[omadab]

Originally Posted by Joester

leakdown test is really the go-to test to see if your valves are sealing properly.

IM GUESSING that the process to check your timing is to put the flywheel at TDC (there's probably a mark on the flywheel you look at through a peep-hole in the transmission bellhousing)

Then once the flywheel is at TDC on the correct stroke, you check to make sure that the cams are in the correct position, I'm pretty sure there are flats on the cam somewhere that are supposed to be perpendicular to the valve cover deck when the crank is at TDC.

VANOS complicates things, I don't know how the vanos adjustment modules on the front of each camshaft factor into the equation. I'm guessing that the vanos modules are installed and toqued down at the "full retard" position, then oil pressure advances the valve timing from there.

I've never done this on the N52, i'm just taking educated guesses based on timing ive done on other engines so i could very well be wrong.

My best guess is that since your engine still runs and there doesnt look like there is piston-valve contact, your timing probably just shifted a little bit and needs to be reset. Figuring out how or where it slipped is probably impossible so just redoing the entire timing process is probably your best bet. Basically if youve never done it before, to summarize the process in 1 sentence, you just have to position the crank and both cams at the proper position relative to each other, then lock it down in that position with the various bolts that secure the timing chain sprockets.

You could buy a timing chain if you felt like it for peace of mind, I'm not so sure its damaged though. I'm not sure what the factor of safety on a timing chain is, lol. So I'm not sure if theyre easily damaged by a sudden change in engine RPM.

I've looked up how to do the timing. Seems very simple. 150$ kit. But my dad doesn't trust me to do it myself XD so I'll have to find a mechanic that is willing to come over and do it 😂😂

I'll be changing the eccentric shaft sensor also. I broke the clips on it anyway haha

[omadab]

Originally Posted by CTinline-six

I would check that all the timing marks line up, that will tell you if there is an issue a long with the leak down test. Is the car throwing any codes?

I have 2 permanent codes P054B and P13B4. It's for the exhaust camshaft and crankshaft. So timing is most likely off

[Joebie]

given the lack of marks on the piston tops, id be pretty optimistic that you valves are OK and your timing just slipped. Obviously no guarantee, but remember what my pistons looked like...

[CTinline-six]

You may have gotten lucky and the engine just jumped time but didn't damage anything. The $150 is worth it to re-time the engine and do the leak down test.

[omadab]

Hey guys. I bought the timing kit and tried to lign it up with the camshaft but it doesn't not fit so the timing is for sure off. Now I need to insert a pin into the flywheel at top dead center to hold it in place while I adjust the vanos and camshafts. The problem is that the pin is not going in. I decided to put my borescope into the hole with the pin to have a look at when the pin should be inserted but even though I turn the entire engine over multiple cycles, I can not seem to see a hole big enough in the flywheel for the flywheel timing pin to enter. Either I'm doing something wrong or the flywheel could be aftermarket from a previous owner? If I simply stick a screwdriver in, there will be a little bit of play in the flywheel. Could that cause bad timing or is this little play not a big deal?

[omadab]

Hello. So as much as I try, I can't get the fly wheel timing pin in. I got an allen key that is basically the same size and it fit without a problem. This leads me to conclude I probably have the wrong key. All my online research tells me that I have the right one tho. Here is a picture of the timing pin. As seen on the markings of the pin, it only goes in about 0.5 cms. Any ideas? Thanks

[omadab]

here it is

[Tambohamilton]

Pretty sure it should have a reduced tip on it to actually engage with the flywheel - around 6mm/0.25" diameter, from memory. Could be wrong though!

[omadab]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

Pretty sure it should have a reduced tip on it to actually engage with the flywheel - around 6mm/0.25" diameter, from memory. Could be wrong though!

Yes. Searching on google shows me a different tool necessary. But the online sites say that this tool would not fit my engine. :/ (n52)

[Tambohamilton]

It's not rocket science; the tool you have doesn't fit, so you need one which will. All it does is align a point on the flywheel with the hole in the block; there's nothing special about it.

[omadab]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

It's not rocket science; the tool you have doesn't fit, so you need one which will. All it does is align a point on the flywheel with the hole in the block; there's nothing special about it.

I agree. My only worry is the little bit of play in the flywheel that a smaller tool will cause. Is this enough to screw up timing. I guess I have no choice but to try and see

[Tambohamilton]

Try and see. A tool with some play is better than a tool which doesn't fit.

Edit: When I say 'try and see', I mean try the different tool, see how much play there is, and make a call as to whether that is likely to cause issues.

[omadab]

Hello everyone. This will be the final update on fixing the engine. The process is quite straight forward but I ran into many small issues along the way.

Timed the engine and ran the car and there was no problem with the engine! So, that's good news! Thank you to everyone for any input or help that they gave. This is the first time DIYing a car job, let alone an engine job! Everything worked out in the end and I am very grateful that I am able to driver her again (:

So in case anyone has to deal with similar issues in the future below are a couple of tips and tricks that I wish I knew along the way.

1. These cars are engineered nicely but make sure to have the proper tools to do the job. The most expensive part of this job was all the tools bought. Make sure to have a female torx set!!!!!, a torque wrench, allen keys, swivel socket kits and various extension sizes (1/4", 3/8", 1/2") and lengths.

2. The car has a lot of plastic. I broke the eccentric shaft sensor (~250$) and my dad broke the valvetronic motor clips (~300$). These engines run really hot so it makes sense that the plastic eventually gets weak, but with patience everything can be removed without breakage.

3. DO NOT FORGET TO REMOVE THE NEGATIVE TERMINAL OF BATTERY WHEN WORKING ON THE ENGINE. I completely forgot to do it and got lucky with only my battery going bad.

4. Having a borescope for the job is literally a life saver! So useful!

5. When putting in the flywheel pin, remove the air filter assembly and move the power steering reservoir, you should be able to get in from ontop. (the borescope helps here because you cant see the bell housing hole). People say online to jack up the car and go from bellow but I did not do that.

6. Do not cheap out on the engine timing kit. Amazon had 2 kits (1 for 150$ and 1 for 113$). I cheaped out ran into a couple of problems.
i) The timing pin did not fit in the engine... I ended up getting a slightly bigger allen key and using a bench grinder for a couple of hours until it slid in.
ii) It seems that either the camshaft timing jig had either been returned previously or assembled improperly. There is a specific direction everything has to go. Took us an hour or two to figure out what piece goes where and in what direction.
iii) The bolts that hold the jig to the engine are garbage quality and they could cross thread the engine threads. Do not force these terrible bolts in if they don't go in easily.

7. When placing the valve cover back onto the engine in the e92, it is impossible to have the clearance to fit it. Here is a guide to disassemble the fire wall. I would recommend doing this at the beginning of the job, it'll give more space to remove the valve cover also. I wish someone had told me about this earlier XD. I can't find the e90post thread anymore but starting from step 7, you can get an idea of what to do.
https://www.rmeuropean.com/bmw-e90-v...placement.aspx

8. When starting the engine again at the end of the job I had an insane amount of white smoke coming from the exhaust manifold. Turns out when the engine was open for a couple of days, oil seeped down to the exhaust manifold slowly. Make sure to clean that up!


As mentioned before, this job is not rocket science. Have the right tools ready, patience and use the tips above^ and you can have this job done in one day.

Thank you again to everyone. I am no BMW specialist XD but if anyone has questions feel free to ask

[Joebie]

Nice job, glad to hear its running.

Dont feel too bad about the ESS because those always go bad on their own over time!

Its really hard not to break plastic bits on these cars.

They really are engineered beautifully when you have the right tools.

Way to go!

[Tambohamilton]

+1, glad you're running again!

[IllSic_Design]

Congrats, glad to hear it's running fine again, good work.

Now I wonder if I should have torn into my E46 that I money shifted and just sold without looking into the engine lol. Oh well

[omadab]

Bad news guys. My troubles are not over. Check engine light, running rough. Cylinder 1 misfire. I pulled the plugs and they look to be running a little lean. The Cylinder 1 spark plug is a little bit on the brown side (insulator tip). I guess I'll swap out the goodies and see what happens next

[omadab]

After some more research the spark plugs seem to be okay. I don't think they are the reasons for the misfire. So prob fuel injector or ignition coils?

[Joebie]

It would have to be extreme coincidence that right when you money shift your car the coils also go out.

I personally would instead be rechecking the work you did and looking at things like the valvetrain and maybe doing another compression test.

Hard to say, really, but you issues are almost surely related to the shifting mishap, right? Why would a coil or injector go out because of a money shift?

That just my thoughts on the matter. I suppose it COULD be something like that but it doesnt make sense to start there in my opinion.

Are there any other codes besides cyl 1 misfire to give you a clue what might be wrong?

An easy test you can do is swap cyl 1 coil with another cylinder and see if the misfire follows the coil. You could also do the same with the cyl 1 injector.

[Tambohamilton]

Definitely do the coil swap test. It's not that much of a coincidence if it were the coils; most often it's just them being removed and handled that knocks them over. If they were fragile already, that would be enough to finish them off.

[omadab]

Originally Posted by Joester

It would have to be extreme coincidence that right when you money shift your car the coils also go out.

I personally would instead be rechecking the work you did and looking at things like the valvetrain and maybe doing another compression test.

Hard to say, really, but you issues are almost surely related to the shifting mishap, right? Why would a coil or injector go out because of a money shift?

That just my thoughts on the matter. I suppose it COULD be something like that but it doesnt make sense to start there in my opinion.

Are there any other codes besides cyl 1 misfire to give you a clue what might be wrong?

An easy test you can do is swap cyl 1 coil with another cylinder and see if the misfire follows the coil. You could also do the same with the cyl 1 injector.

Ye, you're probably right. Maybe the valves are not good like I thought. Ill start with swapping the coils from 1 cylinder to another and hope the code follows. If that doesn't fix it then I'll look into a compression and leakdown test :/ Thanks

Edit: Only code is a cylinder 1 misfire. engine runs really rough. lurching, entire car shakes really really bad (when accelerating). Sort of feels like its coming from the back... but that wouldn't make sense

[omadab]

Alright so I took out the ignition coil and spark plug of cylinder 1, grounded the edge of the spark plug and cranked the engine. There was no spark, so I swapped out the ignition coils and it turns out that the ignition coil from cylinder 1 failed. I replaced it and the engine is running like normal again
I guess it was just a huge coincidence XD