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

[bimmer nut]

So I have the remanned tc in there and mated the tranny to the engine. Have the hoist and am readying to poke it in there. Before I do, I want to fill the tranny. Pelican Technical Article: BMW Automatic Transmission Fluid Change
recommends I drop the front sump pan and fill it and install it. Worth the trouble and new gasket or no? Was thinking I'd lean the engine tranny over on its side a bit and overfill it a skosh rather than drop the front pan...

Not exactly sure what to tell you on dropping the front sump to fill or not. If they recommend it, I'd say just do it.

I do want to thank you for sharing your project with us, and all the great pictures as well. Best of luck, and please do let us know how it all ends.

I'm not wanting to hijack your thread, but if you take your time, you can do anything. I'm proof, I did a 5hp24 rebuild all by myself a while back and that sucker is still running 3 years later: http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/5-ser...tml#post328268
I've actually been very proud of that rebuild, I thought it was quite an accomplishment. I know by the looks of what you been doing, your's will be successful also.

[93 525 Paul]

I do want to thank you for sharing your project with us, and all the great pictures as well. Best of luck, and please do let us know how it all ends. I did a 5hp24 rebuild all by myself a while back and that sucker is still running 3 years later. Ive actually been very proud of that rebuild, I thought it was quite an accomplishment.

I agree, pulling apart something with 600+ parts in it, cleaning it thoroughly and putting it back together is definitely an accomplishment. Congrats on yours, fingers crossed on mine. Good news was mine was operating fine when I pulled it, nothing wrong other than hard seals and 178k miles.

Am going to pull the output shaft sensor and fill it from the top of the tail housing. Have one other bug, the seals for the trans cooler line are shown incorrectly on realoem.com so I guess I will have to go to the stealership on Monday to get the correct seals. It shows this with 2 o ring attachments:


But I have one pipe attached as above and one like this:


Since the latter is "not correct for my car" real OEM won't show me a part number or description. Always a twist...

[93 525 Paul]

So the '93 does in fact have the earlier part and lucky me, the gasket/washers are only $8 each, two with tax. Dayum.
So remember the "pulling the motor" photo from Jan '10? Yeah, me neither. Here is a comparo of pull versus poke.


And now she is resting on the mounts, back where she belongs, after a loooooooong stint on the engine stand.

[genphreak]

Terrific to see that going back in. Youmust be stoked to be getting it running again. It'll be better than new now, and you never have to worry about the engine again. Really nice work... whatever you do, keep posting and letting us know the ups and downs of the process!

[bimmer nut]

Great job, please do let us know how she runs. I've often wondered why it all get so dirty inside there (I know, I know, oil grease and road dirt, but still). Shiny and new looks absolutely great.

[632 Regal]

Been following this rebuild from the start with nothing to add.

[Ferrett 1962]

looks great from the photo's every time I check in I go straight to this feed if there is any new posts. I think we all want to hear more and I think you will hear a huge cheer when it is running.

[genphreak]

It'll look nice once the bay is cleaned up and there's no bulldust around the place. Guessing it needs to be running first, so she can go outside for a bath... ? Is she zinnerbrot?

[93 525 Paul]

It'll look nice once the bay is cleaned up and there's no bulldust around the place. Guessing it needs to be running first, so she can go outside for a bath... ? Is she zinnerbrot?

Thanks for all the comments, much appreciated. Brillantrot in need of a polish. Yes, she's really dirty in those photos and that shows poorly. The issue is she is in my side yard, concrete paved, surrounded by fence, commonly called an RV space. The mow, blow and go guys blow a lot of crap around but don't ever seem to blow the car off. With the hood set in place for a long time, I was reluctant to wash her and get water all down in the electrical connections. So after we (my 13YO son has been helping) dropped it in, we reinstalled the hood and washed her well. I even took a buffer and some "color restore" to the hood and fenders and she cleaned up very nicely. Will shoot a photo to prove it.
Even though before dropping in the engine, we spent an hour or so with some "Simple Green" cleaner a scotchbrite pad and a scrub brush, we didn't get all the grime, but we got a TON of it.
Since dropping the engine/tranny in we've connected the driveshaft, the tranny electricals, the shifter, the trans crossmember, the bellhousing mounts, the motor mounts, the A/C compressor, the PS pump, the alternator, the exhaust manifolds.
More to come, thanks for the nudge.

[93 525 Paul]

Thanks for all the comments, much appreciated. Brillantrot in need of a polish. Yes, she's really dirty in those photos and that shows poorly. So after we (my 13YO son has been helping) dropped it in, we reinstalled the hood and washed her well. I even took a buffer and some "color restore" to the hood and fenders and she cleaned up very nicely. Will shoot a photo to prove it.
More to come, thanks for the nudge.

She did spiff up nicely. Still fiddling with all the connections beneath the intake mani. Want to get that on this weekend...


Shiny!!!