1994 M3 S50B30 High Mileage Problems/Refersh ?
Discussion
Hello everyone!
I'm over the pond in Canada. Part of the good old Commonwealth. In 1994 BMW Canada imported 45 EU spec M3s with the real deal S50B30. However, because only 45 made it to Canada, most of the knowledge in North America is for the S50B30US....which is no bueno for my car.
The 94' I've acquired has been stored for 11 years. It has about 140k miles. I will be rebuilding the Vanos and redoing leaky seals plus the entire cooling system, but I've got some questions for the experts here
1. Do Rod Bearings go bad on the S50B30? I have no service history of them being done.
2. Are there any issues with the timing components? I know some recent model years in North America have plastic timing guides that crack, and timing chains that stretch
3. Any other high mileage stuff I should worry about, apart from the normal rubber aging and such.
I will be doing more research and posting here shortly with my findings.
EDIT: Forgive the typo in the title.
I'm over the pond in Canada. Part of the good old Commonwealth. In 1994 BMW Canada imported 45 EU spec M3s with the real deal S50B30. However, because only 45 made it to Canada, most of the knowledge in North America is for the S50B30US....which is no bueno for my car.
The 94' I've acquired has been stored for 11 years. It has about 140k miles. I will be rebuilding the Vanos and redoing leaky seals plus the entire cooling system, but I've got some questions for the experts here
1. Do Rod Bearings go bad on the S50B30? I have no service history of them being done.
2. Are there any issues with the timing components? I know some recent model years in North America have plastic timing guides that crack, and timing chains that stretch
3. Any other high mileage stuff I should worry about, apart from the normal rubber aging and such.
I will be doing more research and posting here shortly with my findings.
EDIT: Forgive the typo in the title.
It's been a while since I owned one but if I remember correctly, the 3.0 was considered more robust than the 3.2. The 3.2 had a minor reputation for needing rod bearings when used hard on track, but it wasn't anything like the issues on the E92 v8 M3. I can't remember it being a problem on the 3.0.
I can't remember anything on timing chains, that tended to be a modern, 4 cylinder issue.
Generally they are pretty well built engines, but they suffer from old car issues, like pretty much any seal and rubber component being long past their best.
Remember that to do the value gaps, you have to buy new shims which I suspect you will need to order from Europe as I doubt anyone holds stock of them your side of the pond.
While I am loathed to recommend another forum, if you really want a source of knowledge on these engines, M3Cutters is probably where it is at.
I can't remember anything on timing chains, that tended to be a modern, 4 cylinder issue.
Generally they are pretty well built engines, but they suffer from old car issues, like pretty much any seal and rubber component being long past their best.
Remember that to do the value gaps, you have to buy new shims which I suspect you will need to order from Europe as I doubt anyone holds stock of them your side of the pond.
While I am loathed to recommend another forum, if you really want a source of knowledge on these engines, M3Cutters is probably where it is at.
Mine is an Evo, however after 123k miles, the bearings looked pretty good. Minor signs of wear, but nothing like you see on S54/S65. Replaced with ACL and ARP bolts
I had the oil pump replaced whilst it was off, that was around 500 GBP for a genuine item.
Prior to this, i took the plunge and removed the intake (eventually swapped for a Karbonius), and replaced all hoses (heat, coolant and vacuum) and sensors (coolant, knock, speed ref, cam ref, TPS, air intake etc) - not a cheap exercise, especially for genuine items.
One item which noone mentioned was the Vanos accumulator - i had that re-gassed by someone on M3Cutters, apparently it follows a similar process as the hydragas suspension on Mini Metros from the 80s!. Unsure if it was the regas alone, or one of the many sensors i replaced, however it felt much more torquier under 4k and more willing to pull. All very noticeable.
I had the oil pump replaced whilst it was off, that was around 500 GBP for a genuine item.
Prior to this, i took the plunge and removed the intake (eventually swapped for a Karbonius), and replaced all hoses (heat, coolant and vacuum) and sensors (coolant, knock, speed ref, cam ref, TPS, air intake etc) - not a cheap exercise, especially for genuine items.
One item which noone mentioned was the Vanos accumulator - i had that re-gassed by someone on M3Cutters, apparently it follows a similar process as the hydragas suspension on Mini Metros from the 80s!. Unsure if it was the regas alone, or one of the many sensors i replaced, however it felt much more torquier under 4k and more willing to pull. All very noticeable.
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