Calling S50B30/S50B32 owners (euro to the layperson)

[///36M]

My brother is stationed in germany and about to buy a Euro, wanted to know what I should have him look out for as to maintenence issues.

Specifically *actual* lifter service intervals (aka not recommended interval but actual)... and how costly a job is it? (or hours he would be charged)

tia

[///36M]

BUMP

Whats the deal with SMG also

please help

[JamesM3M5]

About every 30k miles you should check the valve clearances, and it will have to be done stone cold. You shouldn't need to change more than 4-6 shims at any time anyway. Takes about 3-4 hours to do, but not sure what the charged time would be at a shop in Europe. Shims are about $8-9 each.

Rolls-Royce VANOS units on the 3.2L engines are more problematic than the later BMW-built units. Mine is the BMW and has been quiet and issue-free for nearly 2 years and 25k miles (knock on wood). One guy in Sweden, I believe, located the source of the VANOS rattle on Euro units as the gears and helix shafts that actuate the VANOS, not the VANOS unit itself.

SMG, I dunno. Some have reported no problems, but others have had some pretty severe issues.

[morerevsm3]

I have 1 lifter making slight noise now and will check and shim all nescessary soon...first time in 45000 miles, E36 SMG is slow, and sometimes doesn't make up its mind half way through change, best avoided.
if service history shows it has only been serviced at orange or red indicator lights, particularly with 3.2, find another that has been serviced more regularly to avoid vanos issues

[///36M]

thanks guys