Noisy and running on 5 cylinders

[Tree25]

This morning on my commute to work some dbag was trying to illegally Pass me for no reason. I dropped a gear and showed him what a d bag I can be too. When I came up to a red light I notice a clanky noise comming from my motor and it was running rough on 5 cyl. I dropped it off at the nearest lot and got a rid to work. I borrowed a compression tester from a mechanic next door. I'm going to test for spark and compression when I'm done @ 430... Any leads?

[Keith M]

Broken rocker arm would be my first guess.

[slammin.e28]

This is why you shouldn't be a dick.

Anywho, easiest thing to do, pop dat valve cover off and check for broken rocker(s).

[Cabriolet]

you sir r3v'ed your engine. prob a broken rocker arm. or worst broken timing belt tensioner

[Tree25]

Your first guess's are dead on, I R3v'ed my engine lol. Thank you all for your help and quick response. I have been quoted $29 for the rocker arm. Which i get 10% over cost. I will be going on all Data tomorrow to get the how to, tourque spec/sequence. Now should i upgrade to a stronger a/m rocker arm or should I stick with OEM?

[lateracer]

Get the IE heavy duty rocker arm for $25. Cheaper and better than your quote.

Which rocker arm broke? If it's on #6, you might be able to get away with replacing it with the head still on. Otherwise, you're in for a long weekend.

[Tree25]

It was the bottom right...

[Keith M]

Bottom right? Im guessing you mean #1 cylinder. Time to pull the head.

[lateracer]

You might be able to get away with leaving the head in place if you do some crazy shit like disconnect the drive shaft, loosen all the mounts and tilt the trans/motor assembly enough to allow the rocker shaft to slide out, but if anything went wrong, you'd have a real problem on your hands.

Smart money is on pulling the head, which gets pricey with a quickness.

Don't know if you're in the market for a timing belt/water pump/head gasket job, but now's a good time to do some "while you're in there" maintenance homework. If you have money gushing out of your pockets, it's also a good time to send the whole head off to the machine shop for some refreshing/rebuilding.

Ready or not, where you're at right now is either the beginning or the end. Best of luck.

[Tree25]

I am currently on a really tight budget since I recently took a week vacation without pay along with student loans close to $600 a month...Thank you Sallie Mae.

Status- I spoke with some really great guys over from Ireland Engineering. They as well did not recomend leaving the head on while pulling the rocker shaft out. However I have a will finding a way. So far I pulled the spark plug out diconected the fuel injector plug for Cyl #1 and drove the rest of the way home.

So far light allowed me to pull my hood off, front kidney and light grills, pull out my radiator, recover R134a. By the looks of it, the rocker shaft will clear through the Rad support once the condeser and misc is out.

My biggest fear is somthing had gone wrong inside cylinder 1 since the exhaust valve was the one not functioning. Is it likely somthing could have gone terrible wrong? and am I able to check this without pulling the head off?

[Holland]

Maybe it just wanted to be an Audi.

[lateracer]

Is it likely somthing could have gone terrible wrong? and am I able to check this without pulling the head off?

Warm up the motor and do a leak down test. Purchasing a leak down tester (less than $50 at harbor freight I think) is cheaper than having the test done professionally.

Leak down results will tell you if/where you have problems and help you make the decision regarding how deep you have to dive into the motor.

If you're crafty enough to figure out how to mitigate a broken rocker like that, you're crafty enough to get the rocker shaft out with the head on. It's gonna be knuckle busting shit fest that might involve something crazy like drilling a 3/4" hole in your radiator core to let the shaft slip through...but it might just work. Take pics either way.

[custom e30]

u should have no problem replacing rocker arm with out removing the head

[Keith M]

^^ It can be done, but involves cutting the core support or drilling a hole in the firewall to slide the rocker shaft out.

[Tree25]

Finally my replacement rocker arm and essentials from came in from BMW. I have everything ready to go. I understand some of the M20's have a threaded insert on the front of the shaft (Haynes repair manual) Mine does not. I also ne a special BMW fork like tool to compress 2 of the springs that are on my end of the shaft to releif the tension. I do not know the best way to go about this... Will it be easy to slide out with my fingers once the two valve springs are compressed?

Also is there any tool at a local store to replace this special tool? I believe I saw one at advace, i just need the measurements to check for compatability.

Expierienced input is greatly appreciated.