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    New to the E30 crew!

    Hey Guys! I just bought a 1989 E30 325i last night. While I am a new member on here, I have been looking through and researching on r3v for quite sometime.

    Couple questions:
    1. The car has an aftermarket cam and has a ticking sound that increases with RPMs, I've read around and from what I can find it is one of the rocker arms. I have also read the valve adjustment articles and think that needs to be done as well. How would I know what to appropriately set the valves to without knowing the specs of the cam? Or is there a way to find the specs of the cam?

    2. I have read over the general issues and things that should be promptly addressed after buying an E30. All looks generally well, however I have yet to tear into it. I did notice when turning/steering the car the steering sounded strained or to struggle. Is the power steering pump also common to go out? I could not find much on this.

    Any help is much appreciated as well as other things to look out for or investigate!

    Thanks!

    #2
    Congrats!

    1. Welcome to owning a M20 engine. If you just need a valve adjustment, then they should quiet down. If your valve guides are getting worn, get used to the ticking. I've never dealt with an aftermarket cam, but if were to guess I would say the specs in the Bentley manual (which you should get if you haven't already) still hold true, with the engine cold adjust them to 0.010 inches. The reason I would think the cam shouldn't matter is this: the reason you need valve clearance is to account for thermal expansion in the head and valve stems when the engine gets warm. Therefore, I would think that since the new cam doesn't mess with those two dimensions, the spec'd valve clearance would not be impacted by the new cam.

    2. When you say "sounded strained", do you really mean "sounded" or did you just mean felt strained. Power steering pumps do go out sometimes, I would check/drain the fluid level first. Do you have power steering leaks? Also, my steering shaft double u-joint was binding up a bit, causing it to be more difficult to steer and also the steering wheel would not snap back on its own. I lubed up the u-joint with white lithium grease and that solved the problem.


    Single most important thing to consider: when was your timing belt last done? If it was over 4-5 years or 50 k miles, change it immediately.


    Happy wrenching!

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      #3
      I appreciate the help! The power steering both felt strained and sounded as if it was struggling. The previous owner said he had the timing belt done a year and a half ago before the car sat for a bit. The belt looks and feels relatively new however I might replace it simply for my peace of mind.

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        #4
        While you are at it, it can't hurt to lube the strut bearings as well. I usually jack up the car and work the rack back and forth to get the grease in.

        Good luck!

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