Expert: Josh Fields - 2/8/2006

Question
Do you have details of valve clearance settings for 1990 535i (I assume it is same as 530?)

Thanks

Mike French

Answer
Mike,
 I looked it up and a couple websites say 12-14 thousandths.  (0.012"-0.014")  These engines have alot of valve "tick" by nature, so if you tighten them too much you can remove the valve tick, but the idle will be rough and you could possibly damage the cam.  Not to mention I think emmissions will be affected as well.  So if you set them at 0.012" you should be fine. I've also noticed that if you run a slightly thicker oil, it will reduce some valve noise as well (e.g. Mobil-1 15w-50)  I run this in my cars, but I also live in the south where temps rarely fall below 20°F.

 Good luck!
 Josh