My 4.6 is sitting in my garage, mostly disassembled, i'll be watching this thread
E85 fueled, Eaton m112 supercharged 4.5L M62TU, TTV racing flywheel, Spec stage 2+ clutch, 88c thermostat, eibach sway bars, wavetrac 3.15 lsd, m5 steering box, Quantum 340lph fuel pump, Dinan camber plates, some powerflex bushings, Supersprint headers, M5 cats, 2001 gas pedal upgrade and many other things done. all diy by me
the engine, i'm doing the same thing you are
E85 fueled, Eaton m112 supercharged 4.5L M62TU, TTV racing flywheel, Spec stage 2+ clutch, 88c thermostat, eibach sway bars, wavetrac 3.15 lsd, m5 steering box, Quantum 340lph fuel pump, Dinan camber plates, some powerflex bushings, Supersprint headers, M5 cats, 2001 gas pedal upgrade and many other things done. all diy by me
E85 fueled, Eaton m112 supercharged 4.5L M62TU, TTV racing flywheel, Spec stage 2+ clutch, 88c thermostat, eibach sway bars, wavetrac 3.15 lsd, m5 steering box, Quantum 340lph fuel pump, Dinan camber plates, some powerflex bushings, Supersprint headers, M5 cats, 2001 gas pedal upgrade and many other things done. all diy by me
I don't recall saying I was but if I did say that, it was probably just on the list of different parts to the two engines.
I'll just rebuild the one on the 4.6 if it's not totally shot or buy another replacement. I don't have a reason I can think of to change it.
On a side note: the TB on the 4.6 looks bigger. Could one use it instead of the Dinan version for the 4.4? Ain't nobody gots $800 for a valve! I think it would work and a helluvalot cheaper.
E85 fueled, Eaton m112 supercharged 4.5L M62TU, TTV racing flywheel, Spec stage 2+ clutch, 88c thermostat, eibach sway bars, wavetrac 3.15 lsd, m5 steering box, Quantum 340lph fuel pump, Dinan camber plates, some powerflex bushings, Supersprint headers, M5 cats, 2001 gas pedal upgrade and many other things done. all diy by me
And it begins!
So tonight James of Euro Asian Garage in the Seattle area and I got down and dirty with the impact wrench and a beer or two as required by the work. He just opened a shop less than 3 miles from my cabin in the woods in Cle Elum Washington which works out really well.
Even with 2 feet of snow on the ground and my car about to be in-op, I can just ride a snowmobile to his place to help with the work. I love Winter. Awesome commute.
My new toy has a barcode. I'll have it acid-etched on a stainless plaque and slapped on the engine somewhere so it is always there.
First cover off (they were trashed and will get a paint job later but before they go back on) Suggestions for color or paint schemes welcomed.
The varnish wasn't too bad, the chains were in decent shape but will be replaced anyway.
Slight chrome color on one of the chains but the guides hadn't failed yet. They'll be swapped out too. James is ready to show me a trick I never knew about. Shut your dirty-minded mouths! I know he has that glint in his eye but we weren't that hopped up on IPA yet.
When pulling off the accessories we'd put each one in a box with the nuts/bolts associated with the part in ziplock bags in the box as well. Intake manifold, fuel rail and harness in a labled box with the fasteners.
That wasn't the trick though. On pulling the chain guide covers he made a map of the bolts. You guys might already know about this trick but I'd never heard of it and liked it.
So as we pulled a bolt, it was inserted into the corresponding hole to keep them straight later on upon installation.
Then I taped it all up and set them aside.
- - - Updated - - -
So, on the question of alternators: the motor mount for the e39 goes to the mounting point used by the water-cooled e53 alternator. I'll probably have to use the air-cooled one. I don't want to make a new bracket or change the mounts. (edit) I wasn't sure then but later learned that I, my 4.4, used a water-cooled alternator so it was an easier thing than I thought.
The intake valves were in good shape. The exhaust valves were good too but taking a good picture showing that wasn't easy.
I was very happy to see the guides all there and nothing in the oil pan I could see.
[URL=http://www.directupload.net]
I did notice the intake and exhaust openings were much smaller than the gaskets so extrusion, porting and polishing of the heads is definitely on my radar (If I can afford it) Any suggestions where to send them?
The lower chain covers are integrated with the water-cooled alternator.
The headers: I'm not a fan but they're better than those on the 4.4 however I don't think, as good as the s62 headers which should bolt right up so I'm on the hunt for a good pair. Headers too.
I like the Starboard side much better than the port side though if I can't find some nice s62 headers, I might try and find someone to make a set based off the specs of the 4.6 headers but with less pinched and clustered areas on the driver's side.
Last edited by Plattus1000; 07-11-2017 at 12:00 AM.
You guys not working in short skirts and high heels??? Lame ....
Looking good.
Wow, hats off to you for taking on a project like this buddy.
Subscribed.
Now you got me thinking, I was certain the e39 motor mount bolts right up to the bolts your pointing at.
Be careful when you turn the engine over to change the pan and pump, I cracked the ears on the bottom of the engine where the stand was attached. all I did was unbolt the pump and snap
E85 fueled, Eaton m112 supercharged 4.5L M62TU, TTV racing flywheel, Spec stage 2+ clutch, 88c thermostat, eibach sway bars, wavetrac 3.15 lsd, m5 steering box, Quantum 340lph fuel pump, Dinan camber plates, some powerflex bushings, Supersprint headers, M5 cats, 2001 gas pedal upgrade and many other things done. all diy by me
E85 fueled, Eaton m112 supercharged 4.5L M62TU, TTV racing flywheel, Spec stage 2+ clutch, 88c thermostat, eibach sway bars, wavetrac 3.15 lsd, m5 steering box, Quantum 340lph fuel pump, Dinan camber plates, some powerflex bushings, Supersprint headers, M5 cats, 2001 gas pedal upgrade and many other things done. all diy by me
With my swap I was going into an x5, so I switched to that setup and it required putting a freeze plug in the block where the tube goes under the intake.
With your swap it would be easy to just knock out that plug and switch to the e38 setup. It's better anyway, less condensation build up than the x5 way
E85 fueled, Eaton m112 supercharged 4.5L M62TU, TTV racing flywheel, Spec stage 2+ clutch, 88c thermostat, eibach sway bars, wavetrac 3.15 lsd, m5 steering box, Quantum 340lph fuel pump, Dinan camber plates, some powerflex bushings, Supersprint headers, M5 cats, 2001 gas pedal upgrade and many other things done. all diy by me
Lots of good stuff to look ahead with. Thanks guys!
I'll be looking for a place to send my heads to, and suggestions? Keep in mind I'm on a bit of a budget.
Also, ceramic or powder coating (thoughts?) the valve covers, any thoughts on color in a silver wagon or shops near Washington that do good work for the $?
2 days before New Years and I'll get one possibly two days working on tthis before I have to decide on what parts to buy/replace. I'll keep posting.
That free beer offer still stands for anyone interested...
- - - Updated - - -
The mount has the cooling lines for the water-cooled alternator Built into it. I'm pretty sure that's what we saw.
Last edited by Plattus1000; 12-30-2015 at 06:33 AM.
On the port and gasket differences, do the runners in the intake manifold match up with the ports? If so, the gasket sealing surfaces shouldn't make an appreciable difference in the airflow. If the intake runners match the gaskets, then that is a HUGE source of turbulence.
All I know is that the only difference between the BMW offered 4.6 and the 46 engines they gave to Alpina to put in their cars is Alpina uses meyle pistons, alusil lined cylinders, ports, polishes, tunes the heads and balances the rods to up the hp an extra 30-40 over the 4.6is in an e53 X5. That being the case, I'm going to do what they do to this one IF I can afford it.
Last edited by Plattus1000; 01-03-2016 at 12:02 AM.
Not so much progress since the last post but I've come to a conclusion as to powder or ceramic coating the valve covers. Neither. I don't want to find a shop to powder coat them who knows how long to allow them to "gas off" before coating them. I don't think ceramic coating is good for magnesium alloy, too hot and too long in the oven.
So, I'm going with electroless nickel.
Now I need to decide how best to clean and possibly polish them to make the nickel stand out, just the big flat surfaces though.
So, if anyone knows some good tricks, I'm all ears.
On the heads, I've found local shops who do balancing and valve jobs but nobody local who offers extrusion honing except a place called bonehead motors. Still waiting for a reply.
You can ask Jim for a couple of advice on 'reconditioning' the valve covers. Whether power coating or doing something else. He might give you some tips and advice. However, it seems that few guys have already done powder coating and so far they haven't worn down badly over the years. I've seen Redshift's old M62tu coated valve covers and they were still looking really good before he then swapped in a S62 in his wagon which the valve covers are different from the factory.
Regarding the port and polish job for the heads, because the intake manifold is made out of hard composite plastic material, try to match its inner diameter to that of the cylinder head intake port and not to the actual gasket. I'm not sure if the intake port on both the head and manifold are exactly the same or not. If they are, then I say leave them alone. Honestly, I don't know what improvements could be made in the throat, roof and around the valve guide area. Perhaps a slight bit of grinding would help such as on any bad casting (or pores/lines) inside there to have a smooth, laminar air flow with less turbulence. How much of un-shrouding could be done around the valve guide area. Finally, at the bowl side (just before the valve seat) any bit of 'smoothing' could be done again to attain a really nice blend of air flow over the surface as the valve begins to open/lift. I do not know if the BMW heads came with some of kind of a valve job like a three angle valve job or not, but a valve cut or a three angle cut wouldn't be a bad idea. Lastly, past the valve seat and into the combustion chamber area I wouldn't really try to do any of work there. It's a pent roof design. Has a really good quench pads area to focus the incoming charged air/fuel mixture right in the middle of the cylinder as the piston is coming up on its compression stroke, squeezing it right in the middle of the cylinder and getting ignited by the spark at the plug and making a really good burn in the center. The fact that the B46 has slightly higher compression ratio (would like to verify this) is probably another reason why I wouldn't try and mess around with that combustion area on the cylinder heads.
You mention of honing. Do you mean cylinder block honing? If so, be aware that these cylinders have 'Nikasil' alloy coating. A blend of aluminium, silicone, and nickel. The honing method for these engines are different and conventional honing cannot be used here. A special dry paste is used to hone the cylinders without any lubrication (such as oil in conventional method). I think the stones used for honing are also different too. Not sure on that but you may want to be careful about this. Find the shop that knows about this procedure and are aware of such blocks.
They are Alusil, not Nikasil as far as I knew. Only the pre-95 m60 blocks were Nikasil I think.
-Paul
2003 "M5" - Full M5 conversion, AMG C63S 6 piston front calipers, Porsche Panamera 4 piston rear calipers, GC Coilovers, Eibach ARBs, UUC Evo3/DSSR, Borla Exhaust w/Muffler Delete, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto, Bi-Xenons, e38 Style 37 M-Pars, e60 Hubs 530i 6-speed swap build thread2005 Range Rover 4.6is (M62TU Powered) - 4.6is Engine Swap from X5, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto
2006 Porsche Cayman S - Soul Performance Competition Headers and Exhaust, H&R Coilovers, 718 Boxster Spyder wheels, Rennline 35mm rear spacers
I thought all bmw engines in the m62 line prior to the facelift were nikasil but the m62b46 is alusil, a request by alpina.
- - - Updated - - -
Auaq,
Lots to read, damn. Thanks. I like how you think (combustion chamber tips)
I didn't want to do much if anything with pistons and cylinder walls. If I had the funds, I'd get a lighter set of pistons and rings but that would be it. I think the cams are just right, pistons are great too just heavier than the meyle ones alpina uses in their 4.6.
I think they polish the "throats" to smooth it out and I believe bore the joining ports on both intake and exhaust. I personally think the piston swap to lightweight versions would be the best take-away from Alpina but again, $$$.
What I might be able to do is a valve, 3 angle grinding and their seats on the heads. Balancing the rods to get them close in weight and an "extrusion hone"
They squeeze a thick abrasive putty through the throats to smooth all exposed surfaces and the putty reaches any crevices or uneven surface. They sometimes push in only 1 direction but can also push in the opposite direction. Why? I don't quite know.
I'm not looking for track perfection or specs. I'd just like to try to put an alpina-like touch to mine. I get the sense that the BMW 4.6 is great but with very little modification, Alpina grabbed a few more ponies.
I wants some extra ponies if I can but I don't want to get insane crazy on what I try to do to get them rounded up.
The vc's:
I've seen the covers done in powder and love the look. I even like krinkle paint. I also wanted something that I hadn't seen. I will keep the car virtually as I bought it but the hood opening, I want that a tad dramatic to the observer. I've never seen nickel.
I should talk to Jim. If I can clean and de-grease the covers I can save a bunch of money.
Thanks again Auaq
- - - Updated - - -
Last edited by Plattus1000; 01-05-2016 at 02:19 AM.
Bookmarks