In reply to crankwalk (Forum Supporter) :
Long story short, took it to PBIR a "few" years ago and it drove pretty well for a car with a couple of worn bushings. On the way back, I stopped at a gas station and someone called me, I was outside of the car talking to them for half hour and the engine running ... the SPAL fan was off and it overheated. I dont know if it was because of the idling as it never overheated before or the track abuse.
I limped it home 30 miles or so away, took me 3 hours to get home and at the end probably ignored a few extra stops. After checking all hoses and stuff a couple of days later I went to Autozone and rented one of those things you put on the radiator and it tells you whether combustion gases are making it into the coolant. It was positive.
It sat ever since and I have driven it a mile or less on a bimonthly basis.
In the meantime, I acquired this:
S54? Thinking of doing the ole swappy/swappy into the E36?
trumant (Forum Supporter) said:
S54? Thinking of doing the ole swappy/swappy into the E36?
Yes, S54 out of a 2002 e46 M3.
I want to fix the head gasket first in order to get the most out of the S52 money wise. After its fixed and running I will swap in the S54.
Looking forward to seeing how your progress goes on all fronts. I've got both a 96 E36 with the S52 and an 02 E46 M3 so certainly hoping to learn from your journey here.
In reply to trumant (Forum Supporter) :
I have been collecting all the needed parts in the last few years, worst case I also have an e46 to borrow parts from and test 
Nice! I've been prepping my car for an s54 swap for the last 3 years or so. I ordered some of the first swap parts today. Definitely watching this with interest
nsogiba
New Reader
8/20/20 12:04 p.m.
Been fun following your journey with the car! Can't wait to see the S54 go in.
Radiator emptied. No surprises here.
Ended up with a somewhat organized garage, the only part missing in the picture below are the intake and wipers:
Off to cook dinner, depending on how I feel after dinner I will keep going and remove the exhaust manifold. Otherwise tomorrow it is as I am staying home to help my wife with the kids and the first day of school.
Excellent thread. Its nice to be able to dive into a project when you're not under a time crunch and be able to do things in a stress free manner.
In reply to FatMongo :
Its true that I was in no rush to get this fixed as it still run, but now that its apart I would like to get it back together as soon as possible.
The longer I leave cars apart, the less chances they ever get put back together lol.
There is always one that ruins the party.
Was a headstud. It was from the air pump piping
Damnit, that stud still goes through the manifold.
No big deal, all out and it pulls away from the head nicely.
Once the air pump piping was off, removing the rest of the studs was a piece of cake. The S54 in the e46 was a total pita in comparison.
Had to go to the office for a minute but when I returned I put a couple of more hours of work in.
- Removed the valve cover
- Intake cam cover
- Found TDC on piston 1 (closest to radiator)
I then tried to lock the flywheel and the problems started.
Top dead center found:
Got my fancy tools that I acquired on Amazon out:
Found the hole to lock the flywheel just under the starter. Mine had a cap that is usually missing:
The cool cover proceded to explode as soon as I touched it and I had to fish all the remaing plastic carefully:
Went to install the pin and ... no luck. I tried everything that came to mind:
- Checking whether I was at TDC or not as the crank spins 2x per ever cam rev. No luck.
- Rocked the engine back and forth with a 22mm on the crank bolt. No luck.
- Used various sized screwdrivers to feel the flywheel. No luck.
- Spun the engine 720 degrees while feeling with a screwdriver. No luck.
Finally I called Joe, the guy I bought the car from 8 years ago. He was amazed I had his phone number and happy I still had the car.
Aftermarket lightnened flywheel was the answer. I guess they did not bothered putting the hole in. Doh.
Ok, whatever its not going anywhere, I will just lock the cams. Make sure everything is where it should be and install the blocks on the cams:
Again, they will not line up no matter what. Cheap crappy tools are crappy. I should have bought the BMW tool.
You can see below the screw will not fit. I will machine the connecting piece tomorrow and once the head is off I will design/machine a proper tool. People should not be buying cheap crap like this when a quality US made part can be made for the same price or less.
I just gave up for the night.
Will get at it again tomorrow.
BTW, if anyone knows the BMW part number for the factory tool please post it here.
I have been trying to find it and all I see are cheap replicas like I have.
edit. I think this might be the part number:
BMW 113240
Super frustrating I'm sure. May the tool gods smile on you.
I've had good luck with the Schwaben kit that ECSTuning sells. I've used it twice now with no issues for VANOS related things.
In reply to Turbine :
I modified the one I had, I think it will work.
I opened up the hole slightly and widened the slot.
After modifying the piece twice, it now fits. But the exhaust cam is slightly off and the block is not flush to the head.
Either the chain is stretched or the Vanos off or no idea. The car run fine.
I am taking the Vanos off. Wish me luck.
I was somewhat concerned with the tools not sitting flush against the head and decided to look for help:
Found it:
And now we are good. I used a 23mm btw.
