335i (N54) metal bits in filter

[Cubieman]

So I picked up a pretty rough 2007 335i and have found these bits of shinny metal in the oil filter. Most of them are half-moon shaped, are very shinny on the outside and more dull on the inside. The pieces are magnetic as well.

I was thinking valve keepers or possibly bits of the RBs/crank but the shape has me curious, it's possible the half-moon shape was created after they broke free from whatever area of the engine but the pieces are quite hard and I cannot bend them around etc.

This car is a POS, looks like it needs a HG/oil pan gasket, I plan on pulling the motor this winter for a "refresh", fun stuff!

[r4dr]

As a former N54 owner, I hope you got that car for very, very cheap...

I'm not aware of any common issues that would result in this. Generally speaking, the internals are very stout -- it's everything else around the shortblock.

[Thoglan]

Look like valve spring retainers/keepers to me. Not sure what that means for other potential damage though.

[Cubieman]

Look like valve spring retainers/keepers to me. Not sure what that means for other potential damage though.

The vehicle did have a semi-recent engine swap, if I'm lucky maybe those bit were caught from the old engine.

On a another note I did a compression test last night an found only about 140psi on all cylinders, at least it was +/- 2psi across the cylinders. I think I an N54 should show 165-180 but I'm definitely not the expert.

I tried a leakdown but everytime I introduced even 30-40psi into cyl. #1 it would spin the crank and I would lose TDC1!

Im one month into my 335i ownership and already looking at: selling this spring for a loss, re-building the N54 myself, LS (w/turbo) swap myself.