This is a great video: thanks for recording all the steps. I'm just about to do a compression test on my 2007 325i E93 with N53 engine. This video has given me the confidence to have a go. Cheers from the UK.
Just did the test yesterday using a cheapo £20 compression tester from ebay. Success! I did the test cold, pulled the relevant fuses, removed all spark plugs, then tested each cylinder. The results were unexpectedly good: PSI from cylinder 1 to 6: 225, 220, 225, 235, 225, 235. I did 7 or 8 cranks of the starter. I say unexpectedly because I recently had a compression test done at a local garage and his results were really low and he told me the engine was no good so best to sell. I'm glad I did it myself as I was suspicious of his results. Anyway I can now go on to tackle the real issues - the dreaded N53 misfires... To that end I'm replacing all spark plgs and coils with new OEM parts in the next few days. Cheers
@@micdev42Hi mate got a n53 myself and have ordered a compression test kit myself. Did you have to pull the fuel pump fuse? And also what were your symptoms of the car running poorly? If so did you manage to sort it in the end? Thanks alot
@@AbdulHaq11901 Yes I pulled the fuel pump fuse (can't remember which one it was...). My car was/is a bit of a basket case: leaking injectors, poor fuel consumption, jerky gear changes, misfire codes etc. - but no O2 or NOX errors surprisingly enough. The reason I did the test was that my technician did a test and he reckoned the engine was shot: widely different compressions. I wasn't convinced as I'd read that sometimes the gauge doesn't seal properly. Anyway, I did my tests - with the engine cold - and I got a consistent 220 psi (more or less) across all cylinders. This convinced me that the engine was basically OK. HTH
@@micdev42 ok nice. Yh mine is leaking injectors 100% but what worries me more is when the engine is warm it starts juddering alot if I put the pedal down fully or even if I do mid throttle really. Ive ordered some injectors used and new coil and spark plugs (hopefully that fixes the issue) it's also got precat oxygen sensor errors showing on inpa. So maybe it is the 02 sensors? Its a nightmare this engine but I want to get it right.
Hi Mario, Zion is the best Dog! Super friendly but scary looking when someone comes knocking. The engine is worse than I expected. I think I am going to out together a video on odd issues and problems I have seen at work and make it a members only thing 😀
There is always ways to do things multiple ways. We were always taught to press the accelerator to the floor on cranking. At the dealer, 9 out of 10 the guys will never disable the fuel system. A strong battery is good, with the maintainer connected. Some say coat the threads of the tester and hand screw it in. We always do it on a stone cold engine. Personally for diagnosis, I always get the best gauges I can afford. Snap-On's stuff is good in a sense since spare parts are easy to get a hold of. Fuel pressure is a different story, back in the day a bad gauge would jump if you tapped on the glass. Never cut corners on diagnosis equipment whenever possible. Southmainauto had a nifty trick of using a transducer on the radiator cap with each cylinder test, people will always find new ways to know more of the engine's status without even opening up the bugger. Always give cred to the guys that help us to improve our diagnosis skills.
@@garyvanremortel5218 Possibly, still any test will only give you an idea of vaguely what's going on. As Mercedes Source used to say, its never just a headgasket. I was brought to the understanding that once an engine has been cooked, everything goes out of spec. Fixing a overheated engine is a hit and a miss, usually just not worth it depending on severity.
LOL Great question Thomas! It DID run. I was able to pull it in and out of my garage multiple times. It did not run very well however. Putting the timing together now and hope to be driving it this spring. More videos to come!
@@AskTheCarExperts thanks for your reply. I just recently got an m54 from the junkyard, it has 180psi on 4 cylinders, 158psi on the 5th and one with 130psi That’s with the engine on a pallet, not warm or anything. I’ve heard that compression will improve with the engine warm. So what do you think? I’m hoping I’ll be able to use this engine for my swap, even though 2 of the cylinders are a bit lower
Hi Gary, I was hoping for at least a few of the cylinder on the Z3 M54 engine to come close to that. Going to do a cylinder leak down next before starting the head removal.
![How To Compression Test Your Engine [2023]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/v0gH8dFyWH8/mqdefault.jpg)
![How To Compression Test Your Engine [2023]](/img/tr.png)
![How To Perform a Compression Test - [EASY]](/img/n.gif)
Perfect video for me this morning. Very appreciative. Thanks Roger!
@@Z3greg Hi Greg! Awesome to hear my video helped! Thanks for commenting!
This is a great video: thanks for recording all the steps. I'm just about to do a compression test on my 2007 325i E93 with N53 engine. This video has given me the confidence to have a go. Cheers from the UK.
Just did the test yesterday using a cheapo £20 compression tester from ebay. Success! I did the test cold, pulled the relevant fuses, removed all spark plugs, then tested each cylinder. The results were unexpectedly good: PSI from cylinder 1 to 6: 225, 220, 225, 235, 225, 235. I did 7 or 8 cranks of the starter. I say unexpectedly because I recently had a compression test done at a local garage and his results were really low and he told me the engine was no good so best to sell. I'm glad I did it myself as I was suspicious of his results. Anyway I can now go on to tackle the real issues - the dreaded N53 misfires... To that end I'm replacing all spark plgs and coils with new OEM parts in the next few days. Cheers
@@micdev42Hi mate got a n53 myself and have ordered a compression test kit myself. Did you have to pull the fuel pump fuse? And also what were your symptoms of the car running poorly? If so did you manage to sort it in the end? Thanks alot
@@AbdulHaq11901 Yes I pulled the fuel pump fuse (can't remember which one it was...). My car was/is a bit of a basket case: leaking injectors, poor fuel consumption, jerky gear changes, misfire codes etc. - but no O2 or NOX errors surprisingly enough. The reason I did the test was that my technician did a test and he reckoned the engine was shot: widely different compressions. I wasn't convinced as I'd read that sometimes the gauge doesn't seal properly. Anyway, I did my tests - with the engine cold - and I got a consistent 220 psi (more or less) across all cylinders. This convinced me that the engine was basically OK.
HTH
@@micdev42 ok nice. Yh mine is leaking injectors 100% but what worries me more is when the engine is warm it starts juddering alot if I put the pedal down fully or even if I do mid throttle really. Ive ordered some injectors used and new coil and spark plugs (hopefully that fixes the issue) it's also got precat oxygen sensor errors showing on inpa. So maybe it is the 02 sensors? Its a nightmare this engine but I want to get it right.
@@micdev42 also did you manage to fix your car? Did the plugs and coils or even injectors sort the issue? Thanks
Thanks Roger for the info!
Carumba is exactly what I said too 🙀
Great to see big Z.
Man, that’s a clean engine bay. The way it should be 👌🏼
Hi Mario, Zion is the best Dog! Super friendly but scary looking when someone comes knocking. The engine is worse than I expected. I think I am going to out together a video on odd issues and problems I have seen at work and make it a members only thing 😀
There is always ways to do things multiple ways. We were always taught to press the accelerator to the floor on cranking. At the dealer, 9 out of 10 the guys will never disable the fuel system. A strong battery is good, with the maintainer connected. Some say coat the threads of the tester and hand screw it in. We always do it on a stone cold engine. Personally for diagnosis, I always get the best gauges I can afford. Snap-On's stuff is good in a sense since spare parts are easy to get a hold of. Fuel pressure is a different story, back in the day a bad gauge would jump if you tapped on the glass. Never cut corners on diagnosis equipment whenever possible. Southmainauto had a nifty trick of using a transducer on the radiator cap with each cylinder test, people will always find new ways to know more of the engine's status without even opening up the bugger. Always give cred to the guys that help us to improve our diagnosis skills.
I've heard of doing starter tests to see if the current peaks for each cylinder during the compression stroke are the same.
@@garyvanremortel5218 Possibly, still any test will only give you an idea of vaguely what's going on. As Mercedes Source used to say, its never just a headgasket. I was brought to the understanding that once an engine has been cooked, everything goes out of spec. Fixing a overheated engine is a hit and a miss, usually just not worth it depending on severity.
@@devinsmith4151 Yeah, the starter current test was just a quick and dirty clip-on probe way to see if they were all the same.
What's normal compression for a 2009 BMW 535i? Or BMW in general? Some people say 120 is low i don't think so.
Hello Bobby, I would like to see at least 150 to 180. Best action is to compare to the other cylinders.
Hi. I was wondering if there is a cylinder leakage test anywhere on your channel, because I can't find it... ? Thanks
Hello, Yup I have that :)
th-cam.com/video/yhHv-AwbFiY/w-d-xo.html
Did this engine run with those numbers
LOL Great question Thomas! It DID run. I was able to pull it in and out of my garage multiple times. It did not run very well however. Putting the timing together now and hope to be driving it this spring. More videos to come!
@@AskTheCarExperts thanks for your reply. I just recently got an m54 from the junkyard, it has 180psi on 4 cylinders, 158psi on the 5th and one with 130psi
That’s with the engine on a pallet, not warm or anything. I’ve heard that compression will improve with the engine warm. So what do you think? I’m hoping I’ll be able to use this engine for my swap, even though 2 of the cylinders are a bit lower
@@n54action Engine was fine. all numbers read above 180 after i warmed it up and ran it. Been going strong for a few months now.
210psi on my Jaguar.
Hi Gary, I was hoping for at least a few of the cylinder on the Z3 M54 engine to come close to that. Going to do a cylinder leak down next before starting the head removal.
@@AskTheCarExperts Yeah, that's the kind of test we do on Continental and Lycoming aircraft engines.
@@garyvanremortel5218 That's cool! Never worked on an airplane yet 😀
@@AskTheCarExperts asktheplaneexpert...
@@garyvanremortel5218 😆