My $400 318is

[bmwman91]

The M42 is fairly tolerant of timing mishaps. Many years ago when I was a lot younger and dumber, I rebuilt the timing case and got it put together with the timing off by 2 or 3 teeth. Valves were hitting pistons, and my dumb ass thought that the noise was just a sticky lifter. Revved it a bunch and then realized my mistake. I adjusted the timing to where it was supposed to be and got another 80k miles from it.

IF the timing jumped, which there's no way that the PO could know unless they opened up the valve cover and/or timing covers, you have a chance of just replacing some parts in the timing case and getting it all to TDC to get it running. Jumped timing is usually due to old, original timing guides and tensioner piston. I want to say that it is more likely that one of the old chain guides broke and the timing is just a little off (no skipped teeth) and the car doesn't run well as a result. It is pretty damn rare to have the chain skip teeth.

Good luck, keep us posted!

[Mr_Tripp]

Idk why I keep clicking on threads like this just makes me mad that out here in Cali"make up a price"fornia finding a amazing deal like that is virtually non-existent.
Good luck tho, I'll be back to look at progress :up:

[Cephas]

Yes, nice save!

[MF DOOM]

The M42 is fairly tolerant of timing mishaps. Many years ago when I was a lot younger and dumber, I rebuilt the timing case and got it put together with the timing off by 2 or 3 teeth. Valves were hitting pistons, and my dumb ass thought that the noise was just a sticky lifter. Revved it a bunch and then realized my mistake. I adjusted the timing to where it was supposed to be and got another 80k miles from it.

IF the timing jumped, which there's no way that the PO could know unless they opened up the valve cover and/or timing covers, you have a chance of just replacing some parts in the timing case and getting it all to TDC to get it running. Jumped timing is usually due to old, original timing guides and tensioner piston. I want to say that it is more likely that one of the old chain guides broke and the timing is just a little off (no skipped teeth) and the car doesn't run well as a result. It is pretty damn rare to have the chain skip teeth.

Good luck, keep us posted!

Kinda what i was thinking. Especially at such low miles. Have you pulled the valve cover and looked?

Let me know if you need any m42 parts. Ive still got a gaggle of parts from my build that ill let go for cheap. Good luck!

[Clean318]

Wow nice find! I'm jealous.

Thanks man.

The M42 is fairly tolerant of timing mishaps. Many years ago when I was a lot younger and dumber, I rebuilt the timing case and got it put together with the timing off by 2 or 3 teeth. Valves were hitting pistons, and my dumb ass thought that the noise was just a sticky lifter. Revved it a bunch and then realized my mistake. I adjusted the timing to where it was supposed to be and got another 80k miles from it.

IF the timing jumped, which there's no way that the PO could know unless they opened up the valve cover and/or timing covers, you have a chance of just replacing some parts in the timing case and getting it all to TDC to get it running. Jumped timing is usually due to old, original timing guides and tensioner piston. I want to say that it is more likely that one of the old chain guides broke and the timing is just a little off (no skipped teeth) and the car doesn't run well as a result. It is pretty damn rare to have the chain skip teeth.

Good luck, keep us posted!

I pulled the cover off myself I found one of the guides in pieces. Seems to be only one of them so im just gonna replace them all and replace all the sprockets(I guess thats what they're called). I dont think the PO took the cover off because the broken guide was still in there. The timing is deff off by 1 or 2 teeth, one of the sprockets are kinda rounded so im just gonna replace them all

Idk why I keep clicking on threads like this just makes me mad that out here in Cali"make up a price"fornia finding a amazing deal like that is virtually non-existent.
Good luck tho, I'll be back to look at progress :up:

Yes, nice save!

thanks fellas

Kinda what i was thinking. Especially at such low miles. Have you pulled the valve cover and looked?

Let me know if you need any m42 parts. Ive still got a gaggle of parts from my build that ill let go for cheap. Good luck!

yup I pulled the timing over off and found the broken guide. Chain still had tension on it tho. I turned the motor over by hand and when it was at tdc the chain has some slack. I found a really good deal on a running motor already just have to go get it. Kinda crazy because I only had the car for a week.

[freeride53]

lol if i was you i'd save it, sell it for a bunch, then if u wanna do a v8 swap buy an eta or something that originally sucked to make it better.

just my .02 tho

[Clean318]

lol if i was you i'd save it, sell it for a bunch, then if u wanna do a v8 swap buy an eta or something that originally sucked to make it better.

just my .02 tho

Still unsure what I want to do with it. Im deff gonna save it. I doubt ill be getting rid of it any time soon.

[bmwman91]

Replace the busted guide and get it all to TDC. Pull the plugs and run a compression test. Even though the engine is stone-cold, it'll at least give you a quick idea of whether the valves are good or not. 2 teeth is not really a big deal for this engine, unless the PO was redlining the shit out of it when it happened. If the compression checks out, then do a full rebuild on the timing case and there you go.

I would also HIGHLY recommend converting to an M44 timing case since it uses a plastic guide instead of an idler sprocket. The stupid idler sprocket that the M42's were built with is basically a timebomb. Half the time the bearing blows out, and the other half of the time the boss that it bolts to breaks off of the timing case (both happened to be over ~12 months). All you need to do the swap is the M44 timing case (<$100 used on the forums), M44 oil pump gears (usually come with the TC) and an adapter to hold the crank position sensor (Metric Mechanic can probably sell you one). That gives you the chance to replace the profile gasket and the TV gasket. I'd also recommend replacing the oil pressure bypass parts in the TC while it is off.

Which guide was busted? The big one on the driver's side?

As others have mentioned, please don't use this car for an engine swap. For one, if you get the M42 running again you can probably get 10x what you paid for the car if you sell it. Second, there just aren't many clean-ish M42 E30's left out there. They are fun, well balanced cars, albeit a little under-powered compared to their 6-cylinder cousins. Still, they are fun as hell to drive the dogshit out of. Get a chip and lightened M20 flywheel/clutch setup in there and it'll really make a difference. ~11lbs is about as low as I'd go with the M20 flywheel on this engine lol. The tranny rattle is pretty heinous haha.

[Clean318]

Replace the busted guide and get it all to TDC. Pull the plugs and run a compression test. Even though the engine is stone-cold, it'll at least give you a quick idea of whether the valves are good or not. 2 teeth is not really a big deal for this engine, unless the PO was redlining the shit out of it when it happened. If the compression checks out, then do a full rebuild on the timing case and there you go.

I would also HIGHLY recommend converting to an M44 timing case since it uses a plastic guide instead of an idler sprocket. The stupid idler sprocket that the M42's were built with is basically a timebomb. Half the time the bearing blows out, and the other half of the time the boss that it bolts to breaks off of the timing case (both happened to be over ~12 months). All you need to do the swap is the M44 timing case (<$100 used on the forums), M44 oil pump gears (usually come with the TC) and an adapter to hold the crank position sensor (Metric Mechanic can probably sell you one). That gives you the chance to replace the profile gasket and the TV gasket. I'd also recommend replacing the oil pressure bypass parts in the TC while it is off.

Which guide was busted? The big one on the driver's side?

As others have mentioned, please don't use this car for an engine swap. For one, if you get the M42 running again you can probably get 10x what you paid for the car if you sell it. Second, there just aren't many clean-ish M42 E30's left out there. They are fun, well balanced cars, albeit a little under-powered compared to their 6-cylinder cousins. Still, they are fun as hell to drive the dogshit out of. Get a chip and lightened M20 flywheel/clutch setup in there and it'll really make a difference. ~11lbs is about as low as I'd go with the M20 flywheel on this engine lol. The tranny rattle is pretty heinous haha.

Thanks for the info. I was hoping someone would chime in about stronger guides. to tell you the truth i'm not sure which guide broke i haven't finished pulling the front timing cover off yet. the car won't be getting an engine swap any time soon. the most that would be swapped is the head.( if the valves are bent.) Any recommendations on what chip i should go with?, and price wise?

[sweet3]

Wow! Nice find!

[Clean318]

Wow! Nice find!

Thanks man.

[Clean318]

Replace the busted guide and get it all to TDC. Pull the plugs and run a compression test. Even though the engine is stone-cold, it'll at least give you a quick idea of whether the valves are good or not. 2 teeth is not really a big deal for this engine, unless the PO was redlining the shit out of it when it happened. If the compression checks out, then do a full rebuild on the timing case and there you go.

I would also HIGHLY recommend converting to an M44 timing case since it uses a plastic guide instead of an idler sprocket. The stupid idler sprocket that the M42's were built with is basically a timebomb. Half the time the bearing blows out, and the other half of the time the boss that it bolts to breaks off of the timing case (both happened to be over ~12 months). All you need to do the swap is the M44 timing case (<$100 used on the forums), M44 oil pump gears (usually come with the TC) and an adapter to hold the crank position sensor (Metric Mechanic can probably sell you one). That gives you the chance to replace the profile gasket and the TV gasket. I'd also recommend replacing the oil pressure bypass parts in the TC while it is off.

Which guide was busted? The big one on the driver's side?

As others have mentioned, please don't use this car for an engine swap. For one, if you get the M42 running again you can probably get 10x what you paid for the car if you sell it. Second, there just aren't many clean-ish M42 E30's left out there. They are fun, well balanced cars, albeit a little under-powered compared to their 6-cylinder cousins. Still, they are fun as hell to drive the dogshit out of. Get a chip and lightened M20 flywheel/clutch setup in there and it'll really make a difference. ~11lbs is about as low as I'd go with the M20 flywheel on this engine lol. The tranny rattle is pretty heinous haha.

i can't seem to find these parts. What forums were you refering to?

[bmwman91]

bimmerforums and m42club mainly, since they have members with M44's. You could also try car-part.net

[alpineII_dirty]

NICE! I picked up my 318is for $300 lol just the interior was not as nice as yours

[Clean318]

bimmerforums and m42club mainly, since they have members with M44's. You could also try car-part.net

thanks. can't sign up on bimmer forums because my ip is blocked, same with e30 tech. so idk i will figure it out soon enough.

NICE! I picked up my 318is for $300 lol just the interior was not as nice as yours

mine is meh. A crackless dash, and a unripped drivers seat would be perfect.