anyone do their own valve adjustment

[devam]

is it easy? is it every 30k miles?

cheers

[shimmy]

piece of piss.

adjustable spanner and lump hammer....job done!

[devam]

Ok, thanks for that. What's a lump hammer?

[devam]

oh lump hammer i see now i'll take it steady

[shimmy]

oh lump hammer i see now i'll take it steady

just kidding, I don't really open the bonnet!!!

what symptoms does loose cam bolts give you?

[Graham]

I gave it a go before, to be honest if you have a friendly garage near you it's easier just to give it to them

It was a headache making sure I'd checked, double checked, triple checked and that was just measuring the clearances never mind actually changing them

[devam]

thanks for that, i wonder if the mechanics would do a good job?

the cam bolts come loose apparently, and then shear. there was a replacement upgrade of stronger bolts fitted with loc tite but i don't know if the csl had that as standard or if it was something that had to be done. Has anybody checked their cam bolts?

[DazBlackCSL]

piece of piss.

adjustable spanner and lump hammer....job done!

Was gonna post more or less the same :-D

[Graham]

Devam where are you? I know a good independent garage that do a good job as they did mine for a fraction of what BMW would charge.

Failing that there's a guy on M3cutters that has done loads of peoples nows so just depends where you are really

[devam]

Australia, they charge $175 per hour, bmw here.

[Graham]

Wow :119:

[devam]

i will have a go one day, every 20 to 30 k miles needs valve done correct? Are you in uk Graham? I did watch a vid about how you need a spreadsheet for the valves, is that what you started to do. I have had trouble with mechanics with my other vehicles, they just don't care much these days.

Do you know anything about the cam bolt issue for csl, i have read they have had them coming loose.

cheers

[Monkey]

i will have a go one day, every 20 to 30 k miles needs valve done correct? Are you in uk Graham? I did watch a vid about how you need a spreadsheet for the valves, is that what you started to do. I have had trouble with mechanics with my other vehicles, they just don't care much these days.

Do you know anything about the cam bolt issue for csl, i have read they have had them coming loose.

cheers

Hi Devam,

Valves clearances need to be done every 30,000 miles, so on each Inspection service. If your Inspection services are due on time rather than mileage it's not unusual to carry out 2 oil services inbetween Inspections.

We use a valve clearance sheet when we do them, purely to keep track of which ones have been done and to keep a record of which shims need re-ordering from the shim kit. We also give the sheet to the customer, which goes some way to reassuring them we've done the valve clearances.

I will say if you're not fully comfortable in doing them, do not do them! you can cause damage to the engine, so better to find someone who knows what they are doing.

As for the cam bolts, yes they can come loose. With the rocker cover removed you will see the Vanos gears at the front of the engine. There are 6 bolts on each Vanos gear, so you can check the tightness of 3 on both inlet and exhaust side, before turning the engine over so the other 3 on each side are accessible. Again worth marking the bolts as you do them so you know which ones you have done.

Hope that helps

Regards
James

[devam]

Thanks James,


so when you check the cam bolts, can you get a spanner in that gap. Or just fingers? To turn the motor over do you start it and can you start it with the rocker cover off?

I see what you mean about giving the customer the spreadsheet, that would be reassuring. Also I guess I have to have all my services done professional for resale. Oh well that saved me a job.

Thanks again.

Dave

[devam]

James


Sorry I forgot to ask, so the process you were describing to check the cam bolts, that is simpler than removing vanos to get full access to all cam bolts? I did read somewhere that there is that short cut to check the tightness, can you get a torque wrench onto them via the short cut?

If you have another minute.. vanos bearing/ pump should be checked or renewed. Will lead to bearing seizure and shearing of exhaust vanos lugs, and then the lugs can fall into timing chain? And a check/ replace of the small vanos filter is good too?

Thanks again for your knowledge much appreciated only had the car 6 months or so. Have many more questions but i better give you a spell.

cheers from Down under

Dave