1986 325iX 3.1L Stroker + Turbo

[2mAn]

Damn, that sucks but you doged a MAJOR bullet. I love this thing, but it needs OEM tails badly. Those ones need to be burned to the ground

[digger]

holy s..t was there any striations indicating the crack was a fatigue crack? it didnt look like it from what i saw.

that pin wall looks awfully thin for a FI engine im sure its tapered bore but still for FI dont tick the light weight wrist pin box, part of the job of the pin is to stiffen the piston, it acts like a spine because steel is 3x the modulus of the piston material

was the pin a sloppy fit on the bore on the unbroken side of the piston?

[bradnic]

you dodged a serious bullet. wow
thank you so much for posting about this. I'm sure you'll get things resolved soon with the JE folks.

[nomansland92]

Dam dude that's scarry! glad to see it didn't do any other damage, hopefully they improve there design and not give you the bad patch excuse.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[downforce22]

I had some more bad luck. The car developed a ticking noise under certain load conditions. It would get louder as the car warmed up and be RPM dependant while disappearing on no throttle conditions.

I was testing and tuning the car and you can hear it in this video. The car still ran great, made great power, and idled smooth so it didn't seem anything was wrong.



I removed the valve cover and checked valve clearances as well as verifying the rockers were in good shape. I wanted to make sure oil was getting everywhere so I checked it with the cover off. The only problem I found was the intake rocker shaft rotated slightly and the retaining pin in the front of the head was not held in place correctly. I thought maybe one of the rockers was 'kissing' the rocker clips or something, but that ended up not being the case. Click to see video and hear sound and symptoms.

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I decided to take it to the mechanic who built the motor. He was a bit puzzled as well as the sound was not coming from the bottom nd but was coming from up top. We did a few tests. It seemed to be coming from the back of the motor. Then we pulled the spark plug out and started the engine. With number 5 spark plug removed the noise was still there. (Note running an engine with an open cylinder is extremely loud!!) Then we removed number 6 and with a stethoscope, the mechanic noted the noise was no longer a hammering sound and was only a tapping. So it was coming from cylinder 6 and the compression affected the noise.

At this point we thought to drain the oil, but did not find any metal shaving of any sort. We arrived on the conclusion that the wrist pin may have failed but that was the only thing we could come up with and had no idea why it would have failed. At that point, the only way to come to a solution was to open the engine up and see what was going on.

We decided to remove the oil pan and drop the rod bearing out the bottom and pull the piston out the top with the engine in the car. As it turns out, the Forged JE piston failed.

Check out this carnage. Somehow the piston survived with only half of the material holding the wrist pin in place.











As you can see, somehow the piece of the forging just broke off. The scary part is the wrist pin was able to slide around as that 'lock' was no longer holding the wrist pin rigidly in place. It could slide laterally toward the side of the cylinder bore. Luckily, the pistons are so short due to the long stroke that the lower ring actually sits outside the wrist pin bore. And that ring held up as the wrist pin slammed into it laterally. I do not have a picture but the ring had some side loading marks due to the impacts.

Also, where the piston failed, there is a half circle, presumably to access the lock for the wrist pin. It appears there was a stress concentration at that point and that partially caused the failure. I contacted the piston supplier and they asked that I send the piston in for destructive testing so I no longer have it. Ideally they will do something about it but I am not holding my breath. I received a replacement piston and hope to have the engine back together within another week.

I am glad I didn't drive the car further and that the failure did not grenade the engine. It definitely could have if I drove it much more. Once back, I will be dialing in the tune and seeing if anyone has any pointers for my ms tune.

[litu]

Thanks, all stock ride height, with bilstein HDs in the rear. Still have to install the fronts.

Ok, this is good to know..I have also chrome bumber version..But in very lowered suspension. I have thinking know to but stock suspension to get in in stock ride high.

[nomansland92]

I run a 10psi spring and they start to open around 7 psi also. I have a gfb electronic boost controller that I dont use anymore if your interested in it. I think I paid like 300 or so for it but if you would like it I'll sell it for 200 shipped.

[downforce22]

Nice e30. Not a fan of the muffler.

This one?

[efficient]

Nice e30. Not a fan of the muffler.

[downforce22]

Cool, i love that ride high, just like how ix should look

Thanks, all stock ride height, with bilstein HDs in the rear. Still have to install the fronts.

I tuned a bit more last night and on an open stretch of road its easy to reach triple digits. My boost gauge is showing 5-8 psi so I think my wastegate is cracking open a little early. I might add a boost controller to remedy that but even at 5 psi it is fast.

I love the 3.64 gears on this thing but in 5th gear could almost use some more gearing due to the stroker combo of the engine.

[litu]

Cool, i love that ride high, just like how ix should look

[downforce22]

So back from the dead, I had lost my job which slowed down me spending money on this (or even touching it).

But I was able to make some progress on this thing. It had been sitting so long a layer of dust had settled on it.

First thing is first, i decided to swap the decent condition tail lights onto my s38 car to improve that thing, and that left me with a set of aftermarket lights that my buddy suggested I throw on this car. So I did, and had to order a few bulbs to make sure they were red and bright enough to be seen.

Next up I replaced the rusty front federalized fenders with a couple spares I picked up. I got diamond black metallic fenders from a 325ix so hopefully the paint would match and the flares would still fit without any modification. This ended up working as the early model flares fit on the late model fenders! The front looks so much better now without the orange markers and the back looks kind of ricey but kind matches the non conformist build style of the rest of the car.

No pictures of the rust on the old fenders but the driver side was rusted all the way through and looking pretty terrible. The side skirts covered most of it up.

As for the engine, I installed the Good & Tight turbo manifold and wow is this a nice piece. I love the chrome finish and the fitment! I had to get a 44 mm wastegate to run this manifold so I bought a Tial MVR off craigslist. Then I went to install the downpipe and it was hitting the firewall. So i chopped the downpipe so I had it pointing at the ground and could atleast rid the engine bay of exhaust and run an oxygen sensor.

I drove it to a local shop with the open dump. I don't recommend this as it sounded like a diesel truck and I didn't even rev above 3000 rpm. I had them modify the old exhaust to fit, install the magnaflow 12198 3" inlet, dual 2.5" outlet, and install the chrome tips that I bought.

The tune was jacked up so I worked on that a bit today as I drove it around for the first time all year. And man is this thing fast. So much torque and then the turbo kicks in and you're moving. Anyway, still have to work on the tune, buy a new oil pressure sender cause mine broke, fix a ticking coming form the valvetrain, and she is ready to rock and roll.

Here are some pictures.
































And a quick video

[stonea]

Sub'd for ix goodness

[jeenyus]

I was looking back through this build. I saw you were thinking about a Magnaflow exhaust. The Magnaflow muffler is loud AF and drones worse than any muffler i've ever owned. When I switch mine, you want my old one?

[brian8603]

Hey, nice to meet you! I have heard of your car around and need to see it! I'd love to compare. My buddy Jon took this photo and said he gave you a drive 4 corners card about a year and a half ago. (www.drive4corners.com, you should come!) Also, Zach with the e23 told me he was planning to trade you for the iX but that was like 6 months ago! Seems like a runner that just needs a lil love. I'd love to see it though!



Anyway, here are some photos from the meet lately. I have tons of stuff to do before the meet when I leave next week.

I need to silicone the icv elbow in to the throttle, it keeps popping out.
I need to bleed the brakes
Rewire the gauges
wire the running lights
fix the seat lift, it wont fold forward on the drivers side
fix a loud valve with a valve adjustment
work on the tune some more
repaint front valence
wash and maybe wax it before the meet.

then after the meet
add the magnaflow and chrome tips
install good and tight exhaust manifold
replace front fenders



















That fart can

Nice to hear from you. Yeah the car looks a little worse for wear in that pic. It could use a little more love, thats what happens when its been my daily driver for about 8 years. I lost the card for the 4corners and I haven't seen Jon's car at that shop on 24 in a very long time.
About Zach and the e23, the trade is probably going to happen around the beginning of October. It would be cool if we could get together and look at each others rides. Just hit me up with a PM.:coolphoto: