I’ve been chasing a slow speed front end clunk, which new OE sway bar links didn't fix so yesterday I jacked it up and checked all the torques. Everything looked good except one of the subframe bolts seems just a tiny bit loose. I dropped it several years ago to get the front diff in and maybe I didn’t torque it quite enough? We’ll see how it drives now. Beyond this I’ll just be throwing parts at it. I just put new lower control arms on it a month ago, and the uppers are 2 year old Turner mono ball pieces so I hope they aren’t bad. Maybe I’ll try those polyurethane pieces next.
I recently put all new “edge protection “/ weather stripping on all 4 doors, and the trunk. I’d been slowly buying these pieces over the past 6 months and now that they are on the doors close much more firmly. The 23 year old original pieces were ripped and worn. I also re-tightened the upper trunk lid hinge bolts, which seems to have fixed a persistent clunk from the back of the car as it flexed at slow speeds on uneven surfaces.
in other news, my block and crank are back and sitting on my porch, waiting to begin reassembly. The block and oil pans were just cleaned up and the crank was polished. Also, the block amd crank were were measured by the shop , to back up my micrometer measurements. Everything was within OE specs, except one of the cylinders was very slightly out of round tolerance. I’m going with new rings and a rebuild anyway on it.
I kept the x5 oil pan as I need to punch a hole in the 540 eBay pan at approximately the correct place for the OSV and PCV oil return to drain into. The 540/RWD OSV setup is under the timing cover, so I’d like to keep ourmx5 setup, as it seems much better. There will be some challenges though modifying the hardline that runs down the back of the motor from the OSV and PCV, especially where it goes around the exhaust manifold. It’s a needlessly complicated BMW design
my plan now is to lap the cylinders with felt pads and the Sunnen lapping compound used on alusil blocks. AM Tuned (Audi shop) sells a kit to get this done. I figure why not, and from what I read exposing the silicon again is the best way to ensure a good break in when using new rings. I’ve found some good and definitive reading on the process and plan on renting a profilometer to ensure I get the correct hone. That’s the plan anyway.