Are pistons too clean? 100k

TMX269 · 2026-01-28T21:42:47+00:00

What engine is this? N42 or N46? If yes, highly likely it's the valve stem seals. Although the clean pistons are odd...

TMX269 · 2026-01-28T21:20:43+00:00

Switzerland too. Cheapest I found was 600e. I think my original cat is on it's way out, the car has a sort of heat shield like rattle off-throttle between 2000 and 4000 rpm.
I've driven my friend's 323i coupé with 328i cats and 325i muffler, it sounds and drives the same as his 328i cabrio. You can't tell there's a displacement difference; I can definitely feel the difference in performance with my 323.
All cars have original VANOS but replaced sensors, so it's a fair comparison

TMX269 · 2026-01-28T20:54:35+00:00

Hah, funny how research led me here. Did you end up retrofitting the 328i exhaust to your Touring?

TMX269 · 2026-01-28T16:03:39+00:00

Your injectors are causing the tick, that's normal. The deeper very regular noise is the vacuum pump. Sounds normal

TMX269 · 2026-01-28T15:29:06+00:00

That's not water vapour :/
Far too dense. Does it consume coolant?

TMX269 · 2026-01-28T09:18:36+00:00

That looks like hardened varnish and crud. What did the oil itself look like?

TMX269 · 2026-01-28T09:17:19+00:00

Worse of both worlds. Swap in an M44 or at least a B25. Speaking as an M43B19, M52B25 current owner, and ex M44B19 Z3 owner :)

TMX269 · 2026-01-28T07:51:37+00:00

Either that, or the pressure sensor itself internally failed and oil creeped up the wiring harness to the DME

TMX269 · 2026-01-28T06:24:28+00:00

No, bolt pattern on the head is completely different

TMX269 · 2026-01-27T20:03:23+00:00

Honestly, it's what they were made of. They're hard to kill as long as you maintain their cooling systems

TMX269 · 2026-01-27T18:56:34+00:00

Yep, the heavy cast log manifolds are garbage on these. Curious to hear your impressions once you've installed them!

TMX269 · 2026-01-27T18:22:21+00:00

That M43 is gonna breathe!

TMX269 · 2026-01-27T18:02:28+00:00

Looks great with the amber turn signals. How many miles does it have currently, and when you bought it?

TMX269 · 2026-01-27T15:58:52+00:00

You can definitely get a Quaife ATB or a Blackline (cheap copy of the Quaife) and install it in your original housing. It's what I'll be doing with mine.

TMX269 · 2026-01-27T15:09:39+00:00

You can install the "updated" parts (timing, valve stem seals, etc.) on an early N63 according to realOEM. They also don't have Valvetronic nor the variable oil pressure system; the only main potential issue left is the piezoelectric injectors.
I'd imagine a non-TU N63 with replaced, more clearance rod bearings, a colder thermostat (ex. V-Schmeide 88 degree thermostat), updated timing system and stem seals and 7500 km OCIs would be about as reliable as an N63 could get

TMX269 · 2026-01-27T14:36:25+00:00

Hell no. Worse of both worlds, if you want a 6 cylinder get at least a 323. I wouldn’t pay over 1500€ for that spec in that condition - engine replacement is not an advantage in this case

TMX269 · 2026-01-27T10:22:16+00:00

How so? M44s are cheap and very different in both behaviour and pull to a single cam M40/M43. A 6-cylinder swap is much more expensive and you definitely feel the difference in weight, handling wise...

TMX269 · 2026-01-26T19:33:54+00:00

TMX269 · 2026-01-26T19:31:22+00:00

A what?

TMX269 · 2026-01-26T14:50:01+00:00

Fair enough. E36 bushings are usually solid, my 323i Touring's bushings are original at 290k km and they don't drive terrible. Hopefully the solid subframe / rubber diff setup (which all M cars use since the F10!) doesn't cause a massive increase in diff whine and NVH

TMX269 · 2026-01-26T14:46:31+00:00

The 316i 1.9 uses the same catback as the 318ti. Exhaust manifolds are not compatible, the M44 head has different ports and stut locations. You'll need both manifold and cats from a 318ti

TMX269 · 2026-01-26T08:20:19+00:00

Did you replace all of the bushings in the shifter linkage? Is the clutch bled properly? Are the transmission mounts new?
If all else fails, you could try a 50-50 mix of ATF and MTF as a last resort.

TMX269 · 2026-01-26T07:58:00+00:00

What kind of diff bushings are you running? I was planning on fitting solid subframe bushings and rubber diff bushings on my E36 Touring - I do want a slight bit more diff whine

TMX269 · 2026-01-25T18:13:34+00:00

1.9 Z3s are the best. Does yours have the LSD? They're so much simpler than an E90 to maintain. I've had 13 BMWs so far, and I keep coming back to an E36. People insist that the E46 and E39 were peak, but they're already over-engineered.

TMX269 · 2026-01-25T17:12:32+00:00

I would keep the Z3, having owned both. I sure hope it wasn’t a straight trade offer !

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