dzlnitro

Finally...i've been procrastinating with my father, and well we took the 02 out for a drive today, obviously the car is in half primer half rusty rotty door status and we got some looks that i dont think was good. Regardless, the thing drives great. Starts up perfect, shifts awesome. Brakes...we'll just leave it at that. So were gonna get it painted next week since my pop is on vacation for the next 2 weeks. I would finally love to show my 2002 finished on the exterior at least. -Mike. I think we are gonna go with the original Polaris Silver, and get a offset black stripe put on it.

Hi guys, thanks for the awesome responses! It was not valve cover gasket leak, i spent about an hour under the hood on my break in between classes on the car. I loosened the nuts on the exhaust stud on both ends, cleaned everything with a degrease solution than hand tightened the nuts back on, i didn't have any loctite, but i'm not going to use any until i buy the new gaskets and studs/nuts. So for a temporary fix, i've seemed to stop about 90-95% of the leak. It was pretty much spewing out oil, and now it's really minimal. I will replace the valve cover gasket, well because i bought one thinking that was the problem, and why the heck not? The one on there looks pretty old anyway. Good maintenance i suppose. Anyways, thanks for the responses! once i get around to doing the whole thing , ill give you guys a hopefully better update Oh, and i see your guys concerned with my spark plug wires. Where might I purchase a heat shield for the exhaust manifold...i've been told by some people its not a header. So I guess I have no idea what a header is hehe

I'm a pretty much beginner mechanic, think i could pull this off with basic knowledge?

So, i bought a valve cover gasket, because this forum and another thought it to be, and as i went to change it, i saw no visual evidence of leaking from the valve cover onto my headers. Here is the leak, i have no idea if i need a new header gasket, or new headers in general. Smoke showing on the last pic if you can see it.

That was the old fuel pump, i replaced it a couple months ago, and i took care of that fuel filter problem Alright so, its the valve cover gasket thats leaking than? So is this something I could do easily, cause there is no other leaks on the engine, so i'm assuming the head gasket is fine.

so where you would fill the oil, that whole part would be leaking oil onto the headers, so i'm assuming its not the head gasket, it would be the valve cover than?

back in highschool my teacher was and still is an 02 nut job, so he got me into 2002s, and well i picked one up. All we did was work on 02's in shop class, and i bought one maybe a year after i got out of highschool and this has been sitting in my garage for about 2 years now. I'm 20, and i'm still learning alot about these cars, but thanks for your help.

I bought a haynes manual, but its for a 2002 not a 320i, i dont think it covers the m10 1.8l, but they are basically all the same engine correct?

Cool thanks for the replies, can anyone tell me where to get those bushings? and a valve cover gasket? Is a valve cover gasket different than doing a head gasket, would this be on the basic mechanical knowledge that i have to be able to change it?

valve cover gasket, ok you guys know more than me, its probably that than. my brakes, they brake, and dont squeel but it feels like not enough pressure is going to them, because my brake booster is leaking, so i'm assuming there is some air in the lines and well i dont have the proper amount of brake fluid. What are the rubber gromets that go above the shocks where the bolts are? I need them all around, cause they are rotting as well.

I'm located in LI Ny, i know of a few bmw speciality shops but they're quite expensive, i'm trying to do as much work as possible myself mechanically. I think i should be able to do the suspension myself, as i've done suspension on a few different cars.

40 views, not 1 reply, people tell me this is the place to go for questions regarding the 02!

So, i've decided to keep my 02 and fix it since its a good example to restore. I'm not doing the best restoration but i just want it to be sturdy on the road. So far i've had only 1 body shop accept the car. The car itself is in strong condition, but the suspension and brakes, and what not are crap. Now i have to drive about 11 miles on crappy brakes, and if i hit a pot hole too hard i think a shock could pop out. I'm gonna have my father follow me to the body shop in case something bad does go wrong. (And i'm sticking to local roads no highways!) So, i've talked to 1 fellow and said if i avoid big pot holes and cruise at a steady 45mph i should be fine to go. On to the questions. The engine out of my 02 is a m10 1.8l out of a 320i converted to carb. Its rebuilt but and starts and pulls strong but i need a new head gasket i believe. Could someone direct me to where i can get a gasket, and will this be difficult on my own to change? It's leaking oil right onto the headers after about 5min of use. I want to give it an oil change before i go, what oil should i use? 2nd question is, the fuel injector holes were never plugged. The original owner told me to use ball bearings, but i've been to 3 shops and they couldn't tell me where to get the ball bearings to plug them with. Is there any other method someone could recommend me? He said it could be dangerous to run for a long time since it could cause compression issues. Thanks for your help guys! -Mike