The complete repair, rebuild, repaint, and v8 swap of my early model sedan

[kristov]

Are you still happy with the CAtuned axles?

[george graves]

Proof of linear vs progressive:

95 M3:


e36 325i:



The only thing I still want to do, when I have time, is take measurements near center at small increments on both racks, maybe 1/8 rev's.

I'll be dammed. Look at that. The splines tell that story well. I"m liking that the 95's rack is slower on center, then progressively faster off center. To me, that's the way it should be for a DD. If you're auto-crossing - might not be for you. Thanks for the great pics.

[JGood]

You probably have a stray current issue as with all alloy radiators.
The problem happens more on some cars than others.

Cause is electrolysis.

I roasted my first one after 2 years. It started leaking out of the brazed weld fins ends. Which is the first thing the electrolysis attacks.

Changed to a Mishimoto and did the following things to remove the issue all together.

* Used proper BMW coolant which is a high qaulity and stablised chemically.
* Ran an earth strap form the radiator to the chassis
measured the voltage in the hot (80c) non pressurezied coolant with each change. Dropped from 0.5v to 0.004v which is what it should be. You do this by using a multimeter with one prong on the radiator and the other in the coolant not touching anything else.

Also you will find that the radiator on the inside is black. This is because it has been anaodised. This adds a thin metal like layer to the alloy and reduces efficency.

Moral of the story, if you run a alloy radiator then dont create a battery out of it with water and dis-similar metals.

I don't think I've ever gone more then 6 months/5k miles without draining/replacing coolant (for one reason or another), so I don't think that's enough time for the coolant to even become acidic. I measured .07v, but again, this coolant is like 2 months old. From what I've read, anything under .3 volts shouldn't cause any major issues.

[Denny]

Cant stop re-reading this EPIC thread over and over... Persistence to a whole new level my man!! This thread would make the ultimate E30 movie...

[HybridNz]

The big 3-core Z3M. The cores started leaking after 1 year/10k miles on the first two.

You probably have a stray current issue as with all alloy radiators.
The problem happens more on some cars than others.

Cause is electrolysis.

I roasted my first one after 2 years. It started leaking out of the brazed weld fins ends. Which is the first thing the electrolysis attacks.

Changed to a Mishimoto and did the following things to remove the issue all together.

* Used proper BMW coolant which is a high qaulity and stablised chemically.
* Ran an earth strap form the radiator to the chassis
measured the voltage in the hot (80c) non pressurezied coolant with each change. Dropped from 0.5v to 0.004v which is what it should be. You do this by using a multimeter with one prong on the radiator and the other in the coolant not touching anything else.

Also you will find that the radiator on the inside is black. This is because it has been anaodised. This adds a thin metal like layer to the alloy and reduces efficency.

Moral of the story, if you run a alloy radiator then dont create a battery out of it with water and dis-similar metals.

[Schnitzer318is]

Anything is possible, but I think it would be very difficult to justify the time/money required to pioneer that swap. Power output appears similar to the m62. I think even an s62 would be easier, cheaper, and much more powerful. With the n62's valve guide issues, I just don't see any real benefit.

But, we all have our own reasons for doing these swaps, and obviously it's not all about hp/$, or none of us would be messing with e30's or v8's haha.

LOL very true about having our own vices/reasons for doing crazy builds.

My only real reasons were the additional (albeit slight) power & torque increase of the N62 over the M60/62. Coupled of course with how well the N62 moves the pig of an E53 around, I figured it would be tits in an e30. Plus I've never liked the timing chain guide issues associated with the m60 and m62's. Though with the updated designs I could swap them out before putting it into the e30.

But as you say, it might be easier and, quite possibly cheaper to just go with an m60 or s62.

This is all a pipe dream at this point anyway though, I am not in a position time wise to be able to dedicate the money/efforts to something like this. Your project just has me all giddy about BMW V8 power in an e30... :drink:

[JGood]

Thanks guys!

but after owning the e53 I wonder if it would be possible to put an N62 into the E30. Too much electronics compared to the M60 you think?

Anything is possible, but I think it would be very difficult to justify the time/money required to pioneer that swap. Power output appears similar to the m62. I think even an s62 would be easier, cheaper, and much more powerful. With the n62's valve guide issues, I just don't see any real benefit.

But, we all have our own reasons for doing these swaps, and obviously it's not all about hp/$, or none of us would be messing with e30's or v8's haha.

[Schnitzer318is]

Very nice, that thing looks brand new. '04+ too, so you get x-drive, which is lights years better then the horrible early model one wheel drive.

Thanks J. It is really nice (though it looks flawless in photos, it's not) and the wife and I LOVE the way it drives. But I am going to have to put in some serious wrench time in the near future... lol.

Hopefully one day I can do a ground up build like yours. I have some pretty decent e30's... but nothing to the caliber of yours. Keep up the good work on it. I would love a V8 e30 and was leaning LS1 before this... but after owning the e53 I wonder if it would be possible to put an N62 into the E30. Too much electronics compared to the M60 you think?

[sittingaaron]

Finished reading though the current 69 pages. Motivation is on another level here. Not exactly sure what inhuman part of you keeps you going, but I want one.

Car is dope though, and I don't use that word lightly!

[JGood]

Very nice, that thing looks brand new. '04+ too, so you get x-drive, which is lights years better then the horrible early model one wheel drive.

[Schnitzer318is]

Oh yeah, gotcha, that is definitely a possibility. I'm not sure to what extent the OSV/CCV is able to compensate for blow-by. The engine runs great and doesn't smoke. I haven't done a compression or leak down test, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt. I still want to do a water inches vacuum gauge to see if crank case pressure is even an issue. For all I know, it might actually be pulling correct vacuum.

The m60 OSV is internal, located right behind the timing chain on the block, whereas the e53 X5 m62 OSV's were external. So they don't experience the same cold weather issues, they stay at engine temp regardless of ambient temp. I had an m62 X5, got rid of it before it started to nickle and dime me to death. Amazing vehicle in every way, and I do miss it, just way too many expensive, failure prone parts on it. It would be hard to justify replacing a $3.5k trans in a $10k vehicle. Or a $2k timing guide/upper gasket overhaul, $1.5k coolant overhaul, etc... $200 window regulators breaking constantly gets old too.


But they are sexy!

Yeah, as you say you could be chasing a non-issue and just messed up that HG install. ;) J/K

Good info to know about the m60 vs m62... I don't know my BMW V8's very well yet.

Nice looking X... and I totally get what you are talking about with the thing nickel and diming you to death. I bought mine for $10k out the door from a dealer and thought I got a decent deal. Figured I would spend $2k on maintenance to bring it back up to par (just like any used BMW purchase). Well, had it since June and am learning what it needs... which include all the stuff I mentioned before and then some.

Here is mine:

[JGood]

What about venting to atmosphere and removing the CCV system entirely? Is that an option?

It is, but the system works perfectly fine from the factory, so I'd just be band-aiding whatever the actual issue is. If there even is an issue. For all I know, I don't even have excessive crankcase pressure, and I'm chasing nothing. I need to measure crankcase vacuum while driving and find out.

[CorvallisBMW]

What about venting to atmosphere and removing the CCV system entirely? Is that an option?

[JGood]

Oh yeah, gotcha, that is definitely a possibility. I'm not sure to what extent the OSV/CCV is able to compensate for blow-by. The engine runs great and doesn't smoke. I haven't done a compression or leak down test, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt. I still want to do a water inches vacuum gauge to see if crank case pressure is even an issue. For all I know, it might actually be pulling correct vacuum.

The m60 OSV is internal, located right behind the timing chain on the block, whereas the e53 X5 m62 OSV's were external. So they don't experience the same cold weather issues, they stay at engine temp regardless of ambient temp. I had an m62 X5, got rid of it before it started to nickle and dime me to death. Amazing vehicle in every way, and I do miss it, just way too many expensive, failure prone parts on it. It would be hard to justify replacing a $3.5k trans in a $10k vehicle. Or a $2k timing guide/upper gasket overhaul, $1.5k coolant overhaul, etc... $200 window regulators breaking constantly gets old too.


But they are sexy!

[Schnitzer318is]

Yeah, n62 valve seal failure is very common, leading to the smoking you're experiencing. That'll be a hell of a job for you haha.

My heads were not rebuilt, but oil in the intake can only come from the crankcase, not from any part of the cylinder head. Even if oil was getting into the combustion chamber through valve seals or piston rings, it won't go upstream, against airflow, into the intake manifold, it would just burn and smoke out the exhaust.

Gotcha... I was thinking it might be contributing to the crank case pressure not necessarily contributing additional oil. At any rate... why not add a catch can to prevent the oil reaching the intake. I realize this does nothing for the head gasket leak... but it seems a common problem with the BMW V8's to be getting oil into the throttle body. I haven't opened mine up yet... but I wouldn't be shocked to see it in there.

I am notoriously bad at remote diagnostics... lol I have to see and own a car to be any good at troubleshooting usually. And yes, I am dreading having to all that work on the X5. Ughhhhh... got a decent deal on it and it's such a good looking truck, but man everything is 10x harder and 5x more expensive than any of the 3 series chassis. It leaks oil from everywhere... and the dealer did one helluva job degreasing the engine before I saw it.

Edit: Just noticed you're in PA... BMW V8's seem to not like the cold at all because of the CCV system freezing/clogging. Have you done the entire system? I know on the m62 they added an electric heater wrap and updated the oil return tube because of this. If the CCV is stuck closed it causes excessive pressures... usually blowing out VC gaskets and oil seepage from filler cap. If it is stuck open it sucks oil into the intake possibly hydrolocking it. I'm new to BMW V8's (e53 X5 is my first) and I'm not loving the complexity of these things so far. The power and torque are fairly addictive though.