E30 M30B35 Nightmare

[Ether-D]

^This. Done.


Welcome and good luck.

[1987E30project]

Buy another engine. You probably can find a used one for less than 800. Save the busted one and rebuild it at your leisure.

[PlebLover]

I have an M30B35 in my '89 325i. It's got a lot of problems though.
Bought the car from a guy in Arizona. It seemed like a pretty good deal, but it turned out to be too good to be true. I'll list the issues so far. (The ones I know) Maybe you guys can advise on a good route to take from here.

1. Rod knock. Currently, it's sitting until I can decide what to do because of this.
2. Constant misfire. I mean it doesn't even want to start. It backfires a lot and throws flames from the exhaust. (I know this is not a good thing) It's missing on at least two cylinders non-stop. I have replaced the Distributor cap, rotor, and all of the plug wires. The only thing I haven't replaced is the pulse sensor. That was going to be next until I realized what that knocking was.
3. Grooves on the 6th cylinder wall. I'm not entirely sure how bad this is.

I've put a lot of thought into it, but right now I'm on the fence as to whether I should just buy another engine, or if I should spend the extra cash to redo this one from top to bottom. I know I'm looking at at least $800 to rebuild it if all goes well, but if that rod knock is anything to go by, it's probably going to be a lot more.