E30 318is -90 - Rattling engine sound

[bmwman91]

Okay, the M20 is an OHC and has timing belt?

Sure you need more maintenance but all you have to do is change timing belt and adjust valves which costs nearly nothing?

What about the M44?

Im planning on selling the car since I know I can get it sold for a good price since its an is.

Swapping an M44 into an E30 is more work than it sounds like you want to do. It would be an OBD-I conversion too.

Honestly, it sounds like you should look into something newer and American or Japanese. Reliability and low ownership costs are not hallmarks of the E30 these days. You would probably have less headaches with an M20.

Also, find out what the laws are regarding selling a car with known or suspected issues. If you sell this to someone without disclosing that there is $500+ worth of work on critical engine components and it blows up, you might be legally responsible. It works sort of like that here, not sure about over there.

[E30FETT]

Swapping an M44 into an E30 is more work than it sounds like you want to do. It would be an OBD-I conversion too.

Honestly, it sounds like you should look into something newer and American or Japanese. Reliability and low ownership costs are not hallmarks of the E30 these days. You would probably have less headaches with an M20.

Also, find out what the laws are regarding selling a car with known or suspected issues. If you sell this to someone without disclosing that there is $500+ worth of work on critical engine components and it blows up, you might be legally responsible. It works sort of like that here, not sure about over there.

I love how the E30 looks and the fact that its RWD. I still want to drive an e30.

Ive driven the car with the minor rattling sound for half a year now and nothing has changed. It still runs good and I think it will do that for a few years more as long as you dont rev it to 3000 rpm too often.

Im an honest person so I would tell the buyer that the timing chain should be changed in the near future since it hasnt been changed for 20 years.

M20 has a high fuel consumption, hasnt it? Im currently running the M42 at 0.6 L per mile (10km).

[bmwman91]

Yeah you can try taking your chances. Mine made a rattle at 3000-3100RPM for a little over a year and then the little idler sprocket snapped right off of the timing case. That was the end of that engine. I used it as an excuse to get a fully built M42 lol.

And yes, the M20 does consume a lot more fuel than the M42.

[E30FETT]

Yeah you can try taking your chances. Mine made a rattle at 3000-3100RPM for a little over a year and then the little idler sprocket snapped right off of the timing case. That was the end of that engine. I used it as an excuse to get a fully built M42 lol.

And yes, the M20 does consume a lot more fuel than the M42.

Okay, about how often did you revv your engine to 3000? Im nearly never doing it.

What would you suggest me to do? Of course I want low fuel consumption but Id also love to hear the sound of a six every day.

There are a few cons with my car too...

A bad front wheel bearing
A hole in the exhaust near the lambda
Not a real is (316 originally)
Not sealed in the trunk since its been smashed there.

Pros are

2 door
Good paint
Engine runs good, not takin any oil
Everything works on the car
Low fuel consumption

[bmwman91]

Oh, I ran the shit out of mine regularly. 6000-7000RPM pretty frequently. The rattle I had at ~3000RPM was a crack in the timing case near the idler sprocket allowing the sprocket to move / vibrate. Failure was inevitable in my case.

To be honest, you do not necessarily need to spend all $500 on the timing overhaul. Really, you just want to make sure that the tensioner piston is good (and you replaced it), the tensioner rail is good, and that the main guide on the intake side is good. So really, you could probably get away for around $100 in parts. Skip the timing case gaskets and use some high temp grey silicone RTV. The only real hassle is getting the crank damper bolt off. You can usually remove the air intake box and put a piece of wood there, stick a breaker bar on the bolt pointed vertical and then run the starter. A few smacks usually gets it loose. Of course, re-tightening the bolt to 325N-m requires you to lock the crank somehow and the clutch won't do it (slips). People have made crank locks from steel bars and drilling holes in them so that they can bolt to the damper in 2-3 of the 6 holes.

You can do a reasonably good visual inspection by only pulling the upper cover, but you can't replace the guides with only that off.

[E30FETT]

Oh, I ran the shit out of mine regularly. 6000-7000RPM pretty frequently. The rattle I had at ~3000RPM was a crack in the timing case near the idler sprocket allowing the sprocket to move / vibrate. Failure was inevitable in my case.

To be honest, you do not necessarily need to spend all $500 on the timing overhaul. Really, you just want to make sure that the tensioner piston is good (and you replaced it), the tensioner rail is good, and that the main guide on the intake side is good. So really, you could probably get away for around $100 in parts. Skip the timing case gaskets and use some high temp grey silicone RTV. The only real hassle is getting the crank damper bolt off. You can usually remove the air intake box and put a piece of wood there, stick a breaker bar on the bolt pointed vertical and then run the starter. A few smacks usually gets it loose. Of course, re-tightening the bolt to 325N-m requires you to lock the crank somehow and the clutch won't do it (slips). People have made crank locks from steel bars and drilling holes in them so that they can bolt to the damper in 2-3 of the 6 holes.

You can do a reasonably good visual inspection by only pulling the upper cover, but you can't replace the guides with only that off.

I see. As you can see in the first post I posted a link to an image album that shows the condition of the cam sprockets. It looks pretty worn. I guess I have to change chain if I change sprockets.

[E30FETT]

Yeah you can try taking your chances. Mine made a rattle at 3000-3100RPM for a little over a year and then the little idler sprocket snapped right off of the timing case. That was the end of that engine. I used it as an excuse to get a fully built M42 lol.

And yes, the M20 does consume a lot more fuel than the M42.

By the way, what happened to the rest of the engine when the idler sprocket snapped off?