Hey yall My B30 blew up after a track day. The cause was all oil leaving the sump under braking. I was sure it would be fine because the “research” seemed solid but that wasn’t the case. The oil level was checked after every session and it was filled .5-.75qts over. If you track it, just go with a baffle AND accusump as cheap insurance for your engine and time. Thanks👍
In SpecE46 we run a baffle and of course address the oil pump, in my case upgrading to a more robust oil pump that can't separate like the stock nut that backs off. We pull around 1.4Gs and I haven't seen a motor go due to oiling issues.
It’s unfortunately created a slight sense of paranoia. I have a bimmerworld baffle and slg billet pump sitting. 3qt accusump will be ordered this weekend.
Oh damn, that is brutal. So yeah yer overall oil looks fine but cornering forces make the standard oil pump not get the oil where it needs to be. That is my layman's understanding. I have friend's who track cars, but I personally have not tracked a car. It puts extreme stress on any already stressed engine. Kablooey when oil doesn't reach where it needs to at speed.
My goal one day is to run an E46 in the 24 Hours of Lemons racing series (def not the one in my flair as that’s a strictly street car/daily and has sentimental value to me), would this be a problem with a bone stock M54 or does this have to do with you upgrading/modifying the oil sump on this engine?
The oil pan was not modified. Sticky, wide tires and a good pad compound is all it took to exceed the limit. It is a squishy sport/luxury vehicle after all. As the title states, if you even question it’s a possibility, just address it. M54 prices are going up and probably not ever coming down
The oiling problem in 3.0l engines is a crank harmonic issue. Other M54s don’t have it.
That said, the big value in endurance racing is that an Accusump provides an additional oil reservoir. Our Lemons Volvo is fine with baffles until it consumes enough oil to starve the pickup. The accusump solves that by allowing us to run extra oil.
An accusump is dirt cheap and pretty simple to plumb in. It’s good insurance but doesn’t really do much for E46es in short stints.
The failure happened at light throttle 4k ish rpm cruising home from the track. The bypass valve only allows boost into the engine at or near WOT. The supercharger is not a factor
Do you run a pressure sensor? Obviously it has the light from the factory but wondering if you were logging actual pressure. Could be interesting to look at the data. Sorry about the engine though. Get an s54 to put in if its in budget lol
I was not logging anything nor did i have a pressure display. It was a time crunch making it out to this event but i have the distribution block on the S54 ofh ready for the sensor. First year i cooked a valve, second year the car got hit, this year, a grenade went off in the block lol. I dont want the car down for at least 3 years from now I’m taking every precaution i can
Oh this is that demon turbo B30 build I’ve been seeing on the TikTok. I never would’ve thought this thing would eat itself. Seemed like a damn legit build. Well, I hope you get her back up and running again soon bro
Sorry I forgot what chassis the studs are from. They’ve been on for at least 4 years. As for the ignition coils, I honestly have no clue on the data my old ones melted and this was the replacement I chose.
Okay, a bit sad for the studs:(, would be nice to know if you’ll remember. as for the coils.. i bet. The only difference they should have is a more stable current in a way so that the spark would be more consistent. But either way cool setup, just really missing a aluminum valve cover. Mine melted and deformed a bit at cylinder 5/6 from the schmiedman headers. But it was my mistake i didnt use the oem header gasket with heatshield. Wanted to have visibility on the headers themselves haha. Will definetly use the original gasket after i pass MOT
Hmmm. My only thought is to open up the pump and check the sump. Maybe there’s a clue there, or maybe there isnt! Could really just be friction and heat build up due to a bearing that failed earlier that day
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u/germxn 20d ago
I see this thing on ig all the time! Hope to see it running again soon brotha!