e39 hard starting (flooding) and black smoke, what to check?

[genphreak]

Ouch. Not nice- e39? M50?

What are you going to do?

From what I hear, this is a common issue in some or all e39 i6 engines....

[Tiger]

540i... original engine is already out and replacement engine went in... then strike two... replacement engine is also bad... the valves are incredibly noisy... so... my plan now is to rebuild original heads from original enigne... and then swap it out and see what happens.

Engine are cheap... labor is not. I am really tempted to just get a 4.4L and put it in. Cost wise is about the same too.

[genphreak]

Def not the lifters? If an M60 doesn't run for a while it can take a long time for them to pump up, I had to drive one for a good 15 mins once before it quietened down.

The 4.4 is a nice option I'd like also. But added trouble w VANOS- not that it wouldn't be worth it of course, but more trouble for sure... woot!

[Tiger]

Mmm... stuck lifters? No, my original engine didn't have that kind of noise at all.

the 1997 and 1998 4.4L V8 are non-Vanos... it drops right in.

[genphreak]

No if an M60 hasn't run for a while the valves will be very noisy. (how bad is it?, it should sound bad, but not appalling)

You need to drive it a bit (push it hard once it's warm) and the noise will go away. Did you verify the oil pump bolts were ok first? You are probably well aware but the bolt holes need to be cleaned and some thread lock applied to stop them backing out.