rumatt's E46

[equ]

I went with single-mass valeo on the e39 528i when the DMF springs failed. Clutch had decent life left. Our mechanic was against this cost saving and kept pushing oem, but I think I had Nick's good advice. Clutch feel was never better on that car and no big rattle.

[John V]

There aren't really any good options for the six-speed cars.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by John V

There aren't really any good options for the six-speed cars.

IIRC, Valeo has pushed out a 6spd kit, but I can't vouch for that one's performance.

I could recommend the Valeo kit after putting it in two 5spd cars.

Edit: All that said, when you are self-sourcing parts, there isn't much cost savings.

[John V]

I got a lot done today. I had been postponing finishing the subframe bushings because frankly the front ones are a bitch to do without completely removing the subframe.

The subframe has to be lowered enough to clear the front bolts. This necessitates removing the parking brake cables from the brake lever and pulling them clear of the subframe. At this point the subframe can be held with a jack at the rear and slowly pried free of the unibody.







The front bushings weren't in nearly as bad of shape as the rears. A little dry rotting but overall they were fine.





Subframe raised into position and held until the diff is ready to go back in.



Speaking of the diff... After a little back and forth with the company that sells them, Matt got the right one shipped, along with new bearings and ring gear bolts.



After pressing on the bearings...



The ring gear gets bolted up and the unit goes in the housing.



I seem to have lost my dial indicator, which I need to set the backlash between the ring gear and pinion gear. However, I've done enough of these that I can tell that this is set up correctly, using the circlips that came out of this unit. As soon as I find my dial indicator I'll button this up, fill it with fluid and get it in the car. One step closer to it being on the ground!

[rumatt]

[Nick M3]

Hey, can I have the old flywheel? I'm about to experiment with a 320d 6spd conversion in the red E30 (the bell housing is at the correct angle), and would like to keep my spend to a minimum before I know whether or not I'm happy with it.

[rumatt]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Hey, can I have the old flywheel? I'm about to experiment with a 320d 6spd conversion in the red E30 (the bell housing is at the correct angle), and would like to keep my spend to a minimum before I know whether or not I'm happy with it.

I already donated it to John as a housewarming gift / thank you for this project. You're going to have to negotiate with him.



But having the flywheel go from my car to my (old) car would be pretty cool.

Why are you doing the swap? I remember the 2nd gear synchros weren't ideal. Or are you just looking for an extra gear?

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by rumatt

I already donated it to John as a housewarming gift / thank you for this project. You're going to have to negotiate with him.



But having the flywheel go from my car to my (old) car would be pretty cool.

Why are you doing the swap? I remember the 2nd gear synchros weren't ideal. Or are you just looking for an extra gear?

Basically because it's hard to find a decent G260 these days, and the extra gear is appealing. At some point, the original transmission developed all kinds of whine, so I swapped it for another G260. It's quiet, but has poor shift feel.

[John V]

While I search for my dial indicator to finish the diff setup, I figured I'd start with the rest of the engine work. Matt's car has a really bad oil filter housing gasket leak. When these leak, they cover the entire driver's side of the engine with oil, which then gets coated in road grime.



Matt's car also has a leaking power steering reservoir gasket.





With the oil filter housing removed you can see just how bad it is.



The gasket is really more of a strange o-ring. Here you can see how flattened it is. Since it's held up against the hot engine it vulcanizes, gets brittle, and starts leaking.



With the oil filter housing cleaned up and a new gasket installed, it's ready to put back on the car. Except I need to do the crankcase ventilation system, and it's easier to do with the oil filter housing gone. So this won't go back on for a bit.

[bren]

Wow, that is a while lot of casting for the oil filter housing.

I think I found (at least one) source of my car's oil leak yesterday. Oil pan bolts aren't supposed to back out and go missing right?