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Question withdrawn! (I did not understand the lobes of the camshaft well and I made my adjustments to several valves when it was still “in contact” with an elevated part. I adjusted the lash again with the raised lobes completely opposite the rocker and the car runs now. My former lash adjustments held valves open or closed wrong!).

I have a 1980 US Spec 320i. I drive it 2-3 times week. It’s got 200k miles and the AC runs cold. I’ve decided to do a little maintenance.

Last week I did an oil change with a Liquimoly pre-treatment, oil and filter. Success.

Today I did my first valve lash check adjustment. Removed plugs. Pushed car around in 5th gear to get valves fully closed on flat part of cam. Got all 8 to accent the .008 feeler with a little drag. New gasket. Bolted on cover. Plugs in. Plug wires put back on.

When I try to start it sputters, pops,”backfires” or some such. I’ve triple-checked the plug wire routing and feel sure it’s right. I took off dizzy cap to make sure #1 wire connects near mark on the dizzy base.

Any idea what I could have put back wrong or broken?

Thank you!

I just had my wife turn the ignition over while I looked at the engine bay. A loud pop and three fuel injectors popped out of their slots! Like the exhaust valves are stuck closed and the pressure has no where to go! I can’t imagine what I did with this fine adjustment of valve lash clearance. I think I’ll redo the whole job while I await any suggestions.

I would like to start to figure out whether you ignite on the right revolution.

The agreed point is that when cilinder one is at TDC the rotor should point towards the mark. But technically it can be wherever.

When cilinder 1 is approaching the flat part of the inlet lobe of the camshaft, and the needle is pointing at the stripe on the crankshaft pulley, cilinder one should get ignition. And thus the rotor is pointing towards cilinder 1.


My guess is that the leads where connected one revolution of the crankshaft wrong. So starting with cilinder 3 instead of 1.

Thanks Wilmo. I actually had the plug wires correct, but set the lash so wrong that cylinders didn’t have intake and exhaust at the right part of the stroke. I adjusted lash when some valves were not at the lowest part of the cycle. My misunderstanding of this basic maintenance procedure! Now on to future e21 projects!

Great! The same happened to me!

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