First venture into the world of BMW's, lots of E30 questions:
-
Oil and the m20 is a topic with everyone having their preferences. Bentley recs are 20-50 summer and lighter for winter 10/15-40 or lower bracket depending on how cold. Some folks argue that the Bentley was written before the modern synth oils so is out of date which leads to more recommendations.
My SpecE30 track car likes 20-50 dino, nothing burned no leaks happy car. Too much syrup for winter though. Tried a lighter synth (5-30?) when I first got the car and even with replaced seals leaked all over the place. Cheap horsepower though for some front pack is to run a lighter weight and pour in the quarts between sessions as it burns off.
-
I'd like to do one at some point before spring - if nothing else just to better understand the engine. If I'm not in danger of harming anything, I won't do it before theirs snow on the ground.
Paint shop on Monday, then try to get a week or two of driving it in before theirs snow on the ground..... Then the REAL fun begins!
-
My suggestion for an M20 based on the temperature chart in the owners manual isÂ
20w-50 summer
10w-40 winter
I just buy the cheapest 10w-40 (just in case I absolutely HAVE to run the car) for storing my car over winter
Valve lash that is too loose can increase the chances of a broken rocker.
Too tight on the exhaust side can cause burnt valvesI am wanting to try out 0.008" on the intake side for a bit more performance and a little less noise but just haven't yet. Maybe you could be the guinnea pig

-
....well tonight did not go as I hoped....
Got everything back together, got it full of coolant, fired right up and idled perfect.... And instantly started leaking a small steady stream of coolant from around the waterpump. Pulled everything BACK apart, only to find we had missed a small piece of the old gasket left on the block.
Called it a night at that point. Good news is the pump box had a second gasket with it, so can redo it all tomorrow night.
Super.
-
Dont feel too bad, I had the same sort of problem. But it was more of the "just use the gasket itself with no RTV because thats what the Bently says" Â for which it leaked even after a thorough cleaning and degreasing. Re-doing it the second time was annoying, but it went pretty fast.
-
We had the radiator/fan clutch/etc... All torn back out in less then a half hour, so we just need to reinstall everything. Should go pretty quick tonight, just more of an annoyance then anything.
Car idled perfectly tho (it was idling at alittle under 2k when I pulled it into garage), so ft great to have it running the way it should. My Bosch coppers will be here today too, so I can get those in tonight as well.
Taking out son trick-or-treating tonight, but after that it'll be time to get it together and take her for a spin!!!
When I parked it the brakes felt "spongy" (car was sitting in a shop for 2 years when I towed it home). The brake booster line looked "new" and didn't appear to be leaking - other then bleeding brakes any other easy things to check that would give a "mushy" pedal feel?!?
-
Car drives pretty well over all tho! I noticed one of the rear sway bar ends was not connected, and it's got a slight "wobble" from right front.... But could just be crappy tires or such.
Car started it idle at about 2k after alite driving.... Any suggestions on a culprit? I didn't see anything I recognized as an ISV, anything I should check?
Going to recheck for vac leaks and clean TB and MAF tonight.... Any other suggestions would be great.
First gas stop:

Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login
