Petros 135i

[tracer bullet]

Ugh, sorry to hear it. Still appreciate the progress updates. Even if it feels like a lack of progress on your side.

[Petro135]

Originally Posted by tracer bullet

Ugh, sorry to hear it. Still appreciate the progress updates. Even if it feels like a lack of progress on your side.

Still going. This car hasn't broke me yet. Just my wallet lol.
So engine is rolling along the block looks great. The crank is beautiful. The cylinder head was only jet washed at the machine shop and looks awesome for just $20. Just not ready to drop $4k on a ported head with new valves. By the looks of this head I won't have to.
*Put pistons on rods. No easy task getting those damn clips in the wrist pins. Nearly broke my thumbs.
*Next I sized all the rings. Each one I cut down to .020 for top ring and .024 for 2nd ring. The oil rings all were a perfect .019. went with 120* between oil ring openings and 180* on top rings
*Main bearings I plastigauged and we're perfect out of the box. Dropped them in added an anaerobic high temp flange sealer for the bedplate. Not oem bmw but after a tone of research on this it should be fine. My bedplate bolts are back ordered so I bolted down and torqued the mains and added a few bolts to each side to press the bedplate down until the sealant dries. Once I get the right bolts I'll back those out and put the correct bolts in.
* Cleaned my crank rod journal really well and put the rods on the crank. First dry fit to check clearances. All are a perfect .002. so then I removed and added assembly lube and torqued all in place.
* The misfire race pinned crank hub gave me a little trouble. The drill bit pushed out on the inside part of the crank a little so it wouldn't sit right. I dremeled off the bulges and sanded off a little of the coating on it. And used the bolt to torque it in to place.
That's where I'm at today.
In the last pic when I took motor apart I found the timing chain bolt access cover totally rounded . I had to drill it and hit the threads on the sides. My machine shop drilled it out and welded in a new cap for me. Luckily, I thought I screwed up my block

[Petro135]

So a little setback. Arp head studs that are not bought from vac don't fit n54's. I pulled the threads off one. But just the very front one that doesn't have to be torqued like the larger middle 10 bolts. The 10 in the middle fit. Got them to 75ft lbs. The other 4 I got to 50ftlbs and the last one spun and just didn't catches enough thread. So instead of dealing with the threads in the block I'm having my machine shop grind off the space of the washer into my head in the first 2 front positions. That should give it enough space to catch threads and torque it back to 50ftlbs.
So I decided to pull my motor while I wait. I can not believe how easy this motor is to pull the 2nd time. I spent and hour taking off intake man and disconnecting all sensor plugs and realized I don't have to take apart the dme at all like I did first time. Got all the injector and coil wires out of the way and realized both the sides were done and clear. All I had was to go under and unplug water pump and thermo and take the ground off.
Underneath was even easier. 2 bolts to passenger side mount. 4 exhaust bolts. I took the docrace dp off at the turbine housing just for clearance. Then got the 3ft of extensions and got the 2 hard to get tranny bolts pretty painlessly. I have a clear shot at the 4 drivers mount bolts from top. So I'm removing the whole mount. I got hung up on that last time. Took only about an hour to get the front off. So all I have left is to take off the line to ps pump and the 2 lines to ac compressor. And I can lift this out. Can't believe I got that done in like 3 hours. But I have no room to pull it until engine is built and I get out all the totes I have laying around for that. So I guess it's family time for the next few days.
Btw engine build is fighting me. First the oil chain didn't wrap around the sprocket properly. It was slapping against the rail when I turned the engine over by hand. So after taking it apart and putting it with the misfire race pinned crank hub back together 3 times, I realized the chain is too small. Went back to the old chain and it worked perfectly. I thin the new one has to have stretched. I know several people who are installing this misfire pinned hub and I'm the only one who had a problem with a new chain. All from fcp. So I guess it was a bad chain? Not sure.
Then I had to pull the head back off to fix this arp stud bullshit. Hopefully all smooth sailing from here.

[Petro135]

Said screw it and pulled it out anyway

[Afam28]

Nothing worth it is ever easy…
Keep pushing!

[Petro135]

Originally Posted by Afam28

Nothing worth it is ever easy…
Keep pushing!

You know it !!
So I was put on hold for awhile my docrace manifold cracked. AGAIN! I was told by docrace only the first few manifolds ever had cracking problems. I believe I was the 2nd or 3rd preorder. And they will send me a new one. No problem. Only problem it's been 3 weeks+ .
Also busy at work so engine build stalled. And once I got back at it, had major thread issues with arp studs. Our aluminum block just doesn't want to have these hard ass studs screwed into them. Anyway got all the 10 (m11)main cyl head bolts down to the 75ftlbs I needed to but the smaller front and back 2 just would spin at 50ft lbs. So I cleaned out the threads in the back 2 and they are fine to 30ftlbs and about 45 degrees. The front ones I had to tape off my motor and drill and insert helicoils. First one went down with 1 helicoil the second one I had to stack 2 on top of each other to get the stud to grab threads. And finally hit 30ftlbs and a slight angle and gave up there. My head is coming off again in a few months for a better one. Hopefully I'm good. Next time it comes off I'm drilling in an m11 conversion for those bolts. I don't trust them.
After that all went in great. I used zipties on cam ledges but was careful where they landed on the rockers, then wrapped 2 straps around engine and cranked them down until it was past the little ledge that can hold it up. Then slowly put down each bolt 1 by one until the proper valves were depressed. Avoiding buying the $300 valve tool.
Timing went up nicely. Spun her over two full turns and popped the cam locks and timing pin plate back on and it all lined up perfectly.
Engine back together, accessories going on. New plugs, 3 new injectors, all new cam, crank, lp, rail and temp sensors. Vanos is not new but only a few thousand miles since I got them. Rebuilt ofh. Changed from docrace crappy oil drain line to 10an.
Im thinking I'm gonna put engine back in the car this weekend then finish everything up little by little until the manifold arrives. Easy to get everything on the engine with the front clip removed.
No fancy valve cover for me, just oem with some extra spray paint I found in the basement. At least it's VHT.

So I was searching around and found an old iminhell post about the coolant tank relocations and he had a couple links for the correct fittings in it. I ordered a straight fitting for bottom of 335d coolant tank. The 90 with the angle the tank points created an huge hump in my line. So since I already have deleted heat exchanger I cut out the whole plastic hose that runs across the subframe and put the straight fitting off my heater hose on the thermostat end. Then tied the coolant line to the heater hose. Sound weird but it simplified everything. 1 line going straight down out of tank. T to heater and across to thermostat.
Thanks iminhell!!!

[08SlowE82]

Awesome thread🤟🏻. If anything you will be a master at pulling engines out of e82/e88 chassis. But nothing is achieved without work. Thanks for sharing . Good work

[Afam28]

Originally Posted by Petro135

You know it !!
So I was put on hold for awhile my docrace manifold cracked. AGAIN! I was told by docrace only the first few manifolds ever had cracking problems. I believe I was the 2nd or 3rd preorder. And they will send me a new one. No problem. Only problem it's been 3 weeks+ .
Also busy at work so engine build stalled. And once I got back at it, had major thread issues with arp studs. Our aluminum block just doesn't want to have these hard ass studs screwed into them. Anyway got all the 10 (m11)main cyl head bolts down to the 75ftlbs I needed to but the smaller front and back 2 just would spin at 50ft lbs. So I cleaned out the threads in the back 2 and they are fine to 30ftlbs and about 45 degrees. The front ones I had to tape off my motor and drill and insert helicoils. First one went down with 1 helicoil the second one I had to stack 2 on top of each other to get the stud to grab threads. And finally hit 30ftlbs and a slight angle and gave up there. My head is coming off again in a few months for a better one. Hopefully I'm good. Next time it comes off I'm drilling in an m11 conversion for those bolts. I don't trust them.
After that all went in great. I used zipties on cam ledges but was careful where they landed on the rockers, then wrapped 2 straps around engine and cranked them down until it was past the little ledge that can hold it up. Then slowly put down each bolt 1 by one until the proper valves were depressed. Avoiding buying the $300 valve tool.
Timing went up nicely. Spun her over two full turns and popped the cam locks and timing pin plate back on and it all lined up perfectly.
Engine back together, accessories going on. New plugs, 3 new injectors, all new cam, crank, lp, rail and temp sensors. Vanos is not new but only a few thousand miles since I got them. Rebuilt ofh. Changed from docrace crappy oil drain line to 10an.
Im thinking I'm gonna put engine back in the car this weekend then finish everything up little by little until the manifold arrives. Easy to get everything on the engine with the front clip removed.
No fancy valve cover for me, just oem with some extra spray paint I found in the basement. At least it's VHT.

So I was searching around and found an old iminhell post about the coolant tank relocations and he had a couple links for the correct fittings in it. I ordered a straight fitting for bottom of 335d coolant tank. The 90 with the angle the tank points created an huge hump in my line. So since I already have deleted heat exchanger I cut out the whole plastic hose that runs across the subframe and put the straight fitting off my heater hose on the thermostat end. Then tied the coolant line to the heater hose. Sound weird but it simplified everything. 1 line going straight down out of tank. T to heater and across to thermostat.
Thanks iminhell!!!

Wowzers…
Soon enough I will be doing a rebuild…
Just for the peace of mind…
This thread is inspiring!!!

[Petro135]

Thanks guys appreciate it. I have a friend with a performance shop but I feel better doing it at home on my own. I forgot to add I found Malo Industries from BC Canada and ordered a crank seal cover, ofh big bolts, racing valve, and a couple oil thermostat cover gaskets. They have good stuff and are relatively inexpensive and fit great . Best of all I didn't have to buy vtt. I painted the thermo cap because I'm not spending $40 on one lol.
And yes for some reason I only ordered 6 flywheel bolts, new ones coming soon.lol.
Engine now ready to drop in.
Sorry about all the sideways pics. I'm not sure how to remedy that

[Petro135]

FINALLY!!!! My docrace manifold has shown itself. So if you've not read anything else in here my docrace manifold cracked with less than 100 miles on it. I got it welded because I was in a rush to get it back in. Then within 200 miles another part of it cracked. This time I sent it back since it's warrantied for life. But it took them 2 months to get me a manifold back. My built engine has been sitting next to my car for 6 weeks waiting for this manifold. I'm not happy at all with anything about this kit. I was assured that this manifold will not crack and damn it is thicker and heavier and looks like they moved some angles a little on it to make everything fit better. Happy with it but not happy about what I went through with this kit.
Changed oil feed line, now changing drain line, and the red rtv everywhere was to stop a leak I was having with my drain plate at the turbo. It stopped leaking so I'm leaving it as it is now. Ugly.
Turbo is good, all the docrace fittings are crap and are now gone. Hopefully I can put some miles on this thing soon.
Now it's freezing in my garage and my will to get this done is fading but I may have to move some things around and do this next weekend. Try to get all the accessories back on little by little after work

[Petro135]

Finally this build is back on. Got a few hours yesterday and a couple hours today. Fitting this motor between the trans and subframe with the extra adapter plate and the extra snout to catch the trans was so tight I almost went under and dropped the trans. But I kept jacking and rearranging chains and tying straps to crank it sideways, Everytime I tried it got a little closer and a little closer. Then a saw that bolt line up and the right side mount was just about to fall over the bolt. I got the one trans bolt in then went under and the other easy to get to one was all lined up. I threaded them and pulled em in. Then jammed a flat at under balancer and pulled up and it popped in the mount. So I dropped the motor to get the chains off the driver side mount bolt. And got the mount in and jack it up a hair until this bolts lined up. And it was in!!! Spent a couple hours today getting this 2 pain in the ass bolts in the trans. With a larger hp28 trans it's even more of a pain. Tightened that all up started putting everything back together. But my time was limited so until next week. So I took my jack handle and put the 360 degrees on my crank bolt. That was fun lol. Used my jack handle and a 3ft breaker bar. Should get some time next weekend I hope to get this on the road

[Petro135]

So this never happened. Lol. That damn car!! Motor was started and running and drove slowly around parking lot and didn't feel right. So I stopped before I did any engine damage and pulled the motor. Ugh!!! Last time I pull an n54 out of this car.
I've had a5.3 and 6.0 LS and a 4l80 trans sitting around for over a year now. One goes in my car one goes in my friends car. Not sure which i will use yet. So it's time for that to happen. I'm selling off tons of parts. And making back alot of the money I put into that n54. Once I figure out what I did wrong inside the motor I will fix it and sell it.
This thread is over I guess. Only 2 or 3 guys ever read this thread so Thanks for looking

[tracer bullet]

Originally Posted by Petro135

This thread is over I guess.

But, makes sense. I did enjoy following it.

[houtan]

Sorry to hear it didn’t work out. This thread is over, but hopefully you start a new one so we can hear about the engine swap!

[Petro135]

Originally Posted by houtan

Sorry to hear it didn’t work out. This thread is over, but hopefully you start a new one so we can hear about the engine swap!

I can do that, cx turbo is the only company that make an ls turbo kit for our cars. And it seems bulky and too big. I'm gonna go a different way and do modified truck manifold and custom tubing. Not sure about intercooler or exhaust yet

[twinturbovan]

Originally Posted by Petro135

So this never happened. Lol. That damn car!! Motor was started and running and drove slowly around parking lot and didn't feel right. So I stopped before I did any engine damage and pulled the motor. Ugh!!! Last time I pull an n54 out of this car.
I've had a5.3 and 6.0 LS and a 4l80 trans sitting around for over a year now. One goes in my car one goes in my friends car. Not sure which i will use yet. So it's time for that to happen. I'm selling off tons of parts. And making back alot of the money I put into that n54. Once I figure out what I did wrong inside the motor I will fix it and sell it.
This thread is over I guess. Only 2 or 3 guys ever read this thread so Thanks for looking

You're so full of hope man. I wish I had that. You're silly though i guess 2 or 3 guys counts as 7,950 reads of this thread to be exact. LMAO. I can't wait to see what you do next with the car. I'm sure you know my car is in proccess of being built to.

[Petro135]

Originally Posted by twinturbovan

You're so full of hope man. I wish I had that. You're silly though i guess 2 or 3 guys counts as 7,950 reads of this thread to be exact. LMAO. I can't wait to see what you do next with the car. I'm sure you know my car is in proccess of being built to.

Nice you got a thread or a YouTube? I'm not much for the quick video websites. Just don't get it. just fb for parts and info

[Johnny-J5]

Thanks for document your experience. If you had to do it all over again where would you stop? Stage 1+, FBO, RB turbos?

[Petro135]

Originally Posted by Johnny-J5

Thanks for document your experience. If you had to do it all over again where would you stop? Stage 1+, FBO, RB turbos?

Honestly where I'm going now with an LS swap is where I should have gone a long time ago. I have more access to LSmotors and parts and gurus around here than any bmw motors.
But my car with rb twos and 24psi was a blast to drive until I cooked all the orings and started leaking everywhere. Probably my fault buying a cheap install kit