M30 air intake manifold

Sounds like the rubber boot connecting the airbox to the air flow meter, shaped like an "L". It runs about $28. There's another straight rubber boot between the air flow meter and the throttle body, about $25. Don't forget the myriad rubber hoses that are cracking. Easy and cheap, but time-consuming to replace. Check this site:

Bill in Omaha '86 535i

Why don't you go for the whole enchilada? Strap a titan missile to the trunk!

I'll second the suggestion that the big rubber intake boot is cracked and likely has a vacuum leak on the bottom. You can check for it by squeezing the thing with the engine idling. If the idle changes (either up or down) as you do so, that's the problem. It's a half- hour job for a fumblethumbs like me.

There is also a very common and very cheap and easy-to-fix oil leak on the M30. Check the oil pressure switch at the back of the head. Costs about $8 (even AutoZone stocks 'em) and 5 minutes to replace. Next most likely (and next cheapest/easiest) is a leaky valve cover gasket.

I have *never* seen a reason to replace one, so there ought to be about a bazillion of 'em around, used, very cheap. But I'll bet you the rent that's not the problem.

-- C.R. Krieger (Been there; done that)

Yes! Thank you Bill in Omaha. With your help, I think I am going to just about steal this thing off of the seller's hands tonight for only

300 Canadian. I will try these simple fixes first. I hope these work and I don't have to get at the head gasket. Is it common for head gaskets to blow on these cars, I mean, the car is 345000 kilometres and 16 years old.

That's down the line, my friend, down the line and far in the north of the country sometime after my hydrogen booster has cleaned out this old engine. I think you misunderstood what I meant by the hydrogen booster. It's a simple electrolysis unit that you can make at home for under 40 or so bucks that splits regular tap water into HHO gas and this is sucked up into the air intake such that the gasoline gets a complete burn because hydrogen burns cleaner than anything else in the universe and doesn't even require oxygen to do so. This will clear out all of the gunk and deposits in the cylinders very quickly, and I hope increase mileage by at least 25%. If you want I'll keep you posted on my progress. I envision everybody going out and scoring a great deal on an old beat up car and strapping on hydrogen boosters! Since this is a BMW, it will be all the more sweeter.

Thanks Krieger. I sincerely appreciate the insight. Thanks to you, I can get this fixed more quickly and cheaply. I may not even need my brother-in-law mechanic to look at it. What does the oil-pressure switch look like?

Lets have the schematics and plans - I'd be very interested as the gas over here is like gold dust.......................!

email to snipped-for-privacy@h-gee.co.uk

M30 head gaskets are pretty tough and most would say the M30 is bullet-proof... if the basic maintenance has been done. I like mine for the timing chain and seemingly over-engineered design. No belt to break, just change the oil regularly, air and oil filters, plugs every other year, and valve clearances every other year or so. Do a compression check on the engine and that will tell a lot. Cylinders should be within 5% (?) of each other. Mine are and it has 173,000 miles. Air leaks are the main thing, but the M30B35 has a newer ECU and should be a little more tolerant than my M30B34. Don't look at the miles, look at the condition of the engine/body. Cheers!

Bill in Omaha '86 535i

Sorry, but I'm afraid that hydrogen _does_ require oxygen to burn, though the engine will adjust the fuel mix based on the hydrogen intake as long as the adjustment falls within the maps in the ECU (else it will try as hard as it can and then light the MIL, aka check engine light). So it might or might not be necessary to add O2 to the mix to get the thing to run right if all you do is keep the H from the electrolysis.

Further, you'll have a _very_ explosive mix sitting around if you trap both the H and the O2 from electrolysis and store them together...and in perfect proportion. This is the basis of FAEs (fuel-air explosives) but using pure H and O2 goes one better since atmospheric air is only 21% or so O2.

There's no way you can collect enough of this combination of gases top be useful without compressing it, and compressing both together will be very hazardous. Not to mention having it in the car in case of an accident (assuming you even succeed in compressing it without it going bang!). I hope this isn't what you're planning. If it is, I hope I'm not near where you live or plan to operate this vehicle and that innocent people are not injured.

Moreover, the energy spent splitting water into hydrogen and O2 will not be regained in internal combustion no matter how you handle it. Unless electricity is *dirt* cheap where you live, or you're using a renewable primary energy source to generate it, you'll lose money on the deal.

JRE

miles.Airleaks are the main thing, but the M30B35 has a newer ECU and should be a

Hi Bill, I did it! I bought the BMW for 300 bucks Canadian. What a steal! I drove it home about 20 miles and it now sits in my garage awaiting my tools. The engine sounds really rough and it obviously wouldn't start in the winter, but only when idling. As soon as you drive away, it is almost as smooth as my brand new Odyssey or Altima. I figure the problem is with the air intake. On idling, it also misfires occasionally, so I think the compression of the cylinders is not in sync.

You are old school, my friend. Obviously, the energy put into splitting is greater or equal to than the energy gained, and the power of hydrogen and oxygen combined is what NASA uses, but that is not how this works. There is NO onboard storage of explosive gases. It is produced as needed. The HHO or Brown's gas (there are debates as to what is being produced exactly) helps the octane to completely burn, whereas in a normal situation the octane is still burning as it leaves the exhaust and relies on the catalytic converter to finish the job. The minute amount of hydrogen is sort of like a catalyst that reduces the time it takes for the octane to ignite so it burns faster during the combustion cycle and therefore more completely resulting in more power and increased mileage. There are many companies, led by the Canadian ones who are already marketing these electrolysis units and many truckers already have been using them for over a decade.

Mythbusters did something liek this where they produced hydrogen and allowed it to be sucked into the intake along with air, instead of using gas(oline). It ran fine for a short while then the hydrogen ran out.

I bought the BMW for 300 bucks Canadian. What a steal! I

Vacuum problems or air leaks usually present themselves as stalling or constant poor running at closed throttle with fine running at open throttle. Occasional misfiring at idle is more likely spark plugs and things like that in my experience.

$300 might be a steal but I figure you're either going to learn a lot about this car or end up spending a lot of money. Usually if there's one thing the owner doesn't want to fix then there's half a dozen more they haven't told you about.

Ahhh...a pessimist. You gotta take a gamble sometimes. Thanks for the insight on the air leaks and misfiring. I am surely going to learn a heck of a lot about this car...I hope the oil leak isn't too much of a problem...

Yes! It is absolutely possible and feasible to run an ICE on Hydrogen. But I won't be using hydrogen alone. I will simply be helping the octane to burn better in the engine by adding a little tiny stream of Hydrogen. Much safer.

You mean the Space Shuttle runs on WATER? By god man that's astounding!

What exactly is OCTANE?

Octane is an Alkaline with the chemical formula CH3(CH2)6CH3. It has 18 isomers.

One of the isomers, 2,2,4-trimethylpentane or isooctane, is of major importance, as it has been selected as the 100 point on the octane rating scale, with n-heptane as the zero point. Octane ratings are ratings used to represent the anti-knock performance of petroleum-based fuels (octane is less likely to prematurely combust under pressure than heptane), given as the percentage of

2,2,4-trimethylpentane in an 2,2,4-trimethylpentane / n-heptane mixture that would have the same performance. It is an important constituent of gasoline.

Octane has 18 isomers :

Octane (n-octane)

2-Methylheptane 3-Methylheptane 4-Methylheptane 3-Ethylhexane 2,2-Dimethylhexane 2,3-Dimethylhexane 2,4-Dimethylhexane 2,5-Dimethylhexane 3,3-Dimethylhexane 3,4-Dimethylhexane 2-Methyl-3-ethylpentane 3-Methyl-3-ethylpentane 2,2,3-Trimethylpentane 2,2,4-Trimethylpentane (isooctane) 2,3,3-Trimethylpentane 2,3,4-Trimethylpentane 2,2,3,3-Tetramethylbutane

And you CAN actually distinguish the combustion of OCTANE in gasoline/petrol.

Do leave off!

Can you determine where the leak is originating from? MAybe spray some engine cleaner, soak about 30 minutes, pressure wash off. Run engine to operating temp to dry off. I used a car wash for $2 and did mine before finding the front crank seal was leaking. Quick and easy. I know of several locations and possible quick fixes. Please let us know where it is.

Bill in Omaha '86 535i

You're a real Einstein, aren't ya? Of course the space shuttle doesn't run off of water, the booster rockets do. More specifically, the recombination of hydrogen and oxygen into water which releases more energy per unit of reactant than any other combination. That's why NASA uses it, among other reasons like...pollution. This has zero emissions.