Mini ONE 1.4d: Bubbling from radiator bottle... is it the cylinder head?

 

So today we have a MINI ONE 1.4 diesel and guess what... it's overheating! Coolant is being lost somewhere and we find that it is bubbling out of the header-tank. My first guess in this situation is the head-gasket, but for a cheap fix (possibly, but better than going straight to ripping a friend's car apart) we tried a new radiator / header-tank cap, which was fitted yesterday and, although it has reduced the bubbling problem, there is still some coming out when the engine is warm, coolant lost and the temp. needle creeping up. 

This week the poor running has begun... occasional juddering, drop in revs and the odd misfire noise. Hmm... I have said to keep using it until the running becomes unmanageable (provided it's kept watered and is not overheating of course!) and am hoping for a weekend of better weather so I can have a proper look round it and, if need be, open it up. Watch this space.

EDIT: With not many tell tale signs of the head gasket being blown, someone has kindly suggested that the water pump is failing and not circulating coolant properly, so here's something else to look into. Yay!

E30 318i M40: Camshaft and valve condition

I whipped the rocker cover off to check if there was a dropped valve or broken spring that might be contributing to the poorly idle, but no such defect found. In fact, this has to be one of the cleanest top ends I have ever seen. Nice!

E46 318i - Broken Coolant Hose! [11537572158]

 After about 650 miles in the E46 Touring the radiator light came on. Just the amber warning, to let me know it was getting low, not the red warning when it is running out and I refilled about 1.25 litres of water / coolant to the engine. This seemed about right to me, as I feared it may be using a bit of water and there was plenty in when I bought the car so 1.25L in 650 miles isn't catastrophic and can be lived with.
About two weeks later the radiator light came on again and I dutifully refilled 1.25 litres, but the car had only covered 120 miles so I knew something was now amiss, only for the light to come on yet again after just five miles of my six mile round trip to work. Under the hood with the engine running I could see a huge pool of water in the under-tray and a drip, which after much tracing turned out to be coming from a slim rubber hose that connects to the left side of the cylinder-head [N42 engine]. It was a constant drip, but when I wiggled the hose-end the coolant began to spray round the engine-bay, so here was the culprit. Turns out the hose-connector into the head was completely sheared off, as you can see in the pic, and should extend about half an inch into the housing. The only thing holding any water into the upper engine at all was a single M6 thread screw.

The hose in question was BMW Part No. 11537572158, shown in the diagram connecting the thermostat to the cylinder-head. This is a common fault I am told on N42 and N43 engines, along with several other coolant hoses that have plastic end connectors, particularly in the US where kits can be purchased to convert the brittle plastic ends to aluminium ones. This seemed unnecessary for me, given the cost of a replacement part and the age of the car.

As there are so many coolant hose variants, finding the right used OEM one on eBay and the like can be difficult, but they do pop up. I was able to get a new spurious part through work for just £18, but I'm sure commercial motor factors will not be much more expensive as long as they have stock. Spurious hoses tend to come with a new rubber O-ring fitted. BMW dealerships will charge a premium, but at least fitment is guaranteed and they are revised parts, though these may not come with the rubber O-ring which will also need to be ordered.

BMW Tightening Torques [PDF]

Superb 136-page document from BMW showing the tightening torque for every different bolt / screw on your car. It covers generic torques for all BMWs, as well as model specific ones for petrol, diesel... even the V12.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1JGYWCqjPsqSTBWRGZYdFBLS3c

CONTENTS:

• General Instructions
• Engine
• Engine Electrical
• Fuel System
• Radiator
• Exhaust
• Clutch
• Transmissions and Drivetrain
• General Electrical
• Instruments
• Equipment Accessories

GENERAL TORQUES:

M4 8.8 - 2.9 Nm M4 10.9 - 4.1 Nm M4 12.9 - 4.9 Nm	M8x1 8.8 - 26 Nm M8x1 10.9 - 36 Nm M8x1 12.9 - 44 Nm	M14 8.8 - 130 Nm M14 10.9 - 180 Nm M14 12.9 - 220 Nm
M5 8.8 - 5.9 Nm M5 10.9 - 8.3 Nm M5 12.9 - 10.0 Nm	M10 8.8 - 47 Nm M10 10.9 - 66 Nm M10 12.9 - 79 Nm	M14x1.5 8.8 - 143 Nm M14x1.5 10.9 - 200 Nm M14x1.5 12.9 - 240 Nm
M6 8.8 - 9.9 Nm M6 10.9 - 14.0 Nm M6 12.9 - 16.5 Nm	M10x1 8.8 - 54 Nm M10x1 10.9 - 75 Nm M10x1 12.9 - 91 Nm	M16 8.8 - 200 Nm M16 10.9 - 280 Nm M16 12.9 - 340 Nm
M7 8.8 - 14.8 Nm M7 10.9 - 21.3 Nm M7 12.9 - 25.5 Nm	M12 8.8 - 82 Nm M12 10.9 - 115 Nm M12 12.9 - 140 Nm	M16x1.5 8.8 - 216 Nm M16x1.5 10.9 - 303 Nm M16x1.5 12.9 - 364 Nm
M8 8.8 - 24 Nm M8 10.9 - 34 Nm M8 12.9 - 40 Nm	M12x1.5 8.8 - 87 Nm M12x1.5 10.9 - 123 Nm M12x1.5 12.9 - 147 Nm	M18 8.8 - 280 Nm M18 10.9 - 390 Nm M18 12.9 - 470 Nm
		M18x1.5 8.8 - 313 Nm M18x1.5 10.9 - 440 Nm M18x1.5 12.9 - 527 Nm

DIS v57 + INPA / EDIABAS 6.4.3 Installation + Guide

Download Links [MediaFire]:

BMW INPA / EDIABAS 6.4.3 + Install Files etc. [1.1GB]

BMW DIS v57 / SSS v32 Installer Files [6.7GB]

**You will need BOTH parts to fully install DIS v57**

You will need a laptop with USB running Windows XP or Windows 7.

You will need a USB-OBD cable optimised for post-2005 BMWs. An older cable can be modified by removing the solder-bridge between OBD pins 7 and 8 - a guide is here.

GUIDE:

Unpacking Files:

• Unpack the 2 .rar files into a new folder.
• Where the contained instruction file mentions unpacking files from CD1 and CD2, all the .rar files for both CDs are contained in the one 6.7GB download.  

Installation:

• If upgrading from DIS v44, install the files into the same folder and overwrite existing files.
• The instructions cover Windows XP, but files for Windows 7 and 64-bit, along with instructions for that are provided in a folder marked OTHER.

Further installation and troubleshooting instructions [getting the virtual machine / network bridge / ports etc. working] can be found in my prior DIS v44 guide: HERE.

DIS v44: Diesel Injector Coding / Programming Guide

If an injector is replaced it needs coding to the ECU. Once you know what to do, injector coding is a pretty quick and easy job, all 6 can be done in about 15-20 minutes. You will need a working install of DIS and EDIABAS, so a download and setup-guide is in this post. The code is 6 or 7 digits and printed on the top of each injector, more information in this post.

** Connect a float-charger to the battery before coding with DIS ** The process takes 10-20 minutes if all goes well, but it is not worth the risk of doing adjustments to the ECU without one.

1. Connect car to DIS and perform API test.

2. Click on 'Diagnosis'.
3. Select 'Series' and 'Model series', then click the forward arrow.
4. Click on 'Yes' to start the 'Short-test', wait a few minutes for it to complete and click the forward arrow.

5. Click on 'Function Selection'. (Bottom left.)
6. Select 'Service Functions'.
7. Select 'Drive'.
8. At EGS transmission control prompt, select 'No' if your car is manual, 'Yes' if automatic, and click OK.
9. Select 'Diesel Electronics'.
10. Select 'Adjustment Programs'.
11. Select 'Injector rate adjustment' so it is highlighted in black.
12. Click on 'Test Plan'. (Bottom centre.)

13. Check 'Injector rate adjustment Bxxxx_Dxxxxxx' is highlighted and click the forward arrow.

14. Wait for the fault memory to be read and at the 'Fault codes are stored...' prompt click the forward arrow.
15. Wait for the current calibration values to come up and click the forward arrow.

16. Select '1' (Enter new calibration values) and click the forward arrow.
17. Enter the number of the injector into the keypad to be re-calibrated and click the forward arrow.
18. Enter the new injector code into the keypad with no spaces and click the forward arrow.

19. If more than one injector needs coding, select 'Yes' to the prompt and click the forward arrow, then repeat the last 2 steps for each injector number. If not, select 'No' and click the forward arrow.
20. Select '2' (Save calibration values) and click the forward arrow.
21. Check the values are correct, select 'Yes' and click the forward arrow.

22. When the new values are displayed click the forward arrow.

23. Select '3' (End) and click the forward arrow.
24. When 'End service function' is displayed click the forward arrow.
25. Shut down DIS and disconnect the car.

http://www.instructables.com/id/BMW-Diesel-Injector-Coding-with-DIS-v44/

Working DIS v44 Installation Simple Guide + Downloads

Here is a new post with a download and brief guide for DIS v57 / SSS v32 to work with BMW models up to 2010 and a newer version of INPA working with model up to 2013 - http://www.beemerlab.org/2018/11/dis-v57-inpa-ediabas-643-installation.html. 

Download Links [Dropbox]:

• INPA, Ediabas, NCS Expert, EA80X, etc. 619.45MB
• easyDIS, DIS Programs, Diag Head Emulator, VM Ware, etc. 1.48GB

*NEW* Download Links [MediaFire]:

• INPA, Ediabas, NCS Expert, EA80X, etc. MediaFire 619.45MB
• easyDIS, DIS Programs, Diag Head Emulator, VM Ware, etc. MediaFire 1.48GB

*EDIT 7 May 2018:
OK, thank you everyone who left a comment, I am glad so many people have found this guide helpful. Due to the high volume of traffic and unreliability of the DropBox links, I have finally added the files to MediaFire and Google Drive.

NEW USERS:
This is a guide on how to install DIS using the instructions that come in the .zip files, not a detailed guide. The complete procedure to install DIS is quite complicated and has so many variations that will end up with it not working or need the whole thing installing again to change, so follow through them as per the guide below and you should get it going, as many others have. 
Read the troubleshooting section at the bottom, particularly the first part. The Windows install on some laptops simply will not work with the virtual networking needed to set DIS up and/or routing of the COM ports, yet another laptop running the same Windows version will work fine. If you find yourself unable to complete the installation or connect the hardware as shown below after a few tries,  switch to another laptop or do a fresh install of Windows.

---

GUIDE:

You will need:

1. A laptop running Windows, preferably XP SP2.
2. A USB-OBD cable (or a serial-OBD cable if your laptop has a serial port).
3. INPA / EDIABAS.
4. VM Ware version 5.5 or later.
5. EasyDIS.iso and DIS_v44_programs.iso.
6. Diag Head Emulator.

Installation procedure that worked for me: [Obviously refer to the installation guides / videos for detailed instructions.]

1. Disable Windows Firewall and Anti Virus.
2. Install drivers for your USB-OBD cable and USB-serial adapter, making sure it is set as port COM1.
3. Install / update INPA / EDIABAS, using ADS interface, not OBD.
4. Change environment path in Windows to c:/ediabas/bin.
5. Install ADS Setup.
6. Install OBD setup.
7. Edit ediabas.ini, change remote-host and port.
8. Install VM Ware [version 5.5 or higher].
9. Edit VM Ware network bridge in network editor.
10. Set up the new virtual machine with ethernet set to the network bridge.
11. Install Diag Head Emulator.
12. Install easy_DIS and the DIS programs.
13. Load DIS, open/run Diag Head and open IFHsrv32.exe.
14. In DIS, enter Administration > Calibrating Touch Shield, change the processes to off and make sure it passes the API test.
15. Enter Administration > Diagnostic Head, click on the IP-address / computer-name and click the OK button.
16. Enter Administration > Connection Setup, click on the IP-address / computer-name and click Connecting. Once connected the IP-address should appear in the bottom right and both sets of lights are lit up.
17. Go back into Administration > Calibrating Touch Shield, set the vm process back to off and change translator to Fister.
18. Edit ediabas.ini again, changing the interface to STD:OBD instead of ADS.

To run DIS / test connection:

1. Connect cable to OBD socket on car and turn ignition to phase-2.
2. Load up INPA (.ipo), check the Battery and Ignition dots are black.
3. Close INPA, but leave EDIABAS Server running in task-bar.
4. Start DIS and wait for it to fully load.
5. Load up Diag Head and click run.
6. Load up IFHsrv32.exe.
7. Enter Administration > Calibrating Touch Shield in DIS.
8. Perform API-test, check it passes, exit back to DIS.
9. Click on Diagnosis and DIS should now identify your car / carry out the short-test.

Troubleshooting:

1. If you have access to more than one laptop, try installing DIS again on one of them, rather than wasting days on a problematic install. Some just don't want to work with virtual networking, but will probably work first time on another, similar laptop. [Reformatting the HDD and doing a fresh install of Windows XP SP2 may also fix the problem on a machine that will just not play ball.]
2. If API-test fails - Check ediabas.ini has the right remote-host and port set / check VM network settings / try out this fix by changing addresses in Unix itself [] / ensure firewall is off and re-install DIS.
3. If API-test passes, but DIS does not communicate - Check INPA is communicating and reboot DIS / check ediabas.ini has interface set to STD:OBD / check USB-serial port is set as COM1.
4. DIS ERROR 200.19 - Battery is below 12v, connect a float-charger / check IP address is right for Diagnostic Head in DIS, Admin / check API-test passes.
5. INPA ERROR IFS-0009 - Ensure USB-serial port is set as COM1 / check ediabas.ini has interface set to STD:OBD / make sure cable is working and fuse 25 has not blown.

E36 316i Compact: New head-gasket.

Well, it's been a busy month again in Beemer Lab and I've just bought a new house which hasn't helped. Firstly, I finally removed the stuck head-bolts from the E60, got the head off and found where my oil leak is coming from... The lower timing case has a big crack in it! It's too big a job to replace that and do the new piston, so it looks like the 530d does need a new engine after all, what a shame after my £500+ spend.

As there is no E46 progress still, I decided a cheap runaround BMW was needed on a temporary basis so I shelled out a quick £200 on an X-reg E36 316i Compact, again in Titansilver. It has 4 months tax and 10 months MOT so seemed ideal as a stop gap. That was until I went to pick up a fridge and it majorly overheated. After I limped home I found oil in the water, water in the oil and a constant bubbling from the radiator. Blown head gasket then!

I had to use it for 2 weeks in this state, only doing the 2 mile trip to work and no further, but still it was getting to max temp as I pulled up on the drive. The gasket was only £18 off eBay and is FAI. The job only took about 4 hours (oh the joys of working with a single cam!) and it is back on the road and running quite cool so far, though I will need to put it through its paces to find out if it was just a dodgy gasket or if there is a real cooling problem that's caused it.

I will cover the poor E60 and it's future in more detail soon. Oh, and I've also bought a new secondary air-pump or the E46 so watch this space. 3 Beemers and counting...

£18 delivered. eBay FTW still.

By gosh, that looks like some hot oil.

The centre two head-bolts [1 and 2] were finger loose when removed!
This has obviously allowed oil and water to mingle. Blast marks round
the front cylinder show where combustion was stopping water entering the head.
This whole head-gasket swap took about 4 hours, so how
hastily the last one was thrown on is disturbing...

Lots of burnt oil and split gasket over the head, but it cleaned up well.

Think I will leave cleaning the cooling system for another day though. The head is caked with 'rad-weld' type stuff.

Amazingly, after all that overheating, the head is straight as anything! BMW alloy heads are forgiving to say the least.

10 minutes with a razor-blade and the block is good as new. PIston don't look half bad either.

New gasket on. The re-tightening sequence is 30nm, 90 degrees and
another 90 degrees. I wonder if the last guy to work on it only did
the 30nm and forgot about the torque angling?

E60: Snapped Head-Bolts! No progress.

Well this has been the most fruitless weekend to date. First I discover the simple sump cannot be removed without lifting the engine and lowering the subframe. I am now the owner of a Clarke engine-crane, not cheap at £179.99, but it moved the job along. Next I find that to lower the subframe, almost everything must be unbolted from it - anti-roll bar, steering-rack etc. - and, once the mounts are unbolted, there is nothing stopping the engine from dropping straight onto you if something fails. I figured if I'm having the engine suspended freely above me while I work then it's best to get as much weight off it as possible, so began removing the head. The camshafts etc. came out in record time, but when I got to the head-bolts at about 12.30pm, the whole weekend's work ground to a halt.

Magnet to catch metal swarf from the drill.

Ok, it happens to us all from time to time, but I didn't expect snapped head-bolts as an added problem with the 530d rebuild. First my E14 torx-socket burst open, causing a trip to Halfords for two new ones, then 4 of the bolts snapped. Four! What a pointless setback. I did the correct removal sequence, so I must have over-tightened the head or they're just not ready to come back out after only 2 weeks, but as I got down to the last two head-bolts one of them snapped in the most awkward way imaginable - just the top of the head, leaving the giant collar and washer still incredibly tight against the head. All the other bolts did crack off slightly, the almighty creaking sound, but after that a further 3 of them stuck solid and the heads duly snapped off one by one, despite re-tightening the surrounding bolts. This hasn't half messed up the un-tightening sequence and has put the rebuild completely on hold.

Determined not to be drilled off, the head was finally
cracked off with a chisel and screwed out by hand.

I battled away until 3pm with the drill-bits I had available to me, before caving in and rushing to B&Q to buy a new 8 and 10mm titanium, again not cheap at nearly £17! I placed a large block-magnet in the head next to where I was drilling and held a smaller one to the other side in order to catch as much swarf as possible, but I will still have to give the cyl.-head and rockers a good blast in the parts-cleaner at work. The plan was to drill down the centre of the bolt head, boring it out gradually wider until the head broke away from the washer. Life is never so simple. The hole was slightly off-centre, so part of the shank was still attached even though I'd drilled well down it, so I began reaming the hole around the bolt head as much as possible. It was still stuck solid, so as a final shot in the dark I drilled a smaller hole in the rim of the bolt head and hit it with a chisel. To my amazement it cracked off and I was able to drift it round enough to become loose. I tried repeating the chisel process off the bat with the other 3 bolts, but they're having none of it, so I will have to bear out the drilling and reaming again. This is not going to be a quick thing, let alone getting that subframe down. Ah well, another week passes.

Problems to overcome:

• Drilling out stuck head-bolts.
• Getting the subframe down.
• Identifying the correct piston type.
• Clearing the head of any drilling debris.
• Identifying main source of oil leak.

E46: CCV + Intake Re-con.

Following on from this post - E46: Inlet full of oil! Re-con time. - where I discovered the intake-manifold was full of oil, I decided to give the entire thing a good clean out. The sensors, actuator and throttle-body were removed and given a good rinse with brake-cleaner. There was still oil pooling in the manifold, so I just kept on squirting brake-cleaner down the ports and turning the manifold round to run it all back to the main plenum. The Vanos [or Valvetec, whatever] seemed to benefit the most from this as the tubes were full of oil and sticking a bit. They now slide up and down freely and hopefully the electronic-actuator will still work now its clean.

The CCV sits below the inlet-manifold in a plastic-housing, along with the main wiring-loom box. Separately it looks like the diagram. These are known as 'vortex' type breathers, as crankcase pressure is relieved from the head via tube [3] and oil is separated in a spiral and runs down tube [4] back to the sump. The air-pressure is then vented via a diaphragm through tube [2] into the throttle-body, which provides a constant vacuum that keeps the engine as a suitable idle. When the vortex is clogged with oil and rust, pressure builds up in tube [3] and backs up into the head, down into the crankcase and forces oil and air back up tube [4]. This then pushes the diaphragm back and allows the oil up tube [2] into the inlet-manifold. This is clear in my case by the wiring-connectors to the other end of tube [2] and the diff.-pressure sensor being filled up with oil past the metal prongs.

Stripped, the CCV looks like this. The diaphragm housing was completely jammed solid with oily crud, which had leaked round the whole housing. The spiral oil-seperator was clogged with oily rust, which took a lot of getting out. All items were soaked in brake-cleaner and left in the parts-basin at work, then the oil-seperator was blown through with 200psi from the airline. Eventually I got quite a lot of air-flow through the vortex and the diaphragm-housing was squeaky clean, so I threw it back together and refitted the CCV and manifold. I've saved £45 on the part and this quick-fix should work for enough time at least for me to rule the CCV out if the problem persists. If it goes and comes back, £45 is not a lot to spend and I will be glad to do so if it cures the low idle problem!

E60: Removing Acoustic Engine-Covers for 6-Cyl. Diesels [525d, 530d, 535d]

Engine Acoustic Covers:

1. Remove the five screws holding the main engine-cover using a 5mm allen-key or male-hex socket and lift it off. The screws are located one either side at the front and rear and the fifth next to the PAS fluid cap.

2. Remove the left and right pollen-filter from the plastic panels by popping off the metal-clip and undoing the plastic nut with the arrow a 1/4 turn using a 13mm socket.

3. Disconnect the wiring connector for the 'bonnet-open' switch, located on the left hand plastic heater-duct in front of the pollen-filter.

4. Remove the left and right plastic air-duct panels from the back of the engine-bay under the windscreen by undoing the plastic nuts with the arrow a 1/4 turn using a 13mm socket. The nuts are located one either side under the pollen-filter and one in the middle joining both panels.

5. Remove the strut-brace by undoing the bolt holding on either side holding it to the suspension turrets and the two in the middle using an E12 double-hex or star socket.

6. Remove the two screws holding the rear engine-cover, one either side, using a 5mm male-hex socket or Allen-key and lift it off.

Air-box Housing / Air-Filter Inlet:

E60: Engine Rebuild 3 - Camshafts + Re-Timing - ghetto style...

When it came to re-timing the engine I realised that the crank could still no longer be turned by hand in order to get the engine to TDC [top-dead-centre], so the cams would need resetting to the same position they were in when the chain was removed. Rather than begin lengthy calculations based on piston-height in the block, I just copied the camshaft positions from the photos I took when taking the engine apart. Naturally I'd rather get the engine to TDC and have a proper look at the cam positions, but for now it's running great and I couldn't say timing was too far out or it wouldn't even start.

You do not need any gazillion £ special tools for this and, provided you've only had the head off and not removed the chain completely, then the lower tensioner will keep the chain in place on the bottom cog-wheel and there is no need to remove the radiator / belt / pulleys etc.

You will need:

• T30 Torx socket.
• T50 Torx socket.
• E14 double-hex socket.
• Accurate smaller torque-wrench.
• Mole grips / vise-grips.
• Large adjustable-spanner.

1. Drop the valve-guides and rockers into the head. It's best they go back into the same ports as they were removed from, even if it's a different head.

2. Oil the camshaft-bearings and drop in the camshafts, E = inlet, A = Auspuff / exhaust [not E for exhaust!].

3. Oil the cap-caps and drop them on in the correct positions numbered 1-7 from front to back.

4. Screw the camshaft-bolts down so there is no play in the caps, but not tight, then tighten them to the correct torque in half-turns only from the middle outwards. Torque is 10nm for M6, 15nm for M7 and 20nm for M8. Most if not all 03-09 330d / 530d etc. should have M7 bolts installed.

5. Use a large adjustable spanner to rotate the exhaust camshaft [A] to the correct position, using the section near the front where the shaft is cut into a hex shape, and apply mole grips to the camshaft so that they are lying flat to the head at the correct cam position, holding the shaft in position.

6. Install the exhaust-camshaft gearwheel, along with the vac-pump sprocket and do up to the correct torque of 30nm and 50 degrees. Try to get the sprocket into as close a position as possible to where the vac-pump was when it was removed.

7. Using the large adjustable-spanner, rotate the inlet-camshaft [E] into the desired position and either get someone to hold it in place for a minute, or apply a second set of mole-grips.

8. Refit the tensioning-rail into the chain. [The left-hand one looking from front.]

9. Roll the chain back onto the top cog-wheel and refit the inlet-gearwheel / cog-wheel / chain to the inlet-camshaft, tightening it to the correct torque of 30nm and 50 degrees. The exhaust-camshaft should now be holding the inlet camshaft in position.

10. Refit the guide-rail to the chain. [Right-hand one looking from front.]

11. Remove the pin holding the chain-tensioner [from this guide] and refit the plug.

12. Release the mole-grips holding the camshafts and you are ready to go!

E60: Engine Rebuild 1

This was complicated, but a totally realistic DIY job if you have the time. It is a lot easier than it has to be by 3 factors:

1. No need to remove the front-bumper, radiator, aux. belt and pulleys as chain is not replaced.
2. No need to fully retime as lower tensioner keeps chain on lower cog even though upper-cog is removed, pump chain is separate.
3. Obtaining a 17mm allen-key type socket to undo a front-plug and access the chain-tensioner. This is actually the only 'special tool' you need.

Hand-ground pistons and block get a final clean before new gasket is put on.

Recon head from a twin-turbo X6 diesel mates up with new Febi head-bolts and crazy torquing sequence.

Once the front plug (where the allen-key is sticking out under the belt) is removed with a 17mm male-hex (allen-key type) socket, the tensioner can be accessed. A 10mm nut below the tensioner is released to free oil-pressure, then the plunger can be pushed all the way back and a pin inserted to hold it in place - the 3mm allen-key in the picture worked for me. The oil-pressure nut is retightened after the chain is back on and the tensioner released.

Unable to turn the engine, camshafts had to be positioned by eye based on photos of before the chain was removed.

Nice dollop of fresh oil on the rockers / guides / bearings and caps.

Rocker-cover is the most involved part of the job as all the injectors / fuel pipes plumb into it.