M52 help needed

[Major]

Hi all

I recently bought an all-aluminium M52B28 from an automatic 1997 328i, with 98'000 miles on the clock. I'll happily admit that I know nothing about engine building, engine maintenance, or electronics, so I'm going to use this topic to get your help. I want to learn about all of this!

I'll be putting this into my 1984 323i in a few months time. Unfortunately I have to sort out bodywork and rust issues first, but while it's in the shop I want to get this engine 100% ready.

I bought it from a guy who assured me that it had everything on it, and when it arrived here I discovered 1) no alternator 2) no aircon (don't want aircon anyway) 3) no plugs (well actually one plug) 4) no coils 5) no belts. That's what I've discoverd so far. It came at a very low price, so I'm not complaining, however I will be getting the coils and plugs from him in early January. When I took off the cylinder head cover (which had 4 missing nuts) I discovered lots of brown sludge, some scuffed cam lobes, and only one camshaft cover (unless there's only supposed to be one?). There's also two missing bolts on the intake, so it's pretty clear that the PO took off the head to mess around, which is a bit worrying. Anything I should check?

What would you do to this engine? Anything I should replace? Is it worthwhile removing the head to have it cleaned and check everything out? What are the usual maintenance items? Gaskets, bearings, whatever. I'd like this engine to be running almost perfectly by the time it's needed. :) So please chime in on what you'd do if this engine arrived on your doorstep this morning.

[shiboujin]

get an engine building book. Clean everything, regasket everything, check crank bearings and such, and yes theres only one cam cover. post pix of the cam scarring you talked about.

IMO its worth finding all the missing parts.

[Major]

Any books in particular? And as for the cam cover, is it supposed to sit loosely? Seems a bit... tacky.

I'll put up pictures now. :)

[shiboujin]

I have this one. (http://www.amazon.ca/Step-Step-Guide.../dp/1884089267). IIRC it even explains why hondas make no torque. Something about piston circumference to rod length ratio.


The cover should be snug. You shouldn't be able to just smack it off. It should "click" when in properly.

[Jean]

There is only one CAM cover, so that's fine. Take your time with it and you'll be fine, it's not rocket science :)

[shiboujin]

unless youre strapping a rocket to the back of the car...

[Farbin Kaiber]

I suggest reading all the insanity that is the 24v swap thread...

[shiboujin]

http://e30performance.info/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=227

or mine...

*shameless plug*

[Major]

So. Went and took off the cover again, and it turns out the 'lobe scuffing' I was talking about was, in fact... dirt.



This is the worst lobe out of all of them. I stand to be corrected, but I think I have nothing to worry about.

The cover should be snug. You shouldn't be able to just smack it off. It should "click" when in properly.

I'll get the book, thanks for the recommendation! :) As for the cover, it doesn't click into place at all, and sits like this:

I suggest reading all the insanity that is the 24v swap thread...

Heh, yeah, I'm trying to get through it as quickly as I can. It's a lot of information to take in. Unfortunately a lot of the stuff isn't useful because I'm in South Africa, where we got European cars, so some of the stuff specific to engines and DME's isn't relevant.

I also noticed that this disk looking thing near the VANOS unit is loose, and rattles around. Good, bad?




And as soon as I took off the cover, these things either fell out or were found amongst the sludge, what are they? And ideas?





And, last one, this. No idea what it is, but it looks broken, so:



The other 4 of these bolts (I don't know what to call them) the run along the center didn't have any nuts on them to secure the cover, should they? Or do they somehow tie into mounting the coils?

Thanks for the help so far guys.

[shiboujin]

That broken off thingy near the holes for the plugs looks like whats left of the gasket lol. and those zig zaggy things... I forget. You don't really need em.

It seriously looks like someone ate mexican food and had the most explosive shit on the inside of your engine. Def hot tank worthy. Prob want to scrub yourself raw in the shower after touching that shit too. AJAX!

[dirtysix]

Doesn't look like that engines had an oil change in its entire life!!
Id be very carefull with how much you spend bringing it back, it maybe cheaper to buy a good one depending on how much they are worth over there.

[Major]

That broken off thingy near the holes for the plugs looks like whats left of the gasket lol.

The gasket? Which one?

It seriously looks like someone ate mexican food and had the most explosive shit on the inside of your engine. Def hot tank worthy. Prob want to scrub yourself raw in the shower after touching that shit too. AJAX!

I'm on it! So you think this needs to be removed and properly cleaned?

[shiboujin]

That rubber thing in the middle of the pic. It's broken gasket fun.

Hot tank the whole motor. Do a compression test and leak down first. Check ring gap (probably get a shop to do that) and just check general health of the motor. refurbish what needs to and leave alone what is in spec. Check the head/block for flatness as well.

[Major]

Doesn't look like that engines had an oil change in its entire life!!
Id be very carefull with how much you spend bringing it back, it maybe cheaper to buy a good one depending on how much they are worth over there.

Like I said, I found this one for cheap. Cheap being $863 (as per the exchange right now), and expensive being $1900+. I'd obviously rather revive this engine, because it took a millenia to find it, even though I was actually trying to find an M50B25-NV.

Really? Not worth reviving?

[shiboujin]

if the compression check and leak down come back good. youre golden. if not, you have lots of machining to do. It is worth reviving. It might not be worth your wallet if the rings are shot.