E30 325i, odd vibration

Post Tue Oct 30, 2012 7:00 am

Hi Guys,

I have a 1989 E30 325i (recently converted from automatic to manual) recently I've had a strange issue.

The car runs and drives well, however between 1500-2000rpm (both when moving and stationary) the car has quite a noticeable drone/vibration thing happen, you can feel it through the steering, pedals, everything basically.

I have changed the engine and gearbox mounts, no change.
Removed Viscous Fan to see if thats an issue, no change.
Replaced cap and rotor, no change, (didn't expect that to do much anyway).
Replaced CSB and Guibo (at the time I didn't realise the fault occured when stationary) no change.

The issue isn't always evident, sometimes it takes 20mins or so of driving for it to occur, sometimes it happens straight off.

Has anyone had an issue like this?
Thanks

Post Tue Oct 30, 2012 7:04 am

When the auto to manual conversion was done, was a spigot bearing used in the end of the crank?

Post Tue Oct 30, 2012 7:20 am

maggspower wrote:When the auto to manual conversion was done, was a spigot bearing used in the end of the crank?

Thats a good question, am thinking that perhaps it wasn't.

I supplied my mechanic a load of parts from a parts car, flywheel, clutch etc, but if there was a bearing require on the crank then this might not have been obtained, i'll have to check with him to confirm.

I assume this being missing causes these types of issues?
Cheers

**Edit ***
I just checked the paperwork, there was a Spigot Bearing listed, for about $7, I assume there is only 1x Spigot bearing?

Exhaust is tight, steering column tight, nothing loose that me or my mechanic can find.

Post Tue Oct 30, 2012 8:15 am

Is there anything loose or not bolted down correctly in the engine bay.?

Is the steering column tight?

Is your exhaust bolted up correctly?

I've had engine speed related vibrations with these in the past, wouldn't hurt to check.!

Post Tue Oct 30, 2012 9:28 am

I just checked the paperwork, there was a Spigot Bearing listed, for about $7, I assume there is only 1x Spigot bearing?

Exhaust is tight, steering column tight, nothing loose that me or my mechanic can find.

Post Tue Oct 30, 2012 9:38 am

Theres a user on here from New Zealand called WillNZ, maybe he could have a look if he lives near christchurch. His signature says he lives in the "Wops" I understand this to mean backcountry.? (I heard it when I was over there in 2005)

Maybe drop him a message?

Post Tue Oct 30, 2012 11:08 am

what torque was the flywheel bolts put to? was new ones used ?

Post Wed Oct 31, 2012 7:38 am

I removed most of the bracket, that holds the exhaust to the gearbox and went for a good drive, within 10 mins I has the usual Vibration and drone. (wanted to see if it made any changes to the vibration with the exhausted moved a little).

However I discovered I can make it go away for a few minutes at a time if I drive the car hard for a few seconds..
ie, 6000rpm.

I Can then happily cruise at 1500rpm without the vibration, of course, a few minutes later its back.

I did the same thing 3 times with the same result. (Once while the car wasn't moving) and each time the result was the same, I could get a few minutes of peace without the annoying vibration.

Post Wed Oct 31, 2012 8:15 am

You sure you haven't got a nut or bolt or even a tool floating around in the bodywork?

Post Wed Oct 31, 2012 8:33 am

It could be the muffler, I had it replaced about 6 months ago with a normal single pipe item, its got rather tinny sounding, perhaps its got a loose baffle in it, although its hard to imagine it causing the sort of vibration I get.
Also the car just has twin pipes all the way from the front to the back where the rear muffler is, theres no Cat, no resonators.

Post Wed Oct 31, 2012 9:03 am

Only one way to find out, drop the exhaust and go for a spin.!

Post Wed Oct 31, 2012 9:52 am

I think one of the keys to this is it happens when stationary. Are you sure you have not got a misfire? You say it goes away after a caning. Also its hard to fathom what type of vibration it is, buzzing or thumping?

Post Wed Oct 31, 2012 9:54 am

Oh and $7 sounds very cheap for a spigot bearing. They are about £11 from bmw here.

Post Wed Oct 31, 2012 10:40 am

^ Mine was about £5 for ECP for a LUK one

Post Wed Oct 31, 2012 1:24 pm

maggspower wrote:I think one of the keys to this is it happens when stationary. Are you sure you have not got a misfire?

My thoughts as well. Any chance of getting a gas analyser on it when it's acting up?

Post Wed Oct 31, 2012 7:43 pm

The has been on a dyno, had perfect AF ratio and made 102wkw, the dyno operator said it ran perfectly.

Post Fri Nov 02, 2012 12:36 am

out of balance flywheel or clutch cover?
pop the car on a ramp and run the engine on the vibraion while some one looks under

Post Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:07 am

maggspower wrote:I think one of the keys to this is it happens when stationary. Are you sure you have not got a misfire? You say it goes away after a caning. Also its hard to fathom what type of vibration it is, buzzing or thumping?

Its more of a Buzzing.

It seems to be from the engine itself, when the fault occurs you can hold your hand on the engine.

Its already had new engine and gearbox mounts.

Tomorrow I am going to replace the oil filter, as thinking back, this problem has only been evident since I changed the oil about 4 months ago, at the time I used a Ryco oil filter, as the BMW Dealer was closed on that day, I have since found out Ryco oil filters are bad and can cause low oil pressure on M20 engines.

The fact that Revving my car to 6000 cures the issue for 30 seconds or so to me suggests oil pressure, since High RPM = more oil pressure, I could be totally wrong, but its worth a shot at least.

Or it could be that the rod bearings or something internal in the engine are worn out, time will tell

Post Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:20 am

As you have seen I have a similar thread running most people have advised it cost be a flywheel or clutch issue and as you have converted to manual maybe the flywheel isn't tight not an easy thing to check but if it didn't vibrate before the conversion I'd be surprised if its the engine running rough

Post Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:55 am

jonny323i wrote:As you have seen I have a similar thread running most people have advised it cost be a flywheel or clutch issue and as you have converted to manual maybe the flywheel isn't tight not an easy thing to check but if it didn't vibrate before the conversion I'd be surprised if its the engine running rough

yeah good point, , its got noisy layshaft bearings (the Getrag 260 rattle) when the cars idling with clutch out, clutch in and that noise goes away, but i've been told thats a common issue though.

I might have to resort to taking off the gearbox, get the flywheel 0 balanced and then bolt it back on with new bolts.
At the same time I'd replace the pilot bearing, clutch release bearing, clutch and pressure plates.

Post Tue Jan 01, 2013 1:31 pm

Is the vibration damper on the front of the crankshaft in good condition and on firmly?

Post Thu Jan 03, 2013 3:52 am

I might have solved the issue with the car.

That is it hasn't played up since I re-sealed these parts (Circled in Orange).

Both pieces could be removed easily and didn't seem to be sealed with anything, so I used some RTV.
The brake one on the right side of the pic was actually popping out of its socket about 1/2 way. (If you just pressed it back in).

Uploaded with ImageShack.us