New 318i. What do I need to do to it?

[bstarr3]

Bought a 1991 318i with 167k. PO had it for five years and seems like he did maintenance in the vein of 'wait until it makes a noise'. He did a good job of keeping up with things, but didn't do much in the way of preventive maintenance, e.g., no work on the timing system.

Per PO, here are the thing that have been done in the past two years: new driveline with new guibo, driveshaft, mounts, bushings, and diff (open, sadly), new shifter from a z3 with all new bushings, new struts front and rear (no performance upgrade here, just OEM), new water pump, radiator, fan, tstat, temp switch, alternator. Car has very clean black vinyl comfort interior and crack free dash.

I'm wanting a reliable dd, here. I will invest in maintenance and wear items that will keep the car running well for me, but don't really care about performance upgrades at this time, with a few exceptions. What I want to know is, what things need to be done?

Here's my list of maintenance/mods, in roughly descending order of importance:

1. replace blower motor (broken currently)
2. replace t chain tensioner
3. replace fluids/filters
4. replace sealed beams with H1/H4
5. replace odometer gears (stopped @ 164k)
6. possibly mess under intake? (scared by this project - total n00b)
7. once car is sorted mechanically I'd like to source a cardinal sport interior, but that's just cosmetic and way down the list

This is where I run out of ideas. Do I need to take the valve cover off to check timing sprockets? When there should I replace valve cover gasket?

Basically at this point the engine idles quiet, runs smooth, pulls strong, and doesn't leak. The cooling system was the only thing that came on the mechanic's radar during ppi; he replaced the temp switch and flushed the system and it's fine now. Aside from the things above, what should I do to make sure this engine serves me well? Are there any other wear items that should be fixed at about this mileage?

[3bvert]

if the mess under the intake bothers you to do, your gonna have trouble with lots of other stuff, cause its rather easy to d, but time consuming.

what worries me more is the unknown miles on engine and on timing components. , if your gonna hire it out your near 800 to do it all and do it with paid labor, well depends on how much they replace, some people that replace everything in the timnig system will spend near 500 in parts alone, some people replace the bare minimum and spend about 450 parts and labor. so it all depends
do it yourself, your looking at near 200 in parts , minimum, chain, two major rail guides ( the ones that go bad) tesnioner and gaskets
fluids etc, add another bit of change,


just pulling the valve cover to look at the top sprockets can be misleading as comparitively, they will show little wear compared to the things that go bang. they are often reused in a timing job. Im on a budget, just did my chain and reused the cam sprockets, but its my car and Im not worried on the condition of them, besides, Im gonna be doing a complete overhaul on another m42 ( ive got sitting around) in the next year adn drop it into my car

its not a terrible job to do and ther eis lots of help and diy on the forums for this job, a few special tools, but then again, on the forum you can see hwo to do it without the tools, I just happen to have the right tools

oh and another one on these engines is the oil pan and oil pickup bolts. I would definetly drop the lower pan, it is a common problem and if left go , big bucks. you can find more info on this one and at the m42 club

but like I said, if your afraid to hit the mess under the manifold, the chain is a bit harder, and if you screw it up, can cost tons more
( timing off, piston up, valve down, ouch).
the oil pan check, easier then doing th emess under the intake

ther are lots of good guys in the eugene area thta can help.sounds like you already have someon looking at and servicing the car. YOu can find em on the foums, just make sure they know what they are doing with the m42, they have quirks

Im maybe about 40 minutes away adn we are in the process of setting up a new shop ( Ive been talked into coming out of retirement). we will be15 minutes east of I-5 and th ealbany exit. We are $30 an hour at this time to get us up and running and out there for people to know with fixed rates on some jobs. Toeay I get the fun job of an oil change all filters and a few other little odd jobs on a guys 2005 vette when he brings it out after lunch and of course Ill have to take it for a check ride on some very nice well paved twisties out here :)
( not trying to steal you away from your current wrench, just stating that ther are plenty of people who can help)

[bstarr3]

Thanks for the lengthy reply! Like I said, I'm completely new on doing my own wrenching, so it's not that I think I can't do things, I'm just a little nervous at any job I've never done before. But, goals for owning this car were 1) daily driver that won't fall apart on me and 2) learning how to take care of my own car and do maintenance/repair work. I'm okay with diving right in, as it looks like there's a lot of good support on these boards, but just a little bit of pucker factor hoping I don't f*** anything up.

[3bvert]

good for you, and I mean that in the best of ways
yes you will get plenty of help on the forums and there are lots of guys who can help out if you get in a jamb.
If you have not yet, go to the regional forum on this site, and introduce yourself, and ask if who is in the eugene area that can help or teach.

if not yet, get yourself into the m42 forum

make yourself familiar with all the suppliers like blunt, pelican, etc

and start doing homework on how to do the projects you got coming up

good luck and welcome to the club

[bstarr3]

So, is there a good way to determine if my car needs a timing job without taking off the timing case? My plan was to replace the tensioner no matter what, then take off the valve cover and look at the cam sprockets and take off the lower oil pan and look for bits of plastic (suggestive of broken or worn t chain guides, right?) While I'm there I should replace those gaskets and check the torque on the oil pan bolts, yes?

[freeride53]

Mess under the intake mod ftw.
Such a noticeable difference, I had a shit ton of vac leaks before..

[Dj Buttchug]

to bad im not in E town anymore, used to live in coburg. I could help you out

[TimKninja]

Drop the lower Pan, their will be like 3-4 bolts sitting in it from the upper pan, put them back in, torque it down, and all the upper pan bolts you can reach while your at it. I just bought my M42 car a week ago and I need to do this Asap.

[Ryann]

My plan was to replace the tensioner no matter what, then take off the valve cover and look at the cam sprockets and take off the lower oil pan and look for bits of plastic (suggestive of broken or worn t chain guides, right?) While I'm there I should replace those gaskets and check the torque on the oil pan bolts, yes?

These are all good plans. Compare your cam gears to the ones in here: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=227036

If your gears look good and you don't have chunks of chain guide in the lower pan then simply update the tensioner piston and drive it. Feel free to pull the piston out and post a picture, we can tell you if it's already been changed and save you a little $$.

m42club has a lot of info but is an inferior forum imo, and really slow moving. There's not much you can't find here if you're willing to search the m42 subforum a little.