[flightops]

Some torque specs for you. I’ll see if I can look up the oil pump and vanos springs later.

 

[flightops]

Those are for an N12.

the oil pump sprocket has holes in it. When I replaced ours I just put a socket extension through one of the holes and jammed the sprocket against the case, then torqued it. Could probably also just torque the bolt with the sprocket holding against the drive chain.

I built a crank holding tool for the damper bolt out of some leftover scraps:

Was simple enough to make. I didn’t want to trust the little flywheel lock pin to not shear off under the load. The pin is only meant to locate the crank, so its most likely only a mild steel in most timing kits, or perhaps something even softer. It might hold, it might bend (and jam) or it might shear. I didn’t want to find out which….

 

[flightops]

torque values should be same, but if you give me last 7 of your vin I can look it up.

Oil pump is not “timed” to the cam timing. Just install properly and go.

 

[flightops]

Timing is easy if you have the tooling.

pin the flywheel, lock the cams, install the chain and sprockets, torque the tty bolts and you’re done. Well, there’s a few more details than that, but thats it in a nutshell.

I went the extra step of using the Peugeot degree measurement to confirm my tooling was correct as can be seen here:

You don’t need to if you have good tooling. It was just a nice quick and easy confirmation for my own peace of mind.

 

[flightops]

Our 2009 n12 is running the original water pump drive wheel (wpdw). 140,000+ kms. I’d say how long they last is a combination of the quality of the part and the environment in which its operated.

Oil leakage would also be a wpdw killer. Breaks down the rubber. Another good reason to chase down (and fix) any oil weeping on the acc drive side of the engine asap. I’ve been known to run a hand down behind the rocker cover in that area when I do my general engine look over (cold engine of course) every couple weeks. If the hand comes back wet, time to chase it down.

the rest of the acc drive has been changed, but the wpdw is still oem.

I do watch it like a hawk though and when it starts showing any checking/cracking its getting replaced along with a new water pump.

Its such a pita to get to, I’ll do the wp on spec when/if I get it apart. WP is original as well.

Would have replaced both when I rebuilt the engine, but the money well is only so deep. Needs time to refill after its been drained…

 

[flightops]

If it's consuming oil, it's likely the valve seats are at least pitted. Our N12 was when it was oil burning.

Good news is a simple hand lapping usually restores them. No reason not to anyways if it's already apart....even if it's just to give them a "freshen up".

 

[flightops]

These little engines aren’t exactly “whisper quiet” even when they are running right. They’re kind of mechanically noisy in my experience.

Seems to be top end noise. Whether thats lash adjusters or vanos doesn’t really matter. its not a problem, its just they way they are.

The key is to be familiar with how it sounds in normal operation and notice when anything changes or gets louder. Same with any engine…

 

[flightops]

Yeah, there's something going on there. Hard to tell anything definitive from a YT video, but there's too much "clatter". Gas engines should never have a diesel-ish clatter sound to them. Sort of sounds like there's a lash adjuster (what you're probably calling a lifter) not pumping up fully or something along those lines. Certainly a valve train noise somewhere.

For comparison, here's our 2009 N12 :

That's a dead cold start. Only 23c showing on the ECT gauge. Literally the amount of time it takes to hit the start button, walk to the front and start the phone recording. Lash adjusters are even probably still pumping up fully.

As I mentioned, not exactly the quietest engines and you can hear the valves and valve train tapping quietly when you're standing in front of it in person, but that clatter in yours shouldn't be there....certainly worth chasing down as excessive clearance causing clatter causes accelerated wear and only gets worse over time. The roller bearing inside the roller cam followers really don't like excessive clearances. They like to run smoothly and excessive clearance tends to beat on their internal needle/roller bearings and flatten a side on them. Then they stop being rollers and try to act like plain bearings. Failure follows soon after. Good news is it doesn't happen all at once because the little needle bearing are very hard, but they will eventually flat spot if run like that for extended periods.

If you have a mechanics stethoscope available, have a listen around the engine to see where that clatter can be heard the loudest. That will help you home in on it. If you don't have access to a steth, a long (very long) screwdriver held against the bone behind and at the base of your ear can also work to touch the engine in various places to try and narrow the location down.

Unfortunately, these engines don't really run very well with the valve cover off, so you'll have to sort of touch the cover or the metal parts of the head you can get to to try and narrow it down.

good luck.

 

[flightops]

Yes lash adjuster is what I’m mistakenly calling a lifter. Yes this noise has gotten louder over the years. Bought it with 74 k miles, now has 110 k. Seemed like the one previous owner took reasonable care of it and I have done synthetic oil every 5 k but has always used oil.

thanks

Edited my post and added some info while you were typing. Might be worth a quick look. That video is also in the back of the garage where the mini is now stored for winter, so it's echoing off the walls and as such, louder than if you were outside.

They all use oil to some extent. Piss poor oem oil scraper ring design. What's an issue is when it start using more and more. Then it's rebuild time. You're well into the mileage range where they all seem to need at least valve seals, a cylinder hone and piston rings.

I did the rings in ours and now it doesn't drop oil level at all between oil changes. Or at least not enough to be perceptible. before it would use 1-2 liters a week (approx 400-500 kms per week). It went from using very little to 1-2 liters a week over a single summer or driving. So when they start to go, they get worse pretty quickly....

 

[flightops]

Come to think of it, might be worth checking your ACC drive. The water pump pulley has been known to "chunk off" it's rubber coating and rattle quite loudly when running. Apparently, it makes that sort of "diesel-like" sound yours seems to be making.

If that's what's happening, you want to fix that ASAP!

If the water pump isn't running properly (or jams and stops), the car will overheat rapidly and kill the engine in short order.

Compounding the issue is that these cars don't have a dash ECT gauge and it can be roasting itself and you won't even know until it starts puking coolant everywhere. It's pretty much too late at that point.

It's one of the reasons i added an ECT capable OBDII dash gauge to ours. This gauge, and similar installation:

I have the main number set to ECT and the two smaller numbers to IAT and Voltage in our car. It's user definable.

IMHO, it's damned near criminal that BMW didn't put at least an ECT gauge in the dash of these.....Engine temp is a critical parameter when they're already running so close to overheat in just normal operating parameters.

 

[flightops]

N12’s don’t have the solenoid controlled oil pump. They’re the traditional “pop off spring” valve design.

Not sure if the N16’s are the same. They may have the solenoid controlled pump like the “s” versions….mike would know.

increased rpm isn’t just about building pressure, its also flow volume. For example, your rectang rings may bypass enough oil at idle to mess up the vvt operation, but once the pump is turning good and fast it may have enough volume to overcome that. Lots of things in the engine can be effected the same way…

 

[flightops]

I wouldn’t make that assumption. I’ve worked with a lot of tool and die machinists that never opened the hood of a car and didn’t care less about them.