Properly silly ? But If I drain all the water and oil over the winter to do bits and bobs on my engine will it b ok or will it damage the engine over the winter.

As long as you don't turn it over should be ok..

No moving parts, no need for lube

If this is your plan, always block any access to the engine... I mean, if you remove the plugs then cover/seal the holes, for example.

Also, you might want to seal the air-intake to prevent little critters getting in there...

And drop a little oil into the cylinder bores via the spark-plug holes - this should prevent the liners from rusting and the rings from getting too attached to the bores ! Leave just enough fuel in to keep the fuel-lines full, but avoid leaving too much fuel in the tank as it will deteriorate over time and will need fresh fuel when she returns to the road...

Occasionally turn the engine over by hand to let the oil you put in the cylinders smear the bores !

If she will be stood for quite a while, you might want to put het on axle-stands to avoid damage to the tyres.

Also bear in mind that the Tranny and Diff oils may need replacing (Dependant on how long she is stood)...

Keep an eye on the bushes too as these may deteriorate with lack of action !!

Cheers for that

More than welcome ;)

well started to strip down the engine just cant find a manual on it.

Have you tried your local library, they can order in one for you or try Ebay/Amazon, good luck with strip down.

http://www.bentleypublishers.com/bmw/

im about to take the head off the engine but is it right that there are 3 chains at the front of the engine an upper chain lower chain and aoil pump drive.

The oil-pump should be driven off the crank and runs the cam-chain too ! !