Wish me luck!

[Beuller61]

540i is up on the lift and hood off ready for its time under the knife this weekend. Vanos rebuilds from Beisans systems, chain guides, alternator, power steering pump, metal impeller water pump all ready to go on while I’m in there. Hopefully the lower timing cover is the one leaking too. Wouldn’t that be nice!

No way to do photos from mobile? I'm sure someone will know.

[JimLev]

I'm watching, good luck.

[pietern740il]

You got this!! Good luck

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[scubajim20]

Good luck, take your time use the Besian and GAS procedures. Unless you are really familiar with the process take ALOT of photos of how things are routed and how they come apart. Use marked zip-lock bags for parts. Make a card board template for the bolt pattern on the lower timing cover and punch the bolts into the card board. Clips and connectors will break! Be careful and enjoy the experience. Again, if you are a real mechanic (unlike me) you know this and you can ignore me.

[TheAngryBear]

Good luck and have fun with it!
Ditto subajim20, be deliberate with pictures, labeling, and creative use of memory devices. I still have my cardboard placement... fond memories.

Clearly the most hi-tech device ever but it worked.

As for mobile: I use Tapatalk and it allows 5 (maybe more?) photos per post for non-VIP (aka free) users. Not a bad limit.


2001 750iL DD74441
E65 fan & clutch, E65 headrests, Front First Aid Kit, Ultimate Cup holder

2005 X5 4.8is LE82680
Stock

RIP: 2003 540iA Sport GS56111
H&R front springs, Ultimate Cup Holder, Euro Dash & Armrest, Grom, BavSound Stage1

[scubajim20]

When removing the lower timing cover the bottom gasket it rests on is part of the upper oil pan. Try to be gentle and hope its not damaged. You really don't want to pull the upper pan to replace it. Mine was damaged (or I damaged it). I had to buy a new gasket and basically splice in a new piece. So far no leaks.

[Beuller61]

So far so good. Definitely not a mechanic. Just a enthusiast. Definitely screwing things back into holes where it makes sense and using cardboard for bolt layouts. Everything got torn apart today. Gonna work on the rebuild process with a fresh mind first thing tomorrow.52906194-C957-4661-8DDE-8652B8891A43.jpg904D7310-8822-4097-B809-4E6400D190B2.jpg53386B4C-9333-4325-909C-E6F2EB9002CF.jpg

[MotorMouth93]

Nice progress. Before you put anything back together make sure to clean out the head gasket gap where the heads meet the block, its a royal pain in the butt once the lower timing cover is on and you'll have a leak if it's not clean when the upper chain covers go on.

I didn't even remove the hood on my car when I pulled the motor out lol.

[merlindavis]

Ugh. Now I'm shopping for some QuickJacks.

[scubajim20]

Wow...quick work!

[Beuller61]

Another day done. Shorter than yesterday. One of the nuts for the cam chain tensioner was stripped out. Somehow it was the steel nut that was stripped out and not the aluminum head. Not complaining. Just surprised. The super duper hardware store is open tomorrow so I’ll go grab a new nut. Vanos distribution pieces, new power steering lines, and chain guides are on. Dremel with a wire wheel attachment is clutch for cleaning surfaces. I’ll have to black permatex the timing cover bottom gasket scubajim. The gasket that was in there came off in pieces. Motormouth I know the gap you’re talking about. Maybe I’ll just have to make sure it’s flush on the surface. The quick jacks are really good. I’ve been going between halfway and all the way up depending on if I need to be beneath the car or not.

[scubajim20]

I also used Permatex 85420 Gasket sealing and dressing on all the surfaces. Used the black permatex where they were joined.

[Beuller61]

I made it to the point where I’m torquing the crank pulley. 100nm then 60 degrees, 60 degrees again, and a final 30 degrees. Trans in 6th gear, parking brake on, and tires on the ground and I’m still not sure there’s enough resistance to get it there. Should I put the crank locking pin back in? Anybody think there’s a chance of shearing it while trying to torque that big bolt? Other than that is my only option to go with however tight I can get it with my 2ft breaker?

[mateo8]

I made it to the point where I’m torquing the crank pulley. 100nm then 60 degrees, 60 degrees again, and a final 30 degrees. Trans in 6th gear, parking brake on, and tires on the ground and I’m still not sure there’s enough resistance to get it there. Should I put the crank locking pin back in? Anybody think there’s a chance of shearing it while trying to torque that big bolt? Other than that is my only option to go with however tight I can get it with my 2ft breaker?

I sheared mine last year with the pin being the only thing holding the flywheel. I would try and get/improvise a crank holder to hold the crank in place when torquing the Jesus bolt. OEM BMW ones are still available but I don't know if you would want to wait on that coming in through the mail. There are a couple of videos on YouTube where people use chains and a screwdriver, but I wouldn't trust that. I trust using the frame rail/ground to hold everything in place

[Beuller61]

I have access to an OEM BMW one. Two actually. One has welds so it seems someone has already tried that trick. Haha.

[JimLev]

Other than that is my only option to go with however tight I can get it with my 2ft breaker?

You could put a pipe on your breaker bar, however if it’s a 1/2” bar you may break the end off.
I use my floor jack handle on a 3/4” breaker bar.
Don’t use the flywheel pin.

[Beuller61]

Alright! Got her back together and she purrrrrrrrs like a kitten. Definitely quieter and smoother and even has a different exhaust note. Less burbly and more smooth almost V12-like. Bad comparison, I know. Not sure how to describe it. I have a new whine coming from the engine that I *think* is the rebuilt power steering pump. Possibly not taking in fluid?? Doesn’t steer hard and the reservoir is at the mark. Maybe that particular pump just sounds like that. If so I’m not upset about it. Sounds like a tiny little supercharger. Haha.

Also, I sold my old K10 and had some money kicking around in my pocket so I pulled the injectors and had them professionally serviced. And now I’m having long crank times when I let it sit so I wonder if something didn’t get sealed back up perfectly. I can faintly smell fuel when it sits. The injectors got new o-rings on both sides but I wonder if the quick connect at the fuel rail needed a new seal before going back together. The weird thing is I don’t see any fuel leaks so I suppose its possible I’m sucking air through a tiny leak or it’s evaporating quickly in this climate. Thoughts?

[seagreen323i]

Alright! Got her back together and she purrrrrrrrs like a kitten. Definitely quieter and smoother and even has a different exhaust note. Less burbly and more smooth almost V12-like. Bad comparison, I know. Not sure how to describe it. I have a new whine coming from the engine that I *think* is the rebuilt power steering pump. Possibly not taking in fluid?? Doesn’t steer hard and the reservoir is at the mark. Maybe that particular pump just sounds like that. If so I’m not upset about it. Sounds like a tiny little supercharger. Haha.

Also, I sold my old K10 and had some money kicking around in my pocket so I pulled the injectors and had them professionally serviced. And now I’m having long crank times when I let it sit so I wonder if something didn’t get sealed back up perfectly. I can faintly smell fuel when it sits. The injectors got new o-rings on both sides but I wonder if the quick connect at the fuel rail needed a new seal before going back together. The weird thing is I don’t see any fuel leaks so I suppose its possible I’m sucking air through a tiny leak or it’s evaporating quickly in this climate. Thoughts?

I got an autozone reman pump, whines super bad. The oem one snapped off but sounded 10x better. Im about to attempt this job and just made a thread, you could drop some pointers in there if you'd like. I would greatly appreciate it.

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