M50 Eng 4L30E Trans RRR - Far More Than I Ever Expected

[93 525 Paul]

Its a brave man that takes on an engine and a transmission rebuild at one time:-) I am really impressed with your preparation and how clean everything looks. Great stuff

Thanks! Brave or dumb, hard to tell the difference sometimes. Plain scary to think of all the little things that could crop up on restart. I started out thinking this was a HG job and I just got sucked further and further into the abyss. At one point I was going to yank the engine and was advised that pulling the engine AND tranny is smarter. Then, the "hey, the tranny is right there, it has 178k on it..." Yikes. On the cleanliness I've gotten more deliberate as I've gotten older. The "Clean room wipes" I learned about on Pelican Parts are a God send. My stainless steel workbench is easy to keep clean and that Simple Green Max works really well. Ziploc bags are really handy too.

Hahhah... more 'M p0rn'! Do shoot more close-ups of all the booty on that sweet piece of black metal... as yo get the time and inclination.
The pump is a nice piece of work. Are you swapping the drive sprocket? I can't see how bad it is but on the M30s I know the sprocket teeth wear sharp too but you have to put in a new chain and both sprockets else they will chew each other to bits in time. They don't cost much and make for good piece of mind.

Yeah, I wish I shot more photos of the tranny build, you never regret having too many photos. The pump photo doesn't show it but the oil pump drive sprocket looked new. Having worked in a bike shop for 7 years and raced karts for 8 years, I know sprocket wear patterns and that sprocket is pristine. Yes, at $33 the pump sprocket isn't much but the low mechanical resistance and precision chain manufacturing have left that sprocket perfect. What kills a sprocket is chain stretch. When the chain stretches it is too long to mesh perfectly with the gear and at it meshes it wears the shoulders off of the gear. I will shoot a pic, but I'm tellin' you, it's remarkable in its condition. Although I lead the league in second-guessing, that one is a slam dunk.

Thanks for your comments.

[93 525 Paul]

Not much progress the last couple days. Didn't recall that there was a gasket between the oil pickup and the pump. Pickup was warped so I flat sanded it on a glass block I use for surfacing and it looks perfect.

Real OEM shows a gasket (#7)

So I guess if the dealer doesn't have it I will make one.

Also, the pump gear pic, it's a bit fuzzy, but you see the teeth are nice and wide shouldered, no wear at all


And a pic of how the pump just gleams sitting on the block. Shot shows front cover and damper installed


By the way, do I HAVE to use the lighter damper that came with the 325 shortblock or can I go with the nicer heavier e34 dampener?

[ryan roopnarine]

No. 7 was part of a TSB for engine ping caused by air being sucked in with oil--they have to have it somewhere. I don't remember how much it was when I bought it, but I'm sure that it was some rediculous amount like $15 or such.

[93 525 Paul]

No. 7 was part of a TSB for engine ping caused by air being sucked in with oil--they have to have it somewhere. I don't remember how much it was when I bought it, but I'm sure that it was some ridiculous amount like $15 or such.

Dealer didn't have it so I made one from gasket material. Maybe I'm lucky they didn't...

I...appreciate your stick-to-it-edness, granted, with long pauses between periods of recalling where you left off...
Dave

Well trying to recall where I left off and where I left stuff. Thought it was all in two places, bagged and tagged. Not entirely, couldn't find the dowels that go between the block and head, so I couldn't install the head. Tried to make a couple of dowels but they fit the block and I assumed they'd fit the head as well, but NOOOOO. Couldn't get the head to drop down over the dowels. So, eff it, found the part numbers and ordered some from theBMWPartStore.com. Worth checking them out, they have a nice search dealie where you put in your parts numbers and it gives you the item description and price. Good pricing, comparable to the best, BMA, AutoHausAZ and the rest.

Here she is with the front cover and pan on

Cheers!