BimmerFest BMW Forum banner

First car!

44K views 285 replies 58 participants last post by  Watchme 
#1 ·
Hello, I am new to this post, as i have just bought my first car. A salvaged 2007 335i. Only thing i could afford because I'm only 16. I have been working on cars full time for the last 3 summers, and on and off before that. I am in the process of putting the engine back into the car and i was wondering, what mods should i maybe think about before putting it back in? Not a huge problem if i have to pull it again, but hey, who wants to have their car in the shop for 2 days? Besides mods that go on the engine what have you guys found worthwhile and easy to live with?
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#119 ·
Truly awesome job. Last summer I was hit by an unlicensed and uninsured driver costing my insurance company $ 24,000 which of course sent my rates up. Your pics remind me of looking at my car unassembled as both frame rails needed replacing, but luckily the engine was fine. It was fixed by a certified BMW shop and 10,000 miles later no issues. I can only imagine the pride, and smile you will have once you are on the road. You have a bright future ahead of you no matter your career choice. :thumbup:
 
#121 ·
Every fall, I get to know, a little bit, over 100 eighteen and nineteen year old engineering students...

Keep the faith, America. There's a bunch of good kids out there.
 
#122 ·
Wow ! I am a huge fan! You are truly exceptional person!

I am going to go on a limb here and recommend you to NOT to waste your time by going to college. Not to mention its enormous Financial commitment. Most importantly, you will loose your golden years of your youth life in some university dealing with professors who have zero real life experience. BTW, The average year it takes to finish college is 5 years, not 4!

It is true that one learns some useful stuff in college. But I learned that success and happiness comes from real world experience - not by taking liberal arts classes (mandatory electives) and getting an A in multiple choice exams.

Someone mentioned here making a blog and posting your projects online. I think that's a great idea instead of 4-5 years of waste in classroom.

....now back on topic, looking forward to more pictures :)
 
#123 ·
Most importantly, you will loose your golden years of your youth life in some university dealing with professors who have zero real life experience. BTW, The average year it takes to finish college is 5 years, not 4!
I'm going to try not to take offense here, lol.

90% of our seniors graduate in four years.

I totally agree that NOT going to college can be an excellent choice and I totally agree that college costs way too much. Not only that, but somebody with talent, intelligence, and the motivation can end up being way, way ahead of the typical college graduate.

OTOH, college can be a good choice, and if rubber here wants to go into engineering, the degree will allow him to move up, be creative, have more autonomy, and probably find a job with good benefits. Roughly 50% of our graduates have jobs before they leave school and 93% have jobs within the first year. Average salaries 10 years out are comfortably in the six figures.
 
#124 ·
rubberismoney, just wanted to give you some much needed props. Like yourself i was working at the age of 16 and started at 13 for that matter, in the kitchen though not quite the same lol. When i was 19 eventually all that hard work paid off and i bought a 2007 350z. I'm 22 now but even many people my age and younger show such lack of passion and desire to accomplish things at a young age. I thought being able to run a fully staffed kitchen at 18, buying out my first car at 19 was impressive, but what your doing is on another level lol. Keep up the good work man really looking forward to the finished product
 
#127 ·
Haha but it's all about the tools at our disposal. You sound motivated and smart, and with a shop and tools such as I have and a little guidance, I think that you could have and probably would have done the same things.

On another note, a father of a friend of mine owns a restaurant, and I've helped out around there, and kitchens are crazy!! Your the one who deserves props, you have a lot to deal with on a day to day basis! Sweet ride btw :thumbup:
 
#130 ·
True, I just believe, and I realize i'm young so I might be wrong, but I believe that with a degree it's **easier** to become successful. I think I left that out. My dad went to college. Never did 1 thing with his degree, but he didn't need to. It can be a total waste of time, but hey, can't hurt. :)
 
#129 ·
So, the weekend of putting in the engine was about as exciting, then depressing as it gets.(not really) So Saturday afternoon, we get into the shop and all of my radiator hoses, lines, clamps and what not have arrived. I already had my turbos on the car, and I got finished putting on the coolant lines. I get the engine hoist and we drop the engine in, in about 15 minutes. I was very excited and everything fit. I started doing my electronics, and we are without a clutch until next week, so we were just going to fire it up in straight pipes with a open fly. I'm bending over the engine compartment with a impact gun tightening down the motor mounts from the top, and I heard a snap. I had run my leg into the air induction tract (the bring aluminum tube going from the turbos to the intercooler) and the lip of my front turbo had completely sheered off. I was super bummed and called Minnetonka to get a quote on a new front turbo. $621.89. Not going to work. So from my last purchase of the CHRA turbo center sections from Rob Beck, I had his email still. I sent him a message telling him what had happened and he was very helpful and looked for a TD-03 housing for me. He sold me the new housing and I am going to be able to put in my engine and run it by next weekend. Once again I have to thank him for saving my checking account from being demolished. All in all though, my father got my fender primed, I aligned the hood, and got my carbon fiber mirror cover on. The build is on a roll and i'm hoping to be roadworthy in 2 weeks. Crossing my fingers
 

Attachments

#133 ·
Rubber, um...what happened to the flange of your turbo housing? (Not the impeller, you told us what happened there:()
That's not epoxy I'm seeing is it?:yikes:
I see/heard a few things we need to discuss if you're going to get this thing back together and running properly. Do you have a procedure manual for reassembly? Are you following the torque specs? Did you find the piece(s) which broke off the turbo wheel?
 
#135 ·
The flange had been cracked, so I had welded over it at a low temperature with pure aluminum and I used JB weld to insure there were no air leaks. I think I welded at to low of a temperature and did not actually bond the crack together. Also we do not have a rebuild manual. With the exhaust manifold having the gaskets/seals built in we have just been torquing it down tight enough as to not strip out the block. TBH in my, and my fathers experience the only thing that actually NEEDS to be torqued correctly is the head. He has replaced thousands of turbos doing this same method with no leaks or issues. And yes, we did find all the pieces.
 
#145 ·
Hey, been a while since I've posted up in here. There's a lot new going on these days. Got my clutch, a week early, so I decided to work from 12-3 Saturday and put my tranny back in, and bled the clutch with the help of my father. Had to do a bit of welding on it, as a few of the brackets that hold the bushings for the shifter arm clips were broken, but all is well now and the transmission is working great with the new ACT clutch. I looked at my crankshaft, which I found out was bent, (you can tell in the video) and we actually had a customer who had a bent one on a 535 a few years back, which actually sheared the crankshaft. I ordered a NST lightweight crank pulley. The fenders are all painted as well as the front bumper, which I am very impressed with the M3 style looks. Am I going to have to get new inner fender wells? Pics are coming soon. Also I could not put in my driveshaft and exhaust because I lost my shifter arm bushing for the rear, so I will have to wait until Monday. I got into the electrical, and I messed around with my computers for about 6 hours, all to find out I forgot to hook up a ground, which I had attached to main power. I do not know how I managed that. I bought a oil cooler from jegs, which is huge, and we will retrofit onto our old lines. Also for a charge pipe, I bought a N55 pipe. I figured it would work, and I bought a synapse BOV separate, with a steel weld on flange. Saved over 200 bucks, and the only difference in the pipes is the N55 is longer, eliminating the need for a silicon elbow for my IC. Also where can I get a new BST? Dealer only? Anyways, thanks for helping me solve my problems along the way guys, and I can assure you they do not end here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tumnuBJHUM8&feature=youtu.be
 
#160 ·
RubberisMoney,

Dude I cant believe that your only 16 but at the same time that doesnt surprise me. Talent and smarts isnt biased when it comes to age, only experience. Dude Im 28 and I have to tell you that I am impressed and inspired by what youre doing. I cant wait to see the finished product of your hard work. You HAVE to post some videos for us when your all done!
 
#161 ·
Rubber, something you need to check. I heard your engine run in the video and you may have a cam problem. In almost every case it is impossible (almost) to put the wrong connector onto the wrong device when assembling an engine. By that I mean, for instance, that you can't put the turbo boost electrical connector onto the oil pressure sensor.
Well on 335 engines you can make a major goof and the car will sound like it's 'cammed' (like a race car). Get this; the intake cam Vanos connector will fit onto the exhaust cam Vanos connector, and vise versa! You then end up with totally messed up cam timing but the car will still start and run, but poorly and worse on acceleration.
Get your wiring diagram and double check the wire colors so you are sure of your Vanos connections. Do it before you you start that engine again. I don't know if the valves will crash but I do know bad valve timing isn't good.

It shouldn't be hard to fix your exhaust tip but wiat until everything else is done. Find the bent area on the pipe. Heat it just under cherry red with an acetylene torch having a broad flame on a large tip. If you have a heating tip use that rather than a cutting tip but you'll be OK as long as you don't hit the oxygen.

Put a wooden block against the rear muffler and whack it with a BFH. The exhaust pipe will straighten right out and you can stop hitting when the length matches the other side.
 
#163 ·
Rubber, something you need to check. I heard your engine run in the video and you may have a cam problem. In almost every case it is impossible (almost) to put the wrong connector onto the wrong device when assembling an engine. By that I mean, for instance, that you can't put the turbo boost electrical connector onto the oil pressure sensor.
Well on 335 engines you can make a major goof and the car will sound like it's 'cammed' (like a race car). Get this; the intake cam Vanos connector will fit onto the exhaust cam Vanos connector, and vise versa! You then end up with totally messed up cam timing but the car will still start and run, but poorly and worse on acceleration.
Get your wiring diagram and double check the wire colors so you are sure of your Vanos connections. Do it before you you start that engine again. I don't know if the valves will crash but I do know bad valve timing isn't good.

It shouldn't be hard to fix your exhaust tip but wiat until everything else is done. Find the bent area on the pipe. Heat it just under cherry red with an acetylene torch having a broad flame on a large tip. If you have a heating tip use that rather than a cutting tip but you'll be OK as long as you don't hit the oxygen.

Put a wooden block against the rear muffler and whack it with a BFH. The exhaust pipe will straighten right out and you can stop hitting when the length matches the other side.
If this ends up being true, I vote this post to HOF status.
 
#175 ·
Sorry for the short update but I'll be doing a bigger one soon. Finished the car. Well for the time being. You never really "finish" your car. I'll start this one off with a question, because I'm baffled. Why do I get the restricted power symbol on my dash? Had water pump codes, so I replaced the pump. Cleared the codes, light is still on, codes are gone. No dme codes at all! Why do I have restricted power? Will it go away after I drive it a while? I'll put up pictures and what not soon, as well as share my story. Also anyone know where to get really bright led angel eyes? I have 2 different colored ones and I can't live with it. Thank you all for the past help and future!!!

Sent from my WX435 using Bimmer App
 
#180 ·
First off, congrats and major kudos to a hardworking individual. You should have a very bright future whatever route you decide.

As for your cam ledges question, I've posted a link for you to look at...if you haven't found already. You seem pretty resourceful... :)

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1192903

It caught my eye because it looks like this person experienced the reduced power light, like you mentioned a few posts back. Looks to be a known problem and they mention a Service Bulletin in the thread. Perhaps you can contact someone at your local BMW dealer and see if they can give you the details on that SB.

Congrats again and good luck!! :thumbup:
 
#183 ·
Thanks for the link man!! I've narrowed it down to the ledges. Gotta do them. Might have to replace the exhaust cam. Good after school project Friday. Do you or anyone else know where to get a used cam or a good after market one? From the dealer it'll cost me 450...

Sent from my WX435 using Bimmer App
 
#184 ·
Hey guys. Did my bearing ledges last night. Took a lot longer than expected. Worked on it from 6-10. I found the car running fantastic today! Gas mileage is up 10, and its got loads more power, when its not in reduced... I keep pulling the code 2AA4:Camshaft Inlet-Tooth Failure. Someone please help. I put in a new camshaft position sensor and the sensor wheels were put on properly. I can not figure this one out. Thanks and I will be posting pictures soon. Just been busy with school and working 50 hour weeks now that schools over.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top