Fresh Motor Rebuild...compression and leak down numbers.....what should I have gotten

[bmwdirtracer]

Yeah, that's the guy!

Thanks, my friend.

[Krellboy]

Chris...awesome build! I bet you're faster than most M3s, many Porsches and Corvettes. I'd love to see you in action....do you ever get to Mid Ohio? VIR is bit far for our paths to cross. Is that your M5 "Jump mobile"??....You must have been flying to get all four wheels off the ground....no pun intended. My E28 must not have had a good landing zone.... I need to try this.

MauiM3Mania.....at this point all options are, regrettably, open again. A while back I had seriously checked into buying a S50B32 but couldn't get past the notion that no one around here would be able to work on it. I'd love the S54 swap as well.....but once again since I can't do the work, I'd also have to source a swap mechanic and again may have problems finding someone to work on it here locally. Anybody want to do a S54 swap for me????

speedguy95.....It wasn't too much of a buzz kill until the motor builders' ineptitude caught up to me in big way.


To be continued.....

[bmwdirtracer]

I have now lost two long posts. trying to answer this. Does anyone know where the auto-save function is?

The white E34 is my former 535, which I owned for 200k+ miles; it's spirit lives on , as well as some of it's parts, in my red M5. The M5 has jumped, too, but not on camera. The M5 has spent much time on a real race track, though, and has exceeded 150 mph, which the 535 never did. In the dry, the M5 gets it's doors blown off, by Porsche GT3RS's, and E92 M3's. In the wet, the ancient beast kicks their butt, with 300hp, and 3900 lbs. (I drive harder than most, in the rain)

I did the S50B32 swap for Scott....but HE takes all the credit.....he is the king of research, and he had every perfect part I needed, at every step of the way -- right down to the crushwashers! The car is STUPID DAMNED FAST: Cams, tune, maybe 380 hp, on a guess; all I can tell you is that it's sick crazy fast, above 4000 rpm, to 8000 rpm. I would trade my left nut for that car -- the finest E36 ever created. 6 speed euro box, 3.91 diff, Turner and Ground Control and UUC, and reinforcements, and oh dear God. It would spit my M5 out.

Um, don't let a bit of geography cloud your judgement....I'm driving eight hours each way, to work on a race car, this weekend.....I get to drive the race car, in two endurance events, in 2 months. Talk to some fellow instructors; or maybe VAC, in Pennsylvania....Metric Mechanic , in Missouri,.....I'm sure there's SOMEONE really damned good, in Indianapolis!

Markert Motorworks in Georgia can do your wiring/ECU, for an S54 swap, or Bimmerworld, or AEM, I think. And, not like I'm looking for side work, but if you need me, I'll help you, because you're a racer/instructor. You know, you're only as far from me as I'm driving this weekend, to work on a racecar.......

But again, do not give up on the current motor, because you don't know what's broken yet!

[ross1]

Aw, now, see, my E28 was incredibly fast, and very nimble. (300 hp, 2480 lbs, and 13" wide slicks on all 4 corners will do that)

My approach would be to remove the cylinder head, unless I intended to deliver the engine intact to the builder. Admittedly, if there were valve or spark plug pieces bouncing around in a cylinder, there's a great likelihood of piston and cylinder wall damage. You might be able to see this through the spark plug hole, especially if your mechanic has a bore-scope.

Once the head is off, it should be fairly obvious whether there is bottom end damage.

Before ripping the head off confirm correct or not valve timing. Good idea for all interested parties to be present.
Good luck sir

[Krellboy]

ross1.....once again I'm not much of a DIYer so you mean cam timing correct?? Is this possible to do if the motor is frozen and the crank won't turn?? Also, I know that the correct way to do this...maybe should say best way....is to use a dial indicator which is hard to do with the motor in the car. Would the cam block techique be accurate enough if the crank turns? I believe the second time around this technique was used.....I thought my builder had used the dial wheel but timing was off when I took it to my local shop after the motor was in and wouldn't run well.

Since you apparently are a professional mechanic could you comment on the technique to use to set-up the Vanos when doing the initial cam timing....ie how is it done?? Seems like questions have arisen whether this was done correctly by the builder before he closed up the motor and done correctly when my personal mechanic re-timed the cams to get the car to idle. I should mention that my personal mechanic thought the Vanos very loud and rattley even though it was freshly re-built by DRVANOS who confirmed it would be louder with my hotter cams.

So to get back to your specific comment.....you're suggesting I find out if this might be the source of failure. Take pictures then to point blame or confirm it was off??

It looks like I will be shopping for another builder to see what went wrong and what I can do to salvage my current motor or go in another direction. I see you are located near Chicago....not very far from here. Do you have an experienced builder who can be relied upon and that knows what he knows and can do it. Whole car or motor alone? Swapping S54? Just considering what to do next.

Thanks for the continued interest and input.....it would be great if this thread saves someone elses re-build in the future.

- - - Updated - - -

Chris.....check your inbox for a Private Message

[MauiM3Mania]

Saw this, thought of post #25.

http://www.racer.com/videos/item/111...-lotus-f1-team

[bmwdirtracer]

OH......MY......GOD !!!!!!! Then watch the extended version!

Thanks, Scott! (Hey, I'm racing at VIR in two weeks, nice E30, two day event, 14 hours total , 7 hours of racing each day; don't know how long my stints are, yet, but I'll find out in an hour from now)

Krellboy, how are you doing with your local inquiries? I'd really like to be of help. Email me if you think of anything I can do.

Chris