Hydro locked 330I

Originally Posted by jpdunn101

5 bent rods.. two of them were tapping the block skirt during rotation.
The moral to this story.. hydrolock is BAD!

Since it's fully apart, build that thing up for F/I with forged internals

Originally Posted by wag-zhp

I'd say that's pretty impressive. 5 bent rods, and yet the crank and bottom end are still fine.

Good luck with the rebuild.

It was still pretty spunky when I drove it to my shop.. these are great engines!!

Originally Posted by Gryphon

Since it's fully apart, build that thing up for F/I with forged internals

As an old gearhead muscle car guy my instinct is always to build for more power. In this case i'm going back with stock forged rods and will likely drive for a few months or maybe a year and trade up to a M3... The ultimate ultimate driving machine

Originally Posted by Gryphon

Since it's fully apart, build that thing up for F/I with forged internals

He already has forged internals.

Originally Posted by Scott ZHP

He already has forged internals.

I think he was referring to "lower-compression pistons", etc., in preparation for a (healthy) FI system where you can run more than 7 or 8 pounds of boost, and actually have the engine live for awhile....that`s the *proper* way to do it....

I'm not very Engine savvy and i'm always interested to learn more about problems that occur and how they happen it teaches me to be careful so I don't find myself footing the repair bills because nobody in my family has ever worked on cars.

I bought the aftermarket Eagle H beam rods for about the same price as a set of used rods.

I have installed the rods/pistons, head, cams and rebuilt and installed the vanos unit... I will try to get some pics up to document the rebuild asap.

Definitely looking forward to this.

Originally Posted by jpdunn101

I bought the aftermarket Eagle H beam rods for about the same price as a set of used rods.

I have installed the rods/pistons, head, cams and rebuilt and installed the vanos unit... I will try to get some pics up to document the rebuild asap.

Very cool. Pretty nice that you are able to wrench it on your own schedule and know that you'll come out the far end with a rather nice car! And the pride of knowing you fixed the car up yourself.

This is all so interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Best of Luck!

Eagle H beam rods after I installed them on the pistons with the Grant rings. I did have to file the end gap on the rings, they were a little tight for my taste at about .012 so I filed them to .020



Nothing unusual about the bottom end... assemble and torque to specs.









The Vanos tool kit is absolutely essential for this build... there is NO way to set the timing without it!







I dropped it in this afternoon... tight fit!!

Also installed a new Viton seals in the vanos, F1 clutch and water pump...

Brings back memories !

Old-school engine-builder`s nostalgic trivia:

I always spot-brazed the oil pickup to its tube to avoid any possible disasters in the future. I`ve filed a few ring gaps as well....used to take care to stagger the gaps around the piston, later on, observed that after a few thousand miles, they always seem to line up over the wristpin anyway....
Viva la Plastiguage !


P.S.: Thanks for sharing....hope it runs like a bat out of Hell

Originally Posted by Fast Bob

Brings back memories !

Old-school engine-builder`s nostalgic trivia:

I always spot-brazed the oil pickup to its tube to avoid any possible disasters in the future. I`ve filed a few ring gaps as well....used to take care to stagger the gaps around the piston, later on, observed that after a few thousand miles, they always seem to line up over the wristpin anyway....
Viva la Plastiguage !


P.S.: Thanks for sharing....hope it runs like a bat out of Hell

The "Pro's" say that the proper cross hatching angle when you hone the cylinders will keep the rings from turning. Since I can't seem to replicate their perfect 45 degree pattern... I just stagger the gaps and hope for the best.

I think a good break in procedure is most important.

Originally Posted by jpdunn101

I think a good break in procedure is most important.

I believe in the "Fast and fairly agressive approach", and Dino oil for the first 3000 miles, then switching over to full synthetic for the duration of the engine`s life.
Here`s one of the older "Break-in" threads from this Forum:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...rst+3000+miles

Originally Posted by jpdunn101

Eagle H beam rods after I installed them on the pistons with the Grant rings. I did have to file the end gap on the rings, they were a little tight for my taste at about .012 so I filed them to .020



Nothing unusual about the bottom end... assemble and torque to specs.









The Vanos tool kit is absolutely essential for this build... there is NO way to set the timing without it!







I dropped it in this afternoon... tight fit!!

The break in procedure I use is.. Start engine, let it idle long enough to warm a little and get lubed up (2-3 minutes), increase and hold rpm's at 2,000-2200 for 10 minutes let it idle down while you check for leaks etc..

Take it for a drive on a nice remote road where you can hold it in gear alternating stiff acceleration and deceleration up to 4500 rpm for about 30 -40 minutes... avoid high rpm's for 500 miles then drive it like you stole it!!

I like the idea of using DINO oil for break in as Bob suggested but if you want to use synthetic oil just increase rpm's and duration for the same results.

Originally Posted by jpdunn101

I like the idea of using DINO oil for break in as Bob suggested but if you want to use synthetic oil just increase rpm's and duration for the same results.

Synthetic is way too slippery to allow for proper seating of those hard chrome-faced rings....dino allows for the proper amount of "scuffing in". Back in the old days, (like more than 5 or 6 years ago), guys acted like they were amazed when "My car *finally* feels like it`s loosening up at 20,000 miles "(!). They were running the factory synthetic, and those damn rings never seated for all that time. Using dino, combined with a *reasonably* agressive break-in discipline, yields quick & efective results.

I hit a little snag after installing the engine. After the initial startup I noticed it was missing on a couple of cylinders and the cat was glowing red hot... upon trying to restart the engine it would crank but not start, so I ran codes and had cylinder malfunction on 3, 4 and 5 after working some diagnostics it appears that number 4 or 5 injector may have stuck causing the relays in the DME to fry and blowing the fuse for the DME at the same time.

I found and ordered a used replacement Siemens MS43 DME with matching numbers. It will need to be reprogrammed but after checking today there isn't a shop within three hours of here that knows how to reflash the unit and having called the service departments for BMW Austin and Dallas I got the "You will have to bring it to us and we will see..." 3 hrs away...well that ain't gonna happen!





I need some direction on a DIY solution to this problem... What is the protocol for replacing the MS43 controller?


Thanks for the help!!

Originally Posted by wag-zhp

I'd say that's pretty impressive. 5 bent rods, and yet the crank and bottom end are still fine. .

BMW`s 7-main bearing I6 rules !

Looks great. Better to have ring gaps a bit bigger than risk breaking a ring when you compress them to assemble (BTDT). I also stagger the ring gaps when reassembling; my machinist claims that so long as the gaps are AWAY from the thrust face of the cylinder wall, and opposite each other, they're fine. Probably going to spin and end up wherever they want anyway.

I've never brazed a pickup screen to the inlet tube; have to add that one to the mental list. Can't add much to the DME issue, might want to fuse it independently (with 5 amps less) on the new one. And I'd be checking the injectors to see what caused the issue in the first place.

I'm sending the replacement DME the original EWS and one key off to RPMMotorsports http://www.rmsonlinestore.com for reprogramming... I have checked the injector circuits for defects and can't find anything wrong. My best guess would be that I didn't have one injector making good contact in the loom or an injector hung open but it still seems unlikely that anything other than a direct short would have burned the 30A fuse protecting that circuit.

you should throw some headers on while its so easy

X2

I cross referenced the wonderful pictures of the M54 engine in the E39 side as much as I could.

Meanwhile, I wonder ... how DEEP was that puddle that the kid drove into?

I mean, that's a LOT of water to bend 5 piston rods!