E46 engine-out service, what should I replace while I'm in there?

I just pulled the engine (M54B30) out of my E46 330i chasing a broken bell-housing bolt (clutch replacement scope creep). Now that the offending bolt is drilled-out, what's the best practice preventative maintenance before I put the engine back in?

for background, it's a track/rallycross car (not a daily driver), I'm not looking to spend money for the sake of it, but I'd like for this to be the last major service for the next 2 years so I can finally get some seat time. Last year I did the standard cooling system refresh (thermostat, radiator & hoses, expansion tank) and safety wired the oil pump nut. I've had it for 2 years and it was pretty neglected when I received it. No maintenance history from the PO.

Currently planned: 

• rear main seal (slight leak)
• oil level sensor (slight leak)
• dipstick tube gasket (dumping oil)
• valve cover gasket & grommets (leaking)
• oil filter housing gasket (preventative)
• power steering pump housing (leaking)
• flywheel & clutch

Scope creep, worth it?

• Vanos seals (no known symptoms, purely preventative)
• DISA valve rebuild (no known symptoms, purely preventative)
• Oil pan baffle (unlikely)
• oil pump shaft upgrade (unlikely)
• heater core hoses (no visual degradation, likely original)
• Anything else that is best done w/ the engine out?

I plan on dropping the rev limiter to 6500 (currently 6850 IRRC, it's a ZHP) to ensure the engine stays together. I think a safety wired oil pump nut is adequate at those revs from what I can gather. It doesn't sit on very sticky tires (300 TW) and likely won't see stickier than 200 TW in the future. I'm on stock coils & bilstein dampers, stock sways (might upgrade the sways), so I don't think an oil pan baffle is worth the effort either.

What says the hive?

Pictures, of course:

and the borked bell-housing bolt drilled out (sloppily)

First, do the whole CCV system - the valve, all four hoses, O-rings on the distribution piece, and blow out the distribution piece and the port on the valve cover gasket. When you have the dipstick guide tube out, inspect it carefully - it's a tube-within-a-tube, with the drain from the CCV running in the gap; this is usually blocked up. Either blast it out with brake cleaner, or (the preferred solution) cut the tube below the CCV drain port and remove the inner portion, then weld it back together (there's an updated part that does this, but it's expensive). Make sure the drain tube O-ring and all CCV hoses are properly seated or you'll end up with annoying vacuum leaks.

I would also strongly suggest what's come to be known as the "02Pilot mod", which is just a length of vacuum line from the unused port on the CCV to the unused port on the back of the intake manifold, but this is easily accessed from the top with the engine installed.

Front sub-frame reinforcement around the engine mounts.

In reply to Fupdiggity (Forum Supporter) :

Now that the offending bolt is drilled-out, what's the best practice preventative maintenance

Anti-seize

Water pump?

I was going to suggest rod bearings until I saw it was an M54. 

You'll be fine without the oil pump shaft.  Oil pan baffle probably OK also - just overfill some.  Didn't see mileage but DISA (get the right brand - it matters a lot!) is probably on the list, but can also be done later.  Water pump makes sense (and thermostat - even if you replace with new plastic).  Coolant hoses when it goes back in.  Call our guys at BimmerWorld for more input - we have had our hands in a lot of those and they may be able to expand on things I may be overlooking.

thanks for all the suggestions. I forgot to add, water pump was done last year as part of a cooling system refresh. I hadn't even considered the front subframe reinforcement, now you've got me pondering adding that to the list.  I did the rear subframe mount reinforcements last year (everthing minus the RTAB pockets).

02Pilot said:

First, do the whole CCV system - the valve, all four hoses, O-rings on the distribution piece, and blow out the distribution piece and the port on the valve cover gasket. When you have the dipstick guide tube out, inspect it carefully - it's a tube-within-a-tube, with the drain from the CCV running in the gap; this is usually blocked up. Either blast it out with brake cleaner, or (the preferred solution) cut the tube below the CCV drain port and remove the inner portion, then weld it back together (there's an updated part that does this, but it's expensive). Make sure the drain tube O-ring and all CCV hoses are properly seated or you'll end up with annoying vacuum leaks.

I would also strongly suggest what's come to be known as the "02Pilot mod", which is just a length of vacuum line from the unused port on the CCV to the unused port on the back of the intake manifold, but this is easily accessed from the top with the engine installed.

Good suggestion, I had forgotten about the CCV system. I had heard of your namesake mod in previous googling, i'll look into that as well.

jamesclay said:

You'll be fine without the oil pump shaft.  Oil pan baffle probably OK also - just overfill some.  Didn't see mileage but DISA (get the right brand - it matters a lot!) is probably on the list, but can also be done later.  Water pump makes sense (and thermostat - even if you replace with new plastic).  Coolant hoses when it goes back in.  Call our guys at BimmerWorld for more input - we have had our hands in a lot of those and they may be able to expand on things I may be overlooking.

Car has about 155k on it. I was thinking about a DISA refresh kit, i'll move that from the "maybe" to the "yes" list. 

I'm still on the fence with the oil pan baffle. Now is definitely the right time, but I can't weld aluminum so I'd be looking at $350 for a completed pan. Figure in a new gasket, shipping (2 ways, core return) i'm probably in it for $450. Ouch.

S54 swap? :)

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

S54 swap? :)

 

You mispelled K24 swap. 

+1 on the DISA upgrade, although really has nothing to do with engine-out. I like the GAS setup.

For engine-out:

I'd go ahead and do the VANOS seals. You will never know they're deteriorating until terminal, and I've been surprised how much better the VANOS motors run with fresh seals when I thought there was nothing wrong. Plus there's something to be said for accurate baseline cam timing. Been happy with the GAS "personal" cam timing tools.

Absolutely MUST replace all of the plastic heater pipes, especially since you've already had to replace other cooling system parts at that mileage. They are no fun in-car and usually require intake removal. I really wish someone made forever-option replacements. This was a particularly stupid place for the BMW innovators to use inexpensive and biodegradable materials. The cost vs ruined track weekend penalty with a dose of "why did past me not do that? Arghhh!" is a steep ratio.

Along the lines of avoiding in-car intake removal, make sure all the vacuum caps and other rubber vacuum bits are in 100% condition. Same goes for anything you might want to do to the starter.

If anything on the FEAD is tired, now is a good time for a refresh. Likewise no fun in-car, almost certain radiator removal required.

You're already doing the rear main seal, which I would consider mandatory. I only use the BMW OE teflon seals now after having two aftermarket ones start leaking after only a few months of service--one was Elring, one was Corteco. Go figure, the VR one I used in my M20 15 years ago was OK... Be sure to use quality thread sealer on the flywheel bolt threads after a good cleaning (or new bolts).

DirtyBird222 said:

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

S54 swap? :)

 

You mispelled K24 swap. 

LS swap, you amateurs :)

Having just been through this with a 530, if the valve cover is leaking it's probably cracked.  Old engine was cracked, replacement engine with 118k miles was also cracked.  Both were cracked on the exhaust side, near the back.  

DISA valve and CCV valve and hoses are a must.  I would do the oil pump shaft and gear upgrade for the B30, vs just wiring the pump nut, if you're going to mess with it.  They usually just shear on the big engine in motorsports use vs the nut backing off.

VANOS seals might be good, but it's an involved procedure and you need timing tools.  If you're pulling the crank pulley for FMS replacement and doing vanos, then you're stripping the whole front of the engine and you might as well do tensioners and timing chain guides.  Major scope-creep.  

Edit:  Oil pan gasket is a major PITA in the car, so obviously do it.  Be careful with the bolts, even with a torque wrench I snapped a couple before resorting to using my 'about 10-15' lb-ft feels-about-right gauge.  Dont forget to put a dab of sealant on the front and rear corners. 

OFH gasket- mine had the consistency of bakelite and took a lot of careful work with a pick to clear out the fossilized remains.  Must-do.

Power steering housing - this is usually the terminus for leakage from the hoses and resevoir.  It may not actually be leaking.  I would do the return hose and feed hoses to the PS cooler and call it good.  

I had a hard time finding the plastic coolant transfer pipe under the intake and just had to send it.  Supply chain issues.

Ha, no engine swaps this time around! 

I went ahead and ordered a DISA valve refresh kit, CCV and plastic coolant pipes are on the list. Regarding VANOs seals, the writups I've seen don't show a need for any specialized tools or timing work, am I missing something?

OFH gasket is ordered & on the list, oil pan gasket re-done last year and isn't leaking. I also did the front harmonic balancer at that time (stock had slipped), I don't recall if I did the front main seal, no plans to take the front of the motor apart.

Question: last year running HDPE at VIR i saw the oil light flicker a few times at idle after a session. My instructor was a BMW guy and recommended thicker weight oil (vs the 5w40 that i was running). We did an oil change (15W40 or 50) and the problem mostly went away, but I did see it flicker at least once again that weekend (I had another 8 20-25 minute sessions). I had already replaced the oil pressure sensor, so that's ruled out. Since the motor's out of the car, no way to check w/ an actual pressure gauge. Is it worth a preventative rod-bearing replacement or is that just throwing money at something that might not be a problem?

In reply to Fupdiggity (Forum Supporter) :

I just replaced my heater pipes. To clean the ports in the head and oil cooler I used a wheel cylinder hone. Worked like a charm. Beats trying to scrape out coolant crud.

If you just want to do VANOS seals, yeah, no cam timing involved. It's 1-star difficulty level. You will need a T-30 bit to get the screws out of the helix cups and they are LEFT HAND thread. If you also want to adjust mechanical cam/sprocket timing to compensate for chain stretch, you'll need tools. That whole process is probably 4-star but easy if you're used to dealing with engine building.

Be careful increasing oil weight that much. It will put lots of stress on the oil pump, especially cold. Precision mechanisms like VANOS are also designed to work specifically with the thinner multigrade oil. Consider adding a cooler instead to keep oil temp and viscosity where it should be.

I would be tempted to do rod bearing in a track rat. This is what mine looked like after 180k of street mileage with a B grade for maintenance:

Well I finally got back to working on the car (major house reno has been the priority) and pulled the oil pan to inspect. Here's pictures from two of the lower rod bearings. I'm past my level of experience here so I'm not quite sure what to look for. They have some visual marks (pitting on one, a line/scratch on the other) but I can't feel anything with my fingernail.

My options at this point are:

1) pull the rest, inspect, if they look similar, reassemble w/ new rod bolts & run it

2) same as above, but plastigauge them to confirm clearance

3) replace all the rod bearings since i'm this far

How do these look?

For the $50 (really?  that seems insanely cheap) that Bimmerworld wants for a set of OEM rod bearings, I'd swap them.