szacsi72's 1984 Zinnoberrot 535i Build
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Wow! Apparently, I don't surf mye28 enough. This build is awesome! Love the attention to detail and super clean mods.
Curious what size rotors you're fitting front and rear???
Keep the updates coming please!
Curious what size rotors you're fitting front and rear???
Keep the updates coming please!
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Thank you for the kind words. I do try to make everything right. I hate making mistakes and doing things twice. So I normally end up doing them three times instead..Zeuropa wrote: Jun 14, 2023 12:13 AM Wow! Apparently, I don't surf mye28 enough. This build is awesome! Love the attention to detail and super clean mods.
Curious what size rotors you're fitting front and rear???
Keep the updates coming please!
I'm using 330x24mm front and 300x20mm rear. E92 328i and E34 M5.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Not many updates, I have not had any time to continue my jorney.
However, I did collect some parts in the meantime:
ECU is here:
KMCams Steg 2 + Steel Rockers:
R8 Coils:
I've also designed some stuff to go on the CNC machine for the MS3 conversion:
..and a custom distributor plate, because I really didn't like the ones on the market. They house sensors that are too fat for my liking.
Hopefully next week I'll have some time to actually continue the build...
However, I did collect some parts in the meantime:
ECU is here:
KMCams Steg 2 + Steel Rockers:
R8 Coils:
I've also designed some stuff to go on the CNC machine for the MS3 conversion:
..and a custom distributor plate, because I really didn't like the ones on the market. They house sensors that are too fat for my liking.
Hopefully next week I'll have some time to actually continue the build...
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
We'll be here.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
I am not dead! Just not alive.
Some rough months behind me, really didn't have any time whatsoever to continue the build. But I'm slowly catching up with my things, hopefully I will be able to start late november. I won't work for 3 weeks in Dec-Jan, I plan to finish most of the stuff in that period.
Some more parts hoarding until I can start.
Ditching the E36 radiator for a new Nissens E28 35i one to keep up with the performance mods:
And scored myself a set of red seatbelts!
Wuhuuu! They'll look awesome. Next year, once everything is running I'll get the door cards and seats reupholstered to match the red on black interior.
I've also bought a new B35 intake, that I'll also convert to "Alpina specs" - Just a bit nicer this time. And, my friend will help me paint that and some other items in BMW diamantschwarz for some true shine.
On my shopping list next:
E28 M5 clutch kit
RHD lightweight flywheel
Some rough months behind me, really didn't have any time whatsoever to continue the build. But I'm slowly catching up with my things, hopefully I will be able to start late november. I won't work for 3 weeks in Dec-Jan, I plan to finish most of the stuff in that period.
Some more parts hoarding until I can start.
Ditching the E36 radiator for a new Nissens E28 35i one to keep up with the performance mods:
And scored myself a set of red seatbelts!
Wuhuuu! They'll look awesome. Next year, once everything is running I'll get the door cards and seats reupholstered to match the red on black interior.
I've also bought a new B35 intake, that I'll also convert to "Alpina specs" - Just a bit nicer this time. And, my friend will help me paint that and some other items in BMW diamantschwarz for some true shine.
On my shopping list next:
E28 M5 clutch kit
RHD lightweight flywheel
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
I have a RHD flywheel in my M50 swap, it's a very nice piece
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
The E28/E34 3.6 M5 Sachs clutch kit is en route, and I have found a guy in Hungary who makes flywheels from billet steel. Turns out he's a well-known guy here and he has made tons of flywheels for tuners and companies.
This flywheel is based off the E28 M5 flywheel, just a bit lighter and I've asked him to remove some more material from around the outer edge. It should weight in right around 6.5kgs in the end, which I think will be nice for street driving. Better than the 14kg (RIDICULOUSLY HEAVY) dual mass I have. And I'll also loose around 2kgs from the crank pulley but that's a later episode.
Anyway, I finally had some time to get some wrenching done. I sold some old components/parts I no longer needed, so those had to come out:
Luckily, I had some help:
Then the next day, I removed the cylinder head.
Now, I'm not sure if I mentioned it on here but the car had some issues. It didn't run as smooth as it should have, I felt like power was not QUITE there, and it sounded bad.
However it was weird. It wasn't smooth, but not rough like if it had a misfire. The power was a bit lacking, but not like no-compression. The sound was not great, but not like a normal mechanical problem.
Many of my friends did not notice and thought that this is how an old engine runs. My dad, who's had multiple BMWs when he was younger, knew instantly something was off when he heard it.
I've also removed all plugs and noticed how #6 had some oil on it while all others were dry. There was also quite some amount of oil residue in my intake manifold..
AND one more clue: this was not always like this, AND did not go bad slowly. This happened after a burnout I did (blame me all you want, I know this is my fault however this car is not a garage queen, and not like the engine shouldn't take a light burnout... ), and after the burnout, the car suddenly run worse. I later realised my car was not properly bled.
I talked to Mike (@Mike W) earlier and after that I had the idea that this could be two things. Either I overheated the pistons, which caused the rings or ringlands to be damaged, or, I overheated the head, banana'd it/lifted it and now the head gasket is leaking. (Not blown, that, I would notice).
Interestingly enough the fuel economy after this was OK, no overheating (Fixed the cooling system), oil consumption is there, but nothing crazy. No residues in the exhaust system, doesn't smoke in any colour. Oil and water didn't mix.
So yes, I had to remove the head, to check what's going on, and here I'd like your input.
I've only drived roughly 500-600-700kms since this happened. So it may be harder to spot the issue...
The cylinder walls all appear OK to me. I can see some wear marks, however the honing marks go OVER that which to me means this is not new, the engine was rebuilt before me. I think this is perfectly fine.. It's an M30.
Surely if the rings, or ringland were damaged, broken, then I would see at least SOME minor scoring? (?? Or would I? Never had it happen.)
Unfortunately I couldn't take good pictures because there was too much flare, as I had to use my phones flash.
The cylinder head gasket didn't really show any signs of being blown, however I have to add this was not a composit gasket but an.. interesting one. Kind of like a combination of composit on the inside, alloy on the outside? It was custom made by a random guy and has NO rubber on it, whatsoever.
I'll make pictures next time I'm in the workshop, I forgot to take pictures..... sorry.
The only signs, that are interesting to me, are the colours in the combustion chambers. Let me show you:
The silver-black edges were very sharp everywhere, apart from one side in cyl #6. Looks oily, but no carbon? Remember, this is the one that had oil on the spark plug, and this comes (looks like, at least that's the direction) from between #5 and #6, which is the place I bet would let go first when overheating.
Between the cylinder, the colours were also a bit different, a bit darker. But I don't think this means much... Does it?
What do you guys think?
Could this be a leaky head gasket? And maybe I can only not see the marks because of the fact that the hole gasket is covered in aluminium, so this 500-700kms of driving just could not damage it?
Next week I will see if the block or head are warped, I just didn't have time last time.
I REALLY don't want to open up the block now; it would be so good to have some progress, it would set me back weeks.
This flywheel is based off the E28 M5 flywheel, just a bit lighter and I've asked him to remove some more material from around the outer edge. It should weight in right around 6.5kgs in the end, which I think will be nice for street driving. Better than the 14kg (RIDICULOUSLY HEAVY) dual mass I have. And I'll also loose around 2kgs from the crank pulley but that's a later episode.
Anyway, I finally had some time to get some wrenching done. I sold some old components/parts I no longer needed, so those had to come out:
Luckily, I had some help:
Then the next day, I removed the cylinder head.
Now, I'm not sure if I mentioned it on here but the car had some issues. It didn't run as smooth as it should have, I felt like power was not QUITE there, and it sounded bad.
However it was weird. It wasn't smooth, but not rough like if it had a misfire. The power was a bit lacking, but not like no-compression. The sound was not great, but not like a normal mechanical problem.
Many of my friends did not notice and thought that this is how an old engine runs. My dad, who's had multiple BMWs when he was younger, knew instantly something was off when he heard it.
I've also removed all plugs and noticed how #6 had some oil on it while all others were dry. There was also quite some amount of oil residue in my intake manifold..
AND one more clue: this was not always like this, AND did not go bad slowly. This happened after a burnout I did (blame me all you want, I know this is my fault however this car is not a garage queen, and not like the engine shouldn't take a light burnout... ), and after the burnout, the car suddenly run worse. I later realised my car was not properly bled.
I talked to Mike (@Mike W) earlier and after that I had the idea that this could be two things. Either I overheated the pistons, which caused the rings or ringlands to be damaged, or, I overheated the head, banana'd it/lifted it and now the head gasket is leaking. (Not blown, that, I would notice).
Interestingly enough the fuel economy after this was OK, no overheating (Fixed the cooling system), oil consumption is there, but nothing crazy. No residues in the exhaust system, doesn't smoke in any colour. Oil and water didn't mix.
So yes, I had to remove the head, to check what's going on, and here I'd like your input.
I've only drived roughly 500-600-700kms since this happened. So it may be harder to spot the issue...
The cylinder walls all appear OK to me. I can see some wear marks, however the honing marks go OVER that which to me means this is not new, the engine was rebuilt before me. I think this is perfectly fine.. It's an M30.
Surely if the rings, or ringland were damaged, broken, then I would see at least SOME minor scoring? (?? Or would I? Never had it happen.)
Unfortunately I couldn't take good pictures because there was too much flare, as I had to use my phones flash.
The cylinder head gasket didn't really show any signs of being blown, however I have to add this was not a composit gasket but an.. interesting one. Kind of like a combination of composit on the inside, alloy on the outside? It was custom made by a random guy and has NO rubber on it, whatsoever.
I'll make pictures next time I'm in the workshop, I forgot to take pictures..... sorry.
The only signs, that are interesting to me, are the colours in the combustion chambers. Let me show you:
The silver-black edges were very sharp everywhere, apart from one side in cyl #6. Looks oily, but no carbon? Remember, this is the one that had oil on the spark plug, and this comes (looks like, at least that's the direction) from between #5 and #6, which is the place I bet would let go first when overheating.
Between the cylinder, the colours were also a bit different, a bit darker. But I don't think this means much... Does it?
What do you guys think?
Could this be a leaky head gasket? And maybe I can only not see the marks because of the fact that the hole gasket is covered in aluminium, so this 500-700kms of driving just could not damage it?
Next week I will see if the block or head are warped, I just didn't have time last time.
I REALLY don't want to open up the block now; it would be so good to have some progress, it would set me back weeks.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Had to jump in the workshop Anyway, so snapped some pictures of the head gasket. Please take a look and let me know what you guys think.
I'm quite sure it's not OK, all those marks tell me the head shaving was a bad job and was done on a mill instead of a grinder (which in itself could be OK, however I still prefer a grinder).
And there are black marks that go over the combustion chamber area, which is again not a great sign... and black spots around different holes too.
I'm quite sure it's not OK, all those marks tell me the head shaving was a bad job and was done on a mill instead of a grinder (which in itself could be OK, however I still prefer a grinder).
And there are black marks that go over the combustion chamber area, which is again not a great sign... and black spots around different holes too.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Hmm, that oil is coming from somewhere, either the head or past the piston. Unless you find a smoking gun I think the pan needs to come off and #6 popped out for a closer look.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
The problem is that I know myelf. If the pistons come out... they don't go back in.adam_poll wrote: Nov 12, 2023 8:32 PM Hmm, that oil is coming from somewhere, either the head or past the piston. Unless you find a smoking gun I think the pan needs to come off and #6 popped out for a closer look.
I would definitely start playing around too much...
B34 pistons, and even bug pistons are now annoyingly expensive. I'd like to overbore it and rebuild it with fresh cylinder walls, but I can't find any 92.5...94.0mm pistons that are reasonable priced. And I'm not looking for some fancy forged ones, just new ones
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
szacsi72 wrote: Mar 16, 2023 12:55 PM I'd rather have an actual mechanical problem than this black magic that some call electricity.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Just get the fancy, shiny, forged pistons. You'll feel better knowing they're in there
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
This stays true, I'm still rather pulling the engine than hunting down a miracle ground fail
Oh, I definitely would feel good.. before the woman finds out where the money went that was meant for our new fence...adam_poll wrote: Nov 13, 2023 10:09 PM Just get the fancy, shiny, forged pistons. You'll feel better knowing they're in there
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Removed the old master cylinder, as the new E32 unit has arrived. This was a "why not while at it" mod for me, as I didn't really felt the need but it turned out to be a good idea because my original unit was already leaking.
And for some extra, I've just found out that my clutch MC is also leaking. Ordered a new one..
And for some extra, I've just found out that my clutch MC is also leaking. Ordered a new one..
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
In case anyone is still following this thread.
I have not posted for a while and probably won't post much for some time either.
I've had a surgery that went horribly wrong and got some serious lung damage & radiation poisoning. I'm unable to perform 95% of basic tasks as of now, the doctor said I'll take at least half a year to recover.
In the meantime, my gearbox is stuck to the engine. I have removed every bolt, removed the started, master cylinder, etc. I tried moving it up and down with a floor jack, and prying it lightly. There is now a 1mm gap, so I'm 100% sure it's not connected but it's not coming off.
The transmission I believe is currently in third. Could that be an issue? Did they just rust together?
Thanks for your input.
David
I have not posted for a while and probably won't post much for some time either.
I've had a surgery that went horribly wrong and got some serious lung damage & radiation poisoning. I'm unable to perform 95% of basic tasks as of now, the doctor said I'll take at least half a year to recover.
In the meantime, my gearbox is stuck to the engine. I have removed every bolt, removed the started, master cylinder, etc. I tried moving it up and down with a floor jack, and prying it lightly. There is now a 1mm gap, so I'm 100% sure it's not connected but it's not coming off.
The transmission I believe is currently in third. Could that be an issue? Did they just rust together?
Thanks for your input.
David
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Geez, I'm sorry to hear that - health problems are big issues.
I had a gearbox stuck to an engine, had to use a bunch of bolts to press it off. The end of the input shaft had rusted and gotten stuck in the pilot bearing, I broke the clutch disk during removal.
Best of luck with recovery!
I had a gearbox stuck to an engine, had to use a bunch of bolts to press it off. The end of the input shaft had rusted and gotten stuck in the pilot bearing, I broke the clutch disk during removal.
Best of luck with recovery!
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
oooh man, that sounds awful. Hope you make a good recovery. Radiation poisoning is no joke, don't let it go unattended.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Praying for a quick recovery.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Hope your health issues get resolved soon and to your benefit.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Thanks for the support guys. I'm a bit better now, I can walk and eat and whatnot, just don't have any power - both physically and mentally - but my friend is coming over tomorrow to help a bit, so that the project can continue. I'll need to wait quite a lot for the machine shop Anyway, so I really want to at least get the engine block and cylinder head there..
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
I'm also wishing you a restful and full recovery.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Thanks Mdreamer!
So my friend came over on Saturday, and "helped me" (read: did everything while I observed.) Here are some updated.
1. Good news: All the pistons, and rings came out undamaged. So my fear of having broken rings or damanged pistons is gone. There's some wear, and minor scrape on all pistons. I will measure the cylinders and pistons next week and see how bad the wear is, and continue after I've got the data.
I'm also considering coating them with Cerakote C110 and C186. I don't think it would gain much, I'm mostly just interested in the technology, + the skirt coating could help with the minor wear and scrathes. We'll see!
2. news: we removed the clutch and flywheel and had quite a surprise. When I bought this powertrain - engine to transmission - I was told "resurfaced, double mass flywheel, with a new sachs clutch".
Well, the flywheel wasn't resurfaced, apart from some angle grinder signs... , the clutch wasn't new and it wasn't a double mass. Which would normally make me happy, since I got a single mass flywheel, BUT it's basically trash. And I wondered why it felt a bit odd and a bit shakey...
I forgot to take a picture of the clutch disc, but it's a non-sprung one. Well, that explains some unwanted noises... and while it shaked when pulling out of first gear. And I tried to blame the driveshaft.. into the trash it goes. New clutch and flywheel are waiting for me anyway!
3. bad news: cylinder #4 had a conrod bearing failure. Yet again, I forgot to take a picture, which I will make up for later. But it's worn down to the copper/bronze base, and when fitted without the crankshaft, I can visually see that it's oval and bent. AND YET, the crankshaft is in perfect shape.
Maybe the head gasket issue wasn't that bad after all, or else, I wouldn't have pulled the engine. I really don't know how I did not notice this, I had oil pressure, and there was no knocking sound at all.
Anyway, I'll measure and polish the crankshaft and get new bearings.
I'll disassamble the cylinder head when I have some time - and when I feel better, then the head and the block are off to the machine shop! Both will be skimmed for higher compression ratio, and the block will recieve a clean-up honing.
4. This is just interesting: I yet again got SUPER LUCKY! Do you see anything missing here? No? Yes? Welp, I've lost the king nut while driving. Luckily, nothing was sent to the sky... this could've ended badly!
I'll NEVER install anything again without checking every single bolt and myself.
Until next time!
So my friend came over on Saturday, and "helped me" (read: did everything while I observed.) Here are some updated.
1. Good news: All the pistons, and rings came out undamaged. So my fear of having broken rings or damanged pistons is gone. There's some wear, and minor scrape on all pistons. I will measure the cylinders and pistons next week and see how bad the wear is, and continue after I've got the data.
I'm also considering coating them with Cerakote C110 and C186. I don't think it would gain much, I'm mostly just interested in the technology, + the skirt coating could help with the minor wear and scrathes. We'll see!
2. news: we removed the clutch and flywheel and had quite a surprise. When I bought this powertrain - engine to transmission - I was told "resurfaced, double mass flywheel, with a new sachs clutch".
Well, the flywheel wasn't resurfaced, apart from some angle grinder signs... , the clutch wasn't new and it wasn't a double mass. Which would normally make me happy, since I got a single mass flywheel, BUT it's basically trash. And I wondered why it felt a bit odd and a bit shakey...
I forgot to take a picture of the clutch disc, but it's a non-sprung one. Well, that explains some unwanted noises... and while it shaked when pulling out of first gear. And I tried to blame the driveshaft.. into the trash it goes. New clutch and flywheel are waiting for me anyway!
3. bad news: cylinder #4 had a conrod bearing failure. Yet again, I forgot to take a picture, which I will make up for later. But it's worn down to the copper/bronze base, and when fitted without the crankshaft, I can visually see that it's oval and bent. AND YET, the crankshaft is in perfect shape.
Maybe the head gasket issue wasn't that bad after all, or else, I wouldn't have pulled the engine. I really don't know how I did not notice this, I had oil pressure, and there was no knocking sound at all.
Anyway, I'll measure and polish the crankshaft and get new bearings.
I'll disassamble the cylinder head when I have some time - and when I feel better, then the head and the block are off to the machine shop! Both will be skimmed for higher compression ratio, and the block will recieve a clean-up honing.
4. This is just interesting: I yet again got SUPER LUCKY! Do you see anything missing here? No? Yes? Welp, I've lost the king nut while driving. Luckily, nothing was sent to the sky... this could've ended badly!
I'll NEVER install anything again without checking every single bolt and myself.
Until next time!
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
That's a VERY clean engine bay!
Love the way it looks.
Love the way it looks.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Thanks, I'm about to destroy it. There's some paint damage here and there, one spot has some minor rust, there's some cracks - looks good, but bothers me in person - I want every part to be perfect, so I'll respray it! I'm also installing new brackets for the hood struts, since mine were previously deleted, and there's already plenty of bumps on my head.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
While the components I need to continue with the engine build are on their way, I've decided on the interior.
Black headliner ✓
Red seatbelts ✓
Red stitching ✓
Red gauges/needles ✓
Black plastics ✓
E34 sport seats ✓
And the last piece of the puzzle:
M-Rain cloth fabric for the seats with black sides and middle for the rear seats; and also M-rain for the door cards.
I think it will match nicely.
Black headliner ✓
Red seatbelts ✓
Red stitching ✓
Red gauges/needles ✓
Black plastics ✓
E34 sport seats ✓
And the last piece of the puzzle:
M-Rain cloth fabric for the seats with black sides and middle for the rear seats; and also M-rain for the door cards.
I think it will match nicely.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
I'm feeling better and better, so todays program was measurements.
I removed most components from the cylinder head to prepare it for the machine shop, and measured the piston and cylinder wear to see if I can reuse them.
Before I get going with that, here are the pictures of the rod bearing on cyl4. As you can see it's really worn, and even deformed. I'm not sure how, and why only cyl4 is like this, probably lack of oil from a blocked oil path? Possibly. I will never know, but this engine did NOT live an easy life, that's for sure, and you'll see soon as you scroll....
Surprise #1:
I was looking at this piston and something was odd. I looked at the other pistons and noticed that only this one had a relief cut for the exhaust... wait! That's not a relief cut! Someone lost a valve before me... must have been a different head, the valve looks intact.
Surprise #2:
As I was disassemblying the head, I finally had a good look at the camshaft. I knew that there was quite some wear on cyl1, (the rest are barely worn - maybe it had a banjo fail somewhen..), but I didn't expect it to be this bad. The wear on cyl1 exhaust lobe measured exactly 0.6mm, which means roughly 0.8mm in lift. No wonder it idled like it had a hotcam..
Surprise #3:
There was one spring that was different to the others. It was much stiffer. I don't think it would have caused any issues, but I'm glad I caught it. Probably doesn't help with wear!
Surprise #4:
I've never seen an original BMW rocker this worn. This one is cyl1 exhaust, the one that had the wear on the camshaft, so it's understandable..:
But this one is even worse, this is cyl5 intake. The camshaft is barely worn, or damaged! No idea how this happened but I think probably this head (and the whole engine basically) was just thrown together from random components they had laying around... I guess it shows. It lived 5000kms-ish.
Wear on the eccentrics was quite normal:
That's all for the head now. Needed to see what I'm dealing with - time to measure!
There was some scoring (scuffing?) on all 6 pistons, but neither of them looked too bad and they aren't too deep. Almost all older M30 pistons look like this, so I'm not too worried (but let me know if you think otherwise!), probably a lot of cold starts.
I won't bore you with the process, here are the numbers:
Regarding the pistons, I'm quite satisfied. On average, I'm at 40% of their life based on the 0.15 "wear limit". Good for another... who even knows how many kilometers... a lot of.
The cylinder wear isn't too bad either, but the sides appear polished and I can't see the honing marks, so it's far from new. Unfortunately, I'm just over the limit... BMW states that out of roundness should be 0.01mm max, and multiple cylinders measured in at 0.015mm.
Cylinder taper is good, not out of the limit anywhere.
Based on these values, I'm considering asking my machinist to hone my cylinders to 92.04mm.
I would still be within reasonable clearances (0.15mm service limit for the piston, remember), but it would remove the leftover taper and out of roundness. Plus, it needs a cleanup and re-hone anyway...
Guys with M30 experience... Let me know what you think!
I'll talk about compression ratio and how much I want to deck the parts in the next post...
I removed most components from the cylinder head to prepare it for the machine shop, and measured the piston and cylinder wear to see if I can reuse them.
Before I get going with that, here are the pictures of the rod bearing on cyl4. As you can see it's really worn, and even deformed. I'm not sure how, and why only cyl4 is like this, probably lack of oil from a blocked oil path? Possibly. I will never know, but this engine did NOT live an easy life, that's for sure, and you'll see soon as you scroll....
Surprise #1:
I was looking at this piston and something was odd. I looked at the other pistons and noticed that only this one had a relief cut for the exhaust... wait! That's not a relief cut! Someone lost a valve before me... must have been a different head, the valve looks intact.
Surprise #2:
As I was disassemblying the head, I finally had a good look at the camshaft. I knew that there was quite some wear on cyl1, (the rest are barely worn - maybe it had a banjo fail somewhen..), but I didn't expect it to be this bad. The wear on cyl1 exhaust lobe measured exactly 0.6mm, which means roughly 0.8mm in lift. No wonder it idled like it had a hotcam..
Surprise #3:
There was one spring that was different to the others. It was much stiffer. I don't think it would have caused any issues, but I'm glad I caught it. Probably doesn't help with wear!
Surprise #4:
I've never seen an original BMW rocker this worn. This one is cyl1 exhaust, the one that had the wear on the camshaft, so it's understandable..:
But this one is even worse, this is cyl5 intake. The camshaft is barely worn, or damaged! No idea how this happened but I think probably this head (and the whole engine basically) was just thrown together from random components they had laying around... I guess it shows. It lived 5000kms-ish.
Wear on the eccentrics was quite normal:
That's all for the head now. Needed to see what I'm dealing with - time to measure!
There was some scoring (scuffing?) on all 6 pistons, but neither of them looked too bad and they aren't too deep. Almost all older M30 pistons look like this, so I'm not too worried (but let me know if you think otherwise!), probably a lot of cold starts.
I won't bore you with the process, here are the numbers:
Regarding the pistons, I'm quite satisfied. On average, I'm at 40% of their life based on the 0.15 "wear limit". Good for another... who even knows how many kilometers... a lot of.
The cylinder wear isn't too bad either, but the sides appear polished and I can't see the honing marks, so it's far from new. Unfortunately, I'm just over the limit... BMW states that out of roundness should be 0.01mm max, and multiple cylinders measured in at 0.015mm.
Cylinder taper is good, not out of the limit anywhere.
Based on these values, I'm considering asking my machinist to hone my cylinders to 92.04mm.
I would still be within reasonable clearances (0.15mm service limit for the piston, remember), but it would remove the leftover taper and out of roundness. Plus, it needs a cleanup and re-hone anyway...
Guys with M30 experience... Let me know what you think!
I'll talk about compression ratio and how much I want to deck the parts in the next post...
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
So, regarding the compression ratios.
My plan is to basically up the compression, as I will be running a medium-hot cam, to have a higher than original dynamic compression ratio. I don't want the engine to react sluggish at low RPM - which is something that I've seen happen with the combination of a hot cam and low compression.
I also measured out the B35 Alkan pistons to have a dome volume of 6.6cc.
Interestingly enough (I still can't get over this) the values I get are higher than the stated BMW values. Either the head CC is wrong, or BMW lied.
Anyway, I measured my cylinder head to be 128.8mm and the block to be 217.4mm.
My plan is to shave off 0.3mm from the head (to be at -0.5mm from the original of 129.0mm), and the block 0.2mm (to be at -0.3mm of the original of 217.5mm).
This should give me a dynamics compression ratio of 9.03, while the original is 8.74.
I will probably need to mill the pistons for the valves...
My plan is to basically up the compression, as I will be running a medium-hot cam, to have a higher than original dynamic compression ratio. I don't want the engine to react sluggish at low RPM - which is something that I've seen happen with the combination of a hot cam and low compression.
I also measured out the B35 Alkan pistons to have a dome volume of 6.6cc.
Interestingly enough (I still can't get over this) the values I get are higher than the stated BMW values. Either the head CC is wrong, or BMW lied.
Anyway, I measured my cylinder head to be 128.8mm and the block to be 217.4mm.
My plan is to shave off 0.3mm from the head (to be at -0.5mm from the original of 129.0mm), and the block 0.2mm (to be at -0.3mm of the original of 217.5mm).
This should give me a dynamics compression ratio of 9.03, while the original is 8.74.
I will probably need to mill the pistons for the valves...
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Very interesting.
What are the cam specs and what's the new CR?
What are the cam specs and what's the new CR?
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Cam specs are:
KMCams Steg 2
290°/290°, 10.2mm/10.2mm, 110°/110°
https://kmcams.com/products/bmw-735-528 ... m30-steg-2
The new static compression ratio is just a hair under 10.0:1.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Cheers. Looking forward to future updates.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
It will hopefully come soon! I will try to detail the engine build as much as I can
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Had some time to completely disassemble the head.
The goal is to do all the modifications now, so once it's back from the machine shop, I can clean it and install it, without worrying of particles and/or damaging the surface.
I re-tapped every thread to clean them up, and sanded all the mating surfaces with 400grit. Prior to that, I soda blasted the whole head to make my job easier.
Now that it's empty, I can prepare for the head porting. I'm not doing anything crazy - no need to reinvent the wheel. The most important thing is port matching the intake manifold. The gasket is 95% accurate compared to the actual head port, so you can see that there's quite some material that needs to be removed. In some areas, the lip is as big as 2mm... To help with the porting, I scanned the gasket, and drew the new port shape I'm looking to create.
upload pic
Apart from that, I'll just smoothen out the ports with 120 grit on both sides, and blend in the guide a bit more.
However I don't know what to do on the exhaust site. The headers I bought have a larger than stock port, which means that if I want to take advantage of that - and match the cylinder head port to it - I'll need custom, bigger port gaskets. That's not a problem, but then I'd loose the heat shield. So I guess I'll need to make a custom heat shield too, that I'll mount OVER the manifold - not under, like the stock one.
It's not the end of the worlds, just a bit more work that I don't want to do, this build it taking forever already Anyway.
As I could not start with the porting but still had some time, I took a closer look at the KMcams rockers. They are gas nitrided, which leaves the surface finish a bit dull. KMcams states that it's fine, and I can see why. This is after roughly 30 seconds of polishing with a car paint polishing compound. It's nice underneath, and the coating will probably come off in the first 15 seconds when the engine is finally started...
Of course that doesn't stop me from pre-polishing them. I'll get some 2000, 4000 sanding blocks and hit every single one of them, then some polishing compound. I'm doing this because in my head, I have this idea that this will help with the break in - I hope for a smoother initial finish on the cam - the materials from the dull finish will go somewhere! Either into my oil, or onto my camshaft. Don't want neither!
Second, I hope this will help minimize the valve gap enlarging, so the valve train won't get too loud too quickly, before I do my 1000km valve adjustment.
And of course, parts are slowly but surely being collected... I want every single piece laying on my desk before I start the assembly.
The goal is to do all the modifications now, so once it's back from the machine shop, I can clean it and install it, without worrying of particles and/or damaging the surface.
I re-tapped every thread to clean them up, and sanded all the mating surfaces with 400grit. Prior to that, I soda blasted the whole head to make my job easier.
Now that it's empty, I can prepare for the head porting. I'm not doing anything crazy - no need to reinvent the wheel. The most important thing is port matching the intake manifold. The gasket is 95% accurate compared to the actual head port, so you can see that there's quite some material that needs to be removed. In some areas, the lip is as big as 2mm... To help with the porting, I scanned the gasket, and drew the new port shape I'm looking to create.
upload pic
Apart from that, I'll just smoothen out the ports with 120 grit on both sides, and blend in the guide a bit more.
However I don't know what to do on the exhaust site. The headers I bought have a larger than stock port, which means that if I want to take advantage of that - and match the cylinder head port to it - I'll need custom, bigger port gaskets. That's not a problem, but then I'd loose the heat shield. So I guess I'll need to make a custom heat shield too, that I'll mount OVER the manifold - not under, like the stock one.
It's not the end of the worlds, just a bit more work that I don't want to do, this build it taking forever already Anyway.
As I could not start with the porting but still had some time, I took a closer look at the KMcams rockers. They are gas nitrided, which leaves the surface finish a bit dull. KMcams states that it's fine, and I can see why. This is after roughly 30 seconds of polishing with a car paint polishing compound. It's nice underneath, and the coating will probably come off in the first 15 seconds when the engine is finally started...
Of course that doesn't stop me from pre-polishing them. I'll get some 2000, 4000 sanding blocks and hit every single one of them, then some polishing compound. I'm doing this because in my head, I have this idea that this will help with the break in - I hope for a smoother initial finish on the cam - the materials from the dull finish will go somewhere! Either into my oil, or onto my camshaft. Don't want neither!
Second, I hope this will help minimize the valve gap enlarging, so the valve train won't get too loud too quickly, before I do my 1000km valve adjustment.
And of course, parts are slowly but surely being collected... I want every single piece laying on my desk before I start the assembly.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
I love reading about your engine build. And super sorry to hear about your health setback.
Wishing you the best recovery, and the best with the motor and car.
It’s always a moment of truth when you start a motor you’ve rebuilt, wondering if every bolt was torqued, did I forget anything etc.
Wishing you the best recovery, and the best with the motor and car.
It’s always a moment of truth when you start a motor you’ve rebuilt, wondering if every bolt was torqued, did I forget anything etc.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Thank you. It took a good turn, I'm recovering very well. Physically, I'm pretty much recovered, apart from wound on my head, that I need to watch out for; and of course, I've lost a lot of body weight, so I'm very weak. But it's getting better.gwb72tii wrote: Mar 19, 2024 7:51 AM I love reading about your engine build. And super sorry to hear about your health setback.
Wishing you the best recovery, and the best with the motor and car.
It’s always a moment of truth when you start a motor you’ve rebuilt, wondering if every bolt was torqued, did I forget anything etc.
Mentally I'm fine, just constantly tired. I forget too many things, make mistakes and I'm slow. So therefore, I'm also not back to work yet. It would not be fair to ask for my wage and only do 50%.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Good news, glad to hear it.szacsi72 wrote: Mar 19, 2024 8:49 AM
Thank you. It took a good turn, I'm recovering very well. Physically, I'm pretty much recovered, apart from wound on my head, that I need to watch out for; and of course, I've lost a lot of body weight, so I'm very weak. But it's getting better.
Mentally I'm fine, just constantly tired...
I can empathize having recently gone thru a major event.
My bitch about the whole thing is we don't heal as quickly the older we get and typically don't get back to pre-event strength and stamina points.
Lovin' the fact that the build continues.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
I'm still young so I'm recovering OK, but it feels like if I had suddenly become 10 years older. My luck is that I started to hit the gym last year, so I had a couple extra kgs to spare. Came in handy when I could only eat pudding for 3 weeks!1st 5er wrote: Mar 19, 2024 9:22 AM
Good news, glad to hear it.szacsi72 wrote: Mar 19, 2024 8:49 AM
Thank you. It took a good turn, I'm recovering very well. Physically, I'm pretty much recovered, apart from wound on my head, that I need to watch out for; and of course, I've lost a lot of body weight, so I'm very weak. But it's getting better.
Mentally I'm fine, just constantly tired...
I can empathize having recently gone thru a major event.
My bitch about the whole thing is we don't heal as quickly the older we get and typically don't get back to pre-event strength and stamina points.
Lovin' the fact that the build continues.
Glad to hear you're OK as well!
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
I’d like to see some pics of your exhaust system once it’s in place.
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Sure! Will post!gwb72tii wrote: Mar 20, 2024 11:09 PM I’d like to see some pics of your exhaust system once it’s in place.
I'm planning on running the following:
Schmiedmann headers (42mm OD) into 2x50mm, x-pipe, two small flex pipes, a long middle resonator and a reasonably big rear muffler. It will be similar to a supersprint; but since I have the tools (and skills?) to make it myself, I'll happily save a good 1500Euros on a set of pipes
Re: szacsi72's E28 535i build thread - "The Reddie"
Cool, thanks.I have a full Supersprint to install and I am somewhat anxious about the mounting pieces that will need to be fabricated and welded, but it should be similar to yours.
I was looking at the same header as yours too so I'm curious to what it all looks like when installed. Good looking header.
I was looking at the same header as yours too so I'm curious to what it all looks like when installed. Good looking header.