M60B44 Build!! With pictures, in progress

[BlindWolf187]

Ok everybody, due to a catastrophic failure in my E39's M62 over a year ago (previously documented in this forum) I have committed myself to a balls to the wall M60B44 build. I have spent the last couple semester getting most of the necessary hardware ready (M60 heads all cleaned up, usable 4.4L block, etc.).
Now I've hit a bit of a road block, and that is the reconditioning of the alusil cylinders.

My understanding of the reconditioning of the alusil sliding surfaces is that I need to expose the silicon crystals in the aluminum by cutting away the surrounding aluminum. A mechanical process is preferred to chemical etching because it also smooths the sharp edges of the silicon crystals.

I have done my research, but I need an appropriate honing compound for the exposure process. I know that Goodson sells the AN-30 compound, but they are out of stock (I'm waiting to hear back about if they're getting more). The only other suppliers of alusil honing compounds are places that only deal with businesses and stuff.

Does anybody have any input on how to hone these cylinders or where to get materials? Has anybody done this, and was it successful?

I plan to haul through this and keep this thread updated with pictures as I get stuff done. My plan at this rate is to try a 1200 grit silicon-carbide lapping compound or a 3000 grit CBN (cubic boron nitride) compound, with felt strips. All feedback is welcome, let me know if you want to know why I'm considering those two.

Here are a couple pictures of what I'm working with:

Block, rotating assembly still in (not for long though). The sprocket on the crankshaft was a pita to get off. I used a pully puller and hose clamps to hold it onto the sprocket teeth. It's getting replaced with the dual row timing equiptment.


Heads, all clean and shiny from the machine shop



I'll post pics of my progress cleaning up the block this weekend.

[BlindWolf187]

Update: Goodson restocked the Sunnen AN-30 honing compound this morning! A can is in route to my house.

[CorvallisBMW]

sub'd, this sounds like fun!

[cashsterling]

I wish I still lived in Boulder... would definitely volunteer to help out.

[fanboi]

needs more updates!!!!!!!!

[BlindWolf187]

ALRIGHT EVERYONE, sorry for the delay. Here's the story: I got my honing compound in the male from goodson and used green scotchbrite pads to freshen up the cylinder walls. I lapped a few cylinders successfully, getting the mat grey finish I was looking for. But then, disaster struck. Because I'm stupid and used an inadequate felt setup, the felt wore back enough to expose the honing stone lurking beneath. Last Sunday was a bad day....

Scraped up cylinder walls (it actually got 3 cylinders on that side):


I have spent a bunch of time this last week getting parts from the junk yard to get my project back on schedule. I grabbed another 4.4L block and a bunch of timing equipment from an M60 (I got a sawzall for that trip, so both cars are now mangled messes. Don't go to the Denver upullandpay expecting to find anything under those hoods to be intact).
I am abandoning the honing/re-ringing effort. I just don't have the time or money. This thing needs to drive in a few weeks. The block and rotating assembly look like they are in good order, so I'm just going to cross my fingers and fly with it.
Now I have all of the hardware I need for the motor... again. I have ordered my first big shipment. I will update when I get my shipment from pelican!

[CoreyZ]

I've heard of people on the Porsche boards having a lot of problems with rings not seating properly when using that method as well.

I wouldn't worry about reringing on any half decent block

[BlindWolf187]

Ok, now I need some advice from the experts about the DME. This motor is going to go into an OBD2 E39. The DME in the car is for the M62TU. I have also picked up a DME from a pre-vanos M62. Here's the problem: with the TU DME, it will be looking for a readout from the VANOS, which won't be there. Will this prevent the motor from starting and running?
With the pre-VANOS DME, it won't recognize my key, so I would have to bypass the EWS security module. But will that DME work with my electronic throttle?
Please advise.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

[BlindWolf187]

Ok, so I think my options are:
1) Keep my M62TU DME (Bosch ME7.2). The VANOS actuators are controlled by 2 pulse width modulated signals. Those will just go nowhere, so that's fine. The DME receives input about the VANOS operation (and calculates the necessary VANOS actuator adjustments) based on information from the camshaft position sensors, engine speed sensor, etc, instead of getting direct feedback from a dedicated sensor. That means that tricking the computer into thinking that the VANOS is there cannot be done without some extensive software modification, which I neither want to bother with nor am I qualified to attempt. The DME will be well aware that the signals to the VANOS actuators don't do anything to the timing, and will probably throw a slew of camshaft control actuator failure codes at me (I think there are about 10 of them). Do you guys think that the motor will still run, or will the dme not let it turn over?

Alternatively,
2) I use the M62 non-TU DME. So far as I can tell, in order to make that junk yard DME work in my car I would need to swap my electronic throttle with a conventional cable driven throttle assembly. I would also have to bypass the EWS module as mentioned above. There seems to be some debate over whether or not the EWS bypass can be done DIY by splicing wires. I might have to chip the ecu with a EWS-delete chip. The problem with that is that I cannot find a chip which performs that function for the ME7.2 DME.

I've been doing my research, but that only consists of a few days perusing the Internet. I'm no expert, please tell me if you know something I don't. I'm ready for my car problems to stop increasing in complexity.

[Northern]

If you order an M60 intake manifold, people often include the throttle body, so it shouldn't be hard to work it out from there.

What EWS is on the non-TU motor? I'm pretty sure EWS would need to be flashed out of it instead of chipped like OBD1 DMEs.

I think the Non-TU setup is a better idea overall, I don't know what other differences they made when they incorporated vanos. It was implied somewhere that BMW mellowed out the cams on the TU motor to keep the power figures the same as the non-TU but get better mileage. I can't confirm whether or not this is true though.

[OliverKlozoff]

Whatever happened with this? I'm in the Boulder/Denver area and looking to do a m60b44 build with a non-vanos obd2.

[LoneWolf]

Im gonna guess he ruined that first block and never got the project going again?

It has been over a year.