Noob M30B35 Build

E28 technical advice asked and given! Troubleshooting, modifications and more.
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tig
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Post by tig »

Rav335uk wrote:Are you replacing all new crank shells??
If so, make sure you measure the crank before ordering new ones. :D
I'm actually taking the head, long block, crank, pistons, etc... to the guy who's going to do the head. He's going to do whatever machining needs to be done to the block and will advise me on shells, etc...
tig
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Post by tig »

Let's talk alternators.

I know the B34 alternators are known to be very reliable. What bout the 140A version on the B35. It cleaned up very nice and appears to be in great shape. Even the voltage regulator has quite a bit of wear left.

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(Pully is currently soaking in Evaporust).

I was thinking I'd find a local shop that rebuilt alternators and have them test this one. Is that even a thing?

Or are these things basically indestructible and I should avoid spending the $ and just use it as is?

And what's the deal with the accessory brackets on this engine? Both the AC bracket and the PS pump bracket (see previous post) are bent and have teeth missing (on both the bracket and the gear/bolt).

Is this a common B34/B35 thing for these brackets to get shot to shit like this?

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wkohler
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Post by wkohler »

It's very common when people use the wrong tools/don't know what they're doing. Sure, over time, the teeth will wear but the vast majority of damage is caused by people who are lazy/inept.

AutoZone, O'Reilly, etc can test alternators. In fact it's what you should have done before spending time cleaning it up. Just pull it off and go have it tested. They will only tell you if it and the regulator is good pass/fail. A true alternator shop could give you specs I'm sure.

Just buy new brackets and such. They aren't that expensive and you will thank yourself later.
tig
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Post by tig »

wkohler wrote:It's very common when people use the wrong tools/don't know what they're doing. Sure, over time, the teeth will wear but the vast majority of damage is caused by people who are lazy/inept.

AutoZone, O'Reilly, etc can test alternators. In fact it's what you should have done before spending time cleaning it up.
Next time I'll do it right. I promise.
Just pull it off and go have it tested. They will only tell you if it and the regulator is good pass/fail. A true alternator shop could give you specs I'm sure.

Just buy new brackets and such. They aren't that expensive and you will thank yourself later.
Yep, GetBMWParts has them.
Last edited by tig on Jun 16, 2013 8:35 PM, edited 1 time in total.
tig
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Post by tig »

Now let's talk oil pumps.

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Do these things really wear/fail? How do you test to see if it's worn/needs replacing? Bentleys just says the pump only needs to replaced if oil pressure is low.

Do you rebuild/repair them or just replace?
tig
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Post by tig »

Got the alternator tested.

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Looks fine to my un-trained eye. Thanks Chris.
tig
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Post by tig »

Just talked to my engine guy about ensuring I was prepared with everything I needed to take him.

He indicated that rings for BMW engines might give me sticker shock. So I went to RealOEM and found the PN (11251714383) and then plugged them into AutohausAZ and they are $24.97 per cylinder (http://www.autohausaz.com/search/produc ... 1251714383).

$150 does not sound like sticker shock to me. Is this expensive for rings in general?

Until he sees the condition of the bores we won't know for sure, but as of right now I'm crossing my fingers that #6 only needs to be honed and that we won't need to overbore & put in new pistons. If that's the case, I may seek out another B35 donor as it'll likely be cheaper.

I'll be taking him the head, block, and the rest some afternoon this week... I hope.
tig
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Post by tig »

No comments on the Oil Pump?

Ok then. On to pulleys.

The donor car sat for quite some time and the pulleys have significant rust. It's not like they are rusting through, but all 4 of them are pitted and rough. The Evaporust and wire wheel cleaned them up well, but they are still rough.

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A new fan pulley is $71, a PS pulley is $43, crank pulley is $97. It adds up.

If I were to strip these all the way & powder coat them would I ever need to worry about the roughness causing pre-mature belt wear?
tig
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Post by tig »

Bought a flywheel from a guy on the forum here. It came while I was fishing last week.

It was billed as a "early 533/M5 variety". I'm not sure that's what it is, because although it weighs about 17lbs it has tabs on it, where all others I've seen are smooth all the way around.

Did I get mis-led?

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For example, here's pictures from other theads showing a 533 flywheel. Looks totally different:

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From searching and reading it appears that this is a non-motronic flywheel; there don't appear to be any motronic sensor tabs on it (though I'm not quite sure that those tabs look like because none of the pictures I've seen are very clear).

Can this flywheel be made to work with my Motronic 1.3 base B35 swap, or did I buy the wrong thing?
tig
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Post by tig »

Finally got the parts to connect my vacuum to the blast cabinet and did a quick test run of bead blasting. I'd never used a blast cabinet before so I kinda had to figure it out; 'twas not hard.

Water pump bolts:
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I still don't have a light in the blast cabinet because the one that came with it didn't have a power plug and the mini HF halogen I tried to install turned out to be defective. So I didn't get these completely clean, but I can tell that it's going to be fun going to town with this thing!

Next I need to rig up a water based dust filter for the shop-vac to keep the amount of dust picked up by the vacuum down...
Mike W.
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Post by Mike W. »

I hadn't looked at your thread in a while so I'll chime in a bit.

On the oil pump, they do wear. On the other hand I've never replaced one, but sometimes they take forever to turn the light off. Especially as you're throwing some money at it I'd spring for new gears, they seem to be available seperately, though I've never bought them.

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Rusty pulleys will trash belts, I had a Bav one time I went thru belts in a matter of weeks. Cleaned it up with what all I don't remember and it wasn't a problem again.

The flywheel looks to me like a 535 flywheel someone lightened. The back is where 533 flywheels look different, not the front, they look like 535 flywheels from that side.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Just looked at that one pic again and it's mine!
tig
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Post by tig »

Mike, on the flywheel, can you answer my ? about whether it will work.with motronic 1.3?

I have the oil pump partially disassembled. Curious where you got that diagram. Looks higher res than realoem.
mooseheadm5
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Post by mooseheadm5 »

That is not a factory lightweight m5/533 flywheel. It is a heavier stock flywheel that has been machined. it should work with m1.3
Mike W.
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Post by Mike W. »

cek wrote:Mike, on the flywheel, can you answer my ? about whether it will work.with motronic 1.3?

I have the oil pump partially disassembled. Curious where you got that diagram. Looks higher res than realoem.
The flywheel will work with 1.3, it uses a crank sensor off the harmonic balancer in front, not the flywheel. The image is off Realoem. I haven't looked lately but the last I did the gears were available separately.
tig
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Post by tig »

cek wrote:On to pulleys.

The donor car sat for quite some time and the pulleys have significant rust. It's not like they are rusting through, but all 4 of them are pitted and rough. The Evaporust and wire wheel cleaned them up well, but they are still rough.

Image

Image

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A new fan pulley is $71, a PS pulley is $43, crank pulley is $97. It adds up.

If I were to strip these all the way & powder coat them would I ever need to worry about the roughness causing pre-mature belt wear?
I spent the morning with trips to the hardware store to get stuff to make the dust trap and install light in my blast cabinet.

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To test it all out I cleaned up the pully.

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I would love to get some more opinions on whether this amount of corrosion/roughness, after powder coating will cause wear problems on belts.

Please chime in.
tig
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Post by tig »

mooseheadm5 wrote:That is not a factory lightweight m5/533 flywheel. It is a heavier stock flywheel that has been machined. it should work with m1.3
Thank you sir.

Should I have any concerns about using this given it was machined by an unknown party?
Kyle in NO
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Post by Kyle in NO »

I wouldn't touch that flywheel with a 10' pole. It's so incredibly butchered. How do you even know its still balanced properly? I would demand a refund if that junk showed up at my door.
jhall
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Post by jhall »

cek wrote: A new fan pulley is $71, a PS pulley is $43, crank pulley is $97. It adds up.


To test it all out I cleaned up the pully.

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I would love to get some more opinions on whether this amount of corrosion/roughness, after powder coating will cause wear problems on belts.

Please chime in.
Powder coat will cover the imperfections in that. Think of it like a self leveling paint (at least thats how I think of it). If the pits are heavy enough then they will still show, but I highly doubt it will lead to excessive belt wear.
ahab
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Post by ahab »

I'm with Kyle on the flywheel. I hate to be a doom and gloom kinda guy but there's far too much work involved if you end up having a problem with that one. At the very least I would take it to a machine shop and have them check and/or rebalance the thing. In any case, it's unlikely it came from an M30B32 or S38B35 since it doesn't have the pickup chunk. As others have said, that's not important to a B35 but the whole situation makes me leery and I would pursue a refund first. According to what you've said it was billed incorrectly if nothing else.
tig
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Post by tig »

ahab wrote:I'm with Kyle on the flywheel. I hate to be a doom and gloom kinda guy but there's far too much work involved if you end up having a problem with that one. At the very least I would take it to a machine shop and have them check and/or rebalance the thing. In any case, it's unlikely it came from an M30B32 or S38B35 since it doesn't have the pickup chunk. As others have said, that's not important to a B35 but the whole situation makes me leery and I would pursue a refund first. According to what you've said it was billed incorrectly if nothing else.
I've communicated with the seller. He pulled it out of his 535; it was working fine. He assumed it was a 533 flywheel.

He's willing to refund me. Not sure what I'll do yet. One option is to take it to a machine shop and have them check it, and if it's balanced, refinish it.
derrith
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Post by derrith »

Isn't that just an E34 M5 flywheel?

See this auction for pictures: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E34-M5-ligh ... vi-content
Jelmer538i
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Post by Jelmer538i »

It looks like my S38B36 flywheel.
tig
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Post by tig »

derrith wrote:Isn't that just an E34 M5 flywheel?

See this auction for pictures: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E34-M5-ligh ... vi-content
Doesn't look the same to me. I mean, the way the cutout has been done is similar, but the holes are in different places.
tig
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Post by tig »

Jelmer538i wrote:It looks like my S38B36 flywheel.
Got pics of a S38B36 flywheel?

Too bad these things don't have part numbers on them!
Mike W.
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Post by Mike W. »

Look at the back, it's a modified B34 flywheel. The S38 on Ebay had a shallow back like 533s.
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