shopping. (Mrs M hates going shopping in that!)

Today, pulled things apart and found the aircon belt hanging off the front of the compressor. The smooth side was polished to a lovely sheen, and the ribbed side cracked all the way around, although nothing is missing. We were very lucky - if it had caught on the fan things could have been very bad indeed.

And.... that wasn't the problem. It is a pulley having a squeaky session - power steering, I think. It'll have to wait. It's not as if I can get parts this weekend!

So I did lots of other things instead. Little jobs, like removing the inlet manifold and giving it a clean up, removing the rest of the EGR gubbins and fitting my 'custom' blanking plate on the exhaust, replacing an errant brake sensor cable, and replacing the air filter. I've got some pics which I'll post in my 'high mileage' thread. (No, I didn't change the oil this time!)

Still, made good use of a nice day. We could have gone out instead, and then today I would have been working in the rain!

I do have to find a 3/8" drive 10mm deep socket that slipped down the side of the engine and didn't get as far as the ground. I think it is on the undertray or one of the steel beams.

Anyone who has been there knows the pain and hope - ding (sh*t - dropped it) clang, clunk, ping, donk.... Silence. sh*t. No thunk sound of metal socket hitting concrete. I wonder where that's gone?

[euroriffic 600]

the missus been doing too many one wheeler peelers?

Haha I'm thinking so!

So today was another day of playing bmws in the scortching south island heat. Touring2.0 got a centre arm rest installed this morning followed by an upgrade of the basic 8 button Obc for a 18 button. Was pretty straight forward as I remembered it, but had to run a new cable out to the temp sensor since it didn't have one before. All works well apart from the range feature, but is always inaccurate so doesn't really bother me.

Also went to fit a tech2 m sport wheel while it was off but it's a non airbag one and couldn't be bother messing around with it so jus the standard sport one went back on.

And pics after lows fitted. Still need to sort my other wheels out for it to, ether the acs rensports or the Mcoupe roadstars

[zero 1160]

What wheels are those in your pic?

[euroriffic 600]

What wheels are those in your pic?

Just the factory m3 style 39 double spokes

[Michael. 2312]

I love those wheels.

[BreakMyWindow 1870]

Drove it on the beautifully twisty roads up to the Corromandel.

[kiwi535 538]

man those e39 m5 look good to these eyes!

[kulgan 1042]

Very cool Martin.

Great car, great roads and views all equals an awesome driving experience. What more could you ask for?

[NUSTAD 243]

Very cool Martin.

Great car, great roads and views all equals an awesome driving experience. What more could you ask for?

Mooooore mpower..........

That is an ideal road.....assuming it wasn't wall to wall aucklanders in remura tractors! I need to hear the new exhaust.......

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2122]

Drove my E38 to Tauranga, currently here, on the back of Rivesdale (40 mins out of Masterton on the coast ) and back to wellington over new year, and ECC meet and back last month, Also run to auckland and back some stage this week

done over 2500km in it in the last month, 3000 by the time i get back.

Such a nice car to drive! Scruffy around the edges etc but runs and drives well.

Definately recommend looking at an E38 or E39 if you want a cheap hack, they are the ideal car for a BMW enthusiest, basic engines for self servicing, while also having the luxuries you need and want without over complicating things

Edited January 4, 2016 by _Ethrty-Andy_

[BM WORLD 1258]

Drove my E38 to Tauranga, currently here, on the back of Rivesdale (40 mins out of Masterton on the coast ) and back to wellington over new year, and ECC meet and back last month, Also run to auckland and back some stage this week

done over 2500km in it in the last month, 3000 by the time i get back.

Such a nice car to drive! Scruffy around the edges etc but runs and drives well.

Definately recommend looking at an E38 or E39 if you want a cheap hack, they are the ideal car for a BMW enthusiest, basic engines for self servicing, while also having the luxuries you need and want without over complicating things

call in and see marty , he has a new orchard in katikati now

[gjm 3193]

Hmm. D'you think this might be an issue?

The rubber part was held to the pulley by less than 50mm of rubber. Sheeeeeit. It does potentially explain why I could hear the noise sometimes, and not others.

For those who are wondering what this could cost, if unattended - new radiator and fan would be a starter, with the potential for damage to anything hit by a piece of vulcanised rubber releasing itself at x000rpm.

As it is, one of these (from BMW) retails at $740 (for a whole one). And you need the $28.50 bolt as the torque used in fitting these is huge and the bolts stretch. I need to check, but if it is the 'big' bolt, 100nm torque, followed by 60, 60 & 30 degrees should do it. Try holding that sucker still without any special tools.

BMW identify this as an issue. You can tell - BMW Auckland stock several on the shelf.

Fitting will be tomorrow.

Edited January 5, 2016 by gjm

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2122]

call in and see marty , he has a new orchard in katikati now

Nah just call into yours and catch up with him and everyone there lol Edited January 5, 2016 by _Ethrty-Andy_

[KwS 2373]

BMW identify this as an issue. You can tell - BMW Auckland stock several on the shelf.

Not just BMW tbh, quite a few brands carry crank pulley/balancer on the shelf in NZ. We get a couple of requests a week for Mitsi ones, and most of them (unless something super old and obscure) will be available locally. Rubber ages and comes apart, no surprise at all.