From digest.v7.n1136 Sat Feb 14 11:20:49 1998
From: Rick and Lisa Westerfield <73237.2070_at_compuserve.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 07:40:01 -0500
Subject: 95 M3 Engine Piston Slap . . . Or Mass Hysteria??? (Kinda Long)

Hello Boys & Girls,

Greetings And Happy Mardi Gras Day! We have good news and bad news from Shreveport, Louisiana. Or maybe I have been afflicted by the mass hysteria that sometimes grips this Digest. Orr BMW here has rebuilt my motor after complaints from me (on cold mornings especially) of a diesel engine/piston slap sound that went away after the engine reached operating temperature. And yes, MOST of that sound has gone away. But it is not all gone away. The engine still makes a mild diesel engine sound but for a far shorter amount of time and at a less objectionable sound level. The sound does go away completely within two minutes of driving (and I can rev more freely) and is that normal M3 growl that I really enjoy. It used to take five minutes of normal driving and rev limits of less than 4000 RPM to keep the engine from sounding like it would destroy itself. They have never replaced anything involving the VANOS gear so I figure that is where the sound is coming from at this point. The timing chain tensioner was replaced earlier trying to eliminate this problem. And oddly enough, I was told that I do NOT need to follow a break-in schedule with this rebuild. But I will keep the revs below 5500 for at least 1500 miles and change the oil (back to my normal Mobil 1 synthetic) at that point no matter what the dealer says. And this is the cleanest this engine has EVER been!!

But here is my mass hysteria problem. Maybe they all really sound like this. My hysteria would really show through if I were to ask one of you if I could come over to your house and stand next to your M3 when you first crank up in the morning. So fear not . . . I shall not ask this!! <grin> And my dealer has been almost saint-like in using patience (and huge sums of BMW NA cash) on me in dealing with this problem so I do not want to go back and poison the water hole by asking for more help with this. I will be buying the extended warranty in November (I was going to do this no matter what) which will give me coverage for four more years and another 50k so the problem can come back or get worse and it will be remedied.

For those of you that care the following is the parts list (abbreviated invoice spelling from the receipt) they used in my rebuild:

          P/N                NAME (??)       Amount
11 25 1 404 961   Piston Kit                  1
11 24 1 284 850   325.KS.Br                 6
11 24 1 284 849   325.KS.Br                 6
11 11 9 064 460   Engine GS                 1
11 12 1 721 938   Bolt Set                     1
11 12 9 067 421   Gas.Set C                1
11 24 1 739 728   Connectin                 12
11 21 1 706 848   BRG Shell                 6
11 21 1 717 527   BRG Shell                 6
11 21 1 706 830   BRG Shell                 1
11 21 2 241 935   BRG Shell                 1

     With a little help from my doctor, pharmacist and extended warranty

administrator maybe my hysteria can go away now <more grins>.

Rick Westerfield - BMW CCA 75009
75 2002 (Gone But Not Forgotten)
95 M3 (Still A Very Good Car)

73237.2070_at_compuserve.com