New owner, BMW 325iX Touring

[D.Martijn]

Yesterday my cylinder head arrived, I also got the IE HD rocker arms somewhere this week. I lend a valve spring compressor tool from a friend so I could get the head pressure tested. At first sight I can't see any cracks + the seller told me that he had pressure tested the head and it checked out. Anyway I just want to be 100% sure.

Some of the rockers have some excessive aluminium casted on the sides of the pads. I called IE about this but they said it is normal and shouldn't be a problem. The guy I had on the phone also said if I wanted I could take a file or dremel and clean them up some more.


Head looks good. Valve seats are pretty nice, the valves do need a bit of cleaning.












Still waiting on the two orders I made for the replacement parts. After I receive my injector rebuild kit, I'm going to send them to a company that is able to test and clean them. As I couldn't find one locally.
I did get an email about the rocker shafts that were not available anymore, turns out there is a replacement number for them. (11331264533 -> 11331274975)

[D.Martijn]

Yesterday evening I went to the workshop to disassemble the head some more;
Turns out the rockershafts have a few gouges in them + they are mushroomed at the ends. I decided I'll go with new BMW rocker shafts for the head rebuild.




The rockers are also pretty worn down, there is a substantial groove present. I already ordered Ireland Engineering HD rocker arms. I'll also replace the eccentrics but use the original hardware.


On Friday at work, I took a big whetstone home to get started on cleaning up the block itself.
I started by scraping the old remaining head gasket off. I also cleaned the tops of the pistons.


I'm not sure if I should go over it more with the whetstone. Here's a detailed shot of the engine block deck.


When cleaning the pistons, I noticed indentations on them where there are cut outs. Could it be that the timing was once wrong in the lifetime of the engine or the belts skipped a few teeth?
There were a few burs left, I decided to remove those so there is no change they break off.


After cleaning the deck and pistons, I noticed a few small oil leaks coming from the intermediate/oil pump shaft cover and the oil dipstick. I'll replace the o-ring on the cover and tube at the dip stick.




Also removed all of the old/original coolant hoses. The car is currently fitted with a cold run regulator (kaltlaufregler) it's pretty common in Germany. It supposedly should raise the idle a bit so the car reaches operation temperature faster thus reducing the emissions.


Now it's time to order everything from either an online store or BMW if needed.

[D.Martijn]

Yeah @notanawdix80, I took a few whetstones from work to get started cleaning the surface of the engine block itself. That'll be fun.

I still need to order all the gaskets and other replacement parts/hoses but I first want to make a full list so I can get everything at once.

Yesterday evening I took the time to search for a good 885 cylinder head because the once I found earlier were too expensive, the seller didn't reply or they couldn't confirm if there were any cracks...

However, I found one in Austria. The guy said he had it pressure tested. He asked 340€ for he head with valves and springs, no cam or rockers. I asked if he would do 340€ incl shipping. His final offer was 349€ incl shipping. Not a bad price for a pressure tested head if you ask me.

While waiting on the seller his replies, I called around and got some quotes for cleaning and testing my injectors.
One place asked 26€/injector but I need to arrange it with a garage, they don't offer their service to regular people.
I did found a seller on Ebay listing new Bosch injectors for 30€/piece but they are located in the US so there will be customs.. Still not sure what I should get/do.

Today I also received the first package, a new Kolbenschmidt camshaft for the 885 head (part no 50006239). My old one is pretty worn down. Paid 242€, if you look online for some quotes they list them as high as +400€.. (I would trust KS more than Febi so that's why I went this route)

[notanawdix80]

Now you've got to spend hours cleaning that carbon build up haha
Did it last year

[D.Martijn]

Again an update.

This evening we were able to remove the head from the block.
We first had to remove the nut at the exhaust manifold, the fuel lines to the FPR and fuel rail return + the coolant hose I recently replaced at the back of the cilinder head.

As you can see on the picture, the 5th piston is pretty clean. To me this explains that there was a coolant leak near this cilinder, thus making steam and cleaning the top of the piston. Also the 6th piston is pretty dirty, I'm guessing that because of a valve seal.






Cross hatching is also still present.


It's crazy to see the engine bay this empty. ;)


The AMC cylinder head on the bench, awaiting disassembly


Head gasket, confirms coolant leak. Although I find it weird that i still got 13bar compression on this one..?


Sludge buildup on the oil drain tube aka bitch tube at the manifold.


Underside of the head. Can't see any visible cracks.
Although I think I'll still search for an original 885 head, regrind the valves is they are still ok, put in a new KS camshaft and maybe new rockers or regrind the original BMW ones.

[D.Martijn]

Yesterday evening after work my borther and I started the disassembly of the engine/cylinder head.

I first tested the compression again and I got good results so there is no gap/crack between the pistons or pistons and cooling passages. Although that doesn't explain the white smoke coming from the exhaust?
1: 12 bar
2: 12.25 bar
3: 12.25 bar
4: 12.25 bar
5: 13 bar
6: 12.75 bar

When removing the sparkplugs I did notice that the fifth and sixth sparkplug looks a bit loaded.


I also got the fuel rail loose and pressurized the fuel system by jumping the relay.
There were no leaks but they look pretty nasty. I might get them refurbished or even replaced while I have the chance.

Then is was time to drain the coolant, remove the belts, air filter housing, AFM, some more cables and hoses.

Only thing left is the exhaust, the big coolant hose under the intake, fuel lines to the fuel rail/FPR, and finally the head bolts.






Parts collection is getting bigger.

[D.Martijn]

So I didn't drive with the E30 this weekend but my dad noticed some fuild on the driveway, I looked under the car but couldn't see any drips, also in the engine bay everything was nice and dry.

I decided to check the oil level for no reason and noticed some a vage white line of coolant/oil. Checked the oil fill cap and it also had a faint line of coolant/oil mixture.
I found it weird since I had just compression tested the cylinders and they all checked out..

Today when I headed to work, it had rained so the air was pretty humid. I noticed more white smoke than usual.. When I arrived ad work my colleague also noticed quite a bit of smoke coming from my exhaust.. made me get worried a bit.

Fast forward to 5pm, I checked the oil fill cap again and it had the same vage oil/coolant mix. But still mostly looked like oil. I headed home but there was quite a bit of traffic, the engine got at operating temperature and still smokes a bit form the exhaust.

Got on the driveway, checked the oil cap. And lo and behold.. :(


1, it could be a crack in the head or 2, just the head gasket.
But the thing is the previous owner installed an AMC head + my camshaft has seen some wear.

I'm now thinking of getting an original 885 head. + while removing everything also replacing all of the rubber hoses anyway (fuel, coolant & vacuum).

I already found two guys selling a head. One guy lists a complete head (650€), pressure tested but not skimmed as he said it doesn't need it..?
(I can still see the little dimples so it still has some meat left for it to get skimmed)

The other guy sells a head (300€), only the valves and valve springs are present, not pressure tested. But I asked him if it's possible.
Also has the dimples so I can get it skimmed locally.
I found a new Kolbenschmidt camshaft for 225€, I could transfer my rocker shafts and rockers from my AMC head since those are still the BMW ones.
Of I might even get new ones..

What do you guys suggest? Got with the complete head or the cheaper and build that one?

[jeenyus]

Glad you got it resolved.

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[D.Martijn]

When I tried to bleed the E30 after replacing the coolant hose at the back of the cylinder head, the coolant temp needle would jump occasionally and go just past the 1/2mark when driving to work/home.

I got some more coolant this Friday so I could get it bled this weekend.
I started with removing the upper hose that connect the radiator to the thermostat housing. I noticed there was quite a bit of coolant 'missing' in the housing. So I started with adding some more. I also filled the hose and reconnected it.


I then filled the overflow tank fully, by squeezing that same hose, I got most of the air out via the little tube to the rad. I opened the bleed screw and let coolant flow out until the overflow tank had the correct level. I started the car and let it warm up.

When it was getting warmer, coolant was overflowing. I decided to catch most of it like so;


I think it was somewhere around 2liter? Quite a lot... With the heater on full blast, it was still blowing cold air too.. What I did noticed is when I keep the revs up, the air was getting hotter, let it idle and it blows cold again. Which made me think the interior heater core probably still had some air in it.

I also noticed coolant coming from under the fill plug of the coolant overflow tank. I decided to get 2 new o-rings since they were pretty brittle.




So I shut it off and let it cool down. Poured the coolant back in since the coolant level sensor turned on.
I decided to drive the E30 on some wooden ramps so it's sitting with it's nose higher of the ground.
Started it up again and let it get hot, cracking open the bleeder screw once in a while with the blower on full heat. I finally managed to get constant hot air coming from the blower.

I let it idle some more and it stayed just under the 1/2mark, giving it some revs, the coolant dropped just above the 1/4 mark so everything it back to normal.

Also the rough running at start up seems to be mostly solved, I decided to clean the ICV again and resealed the little aluminium elbow tube that goes to the throttle body.

[D.Martijn]

That lip looks sooooo good on a touring.


This thread makes me want three things: welding skills, an equipped workshop, and a touring. ;D

Thanks Mike!
Just start of by getting a welder, the rest will follow ;)

didn't you have an IS lip already? or did I miss something? It was paint matched, right?

That one was my uncles IS lip from his 316i which I set fitted, that car is also lazur blau. I was thinking of paint matching my new one but it would be too shiny as the paint on my front valance is pretty dull.

[jeenyus]

didn't you have an IS lip already? or did I miss something? It was paint matched, right?

[mike.bmw]

That lip looks sooooo good on a touring.


This thread makes me want three things: welding skills, an equipped workshop, and a touring. ;D

[D.Martijn]

Yesterday I received my IS lip from BMW, As it already had a primer, I scuffed it up, cleaned it with some thinner and sprayed on the SEM black trim paint.It coverages pretty good and lays done very easy.
After letting is dry for a few hours, I removed my old lip and fitted the IS.



close up


and frontal view

[jeenyus]

What's weird is that it idles/runs rough for the first few 1-2minutes. After that it idles and revs perfectly smooth..?
If it were a vacuum leak, it wouldn't run right the whole time

Maybe, but sometimes the ICV can adapt to smaller leaks after it's given a min. It's the purpose of the idle control valve.

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[D.Martijn]

sounds like a vacuum leak. have you checked your brake booster area? All those hoses, the grommet, the check valve, etc. all contribute to vacuum. I had a similar issue.

What's weird is that it idles/runs rough for the first few 1-2minutes. After that it idles and revs perfectly smooth..?
If it were a vacuum leak, it wouldn't run right the whole time