Piston rings

[Adrian_Visser]

Well you know a Chevy small block and an m20 are pretty much the same engine so I can understand why you would be confused... Next time when you want to clarify the subject for someone maybe you should have a clear idea of the subject yourself. Just sayin.

[payney8]

hahah are you serious? There's no way you can replace rings without pull your head on an i6 unless you drop your crank. But if your dropping the crank wtf bother with only doing rings seriously. Some v6/8's you might be able to depending on the angle of v and rod/counter balance designs

[Sbailey294]

Questions for you:
-How many miles on the bottom end?
-Was a compression and leak down test done?

BMWs are notorious for having issues after being "re ringed"
consider the following two things:
A) Have you priced rings? They can be costly.
B) Will you bore and hone the bottom end?

I bring the following up because this is of course what I consult people on all day at work, and we see this question often.

If you have more than 100k miles, the cylinder bores are distorted and worn; this is just a fact of engines. It may not be able to be seen by the naked eye, they make even looks spectacular...but; but your rings care about this type of thing even if you can't see it, it can be measured by the proper equipment.
If you introduce new rings to this pre-worn surface, they will not break in properly and have much reduced life span. This type of job is a 20k mile band-ade mechanics use to get jobs out of the shop and make money, if it last beyond there warranty period of there labor, they have nothing to worry about since you can't complain.

The point is this: consider boring and honing the bottom end before you just let mechanics (who are un-trained and whom 99% are in the dark about machine work) re-ring and engine, or you do it yourself. This isn't a shot at mechanics, but they are not machinists; they can tell you that none of them learned about what engine tolerances effect rings, pistons, etc at school like an engine machinist would. So there is no bad intent on their part, technicians just don't know better most of the time.

Save yourself from wasting money and consult a local machine shop on this job. You can easily supply them with all the bottom end gaskets and needed parts from a retailer who discounts heavily like Pelican for very cheap. Try the local yellow pages.

hope that helps :)

[DaveSmed]

Holy crap, Steve is on R3v.

[Rennsport]

This is ridiculous, who replaces rings on an m20? If you're not building a race motor there is no point in tearing into an m20. It is cheaper/easier to find another short block and swap it in.

[Need4Speed1299]

M50 swap candidate.

[JoosyJoos]

Hey guys... this is great info. I'm not exactly the most knowledgeable guy when it comes to engines... (like at all)... I just like to drive fast on race tracks lol.

I do not currently own the car now. I saw a post by this user on these boards and was thinking about purchasing the vehicle since he lives 15minutes from me.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=181016

FWIW its a S52 engine btw not an M20.

Give it to me straight...