DIY:
Timing Case
Cover Gaskets (Upper and Lower),
Timing Chain Guides,
Timing Chain Tensioner, Thermostat.
---------------------------------
I decided to finally tackle an intermittent oil leak. From what I could tell this leak was coming from the lower
timing case
cover gasket. I never found the leak specifically as the lower front half of my engine is just a thick mess of oil, dirt and road grime. The leak definitely is not coming from the oil filter housing - that area is dry and I have already fixed a leak there. It was coming from the passenger side (LHD), near the AC compressor.
---------------------------------
Parts (M44 Engine): Gaskets • Full
Timing Case
Cover Gasket Set: 11141432099
• Profile
Gasket (between upper and lower covers): 11141247837
• Thermostat
Gasket (in lieu of thermostat replacement): 11531743179
• Front "Main" Seal: 11141439570
•
Timing Chain Tensioner
Gasket: 07119963355
• Valve
Cover Gasket: 11121721876
• Spark Plug Tube
Gasket (3x): 11121721476
• Spark Plug Tube
Gasket (1x): 11121721475
• Oil Squirter Seal: 11121247948
Timing Chain Guides / Tensioner •
Timing Chain Tensioner: 11311743187
•
Timing Chain Tensioner Guide (Right Side of Engine): 11311743262
• Full Guide Rail (Left Side of Engine): 11311247470
• Deflection Guide (Lower Right Side of engine): 11311739130
• Top Guide: 11311743046
• Bottom Guide: 11311734694
Misc. Main Crank Bolt: 11211721100
---------------------------------
Here's what I was dealing with
It was leaving numerous oil spots on the ground. A few times over the past year it left quite a large amount of oil - literally a small puddle.
-------------------------
• To start, you need to follow the instructions in the valve
cover gasket DIY thread. The valve
cover needs to come off.
http://318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=12007 • Remover the intake snorkel, snorkel "rest" and cooling fan. This will give you a lot more access to the front of the engine.
• Drain the coolant. Remove the thermostat and two main radiator hoses.
• Remove the two engine belts. Remove the A/C belt tensioner.
• Remove the water pump pulley. Four bolts.
• Unbolt the cam postion sensor.
• The upper
timing case
cover can now be removed. With both the upper and lower
timing case covers, make sure you keep track of which bolt goes where as there are different size/length bolts involved.
• Now the AC compressor bracket needs to be loosened. There are five bolts holding the bracket to the engine. Two on the front of the lower
timing case and three that need to be accessed from under the car. Unfortunately one of those bolts is blocked by the compressor itself. So you need to remove the 3 bolts (allen head) that hold the compressor to the bracket. That allows the compressor to move enough to access one of the bracket bolts.
• Remove the A/C belt pulley off the front of the vibration dampener. Three bolts
• Now comes time to remove that main vibration dampener/crankshaft bolt. It's a M16x120mm; 12.9 bolt - huge. You need a 22mm socket and either an impact gun or a very large breaker bar. in addition, you will need to hold the crankshaft in place as it will obviously just rotate as you attempt to turn the bolt. From what I understand you can "pin" the flywheel through the flywheel locking hole (the one used to lock the engine at TDC during the
timing procedure). I decided to use the tool made for the job. It consists of a large holder bar (SIR Tools 3034-2 or BMW Tool "11 2 150") , a spacer piece (BMW Tool #11 2 410) and three bolts (that I bought). I bought M8x60mm; 12.9 bolts, but they turned out to be too long so I had to add the nuts in the photos as a spacer. M8x50mm should be ideal.
The tool.
• Bolt the holding tool in place and position the arm downward. I set it up so the force of the tool pushes down on my floor jack which worked perfectly.