[TheNewGuyxi]

Hey guys, my f30 is knocking looking to rebuild with a new short block.
This is my first engine rebuild but it may not be my last because I plan on tracking it. So with this in mind I’m looking for anyone with knowledge.
First I’m looking for a comprehensive manual that tells me the specific torque information for every bolt, I see some people use ISTA & other programs of which I have 0 knowledge about. I’d like some guidance on how to install this on my computer I have a MacBook id like to install this program on if possible. Secondly, I’m very excited to see what this forum brings to the table for advice. The budget for this build can be extremely high or extremely low really isn’t an issue I’m doing this for the experience and to be able to get to know the engine a little better so that I can get comfortable taking it apart when needed.

[n55david]

Out of curiosity, what year and car do you have?

[TheNewGuyxi]

2013 335xi

[Jkflo30]

TheNewGuyxi I'm only writing this to give you my experience with it. Most painful 1+ year experience ever.....

F30 2013 335i 6mt. Around 105kmi, car was running great, started to get bored and interested in more power. Got bootmod3, stage 1 and spun a rod bearing in about 1000 miles. Blew up the engine so bad the rod, piston were turned into 1"pieces max. Block is economically destroyed beyond repair. Valves are also punched through so head is useless also.

Found a used engine from a 2012 335ix which for the price I thought it would be worth some parts swaps and headaches. I paid 3500 for the engine, picked it up locally in Florida. Here's the rundown of what parts I had to swap and more importantly to you, what to look for.

Both engines will say N55B30A. From 2012 to 2014 BMW changed the way the vacuum pump and fuel pump setups mesh together in terms of bolt patterns and shape.

Take a bunch of photos EVERYTHING BEFORE you start ripping it apart, it's highly possible if you do the swap you'll need to tinker here to get it to work. Not impossible, definitely a bitch. I think I spent 150 for a used vacuum pump since I had crushed piston in every part of my blown engine. If you need to rework this area you'll need to get the cap off the front so order this when/if you'll be in there. 20$

Once you find an engine, before you put it in, change the rod bearings. Period.

You'll need to look at the pulley setup, I had to swap that. Pretty straightforward.

The oil pan and suction tubes had to be either swapped and/or purchased. Engine mount arms are a different shape. Harmonic balancer is also different.

Once all the parts arrived as I also learned as I went, it took less than 5 days of total work to swap and reinstall everything.

Hardest part for me is always and forever will be anything related to the oil pan. With the engine in the bay, you are fighting the subframe and it cannot be removed without dropping it. It's heavy if your doing it on your back and it will get in the way if you only partially drop it with jacks and stands.

I spent 5k on parts and the used engine in total (fluids included, twice filled and drained because I'm paranoid af)

Last week I heard a weird noise, took it to a trusted shop. After running the "new engine" for roughly 100 miles, I have knock AGAIN.

Yes it sucks, I'm very skeptical of bootmod3, but for the point of this convo here's the point.

Would I do it again knowing what I know now? Yes

Plan going forward. Buying another used as cheap as possible and running the car stock everything just to use it. I'm going to build a motor on the side (everything I can possibly think of as a weak point will be replaced) and then swapping AGAIN once it's really ready.

Expected cost (round numbers) for new head and used block 1500.
Rods 1000
Pistons 800
Bearings 200
Fluids 100
Plugs 80
Crank 1200
Injectors 1000

If you need photos of anything lmk I have gotten alot from this community and want to pay it back. Best of luck!

[thejeremyman9]

Originally Posted by Jkflo30

TheNewGuyxi I'm only writing this to give you my experience with it. Most painful 1+ year experience ever.....

F30 2013 335i 6mt. Around 105kmi, car was running great, started to get bored and interested in more power. Got bootmod3, stage 1 and spun a rod bearing in about 1000 miles. Blew up the engine so bad the rod, piston were turned into 1"pieces max. Block is economically destroyed beyond repair. Valves are also punched through so head is useless also.

Found a used engine from a 2012 335ix which for the price I thought it would be worth some parts swaps and headaches. I paid 3500 for the engine, picked it up locally in Florida. Here's the rundown of what parts I had to swap and more importantly to you, what to look for.

Both engines will say N55B30A. From 2012 to 2014 BMW changed the way the vacuum pump and fuel pump setups mesh together in terms of bolt patterns and shape.

Take a bunch of photos EVERYTHING BEFORE you start ripping it apart, it's highly possible if you do the swap you'll need to tinker here to get it to work. Not impossible, definitely a bitch. I think I spent 150 for a used vacuum pump since I had crushed piston in every part of my blown engine. If you need to rework this area you'll need to get the cap off the front so order this when/if you'll be in there. 20$

Once you find an engine, before you put it in, change the rod bearings. Period.

You'll need to look at the pulley setup, I had to swap that. Pretty straightforward.

The oil pan and suction tubes had to be either swapped and/or purchased. Engine mount arms are a different shape. Harmonic balancer is also different.

Once all the parts arrived as I also learned as I went, it took less than 5 days of total work to swap and reinstall everything.

Hardest part for me is always and forever will be anything related to the oil pan. With the engine in the bay, you are fighting the subframe and it cannot be removed without dropping it. It's heavy if your doing it on your back and it will get in the way if you only partially drop it with jacks and stands.

I spent 5k on parts and the used engine in total (fluids included, twice filled and drained because I'm paranoid af)

Last week I heard a weird noise, took it to a trusted shop. After running the "new engine" for roughly 100 miles, I have knock AGAIN.

Yes it sucks, I'm very skeptical of bootmod3, but for the point of this convo here's the point.

Would I do it again knowing what I know now? Yes

Plan going forward. Buying another used as cheap as possible and running the car stock everything just to use it. I'm going to build a motor on the side (everything I can possibly think of as a weak point will be replaced) and then swapping AGAIN once it's really ready.

Expected cost (round numbers) for new head and used block 1500.
Rods 1000
Pistons 800
Bearings 200
Fluids 100
Plugs 80
Crank 1200
Injectors 1000

If you need photos of anything lmk I have gotten alot from this community and want to pay it back. Best of luck!

Did you replace the bearings on your "new" engine before driving it?

[Jkflo30]

No, I didn't. Yes I realize this was a poor choice. The engine purchased had 80k and came from a totaled (rear ended) car. I ordered them and it took well over a week to actually receive. At this point in time engine was in.

My only intent for this long-winded response to OP was to help if possible NOT to learn the 5k lesson I just did.

Also, I believe you commented on my original post about the fueling issues I encountered and for that.....thank you.

[thejeremyman9]

Originally Posted by Jkflo30

No, I didn't. Yes I realize this was a poor choice. The engine purchased had 80k and came from a totaled (rear ended) car. I ordered them and it took well over a week to actually receive. At this point in time engine was in.

My only intent for this long-winded response to OP was to help if possible NOT to learn the 5k lesson I just did.

Also, I believe you commented on my original post about the fueling issues I encountered and for that.....thank you.

Well i was mostly asking because most used engine supplies have SOME kind of warranty... even if its only 30-days or something. It sounds like you may have gotten a bad engine, so the first course of action would have been to try and go back to the engine supplier, unless it was just a private party.

Thanks for sharing though, unfortunate you had to go through that.

[TheNewGuyxi]

Originally Posted by Jkflo30

TheNewGuyxi I'm only writing this to give you my experience with it. Most painful 1+ year experience ever.....

F30 2013 335i 6mt. Around 105kmi, car was running great, started to get bored and interested in more power. Got bootmod3, stage 1 and spun a rod bearing in about 1000 miles. Blew up the engine so bad the rod, piston were turned into 1"pieces max. Block is economically destroyed beyond repair. Valves are also punched through so head is useless also.

Found a used engine from a 2012 335ix which for the price I thought it would be worth some parts swaps and headaches. I paid 3500 for the engine, picked it up locally in Florida. Here's the rundown of what parts I had to swap and more importantly to you, what to look for.

Both engines will say N55B30A. From 2012 to 2014 BMW changed the way the vacuum pump and fuel pump setups mesh together in terms of bolt patterns and shape.

Take a bunch of photos EVERYTHING BEFORE you start ripping it apart, it's highly possible if you do the swap you'll need to tinker here to get it to work. Not impossible, definitely a bitch. I think I spent 150 for a used vacuum pump since I had crushed piston in every part of my blown engine. If you need to rework this area you'll need to get the cap off the front so order this when/if you'll be in there. 20$

Once you find an engine, before you put it in, change the rod bearings. Period.

You'll need to look at the pulley setup, I had to swap that. Pretty straightforward.

The oil pan and suction tubes had to be either swapped and/or purchased. Engine mount arms are a different shape. Harmonic balancer is also different.

Once all the parts arrived as I also learned as I went, it took less than 5 days of total work to swap and reinstall everything.

Hardest part for me is always and forever will be anything related to the oil pan. With the engine in the bay, you are fighting the subframe and it cannot be removed without dropping it. It's heavy if your doing it on your back and it will get in the way if you only partially drop it with jacks and stands.

I spent 5k on parts and the used engine in total (fluids included, twice filled and drained because I'm paranoid af)

Last week I heard a weird noise, took it to a trusted shop. After running the "new engine" for roughly 100 miles, I have knock AGAIN.

Yes it sucks, I'm very skeptical of bootmod3, but for the point of this convo here's the point.

Would I do it again knowing what I know now? Yes

Plan going forward. Buying another used as cheap as possible and running the car stock everything just to use it. I'm going to build a motor on the side (everything I can possibly think of as a weak point will be replaced) and then swapping AGAIN once it's really ready.

Expected cost (round numbers) for new head and used block 1500.
Rods 1000
Pistons 800
Bearings 200
Fluids 100
Plugs 80
Crank 1200
Injectors 1000

If you need photos of anything lmk I have gotten alot from this community and want to pay it back. Best of luck!

Thank you for this information this is something I will be doing through out nice days on the weekend the New England weather is kicking my ass. I will be doing this in my garage mostly on my back lol. Let the adventure begin 😅

[RbBugBitMe]

For the benefit of me and the newguyxi, is everyone doing rebuilds using the S55 oil pump/pan setup? I'm also interested in the torque info/software bit.

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by RbBugBitMe

For the benefit of me and the newguyxi, is everyone doing rebuilds using the S55 oil pump/pan setup? I'm also interested in the torque info/software bit.

If you will be tracking the car, you should definitely do this.

[terryd5150]

Originally Posted by RbBugBitMe

For the benefit of me and the newguyxi, is everyone doing rebuilds using the S55 oil pump/pan setup? I'm also interested in the torque info/software bit.

I'm currently amassing the parts to do a complete engine build.

I've already got the M2 N55 oil pump system. Its the S55 but the main pump takes the block-off plug to convert it to the single turbo.

I haven't gotten the pan yet; I haven't been able to confirm/deny if the S55 pan (M4) fits my F32 (435i) subframe.

[TheNewGuyxi]

Originally Posted by RbBugBitMe

For the benefit of me and the newguyxi, is everyone doing rebuilds using the S55 oil pump/pan setup? I'm also interested in the torque info/software bit.

I did not consider this. I ran my car really hard for hours on end I travel a lot. I always felt like my bmw ran through oil even though i had no oil leaks. Would the s55 oil pump/pan setup help fix that issue ? The weather is starting to get better, started pulling things off noticed a lot of carbon built up on the intake valves when i pulled the manifold off. Any one think that could be the cause of my odd knocking ? maybe the intake valves are sticking ? I only heard my knocks after 4k rpm.

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by TheNewGuyxi

I did not consider this. I ran my car really hard for hours on end I travel a lot. I always felt like my bmw ran through oil even though i had no oil leaks. Would the s55 oil pump/pan setup help fix that issue ? The weather is starting to get better, started pulling things off noticed a lot of carbon built up on the intake valves when i pulled the manifold off. Any one think that could be the cause of my odd knocking ? maybe the intake valves are sticking ? I only heard my knocks after 4k rpm.

There will be some carbon buildup and it has nothing to do with oil consumption or knocking.

I'm not trying to sound rude but imo I think you're getting in way over your head.

You don't even know what the problem is. It could just be the bearings and that's hard enough to replace for someone with just a little knowledge.

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by TheNewGuyxi

I did not consider this. I ran my car really hard for hours on end I travel a lot. I always felt like my bmw ran through oil even though i had no oil leaks. Would the s55 oil pump/pan setup help fix that issue ? The weather is starting to get better, started pulling things off noticed a lot of carbon built up on the intake valves when i pulled the manifold off. Any one think that could be the cause of my odd knocking ? maybe the intake valves are sticking ? I only heard my knocks after 4k rpm.

Originally Posted by F32Fleet

There will be some carbon buildup and it has nothing to do with oil consumption or knocking.

I'm not trying to sound rude but imo I think you're getting in way over your head.

You don't even know what the problem is. It could just be the bearings and that's hard enough to replace for someone with just a little knowledge.

I'm going to side with F32Fleet on this. Replacing rod bearings is not an average DIY task.