Installed my MILVS.

[Rmtt]

So I'm installing my MILVS. I just rented the spring removal tool from Marty, and just pulled the springs completely to get the supports in. Had some rockers move, but pretty sure I got everything back in place. Using a mirror, everything looks good and I spun the motor by hand a few times and it feels fine.

One question......I have my valve cover back on with a new gasket. I just put my valvetronics motor in with no issues using the Allen wrench. Everything lined up perfectly.

Do I have to do anything for calibration of the valvetronics motor? I've read about just putting the key in, ignition button in without starting the car....and let it sit for 30-60 seconds. Then maybe do it again for good measure. I've got this far....just want to do it right.

I still need to install my coils, start the car to check for leaks (fingers crossed)...then reinstall all the covers.

After its running for a bit, I plan to do an oil change and coolant flush....then I will download my new tune from Bob.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions on the valvetronics position calibration.

[b1aze]

I was just researching something similar this morning.

From what I understand, the "on but don't start" is just a functional check.

You should be able to use INPA to "teach" the sensor/motor. You can also check for position accuracy and such.

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by b1aze

I was just researching something similar this morning.

From what I understand, the "on but don't start" is just a functional check.

You should be able to use INPA to "teach" the sensor/motor. You can also check for position accuracy and such.

That sucks. I don't have INPA setup on anything. I'm on vacation from work and all my stuff is there even if I did download and load the software.


I did find one thread where hassmaschine wrote the following:

You dont need to do anything. The DME will run the proceedure on its own. Just turn on the ignition and let it sit for a minute.

He seems to be one of the most knowledgeable on these platforms from what I have read of his stuff.

[rjahl]

Originally Posted by Rmtt

That sucks. I don't have INPA setup on anything. I'm on vacation from work and all my stuff is there even if I did download and load the software.


I did find one thread where hassmaschine wrote the following:

You dont need to do anything. The DME will run the proceedure on its own. Just turn on the ignition and let it sit for a minute.

He seems to be one of the most knowledgeable on these platforms from what I have read of his stuff.

Just turn on the ignition , don't start the car, wait 10 seconds or so . Cycle the ignition and start it.

Should be fine


DME needs a few seconds to relearn and reset before the first start.

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by rjahl

Just turn on the ignition , don't start the car, wait 10 seconds or so . Cycle the ignition and start it.

Should be fine


DME needs a few seconds to relearn and reset before the first start.

Thanks. You was the other guy that I remember knowing so much.... But I couldn't remember your user name. I really appreciate it!!

[ornicar]

Originally Posted by Rmtt

Thanks. You was the other guy that I remember knowing so much.... But I couldn't remember your user name. I really appreciate it!!

Interrested about your feedback before/after the tune.

If you can comment it, it would be kind.


Thanks.

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by ornicar

Interrested about your feedback before/after the tune.

If you can comment it, it would be kind.


Thanks.

I definitely will. I plan to download the new tune this weekend after I let the car run a little while. I plan to start it up tomorrow, see how it goes....then do an oil change and coolant flush.

I've been sitting on this tune for awhile...but work kept getting in the way of this job.

It took me all day, but I removed the springs, and intermediate rockers when installing the new supports and took my time.

I've got my fingers crossed for no leaks on the VCG!

[desertman123]

Originally Posted by ornicar

Interrested about your feedback before/after the tune.

If you can comment it, it would be kind.


Thanks.

Imagine your gas pedal has a brick behind it, so now you can only push it down to 90% throttle.

Now imagine you removed that brick and can use the full 100%

That's what MILVS feel like.

[ornicar]

Originally Posted by desertman123

Imagine your gas pedal has a brick behind it, so now you can only push it down to 90% throttle.

Now imagine you removed that brick and can use the full 100%

That's what MILVS feel like.

In fact what really question me, is : "MILVs alone" remove the brick or "MILVs + Tune" do it ???

If the tune is not mandatory, i will place the order tomorrow

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by ornicar

In fact what really question me, is : "MILVs alone" remove the brick or "MILVs + Tune" do it ???

If the tune is not mandatory, i will place the order tomorrow

The tune is required to get the benefits from the modified supports as the values for the "lift variables" have to be rewritten.

But you can get the MILVS and install them and drive the car as normal for as long as you need to get the tune later.

I would jump on it as from what I understand, there are a finite source of these available as I think Marty bought pretty much all the stock parts around....and since they aren't a wearable item...I don't know if bmw is making any more of them.

I know in the past he had issues sourcing them.

I've read that some people felt like they added as much power as headers.

desertman123 has the best analogies for these bolt-ons. He said that headers were like the car was able to clear it's throat and breathe... and that is what mine felt like.

MILVS are supposed to add hp and most importantly torque back into the mid-range.....and that is what shines on these cars!

[Rmtt]

So I finally had a chance to start the car yesterday. I had some residual smoke from oil on the headers burn off....and I let it run for awhile. I also noticed smoke from the tailpipe, but I had oil in the spark plug wells ....#3, and #4. So I figured it was oil that had got in there when I pulled the plugs. Plugs were oily, but like an idiot I cleaned them up and reinstalled them.

After the car warmed up and dropped into low idle....I noticed when I give it gas while sitting there the car would shudder and shake....idle would stumble before finding its preset.

So I pulled the codes and had combustion cylinder misfire #4. I cleared the codes and repeated the cycle to see the same error. So I swapped #1 and #4 coils, but the problem remained with cylinder #4.

So I got all new plugs to put in. I started pulling coils, but had 3 of them that had the rubber boot at the end of the coils stay on the plugs. I got two out with my needle nose, but the last one started tearing off in pieces. SO...today I need to get that rubber boot off, use some compressed air to clean out everything, then pull that last plug.

I don't have coils, but will put my old ones back in that I saved from swapping them out when I first bought the car as they were fine until I can order some more. These are a complete mold so no rubber boot to come off.....I'm not particularly impressed with Delphi's new coil design with those boots getting stuck so easily.

So in summery....started engine, got combustion cylinder #4 misfire, plan to install all new plugs today with original coils. Hopefully this clears up my issues.

Good news is that I see no leaks anywhere around the VCG....but I do have this issue to deal with now.

[Rmtt]

So yesterday after getting all the errands done for/with my wife....I had a chance to get back to the car. Changed all plugs, and just double-checked everything over....especially the injector wiring harness after pulling that code yesterday.

Car started right up and is running smooth as silk. Re-Scanned with Protool....no errors. I let it warm up, and after every rev it settled back into range instantly.

Overall....I would rate the VCG job difficulty as a 6 out of a 10. Mainly because of all the stuff you have to take off, not break, and not lose.

The MILVS I would rate a 4 out of 10 as I took my time and removed the spring completely. Once they were off and the supports undone, you know I had to pull the intermediate rockers as I wanted to see how everything worked in regards to the Eccentric Shaft. This was my first time inside a BMW!

If doing this job again, I believe I would pull the wiper arms and cowl across the windshield just to give more clearance for removal and reinstallation of the Valve Cover.

The more room you have, the less chance you have of gasket issues when going back in. Also my original VCG was very brittle. And my car is approaching 74K+ miles. So I'm surprised it hadn't developed a huge leak yet.

Today I change the oil and coolant. I plan to load the tune in the next few days.

Obligatory shot of valvetrain..

[Rmtt]

So yesterday after getting all the errands done for/with my wife....I had a chance to get back to the car. Changed all plugs, and just double-checked everything over....especially the injector wiring harness after pulling that code yesterday.

Car started right up and is running smooth as silk. Re-Scanned with Protool....no errors. I let it warm up, and after every rev it settled back into range instantly.

Overall....I would rate the VCG job difficulty as a 6 out of a 10. Mainly because of all the stuff you have to take off, not break, and not lose.

The MILVS I would rate a 4 out of 10 as I took my time and removed the spring completely. Once they were off and the supports undone, you know I had to pull the intermediate rockers as I wanted to see how everything worked in regards to the Eccentric Shaft.

If doing this job again, I believe I would pull the wiper arms and cowl across the windshield just to give more clearance for removal and reinstallation of the Valve Cover.

The more room you have, the less chance you have of gasket issues when going back in. Also my original VCG was very brittle. And my car is approaching 74K+ miles. So I'm surprised it hadn't developed a huge leak yet.

Today I change the oil and coolant. I plan to load the tune in the next few days.

Obligatory shot of valvetrain before I vigorously cleaned everything..

[Rmtt]

As an update, I have been driving the car daily and beating the crap out of it just to test everything...

Plus I hadn't driven it for awhile and wanted to get used to the amount of "Pep" it does have so I would have something to compare it to when I load my tune this weekend to "activate" the Milvs. I may be wrong, but the Dynos that I seen showing ~ 8whp-10whp and comparable Tq were the first set of Milvs with a .5MM lift...and these that he sells now have a full 1MM. So my interest is peaked.

I had been driving my wife's SUV around for errands and that thing is so slow, and I didn't want to drive my Corvette because that wouldn't even be a fair comparison.

But it's driving great with no leaks anywhere (knock on wood). I changed the oil but didn't get to the coolant as my wife wanted to go out that afternoon.

So since I have to pull the battery charger out to load my tune this weekend, I will do my coolant then as well since you have to bleed the air out of the system by running the electric water pump...and I heard that cycle can take 10 minutes or longer.

I will update again after the tune and a few days of driving with it to give my final impressions. On a whole, everything went smoothly. Marty sent me the spring tool within 2 days of ordering it, and refunded my deposit and paid me for my used "Supports" the same day he received all of it in the mail.

He was extremely helpful. I am excited to see if his plans for the exhaust cam "pans" out for our cars. With the 3SI and Milvs installed, I'm sure anything to help get the air back out would be beneficial.

[Rmtt]

So I wanted to post an update. I loaded my Tune Saturday morning, and we took the car out that afternoon to get some seat time in.

I'm very impressed. It kind of feels like installing headers again, but the power you get is in a lower rpm range of the car vs. where the headers shine up top. No doubt there is more TQ across the board, but at 3K and above it makes a huge difference under wide open throttle.

When I did my headers and tune, it was the same thing, but most of those gains seemed to be felt at around 5K rpm and up, and the car would rev much faster across the entire range.

With the Milvs, it pulls hard from 2K to about 6700 rpm where you feel the 3SI run out of "gas". But by that point, you are going way faster than the posted speed limit.

This morning...it seemed even stronger. But it was also just me in the car and the temperature was around 36°F. I went out around 2:45am for the gym, and after the car warmed up I got on a lonely stretch of road where I could play. I didn't even go into 1st...just slowed down enough where 2nd had me around 2800 rpm. Redlining 2nd and 3rd had me just crossing into triple digit numbers...so I backed off pretty quickly. And I have the digital speedo coded in. But it just kept pulling and pulling.

My wife says she can definitely feel a difference. She asked why I shut down when I did during one of our runs yesterday, and I told her the speed we were at. She said that would get her into trouble as even at much higher speeds in this car, it feels like you aren't going that much faster than the speed limit.

Overall...I'm extremely happy with the results.