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      12-19-2018, 12:46 PM   #1
Joshal
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S54 Valve Train help!

Hey guys, I (used to) daily drive a 2005 SMG coupe in Phoenix Yellow. Engine has 113,050 on it. I've loved cars especially the E46 M3 since I was a kid but I'm completely new to everything cars on the hands-on side of things. I had a N54 335i that inspired me to go to school, become a mechanic and what not. Ended up losing the car viciously to a drunk driver & put myself in my dream E46 as a reminder that when life hands me lemons, never give up. So the car was mine May 1st this year, 2.5 months into ownership in July/early August Inspection 2 was coming around so I started fucking big & way over my head with a Valve Adjustment. I'm only in school for a few hours, my teachers didnt help me or have too much knowledge of how BMW does things so the 4.5 hours of class were not enough time to do a full valve adjustment with just the help of ALLDATA. a few valves were off, not by alot, but I was able to swap out the little magnetic shims in the 2 intake valves of Cylinder 5 & the 2 exhaust valves of Cylinder 1 before putting the engine back together. engine was fine besides a major oil leak from incorrectly putting the valve gasket back on. Fix that & fast forward to September 18th, I'm now officially an apprentice mechanic/emissions tech/lube tech for a small indy shop around me by day & an Auto Tech student by night, during my first break at school i go to the gas station to get munchies. As Im pulling into the school's parking lot so i dropped down to 2nd gear from using 3rd on the main road, engine just started misfiring. Heavy knocking coming from the engine, check engine light is on. My bullshit code scanner only got codes P0300 & P0305 - Random misfire & Misfire in Cylinder 5. I get the car towed to work & we just take the engine apart to look at it. Nothing looked bad, but the clip that holds the rocker arms or whatever on Cylinder 5 was loose. a liiiiiiitle oil in 1-2 new spark plugs that were put during the valve adjustment. gaps were fine too. We stuck a camera down into every cylinder, all was good except Cylinder 5. the piston head has... damage i think? I'll attach a photo. But it looked as if something got into Cylinder 5 & was getting hammered. The car passed a cylinder compression test, even cylinder 5. So if it passed that that means the valve heads are opening and closing properly right? I dont know what to do, I've let her sit under a car cover at home for about 3 months now, just waiting for tax season so i could have her sent to a reputable German repair shop around me & drop bread on professional work. Or maybe.... i should just do the valve adjustment tonight 100% do it & try turning her on. Idk. I just put in my 2 weeks at my indy shop & getting into an Acura dealership, so with my free time in between i'd like to fix Phoenix if I can. I wanna take off the head & inspect everything but the Cylinder Head removal procedure on AllData looks very discouraging. If you guys have a guide i can follow for VANOS & Camshaft removal with almost basic hand tools pleaseeee link me to it. Thank you all for reading!
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      12-20-2018, 08:48 AM   #2
scotty_miller
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Based on your pictures it looks like your head is done. The block may be salvageable if nothing scored the cylinder walls. You may be lucky by just getting away with replacing the piston and rings. Looks like a tappet or shim worked itself out or was installed wrong and worked its way down in when the valve opened and got tossed around like a ball in a paint can. Good chance the valve is bent and the valve seat is all chewed up. So unfortunately you'll definitely need a head. Pull the spark plug and see what it looks like. That can be a tell tale sign of the extent of head damage

You're not going to be able to remove the head with just basic tools. You need a few special tools and a good mechanical knowledge of the s54. Looks like your a basic lube tech with basic tools and limited mechanical knowledge (not to be a dick. I work in fixed op's and manage a shop at a big dealership and have dealt with techs on levels of skill from lube techs to master) so I'd definitely send this to a proper European Indy shop. Have them tear it down and go through a proper diag so you are not tossing parts and time at it.

Again just some constructive criticisms. If you need any help or any additional questions. Feel free to pm me.
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      12-20-2018, 10:31 AM   #3
tdott
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Take the valve cover off and see if you left something loose when doing the valve adjustment.

No reason to pull the head yet unless you find the cause.
After you put the valve cover back on swap cyl#5 coil with another and see if the misfire moves. You could just have a bad coil.
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      07-28-2021, 03:26 PM   #4
Wheely Applegate
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I agree with Scotty_Miller and Tdott. No harm in taking the valve cover off, but beyond that, I would recommend you pay someone who has experience with S54s or find someone who does to mentor you on the removal and the installation. As an independent mechanic, it makes it harder for us, and we charge more, when someone brings us a repair they started (disassembled) and we have to piece it back together. My experience is that parts are often missing or misplaced, or other repairs are over-looked.

If you want an affordable car where you can change a head via a youtube video, buy yourself an E30. Underpowered and antiquated, but many smiles per mile.
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