[mieks325e90]

Hello I recently purchased a 2006 BMW 325i. the car had a couple codes p0012 & p0015 with proprietary codes for intake and exhaust vanos.

It started up just fine although it had a faint diesel sound to it.. not to loud but with the hood up enough to notice. the starter did also make a little noise when the car was first cranks but would go away immediately.

while driving on the freeway one day it died right after an attempt at switching lanes under heavy acceleration. almost the second before i accelerated to change lanes the oil light flashed on. I pulled over and it would not start back up after many attempts and would not even crank.

I towed it home ran autoscan with my Autel Maxidiag and found a starter code. i inspected the starter found corrosion and decided to replace it. After i replaced it i tried starting the car and it would not fire but now it at least cranks.

I checked for fuel pressure and have plenty of it.

checked for spark and i have it.

when i checked for compression i was surprised to find i have 0 psi in all cylinders.

i thought there was a possibility that i flooded the cylinders with fuel during all the attempts at starting and washed away the oil barrier between the cylinder wall and piston rings so i poured a cap worth of oil into the cylinder from the spark plug hole and had the same result 0 psi.

not knowing where to go form here i pulled the valve cover off to check the timing chain which appears to have tension and while it was off i cranked the car to make sure the valves were moving and they were.

Im a little lost as to what can cause no compression and im not sure what to check next. any help or advise would be appreciated.

[mieks325e90]

well im 99 % convinced that the engine oil pump failed and caused my rings to over heat and shrink causing the 0 compression. I failed to mention the hard gunky build up i saw after removing the valve cover. It was like hard plastic oil deposits covering ever inch of the valve train.

here is a picture of what it looked like

[mieks325e90]

it looks like the original owner used compression restore and alot of it in an attempt to band aid the serious underlying issue, a bad oil pump.

I just ordered a new (used) motor with 96k miles from LKQ. should be here tomorrow.

Any advice on the pulling the engine ? ive pulled motors before just curious if there is anything out of the ordinary before i dive in.

[Three_thirty_I]

Ouch!! Chocolate icing is nice, but this not so much!!

Good luck on getting the engine swamp done - not sure what to recommend, but hopefully others that have done this will chime in.

[mieks325e90]

Yeah it sucks seeing that in a BMW.

so far I've taken apart the front end and only have a couple hoses and wires to disconnect/ move before i can start disconnecting the exhaust and transmission bolts.




this is where i'm a little stumped, most of the tranny bolts seem accessible except for the one or two on top between the firewall and engine.

Does anyone know if these are accessible or do i need to remove the tranny with the motor?

[TheeGovernor]

There was no need to remove the whole front clip to get the motor out. You get to the bellhousing bolts with very long extensions and a universal joint. The top two I did from the engine side.

[David0ff]

Originally Posted by mieks325e90

Yeah it sucks seeing that in a BMW.

so far I've taken apart the front end and only have a couple hoses and wires to disconnect/ move before i can start disconnecting the exhaust and transmission bolts.




this is where i'm a little stumped, most of the tranny bolts seem accessible except for the one or two on top between the firewall and engine.

Does anyone know if these are accessible or do i need to remove the tranny with the motor?

Assuming the drive shaft is disconnected, tranny mounts and support are off

Lift the front of the engine and tilt it backward a bit, will make things easier for the top tranny bolts

[David0ff]

Oh and exhaust also , disconnect after headers.

Then tilt engine

[mieks325e90]

I was able to get all the bolts off with a swivel head socket wrench and the others with long extensions and a universal joint. Thank you.

Are the lift points to hoist this engine the rear eye (hole) above the starter and the front screw hole that looks like the tow hook can screw into?

[sp1tfire]

there is definitely one hole that i used to lift engine for oil pan gasket job, and it right by oil filter housing on top.

[David0ff]

Originally Posted by mieks325e90

I was able to get all the bolts off with a swivel head socket wrench and the others with long extensions and a universal joint. Thank you.

Are the lift points to hoist this engine the rear eye (hole) above the starter and the front screw hole that looks like the tow hook can screw into?

Just attach an engine support ( spans across shock towers) and lift it by the front next to the oil filter, there is a hole there for the tow hook

[mieks325e90]

great thank you, i had to order a tow hook because the original owner misplaced the one that came with the car but its here now and i can finally pull out the old motor later today.

[David0ff]

But in all honesty, the way you have the car all opened up

Just pull the whole thing out, engine and trans, in one piece,
Much easier to reassemble engine and trans outside of car anyway.

You may also want to have a look at the transmission input seal inside the bell housing, maybe a good idea to change it given the opportunity. Also change the selector shaft seal. on the back top end and output seal. and tranny fluid.

[mieks325e90]

The motor swap is finished and it fired up withing seconds of pressing the ignition. I did not end up pulling out the entire power train assembly, or checking the seal. I was considering replacing the tranny because it has 197,000 but it shifts good and has no leaks. At the first sign of trouble i will pull it and replace it, i would like the mileage to be closer to the new motor anyways. Any idea what i can do with the old motor? i was looking into rebuilding it but i cant find any rebuild kits and individual parts like the piston rings are being sold for $170.00 !!

[Three_thirty_I]

That's great news!! Very glad to hear you have had success with this engine swap!

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by mieks325e90

The motor swap is finished and it fired up withing seconds of pressing the ignition. I did not end up pulling out the entire power train assembly, or checking the seal. I was considering replacing the tranny because it has 197,000 but it shifts good and has no leaks. At the first sign of trouble i will pull it and replace it, i would like the mileage to be closer to the new motor anyways. Any idea what i can do with the old motor? i was looking into rebuilding it but i cant find any rebuild kits and individual parts like the piston rings are being sold for $170.00 !!

At first I was going to comment that not to worry about the trans, but considering the way the engine was treated by its previous owners.... Definitely get some new oil in it.

The input seal on my trans at 293,000 when I did the clutch was dry as a bone as was the rear crank seal. And I was running with a bad flywheel for about 50,000 miles.

Nice job on the engine swap BTW.

[BlindWolf187]

Originally Posted by mieks325e90

well im 99 % convinced that the engine oil pump failed and caused my rings to over heat and shrink causing the 0 compression. I failed to mention the hard gunky build up i saw after removing the valve cover. It was like hard plastic oil deposits covering ever inch of the valve train.

here is a picture of what it looked like

Holy mother of...

That's the worst thing I've ever seen.

Nice job with the engine swap! That was fast!