S54 Valve Clearance Adjustments E46 M3

An often overlooked servicing requirement for the S54 E46 M3, is valve adjustments. The recommended service interval for this procedure is every 30,000 miles.

The drivetrain for the S54 engine is purely mechanical, using rocker arms and lifters that need to have their clearances set using shims. These clearances open up and become bigger over time as the rocker arm wears naturally. A bigger shim needs to be swapped in so as to make this clearance back within specification.

If this isn’t carried out and the clearance gets too big then you risk the shim falling out into the head, causing not only damage from the shim but to the rocker arm for running without a shim. The bottom right photo below show bad wear from where this has happened and the clearance was too big. This proceeded to be a head off job and the finger follower had to be replaced. Needless to say, a lot more expensive than a valve adjustment.

Here at Element Performance we performance a full valve adjustment from £350. This includes any replacement shims needed, Genuine BMW valve cover gasket and a copy of your new and old clearances, for your records.