[Joebie]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

I would swap it with your original. The bolts are not one time use - just clean them up with a wire brush and reinstall. No big deal. Don't need to undo the center bolt, but it wouldn't hurt to clean off the rust and paint it.

I'd use the bolts off my old engine, they were in great condition.

Not that you don't know, Hass, but just to clarify for anyone reading this thread, loosening the big center crank bolt allows timing to slip. NEVER loosen that bolt or try turning the motor counter-clockwise unless you are re-timing the motor.

I'll be making a wal-mart run after work today to get some cleaning supplies, brushes, scotch-brite, etc and then I'll probably go to town on the engine.... only problem is that the high temp today is 36F so that's going to totally suck. Looks like it only gets colder in the 10-day forecast though so I'll find a way. I wish I had a hot-water spigot in the garage, lol.

[Joebie]

Originally Posted by PORTMOODY

I'd also think about changing the exhaust manifold studs. Those look like they're ready to go too.

I'd change them but I'm kinda scared of them breaking off. I'm not sure if I'm going to change them just yet. They are cheap though, like 99cents a piece.

EDIT: After looking at my own pics again, two exhaust studs are missing so I'll have to replace those, I might as well just replace all of them.

[Efthreeoh]

I'd try baking soda on the mag block first. Then maybe a soft brass wire wheel on a drill motor. But caution, I'm not sure if the magnesium block has a coating on it. I'm not sure if the bentley says or not.

I've replaced both the harmonic balancer and DMF on my engine. The harmonic balancer does not need to be indexed, the drill marks are the material removed to balance it. A new harmonic balancer is $500! The flywheel also has no index to the crank. The balancer bolts come out easily with a butterfly impact wrench, which is what I used. You'll need a lock for the flywheel. I made one out of a 2x4 metal bracket used for deck rails. I have a pic of it in my DIY I published for the N52 clutch replacement.

The timing wheel is inside the sump behind No. 6. The counter is on the left side of the block. I assume you are doing the pan and valve cover gaskets. I used P-tex ultra black on mine with good results.

Good luck with the install. Hope they didn't fish the doner engine out of the ocean.

[Joebie]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I'd try baking soda on the mag block first. Then maybe a soft brass wire wheel on a drill motor. But caution, I'm not sure if the magnesium block has a coating on it. I'm not sure if the bentley says or not.

I've replaced both the harmonic balancer and DMF on my engine. The harmonic balancer does not need to be indexed, the drill marks are the material removed to balance it. A new harmonic balancer is $500! The flywheel also has no index to the crank. The balancer bolts come out easily with a butterfly impact wrench, which is what I used. You'll need a lock for the flywheel. I made one out of a 2x4 metal bracket used for deck rails. I have a pic of it in my DIY I published for the N52 clutch replacement.

The timing wheel is inside the sump between no. 5 and 6. The counter is on the left side of the block. I assume you are doing the pan and valve cover gaskets. I used P-tex ultra black on mine with good results.

Good luck with the install. Hope they didn't fish the doner engine out of the ocean

Thanks for the tips on the harmonic balancer and flywheel.

I am doing the oil pan, valve cover, and oil filter housing gaskets, i plan on using a small amount of gasket maker on the metal parts of the oil pan gasket but the valve cover and OFH gaskets I install dry. I've personally found that gasket maker and rubber seals dont play well together.

I've already made a flywheel holder out of a 3/8 thick piece of aluminum to get the flywheel off of my old engine and the "new" one so I'm good there.

It sure looks like they got the engine from the ocean but the oxidation brushes off quite easily. I think I can get it looking pretty good. I'm going to start with soap and water with a plastic bristle brush and work my way up to harsher chemicals like simple green or aluminum cleaner if soap doesnt work.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Joester

Thanks for the tips on the harmonic balancer and flywheel.

I am doing the oil pan, valve cover, and oil filter housing gaskets, i plan on using a small amount of gasket maker on the metal parts of the oil pan gasket but the valve cover and OFH gaskets I install dry. I've personally found that gasket maker and rubber seals dont play well together.

I've already made a flywheel holder out of a 3/8 thick piece of aluminum to get the flywheel off of my old engine and the "new" one so I'm good there.

It sure looks like they got the engine from the ocean but the oxidation brushes off quite easily. I think I can get it looking pretty good. I'm going to start with soap and water with a plastic bristle brush and work my way up to harsher chemicals like simple green or aluminum cleaner if soap doesnt work.

Here's a thought for the block, Groits Garage makes aluminum/magnesium wheel polish. That and a cone polishing pad may work well. I thought baking soda just to stop any salt corrosion that may be going on on the block surface.

I used Ultra Black on the pan and valve cover 3 years ago and after 60,000 miles it's still drip free. I didn't use anything on the OFHG.

[bbnks2]

Originally Posted by Joester

I'll almost definitely be swapping over my old pulley instead of this rusty one. Should look and function way better.

Why are you not referencing NewTIS.info lol... It's literally BMW AIR dumped to the internet.

The flywheel gets pinned to the crank. The timing wheel has an extra hole in it for a locating dowel, like, the allen key bolt that holds the rotor to the hub. So long as that locating dowel is in place, you cannot put the timing wheel or flywheel on wrong (stock flywheel). There is no need for timing marks because you then pin the flywheel through the block which puts the car to TDC. It's idiot proof. Cams are put in time by teh cam tool. Again, idiot proof and no timing marks needed. Timing marks would only have 1 purpose, showing you slipped timing. That's what the sensors are there for though. You can always mark TDC on everything after getting it all in time.

Again, review NetTIS.info. It literally gives you the instructions for the entire car. All BMWs for that matter.

Compressed air is usually the best bet for blowing air out of pockets after cleaning.

[PORTMOODY]

I'd be sure to use the OEM gasket on the OFH. Looks like its been revised with some nipples on it.

[Joebie]

I need unbiased opinions.

Do you guys think its worth me calling the scrapper that I got the engine from and complaining/arguing for some money back?

3 strong reasons and 1 weak reason why I feel this way

-Despite claiming the engine only has 88k miles on it, it looks like it was plucked straight from the Atlantic ocean. Maybe this is normal for the northeast US but how was I to know where the car spent its life? I'm going to spend a good $50 in supplies and many hours in the cold cleaning this engine up to even be presentable.

-I specifically asked multiple times for them to snap a few pictures and send them to me before shipping the motor so I could see what I was getting. They shipped the motor without ever sending me pictures despite the seller saying multiple times that he would. The guy said "You'll love it!" really enthusiastically over and over on the phone. I may have had second thoughts about the motor had I actually seen it before it shipped like I requested.

-I specifically asked if the wiring harness would come with the motor, and with no wires cut. The guy on the phone said yes to both questions, and then continued to trash talk another popular scrapper, by name, saying that the other scrapper cuts wires and that they don't and are really careful... Well guess what I got the wiring harness but the O2 sensor plugs and MAF sensor plugs are snipped off making it essentially scrap.

-Lastly I asked if the headers came with the motor and he said "Yeah, yeah, I think so!" No headers, but this is a weak point because he didn't say this with confidence.



Am I right to be annoyed or am I too much a perfectionist? Is this condition motor normal for a scrapper?

Do you think these points justify asking for some financial compensation? I paid $1300 for the motor and $275 shipping.

See page 4 of this thread for pics.

[nsjames]

that looks pretty typical for anything that lives in a place that gets salt applied during the winter.
I've got a touch of rust on my balancer, and my junk didn't live in Ohio it's entire life, and spent all of last winter in california and oregon. I'd say that level of rust is what I'd expect in a ten year old Ohio car.

as to the block, meh. Spray it with some simple green, hit it with the pressure washer and put it in the car.

The wiring harness is your only real bitch, as you were told it would be complete, and it isn't.

[hassmaschine]

I'd try to get some money back, yeah. But I think that is pretty typical of a scrapper engine. There's always some wire harness cut to bits or something missing or broken..

[nsjames]

I'm surprised they even promised the harness.

none of the places I've ever dealt with would guarantee a harness removed intact.

[Joebie]

Originally Posted by nsjames

I'm surprised they even promised the harness.

none of the places I've ever dealt with would guarantee a harness removed intact.

Its not in writing anywhere which is what's going to bone me. If I call and complain he's just going to say "WelL OuR EnGiNeS OnLy ComE WiTh ThE BlOCk aNd HeAd".

This allows them to pretty much just lie to me all they want over the phone to get me to buy their stuff and then once I get it turn around and point to whats in writing and say "you got what you paid for" even though a different scenario was discussed over the phone. And I think that's what bugs me so much. The guy was such a yes man over the phone to make it seem like everything i was getting was going to be all great and perfect. Maybe I'm the fool for trusting.

This dude literally interrupted me on the phone to lecture me for a good 2 minutes about how one of their competitors cuts wires and they dont and that I would get the harness with all connectors in tact.

In the end its not going to matter, this engine will work, its just a little dirtier than I envisioned. My old harness will work, its just got a few broken clips.

[nsjames]

standard wrecker stuff man.

that entire industry is sketchy.

[tcphoto]

It sounds like they painted a pretty picture but it ended up looking like it was painted with s£!t. I’d call the guy you communicated with and tell him that you would have never bought it if he sent the pictures he promised. If he doesn’t discount it, I’d send it back and cause him some headaches. What is the price of a wiring harness? That is the minimum I’d accept.

[nsjames]

and they'll say that they never promised him anything, ad that he accepted the shipment and signed for it in it's current condition.

[Joebie]

I tried washing the engine yesterday with simple greene, WD-40, and soap and water and it made it look a little butter but not really that much.

I'm at the point where i need to install MILVs and change the oil pan, then put all the stuff that goes on the engine back on to get it ready to drop in the car.

However since I'm so anal about this I might borrow my friends soda blaster to try to rid my engine of its oxidation problem. I might as well since I'm waiting for parts anyways.

There's a snowstorm incoming to my area this afternoon so I think I might take a half day from work to avoid sitting in traffic for 3 hours on the way home. I'll probably call up the scrapper and bitch at him about the condition of the engine, worst he can say is no money back but maybe since its friday and all he'll be feeling generous. Worth a shot.

Does anyone have experience in soda blasting a heavily oxidized engine block/head? Does it work?

[mad1stgen]

Seeing as the whole engine looks very uniform in regards to corrosion, it's safe to assume it sat outside in the elements. Even if the car is exposed to salt, every single VC bolt won't rust like that. You'll see some corrosion on the front, etc... but not like that.

Not much you can do really. Blast it with a power washer and SG few times, then possibly etching mag wheel cleaner, but it's there to stay. Soda blasting will work for sure, not sure how feasible it is at this point ?

However, this is pretty much industry standard when it comes to salvage yards. Too bad you didn't stick to you guns and wait for pictures of the engine prior to buying it. There are so many N52s for sale, as they have a low failure rate.

[Joebie]

Originally Posted by mad1stgen

Too bad you didn't stick to you guns and wait for pictures of the engine prior to buying it. There are so many N52s for sale, as they have a low failure rate.

I paid them for the engine and was promised twice that'd I'd get pictures before they sent the engine.

Then the next day I called for an update on when it was going to ship and he said it was already on its way. I was never given the opportunity to back out, I was never given the pictures I was promised more than once. They just sent it. I can only assume this is because they KNEW it looked like shit and that I might have seconds thoughts if I actually saw what I was getting before sending it.

[CTinline-six]

That sucks man.

The auto "recycling" industry is literally 50% illegally run chop shops selling parts.

[Joebie]

Originally Posted by CTinline-six

That sucks man.

The auto "recycling" industry is literally 50% illegally run chop shops selling parts.

I'm trying to stay positive because how the engine looks shouldn't really effect how it runs. I just wish it looked better, ya know.

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by Joester

I'm trying to stay positive because how the engine looks shouldn't really effect how it runs. I just wish it looked better, ya know.

Maybe you can paint it? I wouldn’t want to look at that under my hood either

[Joebie]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

Maybe you can paint it? I wouldn’t want to look at that under my hood either

The prep work for a good paint job is essentially the exact same process that would properly remove all the oxide so yeah I probably could paint it but if I've done all that prep i'd probably just leave it bare anyways.

Luckily the back half and the sides of the engine are mostly covered when its in the bay. I think more work with a soda blaster or some brass bristle brushes can get it acceptable, but still not ideal.