E36 M3 Resto-mod.

[Beeker2 69]

I can tell you that kayne barrie (well respected in BMW racing world) recommended Castrol tws 10/60 for my 3.0 nothing else.

Edited April 25, 2014 by Beeker2

[yng_750 247]

A 10/60 is quite thick compared to most performance oils. This would of course give a little better stability over a 5w40 if the oil over heats. But as long as you have sufficient cooling i dont see why a fully synthetic 5w40 will do the job.

But like op said. Plenty of discussion out there so lets not fill his thread with discussions. Let there be plenty of targa goodness

[Beeker2 69]

A 10/60 is quite thick compared to most performance oils. This would of course give a little better stability over a 5w40 if the oil over heats. But as long as you have sufficient cooling i dont see why a fully synthetic 5w40 will do the job.

But like op said. Plenty of discussion out there so lets not fill his thread with discussions. Let there be plenty of targa goodness

[Beeker2 69]

A 10/60 is quite thick compared to most performance oils. This would of course give a little better stability over a 5w40 if the oil over heats. But as long as you have sufficient cooling i dont see why a fully synthetic 5w40 will do the job.

But like op said. Plenty of discussion out there so lets not fill his thread with discussions. Let there be plenty of targa goodness

Agree in concept, but sometimes it pays to follow the advice of those that simply know more, including BMW Germany.

I assume they have gone the 60 route to improve oil pressure over hp and temps, but they must have drivers for this.

[KwS 2425]

Cars are built by accountants. BMW will do whatever is cheaper, and in this case its clearly done by using the same oil in all M engines. If manufacturers did everything perfectly there quite simply wouldnt be a market for aftermarket items (including oils/fluids).

[yng_750 247]

Yes and no. Engines require stable lubrication. Items like vanos and hydraulic lifters need a stable and predictable pressure and viscosity at certain.temps to operate correctly. Thats why later.models are very specific while earlier ones only give api specs or similar.

[KwS 2425]

This isnt a discussion about oil guys. Im using the oil i want to use based on the recommendation and experiences of many others, and thats the end of it.

[KwS 2425]

Ordered my Vanos rebuild kit from Beisan systems, and a whole bunch of other bits (gaskets and seals) from the local BMW dealer. Just waiting for it to all show up and then ill be ripping into it over Queens Birthday weekend.

Finally swapped my plates over from the standard issue things that just look completely out of place, to some GermanPlates and plate frames. Unfortunately i did attach the rear one with screws before i got the frames only to find that to mount the front one i would have to drill through one of the letters which i didnt want to do.

Pics.

The font isnt too different on my plate, thank fully. Just the 1 that gives it away.

Big thanks to Andy for the plates and surrounds.

[KwS 2425]

I decided not to get any surrounds initially, as i wasnt convinced how they would look but i didnt have a choice unless i wanted to drill through the letter. Since i got the surrounds now, i conclude i was wrong and the surrounds look great.

Edited May 10, 2014 by KwS

[KwS 2425]

Had some time, and some nice weather so after a long drive around the place i decided to tidy up some things that have been bothering me.

First up was cleaning and reoiling the K&N filter as its was as black as night and full of chunks. Purchased a filter recharge kit, and went to work on it.

No pics as its not too interesting.

Whilst i was there i removed the airbox and AFM, and cleaned the AFM. Was a little dirty, thank to the usual K&N oil issues. Noted that the hose in the airbox that goes to the Secondary Air Pump was loose and the hose clamp wasnt on the hose, so fixed that.

Whilst there i also removed the heatshield and polished it as it was coated in crap and really ugly. Came up really well.

I also had a quick go at the exhaust tips with autosol, but they are so filthy that i think ill need to remove the rear muffler and use a drill to polish them.

[KwS 2425]

Since i got the car its had a really irritating metallic chattering/rattling front the front end when going over bumps. When i was last under the car i checked anything i could under there and nothing was loose, so i just ignored it and pretended it wasnt happening until i could get it on a hoist at work.

By pure chance i finally found the source of it today.... a missing anti-rattle clip on the front RH brake caliper. Ill pick one of them up this week and chuck it on and ill be good to go. HURRAH!

[KwS 2425]

Right, so had some presents show up today.

Finally got the first lot of bits for my Vanos rebuild, all the way from Germany thanks to my local dealer. Gaskets, bolts, updated solenoid seals, just the usual.

What im more excited about, is getting my ADS diagnostic cable. Ive got all the other OBD cables, but as the M3 is old, it doesnt confirm to OBDII, only some OG OBDI system. Got it all hooked up and set up on my $30 trademe special Dell laptop with a dedicated serial port and holy crap, it works!

Checked codes, a couple there for the missing O2 sensors as expected, and no others, YAY.

Running proper BMW DIS software. Its slow, but works.

[Beeker2 69]

Right, so had some presents show up today.

Finally got the first lot of bits for my Vanos rebuild, all the way from Germany thanks to my local dealer. Gaskets, bolts, updated solenoid seals, just the usual.

I'll be watching this one!

[KwS 2425]

Still waiting on the Beisan Systems bits, which should hopefully be here this week. I was really surprised that most of the vanos bits were ex Germany, thought they would be more common than that.

Ill be sure to document the rebuild with many pictures for anyone interested. Im not a mechanic and quite frankly messing with the timing gives me the shits, but if i can do it anyone can! It helps ive done the vanos on my old E39 M52, which although didnt need any messing about with the timing still needed a lot of work.

[KwS 2425]

its all to do with the splined gear on the front of the cam. If it isnt perfectly replaced after doing the rattle work then the timing will be out a tooth either way.

Beisan's write up shows some good ways to avoid this issue. The only thing im actually concerned about is dropping something called the "oil pump" drive into the sump when removing the vanos unit. Not sure what it looks like, so i guess ill just wing it.

[KwS 2425]

nah, no mention of removing the chain tensioner or messing with the chain at all. Its a helical splined gear that goes inside the intake cam gear. The single vanos only changing the intake cam timing.

[KwS 2425]

Collating all my receipts for the M3 into a spreadsheet, Gone back just over a year and already its up to $5500. Its had the majority of the known failure points sorted. Still another 9 years of receipts to go from the PO and a few from the owner before.

[atlantiskiwi 73]

Wow 12.2l/100 how do you drive or is it mostly long dist? Mine runs at 13l although I am still in the "new car stage"

[KwS 2425]

This is my fuelly at the moment.

Lots of high RPM full throttle 0-100KPH, but very little rush hour or town driving. Mostly motorway driving.

[KwS 2425]

I now have all the vanos seals and gaskets, including the Beisan Systems kit and tools. So itll be new Vanos solenoid seals (using S62 seals), new cover bolts, new cover gasket, new locking nut, new vanos filter, a whole load of internal seals and the anti-rattle kit (beisan).

Will be carrying out this work over the long weekend. Cant wait. Lots of pictures will be taken (including a couple i will send to Beisan in the hopes they can replace the missing pictures from their procedure page).

[Beeker2 69]

I now have all the vanos seals and gaskets, including the Beisan Systems kit and tools. So itll be new Vanos solenoid seals (using S62 seals), new cover bolts, new cover gasket, new locking nut, new vanos filter, a whole load of internal seals and the anti-rattle kit (beisan).

Will be carrying out this work over the long weekend. Cant wait. Lots of pictures will be taken (including a couple i will send to Beisan in the hopes they can replace the missing pictures from their procedure page).

Crashing the post

I'm thinking of a turnkey refurb from Dr Vanos. Any negatives in using them that you have considered?

[KwS 2425]

cost. I have the skills, tools and time to do the work myself, and the beisan kit is pretty cheap. All Dr Vanos does is what ill be doing, but half way across the world with a labour fee.

Plus, i enjoy wrenching on my own car. Gives me far more satisfaction (and i know its done right).

Edited May 29, 2014 by KwS

[KwS 2425]

The procedure you have linked is for the dual vanos 3.2 Evo, not the single vanos 3.0 like Beeker2 and I have.

This is the correct procedure, which is much simpler. http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/euro_s50_single_vanos_procedure.htm

[KwS 2425]

So, today....

There comes a story of sadness, happiness, anger and ultimately heart ache.

Today was vanos day. Rolled the car into the garage and began work. First thing ill say about it, is that the instruction on the Beisan Systems site are sh*t (http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/euro_s50_single_vanos_procedure.htm). Totally sh*t. Like, useless lump of sh*t. They are based heavily on the 3.2 Evo engine, which clearly doesnt share that much with the 3.0 as a lot of the instructions and pictures do not match.

Did a stock take of my tools to make sure i had everything needed, Check.

The willing victim

First step, remove fan and shroud. First failure.... 32mm wrench is too big to fit between the fan and water pump bolts. Solution, remove two of the bolts in the pulley. A swift whack of the hammer on the spanner and off the fan comes. Fan is on a reverse thread. Remove the shroud with the fan.

Fan was very dirty, will need a clean. Clutch is original but seems to be OK.

Keeping organised!

Next up, remove the coil cover and disconnect all the coils.

Pull the coils out. issue two. Found two of the coils drowning in oil. Removed the plugs and cleaned out of the oil. Cleaned the coils. Unsure of its it from a spark plug tube seal failure or someone spilling oil whilst filling. There is oil around the top of the hole so i think maybe a spill.

Remove the valve cover. Third issue. Gasket is hard and like plastic. Beisan says that the gasket is Viton and does not require replacement. Bullshit.

Issue four, as you can see in the above picture there is a thin coating of baked on crap in the engine. Such a shame to not see it nice and clean. Not sure if crap oil in the past or long service intervals, but no sludge, just a hard thin coating.

Issue five, finding Top Dead Center.

The Beisan instructions say to line up a pointer like the below one, with marks on the front of the harmonic balancer.

After 2 hours of searching and much frustration i finally worked it out. By fluke i found the pointer, a simple mark on the timing cover, and the marks on the balancer arent on the front, but hidden down behind the pulley. WTF.

Once i knew where this was it was easy as to align TDC.

So i start pulling the Vanos to bits in order to remove it. Issue six, in order to align the intake pulley you need to rotate the cam using a 24mm Spanner. The spanner i purchased for the job is too wide, doesnt fit on the hex in the cam. Have to run out and buy another, different brand one.

Issue seven, Beisan says the solenoids will be linked, and removed in a certain way. Nope, in the 3.0 they are separate and the wiring doesnt exit via the bottom like the 3.2, it exits top and bottom, per solenoid. The top solenoid wiring is also spiral found to the sensor on the vanos bridge, so that needs to be removed before the solenoid comes out.

Took the intake piston cover off and removed the tiny wee nut OK.

Next up was to remove the bolts that hold the vanos unit to the head.

MAJOR ISSUE. Two of the bolts strip and the hex socket spins freely. f**k. I cover her up, shut the bonnet and go inside. This is an issue for another day.

To be continued.

[KwS 2425]

Only the heads burred thankfully, so should be able to get them out, but hoping i dont need to remove had to get to the bottom one.

I have cleaned the oil up, and since i now have to buy new bolts for the vanos unit ill get new valve cover gaskets too.