M42 rebuild

[bmwman91]

The M44 timing case has one major difference from the M42 timing case. It does not have the mounting bracket for the crank position sensor, so you would need a custom machined bracket for that, and it would need to be properly designed to ensure correct ignition timing. You can use the timing case from a 1994-1995 M42 engine without this issue, and it uses the plastic guide rail instead of the deflector sprocket (which is the main advantage).

[jaredmac11]

For the M44 timing case upgrade, Youll want to ditch the timing sprocket (e30) for a guide. There are other improvements but this is most key. Getting those (likely) brittle chain guides out is most key. There are other improvements for the M44, but you can get a decent upgrade with the e36 M42 (1992-1995). The e36 M42 ditched that timing sprocket for a guide.

Prepare to spend a pretty penny here.. at least $200-400.

[Diake]

Yea, I was definitely considering those. What about the m44 timing case upgrade?

[jrobie79]

are you taking the head off? valve stem seals, profile gasket, timing case gaskets, upgrading to the m44 timing case (with different timing case gasket)...

[Diake]

Today I washed the block to eliminate the dirt and started removing all the accessories and engine mounts.





The plan is to:
- Change oil and water pump, making sure the oil pickup bolts are secured with Loctite
- Upgrade oil pressure relief valve to plastic one (less prone to get stuck)
- Change timing gears, chain, tensioner and guides (upgrading to plastic ones)
- Changing seals and gaskets
- Changing head bolts to ARP (Future turbo project, but at the moment I want to run it NA)
- Control bearings and trust bearing (consider upgrade to 360° trust bearing and block bearings)
- Check valve conditions and change valve oil seals.
- Upgrade oil pan to low profile Motorsport one
- Remove viscous fan to instal electric one

Any suggestion on other parts to change/upgrade?

[Diake]

Hello everybody,
I'm new in r3vlimited.com. I wanted to write a thread to document, step by step and precisely, the rebuild of my M42. I will not be fast or constantly updating it since it a free time project. The aim is to create a sort of guide (not a proper since I'm not a mechanic) which might be helpful to somebody in the future.

I start with the picture of the engine in the original condition!


Congratulation for the nice forum and thanks for the support!

Luca from Italy