take a look at my spark plugs please

[DaveVoorhis]

I honestly did notice that my plugs lasted longer with high octane fule (91+).

Something very funky is happening in your combustion chambers, so it's not surprising that a different fuel formulation has an effect on the process -- perhaps it's the cleansers and additives in "Premium" fuel that are "cleaning" (I use the term loosely) the plugs a little, but without a controlled experiment on your engine to objectively compare lower octane fuel with higher octane fuel, it's hard to say. Your impression that the plugs last longer might be subjective, or due to other (possibly coincidental) environmental conditions.

I need to stop using high octane asap?

At this point, I think the octane of the fuel is the least of your worries.

[bones]

hey inferno,sounds like you are determined to make this car go farther down the road no matter what.there's probably not a mech out there that hasnt been tempted to drive a car til it grenades,there is some kind of totally sick pleasure derived from hearing a engine coming apart as long as you are mashing the pedal to the floor and seeing smoke billowing from the back of your car from the rearview mirror,other drivers will pull up along side you and try to get you to be aware of what is going on.just smile at them and hold up an empty 40 ounce can of beer and give them a big grin.

[infurno]

hey inferno,sounds like you are determined to make this car go farther down the road no matter what.there's probably not a mech out there that hasnt been tempted to drive a car til it grenades,there is some kind of totally sick pleasure derived from hearing a engine coming apart as long as you are mashing the pedal to the floor and seeing smoke billowing from the back of your car from the rearview mirror,other drivers will pull up along side you and try to get you to be aware of what is going on.just smile at them and hold up an empty 40 ounce can of beer and give them a big grin.

What do you expect me to do? I don't have any other options. Finishing up my college and today enrolled in a university.

You would have to be pretty sick to get pleasure from destroying a car imho. I personally hate it when people destroy things of value, especially a BMW. I love my e28 and my e34, I keep them clean, treat the leather every month, clean and maintain the engine as best as I can. The car was on its way to the salvage yard before I asked to have it. It was in bad shape, I have been restoring it ever since.

Its been a long day and was tired, didn't get a chance to do that compression test. What I did get to do was remove a few plugs and check out what they look like. Except for a little oil on them they are clean(not washed like clean), no deposits. I believe they stay in ok condition until moments before they quickly begin to fail.

I'll try to get that test done tomorrow. I will follow a guide I found on bmwe34.net

Procedure:
1. Remove all the spark plugs, disconnect the DME main relay and fuel pump relay (engine with EML, remove the fuel pump relay). 535i, disconnect the ignition coil wire.
2. Install the compression gauge in the 1st cylinder, crank the engine a minimum of 4 revolutions and record the first and the highest readings. If the 1st reading is low and slowly increases to a normal reading, worn rings or cylinder walls are likely to be a problem.
Results: Minimum: 10-11 bar (142-159 Psi) - Maximum difference between cyl: 0.5bar (7Psi)

[bones]

infurno,that was a perfect response.you defend your bimmer.youve got to find the problem yourself.checking head bolt torques is as easy as pulling sparkplugs.the fact that the problem came on relatively quickly leads me to suspect a completely wasted head gasket.im restoring a 525I with 246,000 miles on it.i bought it from the second owner who only owned it for six months.the car had been run on castrol GTX 10/40 since new,he decided to switch to mobil 0/40 full synthetic.after a few thousand miles the head started pumping oil out past the head gasket and he parked it for good.i pulled the head and found that all the head bolts were under torqued,the oil had saturated the head gasket causing,oil leaks,blowby from one cylinder to the next,and fouling plugs.not to mention pumping enough compression into the cooling system to blow the top hose off the radiator.your motor isnt burning oil its pumping it.id lay odds on head gasket or pcv system. when you have the valve cover off use a flashlight and look inside the two springs on top of each valve,you will see the valve stem in the center and right wher the stem comes up through the head you should be able to see the stem seals,they should be firmly attached to the top of the guide.if someone installed incorrectly,or wrong parts here that would also cause your problem. bones

[infurno]

Hey everyone, I just finished the compression test.

cylinder.........up to..........fell to*
(1)................190............180
(2)................190............180
(3)................195............180
(4)................180............170
(5)................160............150
(6)................180............170

* Im not sure if this is important but I included it anyway. After it peaked it would fall a bit and stop.

Note on #5, when I removed the spark plug , I saw a bit(just a little dash) of white ceramic. Not a lot, just a touch. I think water may be getting into this one...

All spark plugs are nice and clean, no deposits.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

[Dave M]

Hey everyone, I just finished the compression test.

cylinder.........up to..........fell to*
(1)................190............180
(2)................190............180
(3)................195............180
(4)................180............170
(5)................160............150
(6)................180............170

* Im not sure if this is important but I included it anyway. After it peaked it would fall a bit and stop.

Note on #5, when I removed the spark plug , I saw a bit(just a little dash) of white ceramic. Not a lot, just a touch. I think water may be getting into this one...

All spark plugs are nice and clean, no deposits.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Well done. If it only took a couple of cranks to get up to those values, your dry test looks good on all but #5. The second #s don't mean anything as the check valve won't allow meaningful leakage values to be recorded. Did you do a wet test on #5? If not, drop a teaspoon of oil into #5 and repeat the test. If it increases to the neighbourhood of the other values, you may a bad bottom end (rings). If not, it may be in your head . This is where a leakdown test is very helpfull.

Oh, was that all six of your plugs in your initial post? I can't explain why you'd have that much shite on all six with comp values like that.

Dave

[Macv]

It may be under some doubt right now but I honestly do take care of my E34.

With 200+k on the odo, most of the damage was done before you bought it, so I doubt anyone will directly blame you for the mistreatment. That is a scary sight, and I wish you the best in fixing it.

[Ferret]

With 200+k on the odo, most of the damage was done before you bought it, so I doubt anyone will directly blame you for the mistreatment. That is a scary sight, and I wish you the best in fixing it.

My M50 525i was doing this kind of damage to one spark plug when half of piston 3 went missing into the sump.

I'd say it's time for a new engine...

[Dave M]

Let us know when you have the compression test results or need help doing the test. I'm very interested in seeing the numbers, both wet and dry.

Oh, and Jon, I think those were ALL SIX plugs :O

Dave

[bmwrp8]

WHOA!!! I could see baby gnomes growing in there!!