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They told me E30s were played out

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  • #91
    Well, that was a long read. Like your style of writing. Have to rise my hat, I would've had enough long ago and bought mint e30 to get over.
    M Tech 1 with chrome bumpers is best version of e30's.

    I've had similar moments, I got my MS2PNP build by incompetent builder. Had constant 12v on injectors and coils. Freshly installed ITB's were over flowing fuel and coils were dead in 5-10 seconds after turning ignition on, just wondered why I smelled fuel.
    We used to have almost as dragonian laws of building cars, thank god it got review'd.
    So, are the laws such that you cant have Dbilas ITB's? Would suit the NA build and they just sound pure glory. And even if illegal, they are quick to swap for MOT time.
    4,228 likes, 41 comments - bimmerkreme on April 3, 2019: "What a sound ☝️Owner: @haribenz . #bmw #e28 #bmwe28 #oldschool #oldschoolbmw #classic..."
    Last edited by samulis; 07-19-2019, 12:42 PM.
    btdt 4xmiata, westfield, ae86, 944, 2x951, mini, mk1 golf

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    • #92
      I really dig this look!
      Veryy good my friend, very good

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      • #93
        Thanks guys, I really like how it turned out too.
        Recently it occurred to me - it's a panda/storm trooper look haha. Never intended that but I'll take it.
        On the question of ITBs - they are not exactly illegal here. The MOT place wouldn't make a fuss out of it. If an officer of the law decides to check your engine compartment (very often they decide to) and suspect engine modifications, they have to call in a special unit to verify that. Which is a very PITA, so they do it only when they are sure you swapped the engine or added a turbo where it shouldn't belong.
        Anyway, ITBs are planned for the foreseeable future, but not the DBilas unit. I like the RHD design and their results are very impressive on the dyno. I'de like to get small issues out of the way first though.

        Speaking of small issues, before leaving for vacation with the GF, we went to a track day. Managed to knock off more than a second off my personal best time. However, when swapping back from track to street wheel/tire, the DS wheel rubbed against the back metal inner fender badly. Turned out, my powerflex LCA bushing turned 180 degrees, causing less caster and hence rubbing. Bummer, but couldn't fix it on the track, so I drove like that. Until last night. Swapped the LCA bushings for normal OEM ones - both wheels rub in the back of the fender while turning. Swapped in offset M3 LCA bushings. DS is better - no rubbing, but PS ribs like crazy while turning on the front of the inner fender. And I have the same issue as hinrichs did on his e36 m3 - DS wheels sticks further out from the fender lip although it has more camber. PS is tucked under the fender lip, has less caster and rubs the front plastic inner fender while turning left.
        Hinrichs, if you are reading this, could you share with me - did you swap out the LCA bushings only, or the LCAs as well?


        Now, some not so good news. After the track day, the engine developed a rattle, which sounds like a loose eccentric on one of the rockers, and started leaking oil from the valve cover gasket. So I get to adjust valve clearances over the weekend and use the opportunity to clean up the mess and put in a new gasket.

        Also, while on the lift, I noticed why my engine was dancing around.



        I'm sure I tightened everything up, but oh well. Put in a self locking nut this time instead of the OEM one.
        Last thing I did yesterday eve was put the car on the newly acquired car scales, keep in mind those are in KGs:

        "You could roll an E30 in a BMW showroom today and people would think:
        Well, they finally got the 1 series right!"

        3.0 L e30 ground up build

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        • #94
          Rear Left make me think that wheel breaks loose first huh?

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          • #95
            Originally posted by Miroteknik View Post
            Rear Left make me think that wheel breaks loose first huh?
            That is weight balance front/rear Miro, look at the chart in the middle where the lit LED is

            FB: @DumbassCarCrew - IG: @fruttolo_dumbasscrew

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            • #96
              Originally posted by gnmzl View Post
              Last thing I did yesterday eve was put the car on the newly acquired car scales, keep in mind those are in KGs:

              Dude, how is your e30 4000lbs without you in it?
              grimegang_cody on insta if you want to follow my build

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              • #97
                Originally posted by Fruttolo View Post
                That is weight balance front/rear Miro, look at the chart in the middle where the lit LED is
                F

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                • #98
                  Originally posted by xxcody2130xx View Post
                  Dude, how is your e30 4000lbs without you in it?
                  I don't know, as far as my knowledge goes, 1177 kg is about 2600 lbs

                  Maybe the picture is misleading. Here's one with numbers for each tires. Again, in KGs



                  Miro, you were correct, the rear left wheel is lightest. But with me in it, they light both up at the same time
                  Could be time for some good pictures and a video.
                  "You could roll an E30 in a BMW showroom today and people would think:
                  Well, they finally got the 1 series right!"

                  3.0 L e30 ground up build

                  Comment


                  • #99
                    Originally posted by gnmzl View Post
                    Miro, you were correct, the rear left wheel is lightest. But with me in it, they light both up at the same time
                    Could be time for some good pictures and a video.
                    yeah, enough pictures of your confusing red chernobyl machine. lets see the e30

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                    • Originally posted by Miroteknik View Post
                      yeah, enough pictures of your confusing red chernobyl machine. lets see the e30
                      I'd love to, but this car keeps kicking my ass

                      First some boring stuff about the LCA bushings. Ended up copying my solution from my m10 powered e30. It's basically a welded on and ground down piece of metal snug tightly into a slot made in the bushing itself.
                      More complicated and time consuming, but better in the long term IMO.




                      Installed them and now it's a bit better. Passenger side still rubs slightly on left turns but nothing crazy. I'll get it dialed in eventually.
                      First I need to pinpoint this stupid rattle/knock in the engine I've been chasing for the past month an a half. I don't drive the car anymore because of it, only start it and warm it up once in a while after I change something. Here are the symptoms and what I've done so far:

                      Symptoms:

                      Rattle when engine running, rpm dependent, not movement or under load dependent. It is there even if cold started. NOT there when I start the car after 4 or more days of not driving it, but by the time I switch off the lights in the garage, close the door and lock it, get back into the car, the rattle is already there - quiet, but already there. It gets worse when the engine reaches operating temperature. It got progressively worse/louder over the course of about 10 days of driving after the last track day. I can hear it pronounced listening from the top of the engine, less pronounced from the bottom with the car on the lift, but still loud enough.
                      On that trackday the oil DID get to the 150oC mark briefly, which is about 300oF, but the oil is now changed. Water temp never got over the middle mark.
                      Oil pressure is 1.3-1.4 bar (18.8 psi - 20.3 psi) when idling on warmed up engine and always has been.

                      The engine DOES have a windage tray and crank scraper.
                      No noticeable power loss ( nor gains as well for that matter )

                      What I've done so far:

                      Oil change (flushed the oil cooler too) - didn't work
                      Rocker arm eccentric to valve stem clearance adjustment TWICE - second time was on the engine 10 days not started, did them 0.25 - no change at all
                      Inspected the oil tube over the rockers - clean, oil passes through, isn't low enough for the rockers to hit it.
                      Checked as best as I could for rocker arm and eccentric premature wear (everything is brand new) - no visual issues
                      Verified following twice: timing, bolt on cam sprocket, jeesus bolt and crank sprocket too - nothing out of order
                      Cam sensor doesn't hit the trigger in place of the distributor.
                      Cam belt tight enough, not slapping about
                      Started engine without accessories belt - no change
                      Unplugged coil connectors one by one while engine running to listen if the noise would change - no change
                      Pressed gently against the clutch on warmed up engine - didn't feel it through the pedal.
                      Listening with a screwdriver from the top I can hear it between cyl 2 and cyl 3, when listening from the bottom on the pan - almost everywhere. Not on the block though.
                      Pulled the plugs, in order of appearance








                      What I still haven't done yet:

                      Compression test, but did one before this rattle emerged - average of 210 psi across all cylinders on a warm engine.
                      Check the drive pulley on the oil drive shaft (it is a brand new unit, the solid one, not stamped steel one)
                      Pull the pan and check bearing caps.

                      A short video:

                      This is "M20 noise" by G K on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.


                      So, if anyone has any input for me, highly appreciated.
                      I'm waiting on a tiny camera with an LED to stuff into the cylinders right now. But would like to know if there is anything else I can check before pulling the pan off. Really don't want to do that. I realize asking on a bmw oriented forum is a better bet, but figured someone may have had similar experiences.

                      Help, please
                      "You could roll an E30 in a BMW showroom today and people would think:
                      Well, they finally got the 1 series right!"

                      3.0 L e30 ground up build

                      Comment


                      • Some copy paste update over from r3v, just to have a documentation of this turd on here as well.

                        I wouldn't rule out something hitting the scraper, it does make sense. Still the question remains - why all of a sudden? Sure, I can drop the pan and check it out, but need to find the root cause. Prematurely and severely worn rod bearing(s) causing the rod(s) to move around? Why would it fail so early and why does the oil pressure stay high despite? Just questions for me to think on.

                        Also, there was some new development yesterday eve.

                        A friend of mine bought a small LED USB camera and called me immediately, he picked it up in my area. We went ahead and stuffed it into the cylinders and sure enough - valve to piston contact.
                        We took the timing covers off and did find the belt to be a bit loose, but the timing marks still line up perfectly. Adjusted the tensioner, belt is now as tight as it should be - marks still line up perfectly good.
                        Here comes the weird part. We rotated the nuke to retard the cam about 4 degrees, assembled all the stuff and started the car for about 3 seconds. Noise was LOUDER and now with higher frequency. Returned the nuke gear to zero, started again - a bit better but still there.

                        Now the question is - why did this engine cover over 3000 kms without making valve to piston contact and start doing it after a hot oil event? Both things seem to not be connected. Is it possible that the belt stretches under any load, even idling and causing the valve-piston contact, but returning to normal when engine is inop? That seems sci-fi to me, but has anyone encountered that?

                        I really don't want to reassemble the engine without finding the cause of this crap.

                        Another thing that comes to mind - the woodruf key on the crank sproket potentially could have failed, causing the timing mark to align, but the crank would be on the incorrect position.

                        What I intend to do next is rotate the cam gear in the opposite direction, start briefly and if it doesn't knock/rattle, I'll check compression numbers and take it from there. Definitely will check the woodruf key on the crank sprocket, but if anyone has some other pointers, would be happy to read them.

                        Disclaimer: No pictures of car, until problems taken care of.
                        "You could roll an E30 in a BMW showroom today and people would think:
                        Well, they finally got the 1 series right!"

                        3.0 L e30 ground up build

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                        • Check if the sprocket is lined properly by finding TDC with the old screwdriver-into-plug hole method, if it is and valves contact pistons I'd think you have too tall of cams? Makes no sense tho

                          Edit: jammed hydro lifters may be a thing?
                          Last edited by Fruttolo; 09-19-2019, 06:11 AM.

                          FB: @DumbassCarCrew - IG: @fruttolo_dumbasscrew

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                          • It is something to think about, but dbilas claim this is a sports cam, not rally or circuit racing, and hence no additional valve clearance needed. In fact, according to the cam sheet, 1.2mm is the minimum, 2mm is the safe zone. Mine was 2.2mm so .. should be good, but who knows.
                            I will check it for a piece of mind though.
                            So the list with stuff to check before making any drastic disassembly moves looks like this:

                            Check if woodruf key is kaput - either by Fruttolo's suggested method or just take it apart
                            Check if belt is stretching - by ... magic I suppose, need to think how I can safely do that.

                            IN OTHER NEWS, SOME PLOT TWIST:

                            Turns out I didn't retard the engine, but myself.

                            Using my memory of yesterday eve and the below link as reference, I was a dumbass and advanced the engine instead of retarding it.



                            Attached is an image of what I think I did.

                            retard.jpg

                            Guess joke is on me. Hopefully my stupidity will help someone in the future.

                            Will get back to the car and turn the other way to see if that cures it and take it from there.
                            "You could roll an E30 in a BMW showroom today and people would think:
                            Well, they finally got the 1 series right!"

                            3.0 L e30 ground up build

                            Comment


                            • Originally posted by gnmzl View Post

                              Disclaimer: No pictures of car, until problems taken care of.

                              Comment


                              • Yep, you guessed it - still no pictures, since mystery still not solved.

                                I had exactly one month to chase down this devil, here's a recap of what happened:

                                First and foremost I did a leakdown test, I had to buy the tool to do it. I did it twice for each cylinder just to be sure. All were below 15% leakage, which I hardly could believe, yet again the engine ran under 5 seconds with the advanced nuke gear. So the test showed all valves are seating good enough.
                                Next order of business was taking off the oil pan - what a pain with a scraper and a baffle.
                                Oil looked mint, not even the slightest debri in it, when I filtered it through the finest painter's filter.
                                No heat discoloration either on rods or crank, no play in any rod or whatever I could reach in there.
                                There was e tiny little smidge on the scraper, where a rod bolt had touched it ever so lightly. So small, the camera wouldn't catch it. Ok, so off with the scraper. Assembled everything, poured the oil back in and fired it up. Still clacking, right from the start, same noise again temperature independent but RPM dependent, sounds like only one element is hitting another once per revolution.
                                Next up - discovered a tiny play in the crank sprocket, so small it was unnoticable from above the engine, only when the car was on the lift could we spot it.
                                From a spare m20 - pristine sprocket with the woodruf key to go with it and the play was gone. Fire it up - same noise.

                                Listening at it again reveals the following:
                                From above: more pronounced between cyl 2 and 4
                                From beneath: more pronounced between cyl 5 and 6, but only if you listen without a screwdriver or similar to the pan. Screwdriver to pan says it's everywhere .....
                                Removing the alu cover in front of the trans and below the pan makes the sound more pronounced.
                                Flywheel doesn't have any play, but does have some slight oil drippings, that are spread by the centrifugal force starting from the flywheel bolts.

                                Now, what I am thinking - since those drippings are on the side, which faces the front of the car, is it possible, that the bolts have backed out and cause this rattle/clatter? I used brand new OEM units and torqued them down to spec, but you never know.
                                Otherwise the only thing that comes to mind is go back to the head and check every rocker arm, also warm up the engine and fire it up with the head cover off.

                                Any pointers are welcome.
                                "You could roll an E30 in a BMW showroom today and people would think:
                                Well, they finally got the 1 series right!"

                                3.0 L e30 ground up build

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