It was about damn time.
"In this new Special Series named “S85-002”, I earn a badge of honour: I blew up my V10.
I document the service history of my original S85 engine and diagnose its failure. I go through the process to source, refresh, cam and refit the replacement V10 into the E60.
In this entry, we go through pre-flight checks, and we start up the S85-002 for the first time. I documented our process, the first impressions along with the final installation of the CSL Competition Carbon Plenum."
- Matt
Unusual pre-flight checks.
With the swap process complete, it was now time for pre-ignition and crank checks.
My E60 had been sitting since late May, it had been 6 months since this chassis had seen any life. The S85-002 donor engine delivered in September had actually been removed from its original chassis in early 2023 and sitting ever since.
Considering the above, unusual steps needed to be performed to get the S85-002 started. The steps we went through, to the best of our knowledge, limited risks related to startup damages following a long period of inactivity.
First things first, the battery needed to be properly charged. It would be required as the pre-crank checks will require a lot of electrical power.
Next up was topping off coolant.
The MSS60 requires the hood to be closed to start, or the appearance of it. We reinstalled the hood latch mechanism but altered it to allow engine start with the hood opened.
The hood latch and its cover were still properly bolted to the front of the chassis.
We performed a final check across all hoses and lines, and removed the Radtech Performance oil cooler.
Unfortunately, this oil cooler had more than likely seen metal shavings pass through its core. They are notoriously difficult to clean, impossible some may say.
I still had a OEM unit that we had previously replaced, it was in working order. We used it until I source another RadTec.
S85-001's last blood.
The S85-001 original oil filter and its housing were still mounted to the E60 chassis. It was time to remove it, and inspect the filter itself for shavings. Having previously seen the toasted crankshaft when we removed the oil pan off the S85-001, we knew what we were about to see.
Let's zoom in, and bring a light to the filter and its housing.
Yikes.
The filter and housing were filled with copper material and other metal shavings from the tri-metal construction of the ACL rod bearings.
Of course, we opted to replace it, and use the S85-002s oil filter housing that came with the engine.
We removed the Secondary Air Pump itself and its hoses.
A new oil filter went in, and fresh 10W60 oil was poured in.
The liners were put back on, and it was time to begin the first start-up procedure.
Our first objective in the startup sequence was to prime the engine with oil circulation driven by the starter turning over the crank without any ignition. The injectors and ignition coils were removed to avoid any spark.
But nothing - no crank. We had SMG3 codes, and the pump made weird noises. Phil intuitively thought it was missing fluids.
Of course, he was right. It turns out letting your car sit for a while will let SMG fluid seep.
The SMG3 sucked in 250ml of CHF 11S power steering fluid before it was full again.
We bottomed up the undetray, and it was think to give it another shot.
It worked - we had the starter cranking.
We let the starter crank for a few minutes, driving the main oil pump to push 10W60 oil across all cavities. Phil verified hoses and lines once more.
We shut her off and reconnected injectors, and ignition coils to get it ready for spark. I filmed and edited a reel showing the process here.
... we had spark! The S85-002 roared to life [...] with a fluctuating idle, we immediately had a check engine light.
AH! We had forgotten to reconnect one injector.
Idle was perfectly smooth and stable at the increased idle speed of 950 rpm - and no CEL!
We let the engine eat up, and proceed with topping off the power steering fluid. After reaching operating temperatures, we shut her off once more.
It was time to finalize the re-assembly by installing the CSL Competition Carbon Plenum.
The unique installation procedure was performed. You can read the complete installation notes here.
All trumpets were bolted to the bungs, securing the plenum to the engine.
I then fitted the enlarged sealed intakes in their Competition spec. The passenger side requires careful attention to avoid potentially scratching the inlets against the PS reservoir, and the oil cap.
The driver side required moving the expansion tank and its hoses out of the way.
The trick here is to get the lower housings into the OEM plastic ducts with the middle clamp of the intakes loose. You can then adjust the orientation of the upper inlet tube to match the oval shape of the larger CSL side inlets on the plenum.
Lastly, we bolted the lid down over a new gasket.
This is a reminder that all bolts on the CSL carbon plenum require blue loctite for a secure fit.
All of them.
The lid had been freshly repainted, but unfortunately, the matte powder agent used by ExclusivAutomotiv was wrong.
Still, that's none of Phil's business - the man was proud.
With the plenum fully fitted, we fired her up once more. I filme and edited a reel showing the difference between ITBs fully open, and the plenum here.
Relieved, happy, and thrilled - it's alive!
The spectrum of emotions was wide, but it all pales to the eagerness of driving it.
Up next: I go on a first test drive with Phil, and test TomTom hops on board to provide his impressions on the S85-002.
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