I'm thinking about having the valve retainers replaced in my early production 95 M3, and have heard you guys mention Penn Automotive. Is that the correct name?

Anybody know phone number or location?

I'm thinking about having the valve retainers replaced in my early production 95 M3, and have heard you guys mention Penn Automotive. Is that the correct name?

Anybody know phone number or location?


Penn. Automotive
3704 N Pennsylvania Ave
Oklahoma City, OK 73112

(405) 524-7366

great, thanks

ok, so I called and talked to the Asian guy (the owner?). He acts like he has no idea what I'm talking about when I say I want to have the valve retainers changed to prevent valve damage.

things that make you go hmmmmmm........................

i'm not really familiar with M3's, and haven't done much engine work on BMWs, but I've got a good amount of experience with other cars (you could say I've built a few engines).

...and I have no idea what you're talking about. I know what valve retainers are, obviously, but I've never heard of them causing valve damage. Was there some specific problem with early 95 M3's that I dont know about?

If you have ever rebuilt a head you would know what a valve retainer is. It is a split lock or washer, per se, that holds the spring and valve on the head. It is the thingy you need a valve spring tool for when you compress and remove the spring and valve.


Anyways, if the guy did not even know what you were talking about, you might reconsider where you take it...

yea, i'm going to take it to Bavarian Autohaus in Moore, he's done good work for me before.

Mister Green.....see this post: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=511607
or do a search on valve retainers for early 95 M3s and there is a ton of information about it. how much is real and how much is fabricated I don't know, but to me it's worth spending $1500 to change the retainers and avoid ruining a good track day than to spend $2500+ in the future for dropping a valve and causing other major damage.

when you are talking that much, hwy not by a performance head?

what do you mean by a "performance head?" I'm looking to get better assurance against failure on the track with relatively minimal cost, so stock is fine for me at this point in time.

You have an S50 right...

This company has more than what they advertise on their website, call them and ask...

here is a sample...

http://www.vacmotorsports.com/cgi-bin/view_item.pl?item_id=2

My experiance with Penn was great.

They could have ripped me off but didn't.

I had and electrical problem on my e30 (Pre-M) that I couldn't trouble shoot. Nor could anyone in NW OK.

I trailered it to Penn. Had to go 55mph.

He called me the next day and said it was a relay and it was $25 to get fixed.

I was pumped. I though it was the fuel pump/system.

all of you guys have said good things about Penn, so I'm not trying to down the guy. it just makes me feel a little uneasy when i say "valve retainers" three times over the phone and he still doesn't know what I'm talking about.

anyway, it's off to bavarian autohaus for me. I'd love to do the job myself, but since i don't have all the special camshaft tools, it's better off in the hands of a professional

holy crap...I'd like to see these valve retainers. Like I said I've built a few engines, seen my share of valve retainers and I never thought of them as a component that would fail anytime before the useful service life of the engine. In mechanical component design engineering - it's referred to as "infinite life".

Usually rings wear out, seals start leaking, bearings wear out and even spin, hell - crankshafts break. But valve retainers? I hope an engineer became unemployed for that one.

Seriously though I would do it myself. Sure it takes some time (the valves are my least favorite part of engine building) but to save that kind of dough...

ah... bavarian autohaus....

they replaced my valve retainers, and valves, and refurbished the head, and replaced a piston. It appears to be good work except for hand tightening the temp sensors and me leaking coolant for a while. I also have a really loud valve tick that seems to be more frequent on mine that other people's M3's. I won't go back to bavarian autohaus. He treated me like I was some dumb kid. He is hard to get ahold of. My car was there for 1 1/2 months. And to end it all... he lost a $2300 check from me and asked me if I'd write him another one. HA! I told him to look harder. He found it a day later in a reciept book. You can take it there and it'll probably get fixed right. I'm just telling you how my deal went.

interesting how different people have different experiences. david has always treated me well so far, and i have no qualms. hopefully it won't take 6 weeks though.

I've always taken mine to bavarian autohaus - mostly 'cause I live in Norman, and my dad has been taking his BMW's there since I was 11 years old.

I can agree with the being treated like a dumb kid though...I get kind of an arrogant vibe from him like he thinks I dont know shit, which is probably true of most of his customers. But, I get that vibe from every mechanic I've ever been to. If I actually didn't know shit then maybe I wouldn't notice it. I just don't want to introduce myself by saying "i know what I'm doing and I could fix this myself but the only reason I'm here is because I dont have time to drive to my parents house where I keep my tools because I dont have a garage."

My inspection 2 was not done by the book... that's all i will say about that