valve adjustment???

[xphilter]

so i had the timing belt change a couple weeks ago and now my engine is a lot quiter than before (m20)...however now i hear alot of tap tap tap tap tap tap tap....i am wondering if this means i should adjust the valves. Also any recomendations for preventative things to do on my car considering it has 216,000 miles and I have no records =). heh, any info is great, thanks.

[Qube]

so i had the timing belt change a couple weeks ago and now my engine is a lot quiter than before (m20)...however now i hear alot of tap tap tap tap tap tap tap....i am wondering if this means i should adjust the valves. Also any recomendations for preventative things to do on my car considering it has 216,000 miles and I have no records =). heh, any info is great, thanks.

Adding myself to this thread (subscribed) to see about valve adjustment (and costs!)

[Jay 535i]

Adding myself to this thread (subscribed) to see about valve adjustment (and costs!)

Ditto.

[uscharalph]

so i had the timing belt change a couple weeks ago and now my engine is a lot quiter than before (m20)...however now i hear alot of tap tap tap tap tap tap tap....i am wondering if this means i should adjust the valves. Also any recomendations for preventative things to do on my car considering it has 216,000 miles and I have no records =). heh, any info is great, thanks.
Apparently it's not too hard: http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/maintenance/engine/valve_adjust.htm

There was another link I think I saw last night, but I can't find it now.

[GS535i]

One of you have hydraulic valves that do not require adjustment: for the others, the best post I've ever read on turning the engine to the correct spots to allow the adjustment was by Bellicose Right winger in this link http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3010&highlight=rocking.
As for the adjustment, I use two feeler gauges: a 0.3mm set point that should drag slightly as the valve is set - and a 0.013" as a 'no go' gauge to assure that the lash is not greater than 0.3 mm ( ~ 0.012"). When all valves are set equally (on a cold engine), the M30 is a very smooth reving engine ....

[xphilter]

hm...you say one of us has hyraulic valves....which one?

[makaio]

Jaylebo has hydraulic valves on his 535.

The valve adjustment on your 525 with the M20 motor is quite easy, so long as you take your time. And doing it yourself, should only cost $10 for a new valve cover gasket, if you have the other tools (feeler gauge, assorted socket set, metric wrench set).

[Gayle]

Clueless question: What are hydrolic valves? I ask because I have a 90 535 as does Jaylebo. Why do they not need adjusting?

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

to self adjust for lash.

[Kalevera]

Oy.


Alright...Let's set this one straight:

1) NO M30 or M20 (< or = 1990 525 or ANY 535) had hydraulically adjusted valves. The first BMW US production engine with them was the M70. ALL M30 and M20 engines need periodic adjustment. M30 is worse, and the valve cover should come off every 15k to check the banjo bolts.

2) Spec on the M20 -- all variants -- is a bit tighter than the M30. Last time I did one (m20), I think I did....8 thou. I set M30s to .012 intake and .013 exhaust (when dead cold), .012/.012 when the thing sounds noisy.

3) It was a bit frightening for me the first time around. It's not a hard job, though. Have a feeler gauge and some wire to adjust the eccentrics. Once the cover's off (get a new gasket -- M20s will probably also need new keystone rubbers -- check ETK), the process is: a) get piston to TDC for a given cylinder, b) check the current gap with the feeler gauge, c) adjust if necessary or go to the next cylinder. Easiest rotation is 1 5 3 6 2 4. I use a fused jumper switch to activate the starter -- speeds up the entire thing. ALWAYS rotate the engine CLOCKWISE, if turning it by hand.

4) Old eccentrics are hard to adjust. Replace them if it's the case.

Another point: back before I knew what I was doing, I followed Robin's excellent writeup (posted sometime in December, 2004). Keywords and phrases for search (because I'm too lazy to look up the link) are: "Haven't you adjusted the valves like 5000 times, quoth my wife", ".012", ".013"

It should cost ~ 1 hour worth of labor to get a valve adjustment at a shop on either of the mentioned motors.

best, whit

[uscharalph]

Oy.


Alright...Let's set this one straight:

1) NO M30 or M20 (< or = 1990 525 or ANY 535) had hydraulically adjusted valves. The first BMW US production engine with them was the M70. ALL M30 and M20 engines need periodic adjustment. M30 is worse, and the valve cover should come off every 15k to check the banjo bolts.

2) Spec on the M20 -- all variants -- is a bit tighter than the M30. Last time I did one (m20), I think I did....8 thou. I set M30s to .012 intake and .013 exhaust (when dead cold), .012/.012 when the thing sounds noisy.

3) It was a bit frightening for me the first time around. It's not a hard job, though. Have a feeler gauge and some wire to adjust the eccentrics. Once the cover's off (get a new gasket -- M20s will probably also need new keystone rubbers -- check ETK), the process is: a) get piston to TDC for a given cylinder, b) check the current gap with the feeler gauge, c) adjust if necessary or go to the next cylinder. Easiest rotation is 1 5 3 6 2 4. I use a fused jumper switch to activate the starter -- speeds up the entire thing. ALWAYS rotate the engine CLOCKWISE, if turning it by hand.

4) Old eccentrics are hard to adjust. Replace them if it's the case.

Another point: back before I knew what I was doing, I followed Robin's excellent writeup (posted sometime in December, 2004). Keywords and phrases for search (because I'm too lazy to look up the link) are: "Haven't you adjusted the valves like 5000 times, quoth my wife", ".012", ".013"

It should cost ~ 1 hour worth of labor to get a valve adjustment at a shop on either of the mentioned motors.

best, whit
Thanks Whit!

[Bill R.]

a self adjusting design. I try to explain it a little clearer in case you dont understand what they are talking about.. This pic is a cross section of an m50
Head, The cam lobes as seen here ride directly on top of the valves, since its a dohc dual overhead cam engine, one cam rides directly over the exhaust valves and one cam rides directly over the intake valves. The HVA , hydraulic valve adjuster or as you guys think of hydraulic lifter looks like a cup turned upside down so it sits on top of the valve retainer ,spring and valve stem as seen in the pic....then the cam rides on top of that cup. But the cup is really composed of a chamber that fills up with oil when the engine is running which causes it to expand and take up any space between the top of the valve stem and the camshaft lobe, it has a check valve in this HVA so that oil can come in easy and swell it up but the check valve keeps the oil from coming back out quickly, so it swells up to the point where there is almost no clearance between the cam and valve but no further.. this takes up the slack and makes the valve quiet since the cam is rolling smooth across the HVA instead of hammering it if there is space there. Now when you shut the engine off, the HVA slowly bleeds all the oil back out of it ... so when you start up a HVA motor it frequently rattles until these HVA cups fill back up and take up the space again. I don't know if this explanation is even more confusing or not...http://www.bimmer.info/%7Ebill/M50%20HVA.jpg









Clueless question: What are hydrolic valves? I ask because I have a 90 535 as does Jaylebo. Why do they not need adjusting?

[makaio]

Sorry, I got the 535 and the M50 2.5 mixed up.

[SRR2]

When you adjust your valves, have a new gasket on hand AND buy four new rocker-arm-shaft cutout plugs!! Those plugs turn to rock and leak like crazy, and NOBODY (well, Whit, Bill, and Winfred probably do) replaces them when the cover is off. The part number for these things is 11 33 1 264 519 and they're dirt cheap (0.56 ea from AutohausAZ) even at the dealer. Replacing them takes all of about 5 seconds each, so there's no excuse not to do it.

[Robin-535im]

Here's the link:
http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=8305
though it's been explained a dozen times before and probably better by others...

FWIW I have mine at .013 all around now, and one of them is still quite noisy. Next time I think I'll do .012...

[GS535i]

Thanks for the correction! I had assumed that the M30 was the last E34 with mechanical 'lifters' requiring adjustment .. wrong ...

[Kalevera]

Thanks for the correction! I had assumed that the M30 was the last E34 with mechanical 'lifters' requiring adjustment .. wrong ...
Theoretically, you're correct -- the M30 was the last motor produced en mass that had adjustable lifters. The only subsequent motors to need valve adjustments are a few Motorsport engines, which have a different adjustment technique (spacing disks) to account for DOHC. I *think* the E46 M3 still use this same system, but I could be wrong -- I haven't yet done an adjustment on one.

best, whit