A couple of E32 questions:

[asbo]

Folks,

I'm back to BMW ownership with the latest addition to the stable - an E32 735.

It's done 88k miles and feels tight as a nut, however it is still 20 years old. So:

1) In sport mode, the car won't change up to fourth. I assume this is not normal? It will happily go through the gears from rest but as soon as it hits third, it won't go into fourth despite singing up to 5k rpm and beyond. Also, in kickdown, or when dropping to third manually, the car accelerates and then hesitates slightly - almost as if the torque converter is having a 'moment' and then it's fine. The best way to describe it is like a slipping clutch for a second or so and then all is well.

2) The head is a little 'ticky'. It was normal for the S38 engines in both my M5's to sound like a back of spanners at idle, but my M30 lump does sound a little noisier than is ideal at the top end. I'm assuming this is shim wear? A little research on Wiki also suggests that the M30 can suffer from lubrication problems to the head if some of the pipes become blocked (?)

Any thoughts?

Oh and here she is :

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyI...

[Nick M]

Well, I'm hoping this is good news (dreads someone coming back and telling me otherwise !!) but:

a) yes, my gearbox does exactly the same

b) so is mine, and mine has done 126,500 miles or so. Had the valve clearances checked and adjusted last year and it still made the same noise, so I figured it was normal. I trust the independent BMW garage to have told me if there was something amiss.

[TheEnd]

On the auto boxes, the top gear is usually an overdrive, and the sports mode will lock them out and stick to the one below which is usually 1:1

[jac-in-a-box]

Shims are not used in the valve adjustment...simple adjustable eccentric fitted to rocker arm. Doddle to adjust.

[tdm34ds]

'Bo get the oil and the filters changed in the box it's the best £50 you'll spend on it

[derin100]

M30 will generally run better when valve clearances are adjusted a fraction 'lose'...certainly better than too tight in which case they'll go lumpy, start hunting or worst case not run at all!

At only 88K if it's been looked after the engine should be fine. Worth checking those spray bars and banjo nuts as they can cause oil starvation at the top...

Function is Sport Mode is correct as you describe! I know...I actually V-Maxed mine (once!...the clock actually showed slightly more than the quoted 143 mph...

Sold it a few months ago after over 7 years ownership:

http://www.bmwclassics.co.uk/e32_735i_saloon/index...

Edited by derin100 on Tuesday 30th June 21:13

BTW....That's a REALLY nice car you've got there!

Edited by derin100 on Tuesday 30th June 21:29

[asbo]

Thanks Derin.

I'm inclined to think that perhaps there maybe something else amiss as there is quite a loud tick...tick...tick...tick... at idle and then up through the rev range. However, I'll suck it and see for a while.

Having had another listen tonight, I suspect there might be a small leak from the manifold somewhere, but again it's difficult to tell at the moment.

Cracking 7 you had there

[road_rager]

You may want to look at this thread http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41...

I had an E28 535 with loudish ticking and the only cure I found was to rebuild the head, cost a few hundred (back in 1995)

HTH

[Paracetamol]

You have the dreaded worn camshaft. There is an oil feeder on e32/m30 (straight six) engines. This works loose and starves the top end of oil- leading to worn camshaft and then ticking. It costs around 300-400 to fix but this also gets you a new head gasket, new coolant, valves reset and a head skim so its money well spent. Its annoying as all anyone had to do was to regularly check the oil feeder bolts or better still loctite them...but hey ho..still wonderful cars.

The seller really should have told you about this

Edited by Paracetamol on Wednesday 1st July 13:29