Woe is me. I done done the dumbest thing of my shade tree mechanic career. I replaced the timing belt on my bimmer just fine about 5 years ago. This time, I was in a hurry, late at night. Oops. Err in haste, repent at leisure.

Somehow, I put it on one tooth out of place. I think it was because I turned it counter-clockwise a bit, which loosened the tensioner a tad. I then rotated the crank 720 degrees, no noise, no unusual resistance, and discovered my error. I corrected it, put it all together, and I'm getting a nasty random clunking sound when I start it.

My local discount parts man, a wealth of info, says I bent a few valves and I'm think he's right. Says that one tooth off won't ruin the head but also says pulling the head at this age (265K) can result in some blow-by upon reassembly.

I've posted this on a couple of Beemer forums, a little bit of help but not too much. One guy said that he didn't think one tooth off would bend valves. He thinks it might be a loose belt cover or other small problem. I know I was under the thing for a long time with my stethoscope and couldn't find any obvious culprit. The noise did sound like it was coming from up front.

So anybody have a clue, specifically: would rotating it one full cam turn with one tooth off bend valves?

BTW, I'm determined that this experience is going to make a better man out of me. I have to hold onto that hope cause I feel like a bleepin' idiot if I don't.

In short . . . .DOH!!!

__________________
Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K