BMW E46 M3 Valve Adjustment DIY (BMW S54 Engine Valve Lash Adjustment)
►The E46 M3's S54 engine is a superbly engineered powerplant that will be regarded forever. However, its engineering is also the reason for its tight tolerances and strict service intervals. The mechanical valvetrain is pure race car stuff, but the valve lash requires an adjustment every 20-30,000 miles. Skipping an adjustment will cause a power and gas mileage reduction and increase wear on valvetrain components. Save yourself the engine damage, and some money, by following the DIY and adjusting the valves yourself.
While it might look scary, the job is very straightforward, requiring minimal special tools. You will have the engine open to the elements and be working with components that need to be set properly at specific tolerances, so patience and a steady hand are most important. But as long as you follow the video, you'll be just fine.
Learn and follow along with Gareth Foley, FCP Euro's BMW Expert, as he performs a valve lash adjustment on this BMW S54 engine.
00:00 - Intro
01:31 - Tools Needed
02:33 - Job Start/BMW S54 Splash Shield Removal
03:45 - BMW S54 Fan Removal
07:11 - BMW S54 Cabin Air Filter Cowl Removal
08:18 - BMW S54 Serpentine Belts Removal
09:29 - BMW S54 Crank Pully Removal
10:39 - BMW S54 Valve Cover Removal
16:28 - BMW S54 Intake Valve Lash Adjustment
25:09 - BMW S54 Exhaust Valve Lash Adjustment
30:06 - BMW S54 Valve Cover Installation
40:19 - BMW S54 Cabin Air Filter Cowl Installation
40:50 - BMW S54 Serpentine Belts Installation
43:23 - BMW S54 Fan Installation
47:12 - Wrap-Up
Shop Parts Used Here:
Valve Lash Shim Kit - www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-...
Valve Cover Gasket - www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-...
Valve Cover Grommets - www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-...
Spark Plug Tube Seals - www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-...
Spark Plugs - www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-...
Shop Tools Here:
Feeler Gauge Kit - www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-...
Shim Install Tool - www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-...
Spark Plug Socket - www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-...
BMW M3
2001 BMW M3 Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
2002 BMW M3 Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
2003 BMW M3 Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
2004 BMW M3 Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
2005 BMW M3 Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
2006 BMW M3 Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
BMW Z3
2001 BMW Z3 M Coupe Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
2001 BMW Z3 M Roadster Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
2002 BMW Z3 M Coupe Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
2002 BMW Z3 M Roadster Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
BMW Z4
2006 BMW Z4 M Roadster Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
2006 BMW Z4 M Coupe Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
2007 BMW Z4 M Coupe Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
2007 BMW Z4 M Roadster Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
2008 BMW Z4 M Roadster Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
2008 BMW Z4 M Coupe Engine Valve Adjuster Shim Kit
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Just here to say that these videos help me be less scared to own and drive my M3. It is so cool that you are helping us with keeping these beauties on the road. Your professionalism encourages me to really take care of my car. Thank you!
Thank you. These cars are great and probably more popular/sought after than ever. I don't see that changing in the future.
Thanks so much for taking the time for making these videos, it helps me a lot and gives me confidence to follow a process with my e46 m3
You are so welcome, happy wrenching!
Daang Gareth! I don't even have an M3, I just wanted to say you look great - it can't be all that easy - so more power to you! Thanks for all the other very helpful videos too!
I appreciate it. Most things worth doing are rarely easy.
Looking good Gareth! Happy for you
Thank you!
I’ve done this job multiple times on a single engine, and have found that clearances virtually ALWAYS open up during the ensuing 30k miles of operation. Therefore, if a new shim is required, I always target one that will be close to the tightest clearance in the tolerance band. This means that at each successive inspection, I am less likely to require a shim change on any given valve.
Asking myself couple of question and you answer them seconds later. Great video
Thanks @FCP Euro I bought this kit from you guys at the start of the summer this video was on point 👍👍
Great to hear!
good job!
Very informative and intresting .
Thank you so much for uploading this, it gives me the courage to attempt this myself.
You can do it!
@@fcpeuro Thanks to this video and some forum posts I was able to, a relatively easy but just time consuming job.
Good video! Had to double check who it was Garreth has lost a bunch ! Good for you
Thank you. Same me, just slightly less of me.
Nice weight reduction
Appreciate it. 🤟
This is such a pain in the ass. I thought I wanted a e46 M3 until I bought one.
Looking healthy bra! 💪🏼
Working on it! It's been worth the effort.
Make sure you have two sets of shims if you're using FCP kits. One is not going to be enough.
These videos are amazing. Do you have everything available as a kit? ECS (bleh)has a kit but I don't trust it 😅
I haven’t watched your videos for awhile… Dude! How much weight did you loose wow 👍 Now you even sound different
Thank you. I don't actually know. Never looked where I was when I started and only saw a number recently. I can speculate but the change was never about weight. It was always about feeling better and using points in time to benchmark progress.
Amazing video! Can y’all do the maintenance on mine for free 😂
Love the shirt! Do you guys sell those?
I’ve seen elsewhere that the valve cover gasket may be re-usable. I’m doing this job myself on a Z4M with this engine. With 45K miles on the clock, I suspect mine have never been done as what I’ve taken off up to now looks like it has never been touched! My gasket looks fine visually and intact and didn’t even light off the cylinder head at all when I lifted the valve cover. What are the opinions on just re-using it? Obviously, this would significantly reduce the cost of doing the job! Thanks in advance!
One question, is the feeler gauge measurement taken between the camlobe and the rocker arm, or between the shim and the rocker arm??
cam and rocker arm
Warn people to be very careful they don't drop the washers off the cpv oil line on the side of the block. I lost an hour trying to find one of them that dropped down into the subframe brace. Also, my engine had varnish on the rocker arm guides and none of them would simply slide out of the way to access the buckets. Apparently you can cut little strips of 1000 or higher sand paper to remove the varnish so they'll slide over.
don't ever do that inside the engine.
I didn't know oil could cause an engine to hydrolock (I knew that gas could). Would it be because the oil could prevent combustion from happening in one or more cylinder, causing the engine to lock? Wouldn't that rather cause a "simple" misfiring? Thanks
Similar to water oil does not compress, so if there is enough of it in the combustion chamber it would act similarly to any other fluid and not allow full compression.
When you state point the cam lobes straight up. Is that literally straight up perpendicular to the ground? Or straight up perpendicular to the engine since it's at an angle? It's hard to tell in the video Thank you so much for this video, just finished doing my Vanos and want to start the valve adjustment now.
The lobes need to be straight up in relation to the valves. It's to ensure that the cam lobes are not pressing down on the valve at all when you go to measure clearances.
@@GarethFoley thank you very much sir
The lobes don't need to be perfectly straight up, since there is a substantial dwell time (circular cross-section) built into the lobes. Just be sure that the orientation is somewhere along the circular arc of the lobe. @@THE46GUY
@@MEMcAndrews thanks for the reply! After doing two of these now I understand what you mean.
@@THE46GUY oh. Great! You’ve done two in a very short time 😊. Not both on the same vehicle, I presume.
how much does it cost to get it adjusted?
Hi Oni, you will want to contact your local BMW shop for a quote!
hey! gareth lost some weight!!!
Thank you. Made pretty good progress in a year.
Wait a minute... this is the same guy??
Yeap, possibly his wife isn’t giving him food anymore.
Hopefully it was a healthy weight loss, this dude has helped me on many projects.
Same guy.
@@wickeddodgeboys6603 Diet and exercise over the course of a year. Intentional changes for the better.
The corrosion and strange green RTV slime everywhere are alarming on this car.
Was there any suspicious noise indicating this service need on the engine please? Something similar than on my 5 series too? kzhead.info/sun/iZmYitGun6manmw/bejne.html What do you reckon it could be. Scratching my head here.
I want to learn how he loose weight more.
Diet, exercise, and consistency.
Thank you for the reply. 🎉. You are now both my BMWs repair instructor and weight loss inspiration.
@@teerasongatikamas773 Appreciate it man. My best advice for working on cars or your health is to learn to have fun even when it's hard and learn to love the process.
Clearly not a fan of the “cosmetic cover”
First
Hey Gareth, can you guys do a video on the differences and issues or causes, etc... an Ebay China BMW Valve cover causes /acts compared to an original OEM Valve cover? Thanks man!
It's not too relevant for the S54 engine. In the discussion of Genuine vs aftermarket valve covers the primary problems you're going to run into with aftermarket valve covers is poor material choices, aftermarket gaskets, and issues pertaining to the PCV valve (if integrated in the valve cover).
Damn Gareth, u lost weight now u look like ur 65yrs old man! jk... Just to let you know that ur a National Treasure for all car guys especially all of us European car owners! YOU MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COST!!!
I appreciate it. It's the grey hair that makes me look older. But I feel better than I have in a long time and while it's been a lot of work it's been 100% worth it.