IvanDias

Well,

Got the M5 back after two days in Woods BMW of Bournemouth, UK, 01202 535 535.

They have just done the Valve Adjustment, and it is the best £224.61 that I have ever spent. It is like a new car.

The midrange feels better, more confident at 1k to 3k rpm, but the two main differences are the noise, all the ticking and treble noises are gone, replaced by just midrange and bass. The biggest difference is breathing at high rpm. The car now pulls like a train from 6000 instead of lightening up.

I left a note in the car, saying that I didn`t presume to tell them their job, but I knew that the clearance should be 0,28 to 0,32. I said that I drove the car pretty hard, and I had heard that is was better to have them nearer 0,32.
I also requested the old ones to be put in a bag, as I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

I can`t confirm which spacing they adjusted the valves to, but they read the note because I got a few shims back. Here are two pictures of the old ones, there are two different sizes (intake and exhaust??).

I have included a GB Pound Coin, an American Dollar bill and a 5 Euro note, so you can get an idea of scale, as you probably have never seen these mysterious objects before.
Aren`t I good to you ??




Here was the bill ;

11.12.1.312.172 - Gasket £20.85
11.12.1.312.173 - Centre Gasket - £9.96
11.32.1.308.216 - Shims x 6 £18.66
11.32.1.308.217 - Shims x 4 £12.44

Labour - 25 units (5 mins each?) - £129.25

Total Ex £191.12
VAT £33.45
Grand Total £224.61 GBP


I was little annoyed that it took an extra day, as they took the cover off and measured all the shims, decided they needed 6 or one size and 4 of another, then didn`t have them and had to order them.
At £3.11 retail, (£1.00 cost?), I would have expected them either to hold a few in stock, or at least order the "average" number a car needs plus one or two for good measure just in case, especially as they had nearly a months notice of the car coming in.


Apart from that niggle, I was very, very impressed with the Service Manager and the quality of the job and my visit.

I`m not normally one to plug a dealer like this, but I am making an exception here. A employee in the parts department told me that several M5 owners they deal with simply don`t bring their car in for this job, they don`t bother with it.


Guys,

Check your service history, because this is a job well worth having done. It *should* be done during a full Inpection II, but it is known for many dealers to "listen" to the engines noise and "decide" whether it needs doing "this time".


All in all, a result.


Ivan

__________________
"Never enter Karussell when on the brakes! I have gone round there on the roof, I know what I'm talking about." ~ Sabine Schmitz

raymondw

Ivan,

Yes, I agree. A valve adjustement transforms the engine of your car. With normal use, a well adjusted valve clearances, should be stable for about 50 or 60k miles.

When I bought my E34 ///M5 in April 1999, I had the valves adjusted too at 105k km. But instead of GBP224, I had to pay hfl 420 ex VAT for this procedure. This included the gasket set.

With the Inspection II of March 2000, the valves did not need adjustement.

Recently my E34 ///M5 (now 145k km) was in for an Inspection I including the valve adjustement. Like you said, I can feel the difference. Including the rear subframe bushings, total bill was around EURO750. Normally, my delaer charges me around 260 EURO for the labour. Added to that come the fluids and other parts (spark plugs, air filters ect).

The E28 ///M5 recently had an Insp II including the replacement of many wear and tear parts. Don't know exactly about the cost yet, but this goes into the EURO 2k5 range. But also here, the difference is noticeble.

Rgrds,

RAymond

Steve Mac

hi ivan
i am having major surgery to the "5" new block,pistons,rings,big end shells, full head rebuild & decoke (inc valve guides) etc etc etc
thinking of cams would you recommend any would it involve the shims being replaced? god help me

IvanDias

The shims are a couple of quid each. With the work you are having done, I would have expected the mechanics to check and adjust them as needed.

They probably have not told you as this is a very minor thing compared to replacing block, pistons and a head rebuild !!

In fact, as I think about it, with a head rebuild, you would have to check and adjust the lot, in fact, I`d bet a pint of beer that the whole lot of shims gets binned replaced with a new load, given their cost.

I haven`t seen much in the way of aftermarket cams for the E34 M5, (Dinan might do one, for a price and a half!), but if you are spending on that, then all new shims all round won`t hurt.

If you are replacing the cam with a stock one, then again, your mechanics must have reason to do so, wear`n`tear, whatever, so again they`d do the shims automatically in the job.



May I ask why such a large job is being done? Your profile shows a late `95 MParallel car. I was under the impression that this kind of expensive and time consuming work was only done when about 200,000 miles was up, when taking the engine out for the chain and tensioner. A rebuild of other parts around the head and valve train is often undertaken as the engine is out, as you might as well take the opportunity to sort 200k of wear out. Even so, big end shells and the block ?

The other reason is that something bad happened, normally either a burnt or melted piston/valve causing damage to the cylinder walls, or *gulp* failure of the tensioner or chain, again unusual before 200,000+ miles.


Ivan

Steve Mac

Well it goes like this;

sat 6th april Goodwood Track day

car driving like a dream passing all sorts then touching 130 through Fordwater and i feel a vibration and the oil temp has
risen considerably so i retire to the paddock.

to my dismay a sparkplug electrode broke off dropping onto
piston 4 scoring the bore and melting the piston by the valve
cut out.

Pistons are £964+vat for the 6 but the block and pistons are
£1600+vat and to repair the block was £400 approx so i opted for the proper job at extra expense (feel the fox is worth it)

The garage is owned by a friend and my knowledge is good if a little limited and these guys have carried out this kind of work
many times so my faith is strong but they try to save me money
which might be best spent now rather than threefold later(if not more), hence my need to cover all avenues.

as said before god help me

thanks for your input

Steve Mac

enjoymentman

Are the part numbers you quoted for the shims the same for the 3.8 as you have a 3.6 if I remember correctly. Do you know which are inlet and exhaust? I ask as I will be ordering some soon.

Regards



enjoymentman


'93 3.8

vadas1

I just got mine ( post Inspection II ) back from the garage ( I had the wheels done at the same time - got a trade quote and couldn't resist ). Only cylinder inlet 1 needed adjusting so we only needed the one shim. Because of the weather and all I haven't really been able to push the throttle down much so I can't comment accurately on how much better it feels but with luck I'll get to find out soon. We got around all of the fluids with a little help. Even got a ding on the driver's wing sorted.

I am very much looking forward to the Calais-Rome Memorial Run.



ralph (vadas1)

vadas1

Recent good weather has allowed time to cruise around a bit. Even though very little needed doing I think the car is running smoother and it certainly sounds meaner. I talked to the mechanic and he reckoned even one tight gap can make a world of difference to smooth running. Witness the Jag V-8 he was working on with one tappet not adjusted. Amazingly smooth and quiet except for a metronome doing overtime.



ralph (vadas1)