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1999 - 2005 (E46) (1999 - 2005) Starting in 1999 the E46 3 Series picked up where the E36 left off. Larger, with smoother lines, and with more advanced engines than its predecessor, the E46 easily held the title of "Best Car of the Year" throughout its life.

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  #26  
Old 08-02-2009, 02:09 PM
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What oil did you choose for the Auto-RX clean and rinse cycle?

You might need to change the filter a couple of additional times during the clean and rinse phase. IMO, it'll be worth looking at the oil filter after about 50 miles, then after about 500 miles. It'll be picking up the little blobs of stuff you dislodged during your wiping/cleaning.

He hasn't picked up anything yet. At least not that I know of. I told him, he needed to get Monday....then we would hook it up after I get home from work.

Totally agree with you and I told him last night to pick up a case of filters and plan on using them all to aid in blob cleanup as you mentioned.

What do you think about Puralator filters? Just askin. I recommeded Mann to him when he pulled a P outta his trunk.

Am I thinking wrong here....shouldn't the auto rx he picks up, direct us to the type of oil he should buy. IDK. That is one piece of the puzzle I am unsure of. I know a guy that was cleaning up his 2002 325i and he just bought some crap that was on sale...like 5W-30. Any rec's on that would be great.

Have a great Sunday Nathan!!!!
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"Early preventative maintenance that exceeds BMW specs, is what gives these cars their longevity"
  #27  
Old 08-02-2009, 02:30 PM
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Well I just drove it home, and she's still alive! Dane and his son saved my arse on this one. Gotta give him mad props as he gave up 6 hours on a Saturday to help me salvage this mess. I have some pics to post too, but it's 3am and I need to take a shower and hit the sheets, so that will have to wait until tomorrow.

BTW, It's never good to find a golf ball sized piece of sludge underneath your cam....
Holy shit, Tom! Your description over the phone was completely inadequate. That doesn't look like brownie batter; it looks like someone crammed a platter of barbecue in your valve train. Just seeing it makes me want to go change my oil.

Thank God you had a willing volunteer so nearby who could help deal with the carnage. Dane, FTW!!!
  #28  
Old 08-02-2009, 02:48 PM
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Holy shit, Tom! Your description over the phone was completely inadequate. That doesn't look like brownie batter; it looks like someone crammed a platter of barbecue in your valve train. Just seeing it makes me want to go change my oil.

Thank God you had a willing volunteer so nearby who could help deal with the carnage. Dane, FTW!!!
lol...thanks man. You have no idea. You shoulda been there.......

Tom said the look on my face, when I pulled the valve cover off, was as if I had just seen Satan........

You live in da Burg too?
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"Early preventative maintenance that exceeds BMW specs, is what gives these cars their longevity"
  #29  
Old 08-02-2009, 02:49 PM
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So how'd the Vanos rebuild go Dane? Pics? Was it sludged up in there too?
  #30  
Old 08-02-2009, 03:29 PM
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So how'd the Vanos rebuild go Dane? Pics? Was it sludged up in there too?
srsly? Do not skip to page 3. Pics are on page 1.....unless you're just being a sh!t!!!!

When you do find/see the pics...lemme know what you think...hehe. You're gonna be shocked...
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"Early preventative maintenance that exceeds BMW specs, is what gives these cars their longevity"
  #31  
Old 08-02-2009, 03:37 PM
SuckaGDog SuckaGDog is offline
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Well i would just buy some regular conventional oil 5w-30 and run that because you're gonna have to drain it again soon. It would be a waste and also very expensive if you ran the factory bmw oil on such a short intervals. And yes NathanCarter is right, you will be changing the filters quite often. Once you are done with the cleaning and rinsing stage whatever it's called, then you can throw some factory bmw 5w-30 oil in there.

You could have tried a shop vac and sucked out all the sludge lol. I wonder if that would even work.
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Old 08-02-2009, 03:39 PM
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Save that sludge, and send it to an oil analyzer... HAHA just see what they say about it.

As for the engine flush, I would try to find a generic (napa or autozone branded) 5W20 synthetic oil. Since it is thinner, it will help clean out the oil passages and also get into the cracks and crevices... I would do it asap tho, just incase some of that stuff DID get lodged into some oil pasages. Clean it out as soo as you get the chance. Everytime I open the valve cover, I run it for a minute then drain it all out.

Dane what do you do for a living?

I have had problems when flushing out the engine with Conventional oil. On my xi, I changed it once with 5w30 Conventional oil ran it for 30 minutes, then changed it back to synthetic. Week later I heard a steady thumping noise coming from the bottom of the block. I have also heard from reliable sources that once you put synthetic in the car you should never put conventional back in there.
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Last edited by slvrXI; 08-02-2009 at 03:44 PM..
  #33  
Old 08-02-2009, 03:45 PM
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Save that sludge, and send it to an oil analyzer... HAHA just see what they say about it.

As for the engine flush, I would try to find a generic (napa or autozone branded) 5W20 synthetic oil. Since it is thinner, it will help clean out the oil passages and also get into the cracks and crevices... I would do it asap tho, just incase some of that stuff DID get lodged into some oil pasages. Clean it out as soo as you get the chance. Everytime I open the valve cover, I run it for a minute then drain it all out.

Dane what do you do for a living?
I am the Electrical Officer on USS George H.W. Bush (18 Year LDO). You?
I was a Machinists Mate Chief though prior to being commissioned...so my true love is the mechanical stuff.....gets me in trouble sometimes at work...hehe
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"Early preventative maintenance that exceeds BMW specs, is what gives these cars their longevity"

Last edited by danewilson77; 08-02-2009 at 08:53 PM..
  #34  
Old 08-02-2009, 03:54 PM
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Tech for BMW.... Looking to get a degree in engineering however.

Just asking because you seem good with the DIYs... I just thought it would be funny if you were a manager at a pet store doing this stuff on the side. Good work mate!
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  #35  
Old 08-02-2009, 04:03 PM
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yEAH, i SHOULDA MADE SOMETHING UP...BUT i'M NOT THAT FAST...HEHE

OOPS CAPSLOCK ON.

My deal is this....I bought this car....and I have 5 kids, a 3200 sq foot home on 3 acres....not bragging....but my bills are freaking through the roof.....so it only makes sense. I can't waste a bunch of money...breakin sh!t....and I absolutely hate rework....on or off the ship. I guess in a way....I am kinda like hertz.....I try harder!!!!! lol. Peace out man...and thanks for the compliment. I know if I help people out.....someones gonna help me someday.

Poor fricken OJ....man....What a waste.

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"Early preventative maintenance that exceeds BMW specs, is what gives these cars their longevity"

Last edited by danewilson77; 08-02-2009 at 04:10 PM..
  #36  
Old 08-02-2009, 04:09 PM
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Lol do you just look at the keyboard when you type?? haha...

Tell tps7c to change that oil asap!!

OOPS bold
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  #37  
Old 08-02-2009, 04:11 PM
SuckaGDog SuckaGDog is offline
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Originally Posted by danewilson77 View Post
yEAH, i SHOULDA MADE SOMETHING UP...BUT i'M NOT THAT FAST...HEHE

OOPS CAPSLOCK ON.

My deal is this....I bought this car....and I have 5 kids, a 3200 sq foot home on 3 acres....not bragging....but my bills are freaking through the roof.....so it only makes sense. I can't waste a bunch of money...breakin sh!t....and I absolutely hate rework....on or off the ship. I guess in a way....I am kinda like hertz.....I try harder!!!!! lol. Peace out man...and thanks for the compliment. I know if I help people out.....someones gonna help me someday.

Poor fricken OJ....man....What a waste.
The guy that owned a 12,000 square foot house in my area had to sell. He couldn't afford it anymore. Economy is poopy still.
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  #38  
Old 08-02-2009, 04:17 PM
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The guy that owned a 12,000 square foot house in my area had to sell. He couldn't afford it anymore. Economy is poopy still.
Yeah...sorry to hear that. The market in Williamsburg is not that bad....I figured my house value went from about $499,000 to about $450,000 or so.......not too awful. I have heard nightmare stories out there. I really need to refi.....free up some of that mortgage money for mods.....shhhhhh...don't tell the wife...hehe
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"Early preventative maintenance that exceeds BMW specs, is what gives these cars their longevity"
  #39  
Old 08-02-2009, 04:23 PM
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Bought the house for 375,000 about 15 years ago. Property value and everything went up. Used to be farms everywhere now we have some of the nicest shopping malls everywhere and good bars down the street. House was just appraised at 750,000.

WIN!!! except for all the extra money we pay on taxes now. SO SHITTY!
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  #40  
Old 08-02-2009, 04:45 PM
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lol...thanks man. You have no idea. You shoulda been there.......

Tom said the look on my face, when I pulled the valve cover off, was as if I had just seen Satan........

You live in da Burg too?
I'm down in Suffolk and do photography work with Tom every now and then.

He told me about his problem a couple weeks ago, but being an e30 guy, I didn't have any good advice to give on the more modern engines.
  #41  
Old 08-02-2009, 06:25 PM
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Seriously, Dane see my posts on the first page??? You said you'd have pics of the Vanos pistons and all too, that's all I meant sheesh
  #42  
Old 08-02-2009, 07:47 PM
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Seriously, Dane see my posts on the first page??? You said you'd have pics of the Vanos pistons and all too, that's all I meant sheesh
ok..ok.....no problem. I didn't take any pics of the pistons as they were perfectly clean......most of the crap/sludge....really was in the low flow areas of the engine

SHEESH!!! LOL

Quote:
Originally Posted by danhx View Post
I'm down in Suffolk and do photography work with Tom every now and then.

He told me about his problem a couple weeks ago, but being an e30 guy, I didn't have any good advice to give on the more modern engines.
Nice....
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"Early preventative maintenance that exceeds BMW specs, is what gives these cars their longevity"

Last edited by danewilson77; 08-02-2009 at 07:48 PM.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
  #43  
Old 08-03-2009, 10:29 AM
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What do you think about Puralator filters? Just askin. I recommeded Mann to him when he pulled a P outta his trunk.

Am I thinking wrong here....shouldn't the auto rx he picks up, direct us to the type of oil he should buy. IDK. That is one piece of the puzzle I am unsure of. I know a guy that was cleaning up his 2002 325i and he just bought some crap that was on sale...like 5W-30. Any rec's on that would be great.
http://www.auto-rx.com/pages/heavy_sludge_app.html

Auto-RX recommends that you definitely use a conventional oil (not synthetic) for the cleaning cycle, and maybe use a conventional oil for the rinse cycle. You're not permanently switching to conventional, just for a few thousand miles so the Auto-RX can do its job the best.

If I recall correctly, there's a certain grade of Pennzoil conventional oil that has practically all the properties (HTHS, etc) of the BMW LL-01 specification. I'll do some digging around and see if I can find it.

The purolator filters (or whatever's the cheapest) will probably be adequate for the short-term cleaning phase, especially if you're going to switch them out every couple hundred miles during the cleaning phase. After that, I prefer Mann or Mahle. If you don't mind waiting for shipping, you can get a case of Mann or Mahle for really cheap!
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Old 08-03-2009, 11:59 AM
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Looks like they ran peanut butter in the engine.
You want it really clean fill the crankcase with Diesel and run it until it seizes. Ha, I knew someone who did that.
I am not a big fan of additives as they can score/scuff the valve stems and cause issues with wearing the camshaft. Some of the engine cleaners are too good and you will begin to see pinhole leaks in your engine.

Last edited by hyptnochicken; 08-03-2009 at 12:24 PM..
  #45  
Old 08-03-2009, 12:11 PM
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Well I just ordered a bunch of Mann filters AND the Auto RX. I couldn't find the cleaner locally, and everything I saw on Google seemed to indicate it was online only. Hopefully it will be here in a few days, as Auto-RX ships from Florida.

They recommend changing the oil at 2500 miles for the cleaning cycle. Doesn't it worry anyone to have non-syn oil in there for that long???

And yes, I'd be interested to take the valve covers off after 2 cleaning cycles to see what it looks like. BUT, I wouldn't want to put Dane through that again lol.....

Ok, let me transfer these photos so I can post them in a few minutes...
  #46  
Old 08-03-2009, 12:25 PM
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I wouldn't worry about the non-synthetic oil being in the engine for 2500 miles, heh it's better than what was in there It's only for the cleaning cycles. How many does it suggest? Two cycles? Like a cleaning then rinse? Does it suggest to change the oil filter at a certain interval during those 2500 miles?

I'd be very interested in seeing what it would look like in there after it's done it's job; the valve cover isn't hard to remove and replace, you shouldn't need a new gasket. Certainly easier than rebuilding the Vanos like yall did.
  #47  
Old 08-03-2009, 12:25 PM
SuckaGDog SuckaGDog is offline
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Well I just ordered a bunch of Mann filters AND the Auto RX. I couldn't find the cleaner locally, and everything I saw on Google seemed to indicate it was online only. Hopefully it will be here in a few days, as Auto-RX ships from Florida.

They recommend changing the oil at 2500 miles for the cleaning cycle. Doesn't it worry anyone to have non-syn oil in there for that long???

And yes, I'd be interested to take the valve covers off after 2 cleaning cycles to see what it looks like. BUT, I wouldn't want to put Dane through that again lol.....

Ok, let me transfer these photos so I can post them in a few minutes...
You'll be okay, good conventional oil is changed on a 3,000 mile interval. So as long as you don't go past that you will be fine. Just make sure after all the cleaning process and etc is done to put oem synthetic oil in.
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Old 08-03-2009, 12:39 PM
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They recommend changing the filter at 1500 miles, and then the oil at 3k. Then repeat, for engines with sludge (which clearly mine falls into!!!! lol)

Dane's pics pretty much told the story but here are a few more for those that are into horror lol:













Last edited by tps7c; 08-03-2009 at 12:40 PM..
  #49  
Old 08-03-2009, 01:05 PM
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It looks soo yummy.
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  #50  
Old 08-03-2009, 01:11 PM
SuckaGDog SuckaGDog is offline
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Looks like liquid sh!t was ran in there lol.
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