[Chappers 71]

Had been out in my 335, opened the garage door to put the car away & what do I see lying on the floor? A sheared off torx bolt now I am wondering where's it come from, why has it sheared & how the fuck has it managed to unwind itself?
Having done a Google search I'm thinking it may be a bell housing transmission bolt, anyone got any thoughts as to what it's come off & more importantly how difficult is this going to be to fix?

[abeardo83]

You're joking? I found one from my (now old) car the other day too!!!

[Chappers 71]

Really? Have you found out where it came from?
Lol it seems our cars came out of the dealership at the same time & are now also falling apart at the same time

[MattOz]

Looks, perhaps, like a door hinge bolt? They're usually silver, but might just be mucky?

[abeardo83]

Originally Posted by Chappers 71

Really? Have you found out where it came from?
Lol it seems our cars came out of the dealership at the same time & are now also falling apart at the same time

No I didn't tbh.
It's not my car anymore...

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by abeardo83

No I didn't tbh.
It's not my car anymore...

You sold it then? What have you got/getting now?

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by MattOz

Looks, perhaps, like a door hinge bolt? They're usually silver, but might just be mucky?

No, it's not that it's to long. The bolt, what's left of it has 55mm of thread up to where it snapped.
Thanks for having a try though

[Dormermike]

The end looks tapered to my eye, are you sure it's sheared off?

Manual car? If so I reckon your right on bellhousing and probably one of the harder to reach "spares" that the fitter didn't bother to do right when changing clutch

BTW as it looks uniformly rusty it's probably not been screwed in somewhere but rather sat on something..

[335e92]

bellhousing+1

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by Dormermike

The end looks tapered to my eye, are you sure it's sheared off?

Manual car? If so I reckon your right on bellhousing

BTW as it looks uniformly rusty it's probably not been screwed in somewhere but rather sat on something..

Yep definitely sheared no it's an auto.

Have just been to my local bmw dealer & there parts guy couldn't identify it, he has said its not gearbox/bell housing as they apparently aren't threaded all the way. So an hour of my life wasted.
I think it's made out of ally or as it's very light only 20 grams There is a code on it AL9 KX2 & the head is painted blue.

[Dormermike]

Strange. Not sure Id worry about it too much.

Does the sheared bit look recent?

Is the entire threaded length rusty or is that the camera angle, two photos look very different.


Trying to work out if it's actually been threaded into something or just sat somewhere and dropped out.

Starter motor??

[Chappers 71]

No rust, just dirty.
I'm still thinking it's from the bell housing. Just going to have to jack it up, get under there & have a look, maybe starter motor but the pics I've looked at shows it to be not threaded all the way to the head.

Going to have to get it on a lift, couldn't see much under the car, need to get under tray off for a proper look I think.
I didn't fancy messing around under there with only a jack preventing me from getting squashed

[abeardo83]

Originally Posted by Chappers 71

You sold it then? What have you got/getting now?

E92 M3.

[jamesmurray]

Water pump bolt maybe?

[P14kle]

Exhaust bracket or hanger at the front..

[Rustymage]

Somebody might have put it there to screw with you?

[TBN54]

Originally Posted by Rustymage

Somebody might have put it there to screw with you?

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by abeardo83

E92 M3.

Very nice, you should post some pics

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by abeardo83

E92 M3.

Lovely got to admit I do like these especially a DCT equipped model

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

Lovely got to admit I do like these especially a DCT equipped model

Hi steve, hows the sale of your 335 going?
Have you got any thoughts on where this torx bolt may have come from?

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Chappers 71

Hi steve, hows the sale of your 335 going?
Have you got any thoughts on where this torx bolt may have come from?

Looked at it bolt, sure it's been stressed / over tightened hence the clean break not sure if yours is an auto/manual but from memory the trans bolts say on an auto aren't fully threaded whereas the bolt your showing is, but it's a substantial bolt and to me looking at the photograph, size wise a candidate for a transmission size bolt for sure as they are a mixture of sizes M12 X 50 / M12 X 75 to M10 X 85 with a smaller M8 bolt thrown in for good measure so you have to ask yourself what works taken place in the past who's been where. Manual box's if yours is a manual aren't that different re size but again from memory they are 100% threaded. So has someone replaced bolt for bolt? Quite feasible I guess if someone's been at the car before had an issue replaced the bolt. Seen some cars with odd bolts in situ so you never know

The water pump bolts are fully threaded from memory but they are smaller around 30mm or so.

Re mine I've still got it someone is very keen/very patient with me and my circumstances I've had a couple of niggles I think may be map related so worked on the issues(though small) map was sent uploaded to my car on Friday and I'm evaluating shall we say once I'm happy then the potentual interested party will know my thoughts and we go from there, every car I've owned I've been careful with and I sell when I'm ready and I'm happy I can't / won't palm a car off on anyone if I'm aware of an issue as it isn't my style but I see plenty that have gone this way if you follow me but the thing with these cars as any 335i owner will I think agree with me is "expect the unexpected"

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

Looked at it bolt, sure it's been stressed / over tightened hence the clean break not sure if yours is an auto/manual but from memory the trans bolts say on an auto aren't fully threaded whereas the bolt your showing is, but it's a substantial bolt and to me looking at the photograph, size wise a candidate for a transmission size bolt for sure as they are a mixture of sizes M12 X 50 / M12 X 75 to M10 X 85 with a smaller M8 bolt thrown in for good measure so you have to ask yourself what works taken place in the past who's been where. Manual box's if yours is a manual aren't that different re size but again from memory they are 100% threaded. So has someone replaced bolt for bolt? Quite feasible I guess if someone's been at the car before had an issue replaced the bolt. Seen some cars with odd bolts in situ so you never know

The water pump bolts are fully threaded from memory but they are smaller around 30mm or so.

Re mine I've still got it someone is very keen/very patient with me and my circumstances I've had a couple of niggles I think may be map related so worked on the issues(though small) map was sent uploaded to my car on Friday and I'm evaluating shall we say once I'm happy then the potentual interested party will know my thoughts and we go from there, every car I've owned I've been careful with and I sell when I'm ready and I'm happy I can't / won't palm a car off on anyone if I'm aware of an issue as it isn't my style but I see plenty that have gone this way if you follow me but the thing with these cars as any 335i owner will I think agree with me is "expect the unexpected"

Yep one should certainly expect the unexpected lol.
Mines been running & still is fine since it threw fuel pump code back in July with no issues, I guess that was down to me almost running it out of fuel in my quest for a quicker time at Santa pod
It is an auto, I have had it nearly 5 years now & there has never been anything done to the gearbox during my ownership. I am thinking transmission bolt, but bmw Ardens parts guy thinks not as they apparently are not threaded all the way.
I guess the only way to find out is to get it in the air & take under tray off.
The bolt could have been floating around in the under tray for any amount of time I suppose.
I did speak with a gearbox speacialist ( Gravesend transmissions ) on Saturday, he said depending if it's top or bottom I could most likely live with it, if it's one of the side ones then it's not so good as these apparently help stop the box wanting to twist with the torque.
That would be gearbox out, if they can't undo the remains of the bolt they would need to drill & tap it. He didn't quote any prices but said around 3 days labour, ouch.
Would be grateful for your thoughts on having it sorted
As to how it could shear of & then undo itself.. . That's most likely another tale of the unexpected