Mike D needed some maintenance fixing the oil leaks on his 2004 330i. Mikes 330i is typically used for racing with the BMW club at auto-x and HPDE track events so why wouldn’t we take advantage of this opportunity to install some upgrades while we were fixing the oil leaks?
First step – we need to replace the valve cover gasket. The valve cover is the cover on top of the engine that allows access to the camshafts- so I guess we’ll upgrade those while we have the valve cover off! We chose a set of Schrick Cams that are slightly more aggressive than the stock cams giving Mike a boost in horsepower at higher RPM’s. These cams also make the car sound like a hot rod at idle
Second step – We need to replace the oil pan gasket. The oil pan is located on the bottom of the engine – it holds all of the oil and redirects it to the oil pump so it can be pumped to areas needing lubrication throughout the engine. Although this is a very well designed oil pan, there is some room for improvement – “Oil pan baffle and oil pump upgrade”. With the oil pan removed we welded in a better oil pan baffle to be sure the oil stays within the sump area while the car is cornering at high speeds. When on a race track without this baffle the engine oil pan be splashed to one side of the pan resulting in it not getting to the areas of the engine that need it most – like the rod bearings, camshafts, lifters, etc. We also took this opportunity of the oil pan being removed to install an upgraded oil pump shaft that is redesigned so the oil pump nut can’t fall off or the splines can’t strip – we don’t need any loose bolts in the engine, trust me.
Third Step – The oil filter housing gasket is leaking – we might as well upgrade something! These engines did not come with an oil cooler. This oil cooler becomes necessary when the engine is pushed hard for an extended period of time (like driving on a race track). We added a giant oil cooler to the front of the car using custom brackets and lines. We then replaced the oil filter housing with one from an M3 which has an internal thermostat to let the engine warm up to operating temperature before utilizing the oil cooler.
Step 4 – Power steering – while racing the power steering system gets excessively hot. This extra heat can cause the pump to fail and can also wear out the hoses early causing a leak or power steering failure. To help with this we installed an all aluminum power steering reservoir that dissipates heat more effectively than the oem plastic reservoir. This reservoir also holds more fluid so it doesn’t heat up as much. To top it all off Thai reservoir has its own replaceable filter so we can keep the system clean and running at its peak (the oem reservoir has a built in filter that is not replaceable without replacing the whole reservoir).
Mike seriously took advantage of the “while we’re in there discount” and was able to fix some problems and upgrade some parts all at the same time. Now all of the seals and gaskets we replaced are covered under our lifetime warranty and Mike can drive the car as hard as he likes on the race track while being comforted that his BMW is maintained at its finest.
#becauseracecar #bmwmotorsport #oilleaks