Saving a S54 From Parting Out.

[George Hill]

Anri, great update, but I can't get past cutting the corner on the guides. Yes they are robust, but still if there is a issue it could be catastrophic at worse but at best to replace them it is very invasive. I just looked and the parts are retail about $140 (oil pump and both cam chain guides) wholesale cost $100 +/-. Isn't there a better place to save money than there?

[Anri]

Having the right tool for the Vibration
Damper is priceless. Yes you can imagine
I tried most viscosity oils to lube the threads
as BMW recommends but nothing I mean
nothing work as good as the ARP lubricant
been doing this for years now...

Regards,
Anri

[Anri]

The Bottom is now all assembled.

I tried every single assembly line lube on the market
when assemble Rings in Piston/s. It always bothered
me that on initial start that lube is stuck there and as the
engine gets hot the lube sure it melts and it smokes thru
the exhaust but that time frame so long and I hate to say
it but I am not feeling the love how I want to see the rings
to rub agains the fresh hone...on Break-In.

So, what it works wonderful for me since ages is I dress the
rings/pistons with WD40 and put a very light/wipe on the
walls. On initial start there is zero smoke and the rings do
break in waaaay better than any lube on the market I have
tried...if one think all of those lubes they are all made to
provide very long cranking time period up until the oil pressure
is up...Rings hate that !!! Of course bearing I use a cocktail
I mix with Molybdneum.

Before I put the head on I wipe the walls with dry blue
towel.

Last is to check TDC at the Piston and the damper its
darn spot on.

Moving forward.

Regards,
Anri










One can see the oil galley plug, far away of anything around.

[Anri]

So the rev limiter should not be more than 7900? I am not sure I followed the post above. What’s is the factor you refer to?

I was pointing that at 8000rpm the pistons, rods, pins must be all under 0.5gr.
8000rpm is pretty hi revs for not perfect factory balance.

Not saying that factory balance is not working but it's not ideal. But when I rebuild
any engine I always bring the balance under +/-0.5gr. its nice to have balanced
internals.

99% plus S54s are all tuned and most Tuners push the rev limiter to
8200rpm on std factory balance which is not clever idea. I have a buddy
who revs his S54 to 8600rpm on standard parts!!! He is crazy...

Regards,
Anri

[maupineda]

So the rev limiter should not be more than 7900? I am not sure I followed the post above. What’s is the factor you refer to?

[Anri]

On std engine the parts such as pistons, rods I believe
are class/matched. For example the new/old piston came
from another engine was 4gr heavier than the pistons from
this engine.

Next S54 rebuild I will remind my left to test that. I need to mark the
pistons to rods and after the parts are meticulously clean I need
to scale them and see how they are matched.

Anyway the original pistons and rods are balanced. The
new/old piston like I mentioned was 4gr heavier and took
quite a lot of material. The proper area to take material off is
under the crown using not too deep drilling holes.

So now pistons are 360 360 360 360 360 360 Rods are
630 630 630 630 630 630. The rods have quick std balance not
race balance small and big end because it requires tons
of more labor and that falls into race engine build service.

I mean, who is balancing OEM parts on std puttering around
S54 engine ? absolutely nobody !!!!!

But it bothers me that the balance is from1984. That means
that balance factor on the production line on S54 is the same
as the one on S38 from 1984 and why I can't live with the fact
that 20 years later the balance factor has not been improved...

The S38 revs to 7250rpm. S54 rev limit has been increased
up to 7900-8000+/-, on any road S54 is there a stock rev limmiter
left ? any tuner raises the rev to 8200rpm which makes things
for the worst.

To make my labor less and easier next time I will match the
parts Rods to Pistons to be close and then will take less material
from the individual combo but that means that the next rebuild service
I can assure you that next person will not mark the parts and if
they get mixed means the balance is going to go way off and
can cause problems.

The way I have done it is individually and one can mix them
and they are still on the same exact weight +/-.05gr.

Moving forward.

Regards,
Anri

[Anri]

Every engine build I perform I always take photos
for documentations as proof of what has been done
to the engine. May be one day the customer wants
to sell the car/engine and its nice to have detail pictures
during the rebuild

At the moment, there was a slight miscommunication between the
customer and my end goal and result of how I see this engine rebuild.
But the customer is after very low budget which I was not aware of.
I have been told from the beginning "lets rebuild it" but under this statement
the meaning is very very subjective....In this specific engine how could I go
with exact number in case of finding so many issues ?
Were I can save money to a customer whiteout sacrificing reliability
I am all for but there are some areas were you can't save money.

On the fly, I have been asked to cut on labor and parts to keep
the budget rebuild low. I had New timing chain, and all
3 guides New ready to be installed but instead I was forced
to re-use the existing one. So here we go...

Its not that its not going to work but the hi quality standard of
engine rebuild I maintain and re-using the old guides its a bit odd
don't you guys agree ?

The New parts are going back on the shelf ready for the next S54
I have ready on the pipe line after this one for rebuild.


Regards,
Anri

[Anri]

Are these rod bearings?

These are Main bearings.

Regards,
Anri

[eacmen]

Coating piston skirt and coating bearings is std
in my builds.

Regards,
Anri

Are these rod bearings? Never saw s54 rod bearings with a groove in them like that.

[George Hill]

Big respect for the attention to detail.

I have an N52 powered bmw that currently has a leaky head gasket from overheating one time. Been running for 20,000 miles like this, it leaks combustion gasses into the coolant and requires topping up with water every 1k miles. I'd like to do a proper repair but worried now what would be involved. Machine both the head and block? It's a magnesium block.

Anri, is sharing a bunch of wisdom for sure.

Rebuild an S54? Yes! An N52... it would have to be for the love of the job IMO. Those engines are really solid, I would be hard pressed to justify all of that when you could get a used engine and just swap them.

I just quoted a HG on an M54 vs replacing with a used engine... slightly cheaper to do a used engine. And both of those options were about 2/3 a brand new reman engine from BMW.

[sapote]

it leaks combustion gasses into the coolant and requires topping up with water every 1k miles.

If combustion gas leaking into the coolant is confirmed, then the coolant tank should rupture by the high pressure.

I don't think the block needs to be machined for flatness, but check the head for crack between the valve seats and water channels, and its flatness. Worst case just replace with a good used head from ebay.

[Anri]

Big respect for the attention to detail.

I have an N52 powered bmw that currently has a leaky head gasket from overheating one time. Been running for 20,000 miles like this, it leaks combustion gasses into the coolant and requires topping up with water every 1k miles. I'd like to do a proper repair but worried now what would be involved. Machine both the head and block? It's a magnesium block.

Thanks Cobra.

The thing with engine/s in general is that you never know
how much damage has been done...and what parts can
be saved?

All comes down to do you want to keep the car...? If you
have a space to freeze the car and you decide to Wrench it out
on your own sure why not.

Something interesting I monitor and collect statistic and fact is
how much people let those New BMWs go...
If you go to the LQK parts web page and look at the Inventory you
will be shocked....just pay attention here and there. You will see
2015 cars end up in the scrap yard all intact cars some with
accident sure but most end up there with Engine problem and
not worth to fix..

All BMW M Cars/Engines are special and they keep value and its
worth the sweat to save, repair, restore them.

New cars are throw away item. Engines are absolute crap
with short life span and nothing but issues. The Value of
those cars determine if it's worth spending money or not.

I have lady customer with E90 4 door and she lost compression
on 2 cyl 1 owner man, never overheated the damn thing...and
now she is on the line to scrap the car and get the New BMW.
If decided to rebuild her engine its 8-10k ticket...

Scott's, wife got brand New 15' X3 drove it hard 100k miles the engine
lost compression same story....what do we do ? We got short block
from BMW swap accessories and keep going. Me rebuilding this
N20 engine?....It does not make financial sense.....

I still have connections in the old BMW dealer I use to work
long time ago. The Mechanics are telling me they had cases
when they replace remanufacture engines shipped from Germany
when they install them few cases they start with a knock !!!!

This Industry has become nothing but one large joke and
BMW certified technicians are simple parts replacer people !!!!

I never had a call for M54 engine rebuild....people sent to junk
yard and get New Honda or New BMW etc..

It's the reality.

Regards,
Anri

[Nate047]

Great thread with great info, thank you for sharing all this.

[cobra]

Big respect for the attention to detail.

I have an N52 powered bmw that currently has a leaky head gasket from overheating one time. Been running for 20,000 miles like this, it leaks combustion gasses into the coolant and requires topping up with water every 1k miles. I'd like to do a proper repair but worried now what would be involved. Machine both the head and block? It's a magnesium block.

[Anri]

The crankshaft gear/snout has been cleaned/machined for the new
seal to sit on brand new surface.