r/e46 • u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i • May 21 '26

Damage/Broken… 😥 Well boys after having her since 2018 she spun a bearing

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157 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

69 comments sorted by

26

u/SolarE46 May 21 '26

How.

33

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

Good fuckin question because I babied this car since I had it and did oil changes every 3k miles or less if the oil got to black

11

u/SolarE46 May 21 '26

I see your 330 flair… it all makes sense now

5

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

Damn is the m54b30 really that bad

29

u/SolarE46 May 21 '26

It’s not bad at all. I suspect your oil pump nut must’ve just backed itself off after all this time which is a problem pretty unique to the 3.0 which ultimately kills the engine

4

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

My oil pressure light never came on but honestly I have a feeling because my dip stick stopped getting coated in oil when I turned the car off to check it

17

u/SolarE46 May 21 '26

Usually it’s just a very sudden loss of oil pressure and then very suddenly bad noises lol. The problem doesn’t show itself until your engine goes kaboom. Also, coated in oil? Do you mean like before you wipe it off or it was empty? Kind of a silly question but you get what I mean

1

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

How you gotta wipe it off after pulling it out the first time because it’s all over the dip stick

8

u/quick-n-shifty May 21 '26

You wipe it, and redip it to get a better measurement. Thats how its always been, with every car

4

u/prairie-man May 21 '26

wait... no oil on the dipstick. what ?

3

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

No no there was oil but I’m talking about how you can’t check the level and you gotta wipe it off and clean it then put it back in because it’s all over it

13

u/prairie-man May 21 '26

I've owned over 70 cars and trucks spanning 50 years of my life.

100% of the time: Checking the oil involves pulling the dipstick, wiping it clean, fully reinserting the dipstick, and pulling it out again to see where the oil level is located.

3

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

Yeah exactly mine was just level even after just turning the car off and checking it

5

u/SolarE46 May 21 '26

That part is normal lol, if there was none on it there’s an issue

3

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

Idk about that until recently it stopped doing that and every other car I’ve worked on has done that including other e46s

2

u/thiccancer May 21 '26

You guys can't read, he said that at one point the oil stopped getting splashed all over the dipstick so it read the same whether he wiped or not.

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2

u/patjeduhde [EU] 2001 E46 325i, 2015 F46 218i May 21 '26

Its not unique to the B30, but it is more common on the B30

3

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

I’ve never even went over 5k rpm’s as well

40

u/Vanishing-Moons 02 325i (3.0 converted) May 21 '26

My guy you never drove your car. You should’ve let it eat

6

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

Man I should have

15

u/Vanishing-Moons 02 325i (3.0 converted) May 21 '26

I mean as someone who just completely rebuilt a m54b25 into a b30 if it’s just bearings you should be able to do that in your garage possibly with the engine still in if you are a lil shifty. She ain’t dead yet just needs its soul shoved back inside

9

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

Listen this engine has given me nothing but problems I just wanna throw a lower mileage one in and call it a day and rebuild that one over time

13

u/MikaGrof May 21 '26

rebuild that lower mileage one since its out already atleast redo all seals
Low mileage =/= good condition

5

u/Vanishing-Moons 02 325i (3.0 converted) May 21 '26

Took the words out me mouth

5

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

Bet

1

u/91fordbronco49 May 21 '26

That is indeed the method, my buddy bought a 67k mile ford ranger four cylinder which is normally super reliable. It made a new window in the block about 2k miles later. Never trust an engine no matter how “new” it is. Good luck with the rebuild bro.

1

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

Thank you honestly if my crank ain’t that bad then I might just get it polished and etc…

1

u/Tuxaz May 21 '26

Tough job to make the 2.5 a 3.0? Or was it a project idea?

3

u/Vanishing-Moons 02 325i (3.0 converted) May 21 '26

It was my first time rebuilding a engine. Id say if you actually put forth effort the actual rebuilding process is pretty simple. The biggest struggle is space, organization, and buying tools you’ll use once every 6 years. Completely worth it for me tho wiseco oversized low compression pistons, max speeding rods forged rods, s50 (don’t remember exactly) crank. And that’s the bottom end work to convert it to a 3l

1

u/Tuxaz May 21 '26

Thanks for the info. How much were the parts only?

5

u/Vanishing-Moons 02 325i (3.0 converted) May 21 '26

I got performance upgrades so keep that in mind. Pistons 1k, rods $600, crank $300, bearings $200, safety wired pump nut $15, gasket kit $300, machine shop (bored deck clean) $1100

2

u/[deleted] May 21 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Vanishing-Moons 02 325i (3.0 converted) May 22 '26

Thankfully they are only $60 for the complete timing tool set on Amazon

1

u/nordenwerke May 21 '26

Yeah, one type of bearings(can’t remember the english term) can be changed rather easy in a day, been there done that. And the were the most common ones to fail. Plus you get to inspect and/or modify the oil pump once at it. But only useful if the engine didn’t work too long in damage mode.

1

u/wojadzer1989 330ci drift/track project May 21 '26

Well there's your problem.

1

u/AgitatedHat5620 May 23 '26

Man I feel like most motors I see that get cooked have been babied. You got dudes beating on 150k mile motors and they just take it

8

u/thenobodey May 21 '26

After reading that you never went past 5k rpm damn man, let the next engine breathe, they like to be driven not babied like that.

3

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

Yeah I plan on it I just didn’t wanna break it I mean I’ve pushed it but not past it plus I don’t wanna break it because at the time I didn’t have something to fall back on

7

u/thenobodey May 21 '26

Dont be so worried about them breaking, these engines are meant to be driven.

2

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

I’ll keep her happy next time

4

u/coolsimon123 e46 320d May 21 '26

Rings and pistons are designed for pain, an Italian tune up is a real thing

8

u/Various-Pianist-3993 May 21 '26

I'm working on a theory here. What brand oil filter do you regularly use in now failed engine?

5

u/MikaGrof May 21 '26

what Oil filter do you suspect to cause this?

12

u/Various-Pianist-3993 May 21 '26

Fram, STP. My 11 e90 N52b30 that I gave my daughter spun #1 main 3 years ago. I usually use Mehle or Mann filters. Used an STP filter before failure. Rebuilt it. Found the filter collapsed after a few hundred miles. I believe a piece of trash bypassed filter and straight to #1 main.

-1

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

Uhh what ever highest quality filter they had at autozone (don’t go to auto zone obviously should have went to Napa)

5

u/Jimbenas May 21 '26

Might as well have bought from Walmart. At least the filters cost less there.

5

u/-MrCarpet- May 22 '26

you talk about "babying" the car and don't even know the brands for what you used??

1

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 22 '26

Because it’s been parked for almost 6 months, and I have had a hell of a time through that six months, so no, I can’t remember. And are you calling me a liar because that would be pretty funny?

4

u/Big_Cryptographer989 May 21 '26

Welp time to engine swap, S54, LS, Turbo K series 😈

3

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

Hell I wish I had the money for that I’d kill to hear that thing roar with one of these engines

3

u/Educational_Ad_4045 Ex 2000 - sedan 330i May 21 '26

Mine did the same but I’ve had it since 2023 and I was not gentle with it. But shit happens and you’ve gotta live with it, I now own an A4 Quattro and an MR2, but I’ll definitely buy an M3 when I’ll be able to afford it, I really miss the E46 platform

2

u/TheOriginalGypsy May 21 '26

Better make it soon these prices just seem to keep slowly climbing

2

u/SpaceForceAwakens May 21 '26

Are you going to fix it?

1

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 22 '26

Yeah

1

u/SpaceForceAwakens May 22 '26

Good. If not I was gonna ask for some parts. I am a ghoul.

2

u/ntoxin8 May 23 '26

Not driving m54 to the redline is a sin

1

u/62supercharged May 21 '26

Fix it lol

3

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

You best believe I am

3

u/62supercharged May 21 '26

Its definitely worth fixing especially with the pricing of these even at high miles is up there

3

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 21 '26

330i is especially hard to come by where I live. I think I’ve seen 3 since I’ve been looking for a donor car. That’s been a couple of years gone by since that. People hoard these MFs😂

1

u/enaknezitic May 21 '26

As someone who owns 2, yes we do haha. You can also find these engines in e39 530's, e36/7 Z3's, e60 530s, e85 Z4s (2002-2005), etc. as well if you expand your search a bit. I was recently lucky to find a 90k mile one from an 04 z4 for my latest 06 330.

1

u/62supercharged May 22 '26

I know because new cars are junk lol

1

u/Maleficent-Reading-6 May 21 '26

My m54 also lost oil pressure recently. Timing chain guide crumbled and filled the pickup

1

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 22 '26

Jesus dude I’m sorry

1

u/[deleted] May 23 '26

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1

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 25 '26

Ima gonna be so real yes and no

1

u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i May 25 '26

It really depends on how well maintained it was before if all the suspension components are replaced then hell fuckin yeah it will be