THE M3 IS GETTING THE ANRI BUILD TREATMENT - Blown headgasket to build thread

[mcfreid]

ChapterM3 post-purchase bias is a cause for a lot of this. I've found best practice is just to buy OEM unless there's a VERY well documented failure point such as the vanos hub tabs.

[oceansize]

We all learn our lessons. It's been a few years since I had a car that I was actively modifying, and I'm in progress now, and drawing upon my mistakes I've certainly done this differently. The order that I approached was the following.

1. Bought wider tires (obviously that will work with the platform)
2. Bought Appropriate wheels to house the tire size I selected (again, that will work with the platform with out getting crazy).
3. Chassis rigidity and drivetrain tightening. I've installed seven different braces (three for rear subframe, two up front on top, k brace up front at the bottom, and one for the transmission).
4. The first three above changed my opinion of the stock suspension in a very positive way.
5. Now I'm mulling over suspension "upgrades".
6. Then I'll think about exhaust/headers/tune.

It's nice to be wiser, lol, and not blow money.

[ChapterM3]

mcfreid - Absolutely agree, but it's not like I'm modifying the car extensively, I've always approached the car thinking that if I'm in there, I might as well replace xyz, and if I can get a better part for it I'll do it. Say for example the Dr.Vanos kit. That was the GO-TO kit, until it wasn't and everyone said the modified and welded exhaust hub was not good anymore. But considering how much noise is out there and opinions on what to go with - I failed to come to the conclusion, as I've learned through this thread, that the Besain hub is really the only way to go. For sure I've learned the hard way that OEM is good enough for me driving the car on the street and having fun with it in the canyons.

oceansize - This is an interesting approach, thank you for sharing! I'm sure that can be applied to almost any platform but with the M3 I'm sure that made all the difference and I'm sure why the stock suspension felt that much better

[ac427]

We all learn our lessons. It's been a few years since I had a car that I was actively modifying, and I'm in progress now, and drawing upon my mistakes I've certainly done this differently. The order that I approached was the following.

1. Bought wider tires (obviously that will work with the platform)
2. Bought Appropriate wheels to house the tire size I selected (again, that will work with the platform with out getting crazy).
3. Chassis rigidity and drivetrain tightening. I've installed seven different braces (three for rear subframe, two up front on top, k brace up front at the bottom, and one for the transmission).
4. The first three above changed my opinion of the stock suspension in a very positive way.
5. Now I'm mulling over suspension "upgrades".
6. Then I'll think about exhaust/headers/tune.

It's nice to be wiser, lol, and not blow money.

Sounds like a plan. Exhaust is almost a waste of time unless you are thinking of weight saving.

[George Hill]

I get that. I wondering to myself how could I have better done that so this wouldn't have happened?

There are many shops that know what they are doing, but there are MANY MANY more that don't and are just slapping parts on and talk a good game. I wouldn't beat yourself up, it happens all the time, everyone's got something to learn (myself included). Best thing you can do is and move forward, ask lots of questions and don't be afraid to trust, but also verify.

And when in doubt use factory original parts.

[ChapterM3]

I wouldn't beat yourself up, it happens all the time, everyone's got something to learn (myself included). Best thing you can do is and move forward, ask lots of questions and don't be afraid to trust, but also verify.

And when in doubt use factory original parts.

It's really hard not to considering how I've been thinking I've been doing the right things for maintenance this whole time only to find out that most major components need to be re-done. Learnings, all good learnings. Thanks for your post though, I appreciate it

[Anri]

Happy Friday.

I was in a process of taking the rocker shafts and
found both M10x1 allan screws missing..

Someone previously had the shaft removed and
forgot to put the locking screws back in, scary..

[Anri]

Head is now clean and ready for assemble.

Moving forward.

Vapor honing process is good but its knife with 2 edges..

Regards,
Anri

[ChapterM3]

Happy Friday.

I was in a process of taking the rocker shafts and
found both M10x1 allan screws missing..

Someone previously had the shaft removed and
forgot to put the locking screws back in, scary..

🤦♂️ Add it to the list. Thank god this thing is going to be Anri-approved after this build 🙌

[sapote]

🤦♂️ Add it to the list. Thank god this thing is going to be Anri-approved after this build 🙌

Wow, without the set screws to lock the rod in place, if they just slide off a little then the cams bearings would be starved with no oil as the EX rod oil holes have to lined up to the cam saddles to feed the oil to both cams. Who had worked on this engine before with two extra set screws in his pocket?

[jet_dogg]

Anri - This is getting out of hand - another thing that's wrong with my engine!? I mean I replaced that pump thinking I was doing the right thing with a metal impeller 15k ago, and this is, in addition to the fan clutch is what caused the HG to go?! F&@#. I'm beyond upset to read this, I have spent thousands trying to stay ahead of maintenance and not have the car break on me and all that it seems that I've paid for are parts that need to be replaced very soon after being installed. I mean I've researched these things, asked opinions of people, shops, and the shop that installed these as making the decision that I was doing OEM+ replacements: ARP bolts for the rod bearings, "better" aftermarket water pump with a metal impeller, etc. but this was clearly wrong. Damn it man I've been trying to do the right thing but clearly there needs to be some updates to the opinions out there. I'll document this on the first page to help people hopefully catch these things to not make the same mistakes I did. 😓🤬

A very simple mantra to follow is "if it ain't broke don't fix it". With time all those bullshit ass "upgrades" come to light as being shit ass upgrades. Take the radiator for example, with people wasting their money on csf garbage only to discover their car overheats and paying for the privilege of it doing so. No wrong has ever been done by sticking with oe parts. Conversely look how much it costs people who cheap out on parts to save a buck and it causes long term damage to their engines unknowingly, or, eventually knowingly after the fact the damage has been discovered. Even cubieman had an issue with a beisan oil pimp disc which was a 30+ page thread in and of itself.

[Anri]

Wow, without the set screws to lock the rod in place, if they just slide off a little then the cams bearings would be starved with no oil as the EX rod oil holes have to lined up to the cam saddles to feed the oil to both cams. Who had worked on this engine before with two extra set screws in his pocket?

Hi Sapote,

I will share worst I have seen very similar scenario.

I received 91' E34M5 for some work. From the service history
I sow the M5 had engine rebuild at Andre in Burbank I met the
guy few times 15 years ago in his shop.

Took the valve cover off re-lashed the valves and checked the
cam timing and what do I see he dialed the cams so fucking
wrong to be exact 120/120, poor engine was so slow it was not
even funny it will pick up at 6500rpm and up...

I took the intake and exhaust cam gear off to move the cams
back to 110/110 stock, (I have much better timing for mid range
but customer wanted all stock) anyway, when I sow the cam snout
the oil plug caps were missing !!!

If you dont know the S38 camshaft are hallow and the oil
is pushed inside to lubricate the bearings/cams and will splash oil
to the shims and lobes.

During gun-drilling machining process at the end a small cap is installed
each end of the camshaft to hold the oil otherwise the camshaft oil will
bleed in the chain guide area.

The camshaft lobes and shims and caps had 0 damage. From the
papers I can see when the engine was rebuild driven 3-4 years like
20-30k miles or so. It the same exact scenario here.

The single reason these caps were removed is to clean the camshaft but
Machine shops are careless (not all but most) and they forgot to put
New one back in.

Moving forward.

Regards
Anri

[ChapterM3]

Wow, without the set screws to lock the rod in place, if they just slide off a little then the cams bearings would be starved with no oil as the EX rod oil holes have to lined up to the cam saddles to feed the oil to both cams. Who had worked on this engine before with two extra set screws in his pocket?

For these set screws I really couldn't say at this point - The valve cover has been opened by a couple of shops, so no telling what happened here. All I know is no one caught this until Anri just flagged it - so unless these magically disappeared, I've had it like this since the last 25k+ miles

A very simple mantra to follow is "if it ain't broke don't fix it". With time all those bullshit ass "upgrades" come to light as being shit ass upgrades. Take the radiator for example, with people wasting their money on csf garbage only to discover their car overheats and paying for the privilege of it doing so. No wrong has ever been done by sticking with oe parts. Conversely look how much it costs people who cheap out on parts to save a buck and it causes long term damage to their engines unknowingly, or, eventually knowingly after the fact the damage has been discovered. Even cubieman had an issue with a beisan oil pimp disc which was a 30+ page thread in and of itself.

I can't disagree with you! Well said.

[sapote]

For these set screws I really couldn't say at this point - The valve cover has been opened by a couple of shops, so no telling what happened here. All I know is no one caught this until Anri just flagged it - so unless these magically disappeared, I've had it like this since the last 25k+ miles

Only the person that had removed the rocker rods (to replace the rockers)

[sapote]

Back in 2000 I had a shop (in Reseda, CA) rebuilt my 1974 E9 3.0CSi engine and some work on the 4 sp tranny for a total $5000. I selected him because I saw him working on E9, Ferrari, Maserati. Anyway I reminded him that the oil spray pipe above the cam was not symetrical and so make sure don't install it wrong way to cause the oil spray not at the cam lobes. He said "I know what I'm doing."
When I got my car back, I removed the valve cover to make sure, and the pipe was installed the wrong way. That was the last time I paid someone to work on my cars. It's hard to find a good mechanic.