My E36 Experience

[elwine30]

oh dear. i m sorry about this experience. well, after the overhaul, your car engine will be as new. or why not ugrade to 328

 

[Zoggee]

Anxious,
You really got Penang BMW owners going panic. Seen a lot of driver up there going for the compression test.

 

[8080pbmw]

Anxious, I am sorry to hear your bad news. really sad news for any UDM owner.

on the bright site, the car should be as good as new after that.

I guess activity for this month is compression test.

Misfire tyco also doing compression today preparing for this weekend's dyno.

 

[8080pbmw]

Anxious,
You really got Penang BMW owners going panic. Seen a lot of driver up there going for the compression test.

soon everyone in bimmer land will be lining up to do compression test.

but it's a good lession to be learn for anyone looking for a used bimmer.

compression test is a must for me in the future.

 

[anxious]

How much should a head cost?

A forumer(BMW3ardent) posted Cylinder head 3600RM recently.

Since I am doing the head, whatelse should I look out for?

Top overhaul of the new head of course.

Hiyah I really hope that my car will be sorted out soon!

 

[K.M.]

Like I had experienced before, not many bmw workshop in Penang can be trusted. Just wasting money and time. I rather service my car in KL.

 

[viewfinder]

I happened to be there for oil service and witness the historical tragedy. Unbelievable how scary the 2 head fine cracks can look like, like earth crack lines after drought season. And one of the intake valves, it's like having a knife cut.

On a different story, E46 with new Q8 is sweet. Dumped all the old Shell gunk with 10850KM "life" left, now that's a refreshing feeling.

 

[fabianyee]

On a different story, E46 with new Q8 is sweet. Dumped all the old Shell gunk out, now that's a refreshing feeling.

So u like the Q8 I got for u... It should work fine for the car... This is just the semi syn.. Wait till u tried the Q8 F1...

Cracked head seem to be a norm for the M50... Have heard that the M52 head is stronger.. Anyone can confirm whether the M52 head can be used on the M50.???

 

[viewfinder]

So u like the Q8 I got for u... It should work fine for the car... This is just the semi syn.. Wait till u tried the Q8 F1...

No, that's from my current Q8 stockpile. Replenishment from you will be shipped this Friday. I shall see how well the new Q8 axle oil perform.

Zoggee you're right. The shop now put their shinning like-new compression test kit readily accessible outside. No need to keep inside anymore as that would be too much hustle for the long queue waiting. Lucky for me, touch wood, I don't need to go thru such cruel test.

 

[anaksarawak]

Very sorry to hear Anxious new update... Crack engine head.

Guys.. lets learn from this, so if possible we help our friends with their search for UDM.

They will appreciate it alot. Good example from members if bimmersclub.com and also UDMOwners as many are there when newbie bring their car to workshop to check.

UDMOwners even have official workshop.. MSpeed.

It is very painful for our new BMW Owners to pay so much for repair prior to enjoy their ride.

 

[Zoggee]

No, that's from my current Q8 stockpile. Replenishment from you will be shipped this Friday. I shall see how well the new Q8 axle oil perform.

Zoggee you're right. The shop now put their shinning like-new compression test kit readily accessible outside. No need to keep inside anymore as that would be too much hustle for the long queue waiting. Lucky for me, touch wood, I don't need to go thru such cruel test.

Well...Anxious is kind of like creating awareness on engine compression on M50. Now everybody up north are going to go test their engine compression.
ha..ha..

I did the compression test myself. Was testing an E34 M20B25 at PNDC and how a compression test shud be done before doing any De-Carbonizing.

Now that I've seen the results on the E34M20B25...I now what I'll gain from De-carbonizing


I reserve my judgement on the dyno machine. Never been there ma..

 

[Lee36328]

Anxious, if it's any consolation, 3k is negligible compared to the funds i've shelled out on my ride so far. A new head should revitalise your car as good as new.
The rest of your car is still a beautiful low-miler, this unpleasant episode notwithstanding.

A valuable lesson comes out of this for the rest of us out there. There is no substitute for a thick stack of maintenance records. A heartily driven car is a car where all major problems that can occur has thrashed out of hiding, whereas a garage-hidden mostly immobile car could contain many issues biding its time to rear its head.

Anxious, take heart. After this, you will have a perfect ride.

 

[anxious]

Well the lesson to be learnt from my experience is never buy a second hand bimmer without proper service history notwithstanding the low mileage.

I found an unbelievable 12 year old car with 80000km and lost my senses.

Whilst the body is accident free and condition is very good the owner had neglected its maintainance.

He didnt seemed to have address the problems with the cooling system which in turn caused overheating. When he solved the overheating(or at least thats what he thought he had done) he didnt realise that the overheating had caused damage to the engine. Well the damage was even undetected by my regular workshop when I serviced the car but the sign of problems with the cooling system was evident from the repair work itself(i just wasnt experienced enough to realise it).

Whilst most people would have continued driving until the car broke down , my expectation of the car was higher and i wanted to know why my car had a slight vibration at D when stationary.

When my mech checked the car again, he noted the exhaust going pom pom pom and did the compression test.

Now after opening the car up it shows that the compression test results of low compression in Cylinder No.3 was as a result of the cracked valve due to previous overheating.

The cracked cylinder head was noticable over Cylinder No 3 also probably due to the overheating.

Moral of the story, there are no guarantees when you buy a second hand car esp one that is more than 10 years old but if you do decide going that way pls be careful. I am lucky that I can afford the repair bills(at lest so far) but if u r just starting out in life my advise is be very careful b4 u take the plunge.

You must insist on the service records for at the last 3 years. If the owner doesnt have them then walk away regardless of the mileage of the car and how good it looks.

Cheers

 

[anxious]

Thanks for ur kind and inspiring words Lee.

Even with this unpleasnt experience I am still not deterred.

I am already thinking of the next project for the car...just dont tell my wife!

 

[8080pbmw]

Thanks for ur kind and inspiring words Lee.

Even with this unpleasnt experience I am still not deterred.

I am already thinking of the next project for the car...just dont tell my wife!

that's the spirits of a true UDM owner. never give up in the pursuit of UDM perfection.

My respect to you for having another project in mind at time of this "crisis".

Good luck on the repair work and I am sure the ride will be sweet after all is done up.

Cheers.

 

[anaksarawak]

Thanks for ur kind and inspiring words Lee.

Even with this unpleasnt experience I am still not deterred.

I am already thinking of the next project for the car...just dont tell my wife!

Way to go bro!! Come for TT, take a ride in other members car... the experience will motivate you further.

Cheers mate

 

[anxious]

Just checked on my "new" cylinder head. It looked good. The guys are doing the "grind valve". Hopefully no further problems.

 

[Lee36328]

Thanks for ur kind and inspiring words Lee.

Even with this unpleasnt experience I am still not deterred.

I am already thinking of the next project for the car...just dont tell my wife!

Sorry if I was a bit testy earlier - caught me in the midst of something.

If you presevere, you will reach the next threshold of motoring pleasure. Lesser mortals give up earlier, but enlightenment is never easy to attain.

You're almost there...

 

[selespeed]

Just checked on my "new" cylinder head. It looked good. The guys are doing the "grind valve". Hopefully no further problems.

anxious, there is always a better car than bmw out there that makes you less anxious!

 

[flash]

Sorry if I was a bit testy earlier - caught me in the midst of something.

If you presevere, you will reach the next threshold of motoring pleasure. Lesser mortals give up earlier, but enlightenment is never easy to attain.

You're almost there...

If I may add, Lee, you are already there... sainthood.... tabik, tabik, tabik, tabik.