What have you done to your BMW today?

What have you done to your BMW today?

Author
Discussion

dhutch

15,520 posts

207 months

Tuesday 17th December 2024
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danb79 said:
130i dropped off with my pals this morning for the full 'top end engine overhaul'
What does that entail? Plugs, Camcover Gasket, Vanos sealts? N52 in those isnt it, last of the nat-asp str6's?

danb79

10,542 posts

82 months

Tuesday 17th December 2024
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dhutch said:
What does that entail? Plugs, Camcover Gasket, Vanos sealts? N52 in those isnt it, last of the nat-asp str6's?
Everything that perishes, has perished laugh

So it's having a new rocker cover, all new rocker gaskets, new oil cooler & oil filter housing gaskets. New spark plugs, new tensioner/belt and pulley, and new gearbox mounts, as well as a thorough clean as the oil crud build up was manky to say the least

Should collect it today as didn't have time yesterday with today being my last day in work until 6th Jan biggrin

danb79

10,542 posts

82 months

Tuesday 17th December 2024
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Brembo 340mm 2 piece brake discs, Pagid Street+ brake pads ordered via ECP this morning; HEL braided lines ordered via eBay

Will get all that together and get it back to my pals to do the 340mm Brembo front brake retrofit in Jan 2025 smile

dhutch

15,520 posts

207 months

Tuesday 17th December 2024
quotequote all
danb79 said:
dhutch said:
What does that entail? Plugs, Camcover Gasket, Vanos sealts? N52 in those isnt it, last of the nat-asp str6's?
Everything that perishes, has perished laugh

So it's having a new rocker cover, all new rocker gaskets, new oil cooler & oil filter housing gaskets. New spark plugs, new tensioner/belt and pulley, and new gearbox mounts, as well as a thorough clean as the oil crud build up was manky to say the least

Should collect it today as didn't have time yesterday with today being my last day in work until 6th Jan biggrin
Fair.

I don't know what BMW puts in their rubber compounds, but they don't age well do they.

Oil filter housing gasket is a very common failure, for something that should be an easy joint to make good for life, ie 50+ years.

Just had a clutch put in the E46 and the garage has advised that the engine is, again, covered in oil having got it dry in spring! Light misting on the flywheel, if nothing on the clutch. Rear main seal wasn't leaking, but rightly or wrongly I had that replaced, so hopefully they got it seated correctly without damaging it and that's now all set for another decade or two.

IanJ9375

1,552 posts

226 months

Tuesday 17th December 2024
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Early crimbo present, Carbon/Alcantara Handbrake and Armrest swapped out


dhutch

15,520 posts

207 months

Tuesday 17th December 2024
quotequote all
New clutch and flywheel into the 330ci this weekend as per above.
- LUK clutch kit, as used 8 years and 75k miles ago, because they appear the best option certainly for a road car.
- Valeo dual mass flywheel, because the LUK is on back order till 'end of Jan' and again for a road car i'm unconvinced on single mass conversion.
- New rear main seal, but retained the slave as it looked in good nick, costs £70, and being external you can change them at any point.

"Worn to death mate" was the mechanics comment on the condition.


Couldn't get the 5th detent cap and pin out without risking damaging the cap, and couldn't get hold of a service kit (cap and guide brg) till end Jan as BMW no longer carry them, so that's ordered from Latvia and will sit in the spares box till the next opportunity arises.

Certainly a sign of having owned a car for a while when you are getting the clutch replaced for the second time in your ownership. Currently reading 203k miles having bought the car nine years ago at circa 120k miles. And yes, I have replaced the front wings twice too!

£530 LUK Clutch kit and labour
£390 Valeo Flywheel (dual mass)
£55 Rear main seal

£965 Total

bodhi

11,972 posts

239 months

Tuesday 17th December 2024
quotequote all
dhutch said:
Fair.

I don't know what BMW puts in their rubber compounds, but they don't age well do they.

Oil filter housing gasket is a very common failure, for something that should be an easy joint to make good for life, ie 50+ years.

Just had a clutch put in the E46 and the garage has advised that the engine is, again, covered in oil having got it dry in spring! Light misting on the flywheel, if nothing on the clutch. Rear main seal wasn't leaking, but rightly or wrongly I had that replaced, so hopefully they got it seated correctly without damaging it and that's now all set for another decade or two.
From memory the late 00s stuff was particularly susceptible to leaking gaskets due to the higher temperatures the engines ran at for emissions purposes.

I know I've done most of them on my N52 - and a new sump - except the CCTV. As it's still getting through some oil I suspect that will need replaced in the new year.


dhutch

15,520 posts

207 months

Tuesday 17th December 2024
quotequote all
bodhi said:
dhutch said:
Fair.

I don't know what BMW puts in their rubber compounds, but they don't age well do they.

Oil filter housing gasket is a very common failure, for something that should be an easy joint to make good for life, ie 50+ years.

Just had a clutch put in the E46 and the garage has advised that the engine is, again, covered in oil having got it dry in spring! Light misting on the flywheel, if nothing on the clutch. Rear main seal wasn't leaking, but rightly or wrongly I had that replaced, so hopefully they got it seated correctly without damaging it and that's now all set for another decade or two.
From memory the late 00s stuff was particularly susceptible to leaking gaskets due to the higher temperatures the engines ran at for emissions purposes.

I know I've done most of them on my N52 - and a new sump - except the CCTV. As it's still getting through some oil I suspect that will need replaced in the new year.
Certainly the high temp and hence pressure of the cooling system is often and likely correctly cited for the high failure rates, and I am on something like the 5th radiator in 9 years or something like that to prove the point. But a few degress between say 97 deg and 102deg is huge there.

However I don't think the temps are that far adrift from normal to explain away filter housing gaskets, cam cover gaskets etc, but I do work actively with them in my day job, am not really a seals expert.

Mr Tidy

25,275 posts

137 months

Tuesday 17th December 2024
quotequote all
dhutch said:
bodhi said:
dhutch said:
Fair.

I don't know what BMW puts in their rubber compounds, but they don't age well do they.

Oil filter housing gasket is a very common failure, for something that should be an easy joint to make good for life, ie 50+ years.

Just had a clutch put in the E46 and the garage has advised that the engine is, again, covered in oil having got it dry in spring! Light misting on the flywheel, if nothing on the clutch. Rear main seal wasn't leaking, but rightly or wrongly I had that replaced, so hopefully they got it seated correctly without damaging it and that's now all set for another decade or two.
From memory the late 00s stuff was particularly susceptible to leaking gaskets due to the higher temperatures the engines ran at for emissions purposes.

I know I've done most of them on my N52 - and a new sump - except the CCTV. As it's still getting through some oil I suspect that will need replaced in the new year.
Certainly the high temp and hence pressure of the cooling system is often and likely correctly cited for the high failure rates, and I am on something like the 5th radiator in 9 years or something like that to prove the point. But a few degress between say 97 deg and 102deg is huge there.

However I don't think the temps are that far adrift from normal to explain away filter housing gaskets, cam cover gaskets etc, but I do work actively with them in my day job, am not really a seals expert.
I didn't think N52 engines suffered from radiator issues. I've had my current E90 330i nearly 6 years and it has done 127K miles, but the radiator is still fine. Unlike the 325ti Compact I had that had a banana shaped radiator at 80K miles!

It had a cam-cover gasket at 107K just before I bought it, and I've had the oil filter housing gasket replaced but it still leaks a bit of oil. Looks like it might be the sump (I hope not) or CCV. For now it's cheaper to just keep topping up.

dhutch

15,520 posts

207 months

Wednesday 18th December 2024
quotequote all
Mr Tidy said:
I didn't think N52 engines suffered from radiator issues. I've had my current E90 330i nearly 6 years and it has done 127K miles, but the radiator is still fine. Unlike the 325ti Compact I had that had a banana shaped radiator at 80K miles!
Mines a E46 330ci

JakeT

5,691 posts

130 months

Wednesday 18th December 2024
quotequote all
dhutch said:
New clutch and flywheel into the 330ci this weekend as per above.
- LUK clutch kit, as used 8 years and 75k miles ago, because they appear the best option certainly for a road car.
- Valeo dual mass flywheel, because the LUK is on back order till 'end of Jan' and again for a road car i'm unconvinced on single mass conversion.
- New rear main seal, but retained the slave as it looked in good nick, costs £70, and being external you can change them at any point.

"Worn to death mate" was the mechanics comment on the condition.


Couldn't get the 5th detent cap and pin out without risking damaging the cap, and couldn't get hold of a service kit (cap and guide brg) till end Jan as BMW no longer carry them, so that's ordered from Latvia and will sit in the spares box till the next opportunity arises.

Certainly a sign of having owned a car for a while when you are getting the clutch replaced for the second time in your ownership. Currently reading 203k miles having bought the car nine years ago at circa 120k miles. And yes, I have replaced the front wings twice too!

£530 LUK Clutch kit and labour
£390 Valeo Flywheel (dual mass)
£55 Rear main seal

£965 Total
Good effort, and £965 doesn’t sound awful when the flywheel is included also. My 330i had a clutch at 90k, but was a London car in its early life. It’s on 222k now, and the flywheel is a little noisy when the clutch is up in neutral. Should mine need a clutch again I’ll also fit a DMF, but I’m hoping to not need to. I try and be gentle on it in traffic. The tale of fifth gear pin and front wings is classic E46 though. My 328ci had a new box under extended warranty for it, and multiple repairs of the wings before I got tired and replaced them with good used ones.

danb79

10,542 posts

82 months

Wednesday 18th December 2024
quotequote all
Collected the 130i from my pals; all buttoned up and dry as a bone now (much cleaner too) biggrin



Booked in for early Jan 2025 to get the Brembo brakes fitted and HEL lines and that’s it until Spring, when I’ll do the full suspension overhaul biggrin

cerb4.5lee

34,871 posts

190 months

Wednesday 18th December 2024
quotequote all
Used the throttle quite a lot, and I had a bit of fun with a chap in a Golf R. biggrindriving

I really enjoyed it, and it reminded me of years gone by when it used to happen a lot. Opportunities for a bit of fun are very few and far between now I've found, but it got the adrenaline pumping nicely I thought. cloud9

dhutch

15,520 posts

207 months

Thursday 19th December 2024
quotequote all
JakeT said:
dhutch said:
New clutch and flywheel into the 330ci this weekend as per above.
- LUK clutch kit, as used 8 years and 75k miles ago, because they appear the best option certainly for a road car.
- Valeo dual mass flywheel, because the LUK is on back order till 'end of Jan' and again for a road car i'm unconvinced on single mass conversion.
- New rear main seal, but retained the slave as it looked in good nick, costs £70, and being external you can change them at any point.

"Worn to death mate" was the mechanics comment on the condition.


Couldn't get the 5th detent cap and pin out without risking damaging the cap, and couldn't get hold of a service kit (cap and guide brg) till end Jan as BMW no longer carry them, so that's ordered from Latvia and will sit in the spares box till the next opportunity arises.

Certainly a sign of having owned a car for a while when you are getting the clutch replaced for the second time in your ownership. Currently reading 203k miles having bought the car nine years ago at circa 120k miles. And yes, I have replaced the front wings twice too!

£530 LUK Clutch kit and labour
£390 Valeo Flywheel (dual mass)
£55 Rear main seal

£965 Total
Good effort, and £965 doesn’t sound awful when the flywheel is included also. My 330i had a clutch at 90k, but was a London car in its early life. It’s on 222k now, and the flywheel is a little noisy when the clutch is up in neutral. Should mine need a clutch again I’ll also fit a DMF, but I’m hoping to not need to. I try and be gentle on it in traffic. The tale of fifth gear pin and front wings is classic E46 though. My 328ci had a new box under extended warranty for it, and multiple repairs of the wings before I got tired and replaced them with good used ones.
Yeah I am happy with the price, cash in hand after hours job. The other quote I got was £1250.
While I dont thrash it pointlessly and am in fact quite slow and deliberate with the gear changes, the way I look at it there is little point in having a car with a 3ltr nat Asp Straight 6 and driving it gently. The car puts a smile on my face every time I drive it, which is often a very welcome lift regardless of wherever am upto with everything else. Less side effects than the fluoxetine which is £10/month itself! Is it the most practical or cost effective daily driver, no its not. Does it give reasonable return for the outlay of time and money, absolutely.

But yeah, they have been around long enough to and established their little penchant. I've opted for pattern wings, plenty of paint, and a lashing of cavity wax on the back face, the are cheaper than a set of disks and pads, so I just think of them as consumable! Plenty of rads as said, blue parcel shelf obviously. and the lining is coming of the pillar trims lovely, see also door seal trim. But it's reliable, comfortable, fast, practical enough, and in my opinion looks cool af. Sold!




JakeT

5,691 posts

130 months

Friday 20th December 2024
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Absolutely, I can’t disagree on the medicinal purposes of dailying and old BMW. In the last 9 years I’ve put around 165,000 miles on old BMWs as my daily, and it’s been great. I could save some pennies by running around in something else, but the misery it would inflict would be far more costly.

Olivergt

1,738 posts

91 months

Friday 20th December 2024
quotequote all
JakeT said:
Absolutely, I can’t disagree on the medicinal purposes of dailying and old BMW. In the last 9 years I’ve put around 165,000 miles on old BMWs as my daily, and it’s been great. I could save some pennies by running around in something else, but the misery it would inflict would be far more costly.
Absolutely agree, I don't use mine as a daily, but it definitely feels better when it's used regularly.

It hadn't been used much when I bought it, but after a week and a 1000 miles in Scotland it felt much better. Hopefully get it out for a run this weekend if it's dry.

Someone was asking on YT how best to layup a car for the winter and the response was, don't! Much better to use it a little on dry days rather than leave it for months.

JakeT

5,691 posts

130 months

Friday 20th December 2024
quotequote all
Very true and I agree on all points. My E36 is 31 years old and does maybe 3,000 miles per year but is always ready to go. It lives in the garage but if there is a nice, dry day in winter I take it out. The worst thing one can do to a car is not use it.

McGee_22

7,218 posts

189 months

Friday 20th December 2024
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E39 currently used as a daily with more than 80k miles in the last 12 years as well as 25k on an E38, 45k on an E34 and 35k on an E24.

danb79

10,542 posts

82 months

Saturday 21st December 2024
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Calipers all built up with new HEL bleed nipples, Brembo caps and I’ve applied eBay special Brembo decals as well; see how they last

For a DIY refurb, IMO, they look really well. Deffo not perfect but more than adequate smile














They’ll be paired with HEL braided lines, Brembo 2 piece discs and Pagid Street+ pads



cerb4.5lee

34,871 posts

190 months

Saturday 21st December 2024
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You've done an absolutely cracking job with those Dan. coolthumbup