Ok, I need help. Really terrible engine vibration on M50 swap.

[matt]

So my car is finally running, has been for about a month, and I'm still troubleshooting one freaking issue.... the motor shakes the whole car.

It's worst between 1k and 2k, it's not terrible at idle (around 1k because of the chip) and it's not terrible above 3k... but idling down like I'm pulling up to a stoplight shakes the whole car going from 2k to idle. The noise/vibration is engine speed related only. Doesn't matter if the car is in gear or not, moving or not, clutch in / clutch out... just engine speed.

It's bad enough that pretty much everyone who rides in the car tells me not to drive it until I get it fixed.

I am running green e28 535i motor mounts with spacers and 320i trans mounts with UUC enforcers.
The drivetrain isn't hitting anything that I can see, neither is the exhaust.
The flywheel is from an S52 that was having vibration issues, but that was traced to a bent rod in that motor... I will probably still swap this out soon.

Any ideas?

[SchnellerVert]

Is the driveshaft balanced? This will cause a bad vibration but thru out the whole range thou.

Have you put it on a lift and tried to look at it while the engine was running?

[matt]

Is the driveshaft balanced? This will cause a bad vibration but thru out the whole range thou.

Have you put it on a lift and tried to look at it while the engine was running?

It does this at a standstill, so it's not the driveshaft.

I don't have access to a lift right now, so no. I would be a little nervous about using stands to get under a running motor...

[ed94r]

Mine has a vibration "spot" in between 1-2K. Not a resonance, but an actual vibration that you can feel thru the car. It's been that way since day 1. Almost feels like something on the motor is out of balance at that rpm, like a pulley/flywheel or somethin.

When it explodes, I'll let you know, but SFSG.

Ed

[matt]

Mine has a vibration "spot" in between 1-2K. Not a resonance, but an actual vibration that you can feel thru the car. It's been that way since day 1. Almost feels like something on the motor is out of balance at that rpm, like a pulley/flywheel or somethin.

When it explodes, I'll let you know, but SFSG.

Ed

Yeah, this definitely shakes the whole car.

[Mr.SWISS]

I have vibration when I dump the clutch, bit I think I have a bad axle or something with the DS. My engine is silky smooth.

[euroshark]

You might have an exhaust pipe or something touching the firewall or underneath the car?

How is the clearance between the firewall and the motor. I think the only possible answer is that the engine or exhaust is touching the body somewhere.

[dougsic]

When it explodes, I'll let you know, but SFSG.

Ed

Ha ha! Nice diagnostic work - I hope you're not a doctor! :D

Get it up on a lift if you can. It's amazing how easy it is to narrow down a problem when you can touch everything.

The fact that the flywheel came out of another car that had a vibration would have me looking in that direction first. My car is as smooth as it was when stock. It also idles properly and it has a chip too.

Did you have the flywheel resurfaced? Are using the dual mass clutch and is it new?

Doug

[matt]

The idle is fine, it's just 1k RPM to resist stalling with a lightweight flywheel (that I'm not actually running)

The clutch and flywheel are both stock e36 M3, the flywheel was not resurfaced and the clutch is new.

[e30_kid89]

im having the EXACT same symptons as matt..though my vibration isnt really horrid..its not driveline related just engine speed........i have the e28 535i mounts and a ltw m20 flywheel that was resurfaced.......my muffer isnt mounted the best but its not stupid loose or touching any part of the body...if its just normal vibration i wouldnt care but if it something thats on the verge of fucking up i wanna c if i can fix it.

[static]

Welcome another member of the noisy/exessively vibrating swapped e30 club.
My engine is us s50, and today i finally changed muffler as i thought that it was originating all the annoying cabin noise. So even with the biggest Magnaflow they make (5x11x22 truck size) noise is still there, i'll try to describe it to the best of my ability:

The most annoying noise is between 1-3Krpm, also surprisingly loud on "off throttle" (engine braking). After 3.5k note changes for a nice performance note (i guess because of vanos) , which sounds nice.
If i am in high gear / low rpm, i get the "metallic gurgling/clearing throat type sound" - someone on bf.c mentioned this sound may indicate knocking - which would make sense as it's the point of high load and some people with TMS chip (like mine) did in fact complain about knocking (i run 94 octane).
Also when on highway, doing around 70mph when i lift throttle completely i again get some intermittant noise that sounds like metal on metal scraping.
When on highway and i clutch in, though, all the noise magically goes away.
My feeling is that the noise comes from the front pass side. I checked the whole exhaust length and couldn't find anything touching it. So i am out of ideas for now.

maybe i should get the car on hoist and ask my mechanic to listen to different spots while i simulate the engine under load with applying brakes.

i have ZF tranny and 11lb flywheel with stock m3 clutch.
I am also using e28 m5 mounts and TMS red bushings with cup enforcers. I am gonna try to ditch the enforcers to see if it makes difference (enforcers raise the height a bit), i know Jordan ditched his enforcers, maybe for a reason.
Anyone knows how much stiffer the e28 m5 mounts are vs the 535 (or 533?)?

[SchnellerVert]

E30 exhaust it's quiet in the one I borrow from time to time it has a Remus system on it.

Only vibration issue is an older drivers side engine that is getting soft so the intake rumbles on the brake booster. Owner knows about and is shaving down another one so it stops so he's said.

You are positive that it's not the intake on the booster? It happens only when the car gets above 1/2 on the thermostat as the electrical fan kicks on.

[e30_kid89]

^^^thanks for reminding me........my intake mani i know for sure is touching the booster..at idle. im not too sure about during engine load.

[thuibers]

I had some vibrations happening as well, although just at idle, and it turned out to be the heat shields over the engine mounts were not clearing the frame. A pry with a large screw driver and problem solved

[DEV0 E30]

Could it be the downpipes are rubbing on the swaybar?

Mine are so close I think they might every now and then.