Car specs:

1997 328i
M52/5spd with about 65k miles (about 8k of those are mine)
no mods
My daily driving occurs between 3-5k rpm's, sometimes redline in 1st or 2nd.
Drifting is one of my main hobbies. :rolleyes: <--probably the cause of most of my mechanical issues.

here is my dilemna:

after driving hard for about 10-20 minutes i get a very loud ticking/knocking noise from the motor. Went out for a summit drive with some friends tonite and after driving uphill for about 15 minutes and staying above 4k rpms the noise begins. (First time i noticed it an autocross a few months back.) It's a knock and ticking noise, from what my friend said it is a bent valve. Searched around for a while and after reading some older threads I'm thinking it's the same thing....

here are my questions:

I've decided on building my head regardless... all the machine work and porting and polishing and labor are setup. But.. I need a head gasket, valves/springs/retainers, and some little parts here and there. Are there aftermarket/performance providers or am I better off going with OEM parts for the head?

I'm throwing in cams and such... but since my valve(s) could be dead, thus possible piston damage... anybody know of where I could get lighter/stonger pistons; maybe in the form of a package or kit?

I'm a college student and I work at a video store (aka i am poor) so i don't mind sacrificing added power to save a couple dead presidents here and there.:D

sorry for the long post.

Are you positive it is a bent valve? Have you tried running a compression test first?

Why not first run 1/2 quart more oil???

Anyway -- stock hg is around 1.75 mm IIRC ... something like that ... DO you plan on going to F/I in the future? If so, think about lowering the compression now with a bmp 1.8 mm or even a 2.0 mm hg.

You could get always increase displacement if you want ..

But, if you are working ... www.rosspistons.com -- cheapest place I've found for pistons ... not sure how much O.E. costs; but, can't be that much more than ross.

You know, for an engine rebuild like you are doing, you are looking at 10-15 hours JUST to remove/replace the engine. Plus, add another 10 hours for engine work = $2K-3K at least.

Is it worth rebuilding?? why not sell it flat-out ...

sweet. thanks for the link... i'll search rosspistons once i get back from work and see what i'm going to have to dish out on parts.

my oil is already half a quart more then it should be... 5-30 castrol (bmw synth) Compression will be checked sometime next week hopefully.

labor is basically taken care of. pulling parts and installing will be done by myself and some friends.. free of charge (i've never pulled a motor apart to this extent before but a few of my friends do it all day long so we should be ok and that :) )... machine work for head will be taken care of by another friend for $650 :D Parts are the only issue.

how much would i be able to sell an m52 with 65k miles and possible valve damage for? if an s52 swap sounds cheaper then i will probably look into that.

edit: i'm still trying to decide on forced induction or not.

driving hard (w cornering) for 5 and more minutes? getting strange ticking noise? get yourself baffled oil pan and all problems will go away. use only perfomance oil (castrol racing) you have hydraulic valve lifters and when driving hard you r oil is spilled on crank and aerated- its like having brakes not properly bleeded. also think about oil temp- if too high (110degrees celsius) install oil cooler. this is a common problem m50-m52-m54 motors have. head work m52? get instead m50 head, intake and injection. obd2 is not so easy tuneable.

baffled oil pan?

yes, go for straight line in 6000 rpm for five minutes- no ticking, corner hard for 5 min. - ticking noise appears, go check out turner motorsport baffled oil pan for instance

S52 swap you are looking at probably $4-5K for the motor/ecu and all of that jazz -- whether it is worth it to you is another question. You might be able to find an engine for as little as $2K.

However, I would stick with O.E. stuff for now. If you go with a thicker MHG -- you'll lower your compression -- so, if you thought you had no torque before, hehe ...

I would try to find M3 cams -- I've heard that is a good upgrade. I believe used are around $500? You might want to save for that upgrade.