massiveCoRbyn
ClioSport Club Member
Several
Do you want to fix it and sell it to me?
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These days, 3 grand buys an e90 330i ...
- Thread starter Sir_Dave
- Start date
Sir_Dave
ClioSport Trader
Cheers @Christopher its in lovely condition, bodywork is a fair bit better than my 330i, barring the front bumper, which is very "motorway miles". But yes to you and @massivewangers, the intention is most likely to fix it and sell; although ill use it for a little while to make sure all is fine and dandy first. Its rather useful having the extra storage at the moment as well if im entirely honest - ive really struggled with places to put "cr4p" since i sold the Mini ?
Haha, you know me oh so well ?
Sarah said exactly the same. Along with "where are you gonna park that ... ?"
Her TT is currently being parked out on the road ?
Hopefully this one will have a happy ending!!!
Yeah, i reckon so. Will swop the coils/plugs around to see if the misfires follow. All on Bank 2 (cyl 4,5,6) atm and with these cars being so well known for stuck/leaking injectors, i think one of them has probably failed and the other two cylinders are trying to compensate for it, causing the additional misfires. You know cars are a tad unreliable when clever people design parts/mega in depth websites to sell/discuss a cars problems though: https://bimmerprofs.com/n53b30-injector-hardcore/ serious amounts of bedtime reading there!!!
massiveCoRbyn
ClioSport Club Member
Several
Feel free to send over some details Dave. Driving a Vectra estate currently and it's soul destroying lol.
welshname
ClioSport Club Member
Not a bad price for it, but then again if you got the saloon for £3k then it almost feels overpriced being a smaller engine? Unless estate commands a premium?
_Tom
ClioSport Club Member
It's a pre LCI
So it is!!
Sir_Dave
ClioSport Trader
Still a 3.0, just detuned. The N53 325i puts out 218bhp, but with a slightly different inlet manifold/map, the N53 330i gives 272bhp ... think my N52 3.0 is 258.
Anyways, long post re: the e91 incoming ...
In effect, being that N53’s are renown for their issues with coil packs, spark plugs & injectors, I basically took a punt on it. BMW had carried out a “quality enhancement” in 2011 and replaced all the injectors with Index 9, along with new coil packs & NGK spark plugs. So, being that anything prior to Index 11 is generally useless, I simply assumed they had failed again. What’s the worst that could happen … well …
Cold start it started instantly, ran ok for 5 seconds or so, then started to jump about (really bad), with EML lights appearing & misfires on cylinders 5 & 6. After running for a couple of minutes, it struggles to start again, starter spins for quite a while.
Initial fault finding so far has resulted in:
Cyl 1: Unknown brand coil pack, NGK spark plug – smells of fuel.
Cyl 2: Delphi coil pack, NGK spark plug – smells of, & appears damp with fuel.
Cyl 3: Unknown brand coil pack, NGK spark plug – no fuel smell.
Cyl 4: Bosch coil pack, NGK spark plug – no fuel smell.
Cyl 5: Unknown brand coil pack, NGK spark plug – no fuel smell.
Cyl 6: Unknown brand coil pack, NGK spark plug – smell of fuel, very wet tip.
I cleaned all the plugs, re-inserted, then restarted the car, Cyl6 was instantly wet with fuel, all others were fine.
Then swopped the coil packs around, misfire stayed with Cyl5/6. Did the same with the spark plugs, misfire stayed on 5/6.
If I pull the oil cap, the idle stays the same, i.e. doesn’t get any/even worse, suggesting the CCV is fine.
As an aside, people who dont swop all coil packs/spark plugs at the same time are pikeys, they arent exactly expensive FFS.
Cylinders 6,5,4,3,2,1:
Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Cyl6 Spark Plug:
Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
After buying a new 12mm adaptor, I then did a compression test (tested cold, all other plugs left in):
Cyl 1: Compression at 120
Cyl 2: Compression at 130.
Cyl 3: Compression at 130.
Cyl 4: Compression at 130.
Cyl 5: Compression at 110.
Cyl 6: Compression at 0.
At this point, after swearing a little, having read that a completely failed DI injection can occasionally cause compression pressure to bleed away giving a false reading, I bought a new Index 11 injector & de-coupler. Having removed the old one, I was faced this this, appears covered in white gunk?
Cyl6 Injector:
New injector fitted and coded with INPA, re-started it, misfire still there. FFS.
New compression test, this time done without any plugs in, all 155-165, barring cylinder 6 at 0.
Cylinder 5 sounded like this:
Cylinder 6 sounded like this:
When up to temperature, there is a decent amount of white smoke, this appears to have quite a nice smell to it.
The previous owner said that since the misfire had started, it had started to burn a lot of oil
Now, ive had a head gasket go on an e46 M3 between cylinders 5&6 a few years back, but from memory, it wasn’t at zero (just 5/6 comps were lower than all the others) and being that that’s a closed deck block, there was no coolant usage etc as the break was between the cylinders. The last time I saw zero compression was on my R53 Mini I after a bit of a valve broke off and prior to that failing completely, it also smoked blue like a chimney on cold start (valve stems were gone). The 325i has no blue smoke, which in my mind, would be the normal indicator of valve and/or piston ring issues?
Also, re: the white smoke, having watched a billion N54/335i videos (they have the same type of injector), a failed injector does cause similar issues, hence the purchase of a new Index 11. Normally, in this situation, i would replace all the injectors/coils/sparks as a matter of course, but with the injectors being so expensive, for the purposes of fault finding (the lack of compression) on CYL6 i bought just the one. If/when the compression issue is resolved i'll naturally replace all of them with Index 11.
Video of cold start. As you can see, the idle is generally ok initially, albeit rather tappy/loud, after which it starts to struggle massively:
So at this point, considering the white smoke, i bought a head gasket test kit and ran it up to temperature. All ok there, so thankfully no HG/warped head issues and/or cracks into the coolant channel from the block, the white smoke must just be unburnt fuel. To corroborate this i ran it up to temp with the coil pack/injector on Cyl6 unplugged; all fine. White smoke is now pointing towards unburnt fuel from a burnt/stuck inlet valve i feel. As an aside, whilst looking for N53 cylinder heads/engine, i start pondering how hard it would be to buy a crashed 335i and swop the front end mechanicals and ECUs over ... being that the N53/N54 have a similar fueling system, this is maybe a future project, doesnt sound that hard.
So today i got a second opinion and had a leakdown test done at BMS Surrey.
Result? The inlet valve on Cyl6 is stuck open slightly. Realistically, its quite difficult to tell whether the cause is bending/sticking as you can only see so much with a borescope, but he said that the top of the piston & cylinder walls seem to look ok. On that basis, i've just bought a used cylinder head complete with cams/valves etc in order to do a simply head swop (N54 can wait lol). I can then strip the old head & sell the unused parts.
Currently trying to decide whether i can bothered to do it all myself, outside, in the cold & wet, or just pay them to do it however ...
Jack!
ClioSport Club Member
I take it you bought it because you thought it'd be an easy/cheap fix, but now it's not, is it worth it?
Sir_Dave
ClioSport Trader
Well, ll i've just bought a low mileage N53 cylinder head, so we're getting there!Lazy bast - get on it
Highly unlikely that i'll be fitting though, having started my own business, i simply just dont have the time at the moment really ...
Thanks, me to!
Yeah, i had hoped it would easy, the likelihood of this happening was maybe 1/100, i mean, petrol BM's are generally fairly bomb proof mechanically. Never mind. The way i look at it is that if id paid the going price for it (£5-6k), id be fuming, as it would cost me circa £7.5-8.5k for a car that actually worked. Instead, i i took a bit of a punt at £3k, but £2.5k later, i'll know that all of the potential N53 weakpoints will have been sorted and i'll be left with a very high spec 325i touring, for roughly what one would have cost me normally.
As an aside, for another grand or so on top of that, ill effectively have a mega spec LCI'd & 330i converted, manual e91 touring, which is kinda unicorn status ?
Its highly likely that i'll sell the 330i once this is finished though, daft to spend a couple of grand on the 325i's engine to then sell it on straight away.
Will do exactly that once its all put back together ?
Christopher
ClioSport Club Member
Z4M
Pay them to do it, then swap all the best bits into the E91.
Sir_Dave
ClioSport Trader
This is the plan. Swop the front parking sensors/bumper and CIC/Combox into the e91, then put the CCC in the e90 ...
Parts for the engine rebuild have now started to arrive, needless to say, moving a cylinder head on a pallet isnt easy by yourself ?
Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Also managed to find a couple of Index 11 injectors on ebay for £75 each. They'll need new Teflon seals/de-couplers for fitting, but so would the existing ones when they are swopped into the new head - I'll then have a full set of Index 11 on Bank 2, with non-leaking Index 9's on Bank 1.
s-l1600 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Naturally, the car swallows everything with ease.
Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Just need to get a date for BMS to fit it all now. Will naturally try and find an N53 330i inlet manifold to go on as well, but they are like rocking horse poop!!
Christopher
ClioSport Club Member
Z4M
Lovely stuff.
Sir_Dave
ClioSport Trader
I definitely have issues ?
Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Finally found what i've been looking for for 6 months!!
Just a tad annoying its AFTER ive bought the touring, plus the parts to fix it ...
Le Mans Blue 335i saloon. Manual gearbox. 2 long-term owners. Full BMW service history.
Been on warranty since new so fairly recent water pump, HP fuel pump, vanos solenoids, coil packs & injectors. Turbos have been done, but about 6 years ago.
Touring is now going to be broken, simply not worth me spending £2.5k fixing it.
Because of that, i can now take the Xenons, Nav, Folding Mirrors & electric seats out of it and fit them to the 335i.
Bodywork is a little rough around the edges & the wheels have been refurbed in shadow chrome, which is pretty grim, but i have enough parts to solve that ?
Not as of yet, will likely be fitted to the 335i in the next couple of months however ?
Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Finally found what i've been looking for for 6 months!!
Just a tad annoying its AFTER ive bought the touring, plus the parts to fix it ...
Le Mans Blue 335i saloon. Manual gearbox. 2 long-term owners. Full BMW service history.
Been on warranty since new so fairly recent water pump, HP fuel pump, vanos solenoids, coil packs & injectors. Turbos have been done, but about 6 years ago.
Touring is now going to be broken, simply not worth me spending £2.5k fixing it.
Because of that, i can now take the Xenons, Nav, Folding Mirrors & electric seats out of it and fit them to the 335i.
Bodywork is a little rough around the edges & the wheels have been refurbed in shadow chrome, which is pretty grim, but i have enough parts to solve that ?
Not as of yet, will likely be fitted to the 335i in the next couple of months however ?
Jack!
ClioSport Club Member
Your neighbors must think you're a head case.
Sir_Dave
ClioSport Trader
e90 335i, e90 330i, e91 325i, TT 225 and Boxster 981S ?
Have always wanted to work from home so that i could buy cars as & when they appeared for sale, instead of having to wait for the weekend.
Making the most of it ?
Jack!
ClioSport Club Member
I thought the Boxster was sold or going to fund your new venture?
I'm not sure being self employed suits you ?
Sir_Dave
ClioSport Trader
lol thanks, i think
Yup, same TT, likelyhood of her ever selling it is probably zero
Its a brilliant car in all seriousness, super reliable, quick, lovely looking & well made, for what its now worth, its fairly irreplacable! ?
Yes, N52 manual 330i, with xenons. Rocking horse poop stylee. They are a weird old beast actually, some of the mint, high spec ones see up to £8k at dealers! Whereas the snotty/miley ones can be down to £3-4k or so, many of those are utter nails though! As you say though, very reliable engine, so will always be pretty sought after i think. They are worth searching out though, mine is genuinely lovely to drive - prefer it to the 335i actually, the hydraulic steering is much better than the (active option) setup in the 335i, with the gearbox/clutch being nice and heavy by comparison.
Id say you could have mine, but i took a deposit on it last week ... is staying within CS though, so im sure you'll still see it around
Photo 19-02-2019, 14 58 46 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Photo 19-02-2019, 15 01 28 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Photo 19-02-2019, 15 00 22 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Photo 19-02-2019, 15 01 16 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Photo 19-02-2019, 15 01 06 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
335i boot swopped onto the 330i as its in better condition for the buyer. Just in case anyone was wondering lol.
Such a good car. Hopefully i dont regret letting it go!!!
Sir_Dave
ClioSport Trader
Yes lol.
The way i look at it, im not that bothered about a bit of rust (i'll likely facelift it at some point anyway), but any buyer would likely be put off by it and/or question if there was any more hidden away etc (there isnt), so i swopped it out, only took an hour or so. I would have also taken the CIC/Combox out & refitted the CCC from the 325i if it was on sale to the general public, but the CS buyer was adamant that he wanted the pretty screen
Sir_Dave
ClioSport Trader
So youve sold the 330i and upgraded to a 335i and in the meantime bought a 325i you didnt want to flip for a profit?
Christopher
ClioSport Club Member
Z4M
HPFPs are available in bulk btw.
Rob
ClioSport Moderator
It’s home:
Thanks again Dave. Got a bit of list of things I want to do already, but I’ll make my own thread for that
Thanks again Dave. Got a bit of list of things I want to do already, but I’ll make my own thread for that
