1991 BMW 325i Coupe - Build Thread - The end is in sight!

[MaksV]

So I have an exam Tuesday night and I start my internship on Monday, so this is the last big update until probably next weekend. The goal of today was to get the head back on correctly, and have the engine nicely ready to go for the accessories and stuff.

A few notes:
-The Bentley really helps, especially for stuff like this that has to be precise. If you dont want to spend the money to buy one, just barrow it from your friend - like i did.

-This is one of the easiest and most straight forward heads to work on, so dont get scared off be head work.

Lets get started:

Stuff needed
-water
-small (in-lbs) torque wrench
-4 way convertors to go between thedifferent wrench sizes
-cam locks
-angle measurement tool.
-bently
-parts(head gasket, studs, coolant sensor, exhaust studs, nuts, ect)




and the head of course


first step is to pull out the gear - we just going to hold the chain up with a wire for now. Clean the head/block surface


find TDC on the block


my temporary TDC+45* mark



gently place the head gasket on the block, and put the head on


screw these bolts in where they go


dont forget to put a little oil on the bolts before you put them in


drop them into their holes after lubing them up

Torque them in at spec

tool for doing the +90* stages 2 and 3



Done


while waiting for bolts to stretch I went in and replaced the coolant sensor.



Then started putting in my exhaust studs. locktite and teh 2 nut system works well. Except I ordered 16 studs instead of 24 - herp derp




torque the little front bolts down


Next we have to install the lifters and cam trays. This is hard cause the lifter keep sliding out. The way i got around this was i rotated the block on the stand, and let gravity do teh work for me.


Layed the cams in there and started to get the cam covers on there


cams bolted in


TDC markings


cam locks on


timing gear on - remember holes go ont he left.


Main tensioner back in


Had a bag of bolts split on me, on top of the engine, got so lucky nothing fell down into the cylinders, time to put the plugs in to protect the cylinder from shit


gears, secondary tensioner, chain on


Donsky.



Next steps:
-get AC compressor tested
-get alternator tested
-order the rest of the parts for the PS conversion, and trans
-bolt on oil pan
-bolt on the rest of the junk
-get wiring harness on the engine

[diggity_1031]

damn! I gots to gets motivated. Nice work dude.

[MaksV]

damn! I gots to gets motivated. Nice work dude.

lol. good luck :)

[trackjunkie21]

Sweet work dude! I can tell you that you won't be dissapointed with the m50!

[MaksV]

Sweet work dude! I can tell you that you won't be dissapointed with the m50!

hehe. the m50 will be good for a while, and then it will get a snail :)

[MaksV]

So got the last of my current order with Steve back today. This guy stuck like 6 of his business cards in the box. :rofl: Guess that means I should hand them out. Also got the tii reservoir. A bit of bad news is that I took the m50 alternator to autozone and it failed according to their alternator tester machine thing. the guy said it was only halfway trustworthy though. So i am not really sure what to make of it. Its a Valeo part - anyone know the stock amperage, cause he pulled up 5 different ones ranging from 90A to 120A, we tested it at both values and it failed at both values. So not sure what I am gonna do about it yet. Probably take it somewhere for a second opinion. So a due date for this swap has been marked for early August (like the first week or so) So I have plenty of time to get stuff ready.

Started my internship today. :) life is definitely going to be stressful for the next few months but thats how i like it.

[MaksV]

Well after a 70 hour work week, it was time to get a little R&R puttin this engine back together.

I wentto autozone yesterday, nd when we tested the alternator for 80A it passed. :thumbsup:

So I got up today with the intention of having the engine pretty much completely together by the end of the day. I didnt get as far as I wanted to but progress was definitly made. Problem was every time I moved on to something I would realize I was missing one bolt, or rtv, or some other stupid shit.

This Morning, got the trunk the back seat loaded up. I think the rear coils are starting to realize some shit be going down.


starting point


random parts and stuff I brought.


clip this on


spent close to an hour scraping off the old oil pan gasket


oil pump gear, nut, and lock wire on


VR lower engine rebuild kit doesnt include the gasket for this thing. Shitty


the bently suggested RTV in the front and rear of the oil pan. Had to go buy some.



next the water pump.



put this thing back on while i was at it


Al thermostat housing, new thermostat and gasket in, except I couldnt find one of the bolts. First trip to Lowes to get another bolt




Next the oil filter housing going back on the engine



Put the AC holder thng back on


new pully


put the alternator back. As i was doing this I found a bolt hole with no bolt in the oil filter hausing. Again back to lowes to get another bolt. Starting to get tired and hungry at this point.





thought about calling it a day at this point but then decided to put the valve cover on just to be safe.


new S50 coils and new OEMboots.





going to start keeping this shit here.


So I have the AC side of the engine to reasemble, dipstick, oil level sensor, wiring harness, pullyes, intake and exhaust manifolds, and then it shoudl be getting done

[Click]

Nice post. Are you building this in like a 5 foot wide storage locker?

[MaksV]

Nice post. Are you building this in like a 5 foot wide storage locker?

yup. Its a 5x10 :up:

[bzboardz]

just read entire build, great attention to detail and very quality work

[MaksV]

just read entire build, great attention to detail and very quality work

Thanks, there is much, much more to come. :up:

[MaksV]

Anyway I am currently swamped with life but I broke away to do a little more work on the engine.

Stopped at lowes to get some extra nuts that I was missing. Also I found that one big bolt I "lost" last time. FML

All my S50 coil packs are in


crank sensor in place.


crank and pully are on


AC in place


wire cover in place.


Put this bracket in palce, only to find out my new wiring harness already had one attached to it.


wiring harness working its way into place


coil wires in place


these two only plug up one way, my problem will be the cam/crank sensors as their plugs are the same...


New seals, rebuild injectors, all clean


bolted on


can anyone confirm this is the right place to ground the rail?


injector electronics bolted on


mess of wires, I need to sort


I know this goes on the intake side somewhere, but not sure where. Cant seem to find it in any pictures, help?


forgot about this thing, pulled it out for cleaning


also need a new fuel cable to run between these two bad boys.

[MaksV]

so another update. but first I need your help...

Can someone please post a picture of a NV or Vanos M50 from the side. I cant figure outs some of the wiring, brackets, and hoses, on the side of the engine and the Bently is being helpful. Big thanks. For helping you will get a cookie.


Anyway I have been swamped with work/school but I am so close to being done with this engine. The swap is still scheduled for mid August.

wHere we sit today:


here we go.


bolt that bitch up. This takes care of one plug i Couldnt label


got frustrated at this point and I needed new bolts for my motor mounts so I called it a day.


Found thsi shit in my shed - the guy i gotthe engine from gave it to me, going to try to use it to match some stuff up.



got the belts on



The longer e34 motor mount bolts on the intake sideare too long. So I got shorter ones


The bolts that go up into the intake mani for the mounts were no where to be found so I bought those too.


This is where the day ended



Questions:
1. How do i know that the cam and crank sensors are plugged in the right place... They both seem to have the same plug and are interchangable.. Can I pull the shrouding back and match wires orwhat?
2. What is this thing? found it in my shed as well.

3. please post some side of engine pics for me to finish thsi thing already...

[MaksV]

Got off work early today so decided to get some e30 loving in there.

The engine is just about done, I have the plastic valve covers on, almost all the hoses are hooked up and all the electronics are set. So basically all that remains

-install last 8 exhaust studs when they come in
-replace RMS during swap
-install headers
-finish up the fuel line, last air lines, and coolant line

I had to o to autozone to get the remaining hoses i needed afterwards so that will get finalized tomorrow probably.

Couple of things I learned - on the M50 the crankshaft plug has a red wire, and the cam shaft plug has yellow wire - you have to pull back the boot to figure out which is which.

Anyway I need to finish the hoses tomorrow, and get start studying for tests and stuff.

Also big thanks to JT for spending like half an hour with me on the phone helping me ID stuff.







and my reward. Papa Murphys Stuffed Pizza :nomnom:

[mRodiek]

WOW what a build, I love it when enthusiasts take the time to replace everything & do it right the FIRST time.

Great work