Replacing valve stem seals. 2006 X5 4.8is

[craigatkinson]

I recently replaced the CCV's on my 2006 X5 4.8is in hopes it would solve my smoking on idle problem. That didn't fix the problem. My next guess is that it is the valve stem seals.
I am ordering my parts from KOperformance.com. I currently have the valve stem seals, and new valve cover gaskets in my shopping cart. Anything else I should throw in there?

[slevy951]

Cams are going to have to come out right? Going to retime the motor? How you going to get the cams out without losing the time? I would think you'd at least need front timing chains gaskets....

[craigatkinson]

Yes, I realized that after I did some more research. I'm looking into purchasing the timing tools. Looks like I can get them off eBay for $200. Wish I could find someone who would rent them to me. Seems like a waste of money for a tool I'm going to use once. Also I noticed I will need the front gasket as well. I've put that on my shopping list as well.

[slevy951]

Same tools as a 4.4? May want to post/check in the 7 e38 section and see if any avail to borrow/rent....

[02325]

Same tools as a 4.4? May want to post/check in the 7 e38 section and see if any avail to borrow/rent....

different tools. sorry.

[bimmer_boyis]

Are you planning to do this without pulling the heads? If so you are going to need everything for the upper end.

Headgaskets, headbolts, vanos solenoid gaskets, upper timing cover gaskets, intake gaskets, exhaust manifold gaskets

[TiAgX5]

Has a leakdown test been done to verify the smoking is not due to bad rings on the pistons?

[bimmer_boyis]

Has a leakdown test been done to verify the smoking is not due to bad rings on the pistons?

I've never seen this issue in the N62 without some sort of bottom end noise. Valve seals however are getting very common

[TiAgX5]

I've never seen this issue in the N62 without some sort of bottom end noise. Valve seals however are getting very common

A mis-installed airbox/airtube assembly that goes unnoticed for a few years can ruin rings. It's amazing how many simple details are missed by novice DIYers and previous owners. The most important step in auto repair is the 1st step, diagnosis. Nothing more disheartening for the DIYer then to spend 100s or dollars and dozens of hours only to find out his/her repair FAILED to correct the problem. Leakdown test would take around an hour to perform.

[slevy951]

A mis-installed airbox/airtube assembly that goes unnoticed for a few years can ruin rings.

Elaborate please?

[bimmer_boyis]

Elaborate please?

Sucking dirt into the engine for years will cause ring damage.

[TiAgX5]

Elaborate please?

If you drive down dusty roads behind other cars the ring damage can occur in a few weeks. Silica dust is some nasty stuff!!!

[turbovrGTI]

while i do them in the car without pulling the heads...either way i dont really consider this a DIY type of job..

[bimmer_boyis]

while i do them in the car without pulling the heads...either way i dont really consider this a DIY type of job..

I'm interested to hear which valve spring compressor you are using to do them in the car. It's pretty tight on those back cylinders

[White94RX]

while i do them in the car without pulling the heads...either way i dont really consider this a DIY type of job..

Having rebuilt a few of these engines myself, I completely, 100% agree that this is not a DIY job for the driveway or backyard mechanic.

[craigatkinson]

It's been a while since I've visited this thread. I'm still thinking about completing this project. I agree that I am no professional mechanic by any means, but I am also no amateur either. I grew up on a farm, and we worked on our own machinery, and I've been working on my own cars, boats, etc., ever since. I know how to turn a wrench better than the average joe American. How difficult is this project really? From what I've seen it isn't incredibly difficult, and in fact it appears it could be done in someone's garage. What am I missing?

[02325]

I havn't done this job, but IMO iwould remove the heads and send them to a shop that can disasemble the heads, vat the heads (i also bet your sec-air ports are clogged or almost clogged), put heads back together and then you get them. I would say if you are GOOD, it would take you 2-3 days to do it.

[westlotorn]

I am working with my Son on his X5 4.4L 2005 with similar oil smoke on idle and using 1 qt in less than 1000 miles. His smokes more hot, not on start up but after sitting at street lights etc. Pulled the vacuum feeds off that go from the manifold to the valve covers. Both are coated inside with oil and if you penlight the manifold where these enter the engine you can see evidence that Oil has been pulled into the engine. Replaced the PVC in the valve covers first and had no improvement.
The PVC, positive crankcase ventilation system in these is unique; at least I have not seen this type used before. If it is not working correctly you will inhale oil.

This is the problem we are fixing. Not done yet, on second attempt to fix this oil consumption we are having issues getting the Vanos working again but I think we cured the oil issue. Old seals and gaskets leak, in this engine if a valve cover is leaking AIR into the engine you will pull OIL into the intake.
The PVC in these engines pull vacuum in the oil pan and in the valve covers if the vacuum does not match it allows blow by into the intake manifold with oil in the blow by. Any air leak into the valve covers or oil pan can cause this. A leaking Oil filler cap or leaking Oil dip stick is enough. We think this one was pulling air around the vanos seals, they were shot.
If this air leak has gone on for a period the valve cover gaskets many vents and oil deflectors can plug up. The valve cover will need to be removed and a thorough cleaning take place. The underside is full of passages that allow the PVC to work and not inhale oil. They are hard to clean out.
FYI, if you have bad valve stem seals it usually smokes heavy on START UP and then cleans up considerably while running although it can still use a lot of oil, less than 500 miles per qt is possible. Pull your spark plugs, if they all look the same it is not valve stem seals. Valve stem seals will typically dump a lot of oil in one or more cylinder and not dump any in other cylinders and you will see this in your plug reads. If you don't know how to read a spark plug go to Champion, NGK, Bosch web sites and read up or Google how to read a spark plug. ( By the way, Champion makes a great plug for the BMW in my opinion, it is Iridium plug part 9202 fits both the 6cyl and 8 cyl, Iridium's offer a 7 year unlimited mileage guarantee from Champion. I think these are cutting edge. but read for yourself and I will also mention this is not the old Champion company that supplied crappy plugs in the 80's, today they supply Mercedes on new engines and all Formula One engines, Iridium sparks with lower voltage input and will last 200,000 plus with less miss fires than any plug available, but enough of that, sorry )
My son installed New Vanos Seals, valve cover gasket and there are a few other seals involved with this valve cover, cleaned everything and re installed, I am afraid we may have installed the Vanos wrong or messed up the sensors in the Valve cover assembly while cleaning it. The car starts and idles great, revs great in park, runs perfect in 1st gear, in higher gears when you try to accelerate it DIES, obviously the electronics are not working properly but we have not traced the source yet, the problem is Load related.
Any Idea's out there? Thanks

[90turbo1]

if you are dealing with an N62 motor chances are you have worn valve guides as well as seals. There is a recent bulletin and some videos for technicians that were sent out by bmw.

The N62 intake cams are a pita to dissasemble correctly and get back to gether in one piece, naimly the large springs (almost look like couch springs) that hold the fingers on the eccentric shaft for the valvetronic system. The small bolts that hold the springs down cross thread easily and if the springs are not held in place correctly they can be damaged.

when apart you must inspect the followers for any wear and such. replace as a set only.

as for timing the motor, its easy to time the motor if you buy the tools for holding the vanos.

valve seals can be done on the car.... but..... might and will be easier if the heads are removed, you can use air to hold the valves up or the rope trick that works good just be carefull not to put too much pressure on things with the rope.

as for parts, I would get valvetronic motor seals.. x2
4 orings for cam sensors
set of left and right valve cover gaskets
set of profile gaskets for front of cyl head covers
set of orings for vacuum pump (or if its leaking a new vacuum pump)
set gaskets for the intake manifold
set of spark plug tubes (updated ones with metal covering them)
new plugs (if you are there change them out)
new bolts to hold the vanos to cams (they are one time use)


have fun

[westlotorn]

Follow up to above note. Everything is now fixed and working great on the 2005 N62 4.4L X5. The oil smoke from the exhaust is gone. The engine is running good as new. The problem mentioned above was caused by one mistake, the drivers side electircal plug in was not fully inserted in the Vanos plug in. At one point we talked about taking that side apart again and my son had actually started taking that side apart by unplugging the Vanos Control. Once it was plugged back in everything purred. Without it plugged in the car would run great until you put a load on it and it would switch into limp home mode and cut the power to near zero while throwing no codes.

For all those replacing valve stem seals, please do yourself a favor and look into the PCV system on these cars. Check to see if your engine is fully sealed, no air leaks before spending money. Again, the Spark plugs will show if you are burning oil because of valve stem seals, read them before moving forward to change seals. If one or more spark plugs show heavy oil deposits those are the cylinders to look at for valve stem seals. If some are bad change them all. They typically age at the same rate in all cylinders.
If you put your car in a shop to get valve stem seals they will tear it down and end up replacing all the gaskets we replaced and in most cases fix your issue because of the new gaskets and Orings most lilely not because of the valve stem seals. I hope this saves some people money. Many on this forum have helped us fix our cars in the past so I hope this returns the favor.
My wife and I just picked up an X5 so now we have 2 X5's in the family but we sold off two really nice cars, our 2002 530i at 89 K and the 2001 525i at 150K.

Extra benefit: The MPG has jumped back to 20 + on Hwy at 75 MPH like it did years ago. Recently with the smoking exhaust and vacuum issue it would barely make 18 MPG on same trip.

if you are dealing with an N62 motor chances are you have worn valve guides as well as seals. There is a recent bulletin and some videos for technicians that were sent out by bmw.

The N62 intake cams are a pita to dissasemble correctly and get back to gether in one piece, naimly the large springs (almost look like couch springs) that hold the fingers on the eccentric shaft for the valvetronic system. The small bolts that hold the springs down cross thread easily and if the springs are not held in place correctly they can be damaged.

when apart you must inspect the followers for any wear and such. replace as a set only.

as for timing the motor, its easy to time the motor if you buy the tools for holding the vanos.

valve seals can be done on the car.... but..... might and will be easier if the heads are removed, you can use air to hold the valves up or the rope trick that works good just be carefull not to put too much pressure on things with the rope.

as for parts, I would get valvetronic motor seals.. x2
4 orings for cam sensors
set of left and right valve cover gaskets
set of profile gaskets for front of cyl head covers
set of orings for vacuum pump (or if its leaking a new vacuum pump)
set gaskets for the intake manifold
set of spark plug tubes (updated ones with metal covering them)
new plugs (if you are there change them out)
new bolts to hold the vanos to cams (they are one time use)

I would add new o-rings for the dip stick and to make sure the oil filler cap is sealing, these can be a source of air leaking into these engines. From what we experienced the engine does not work well with any air leak.


have fun

Thank You for taking time to respond with great advice, we changed the parts listed except for the valve stem seals. The Spark Plugs that came out looked great, no sign of oil burning, no carbon build up, no deposits.
For this reason we ruled out valve stem seals and focused on the PCV system, I think BMW uses another term but funciton is for Crankcase ventilation.
FYI, did you now that the reason the pan is exposed to full manifold vacuum in these engines has to do with piston rings, racers found they could run lighter tension oil rings on the piston, less friction and more HP if they put vacuum in the oil pan, it helped the oil ring funciton. Another way to maken an engine more efficient. This was new tech to racers in the 90's but now used in pass car engines.

[tiswds]

Glad it was a quick/easy fix and not valve stem seals!

[etasport87]

N62 valve seals are becoming a big problem for older high mileage cars. The guides are not really wearing when we are pulling heads but the valve seals are hard as a rock. This presents more of a problem for e60/e65 vehicles with secondary air as the air ports become so clogged no air enters and the CEL will illuminate. Big problem in PA for cars that require emissions testing. We see about 1-2 per month and sell the whole job. 40-50hr labor. The average cost is about $6500

[Sbayer]

Westolorne, I'd like to discuss your recent fix. Tks.

[jaboykin]

I am working with my Son on his X5 4.4L 2005 with similar oil smoke on idle and using 1 qt in less than 1000 miles. His smokes more hot, not on start up but after sitting at street lights etc. Pulled the vacuum feeds off that go from the manifold to the valve covers. Both are coated inside with oil and if you penlight the manifold where these enter the engine you can see evidence that Oil has been pulled into the engine. Replaced the PVC in the valve covers first and had no improvement.
The PVC, positive crankcase ventilation system in these is unique; at least I have not seen this type used before. If it is not working correctly you will inhale oil.

This is the problem we are fixing. Not done yet, on second attempt to fix this oil consumption we are having issues getting the Vanos working again but I think we cured the oil issue. Old seals and gaskets leak, in this engine if a valve cover is leaking AIR into the engine you will pull OIL into the intake.
The PVC in these engines pull vacuum in the oil pan and in the valve covers if the vacuum does not match it allows blow by into the intake manifold with oil in the blow by. Any air leak into the valve covers or oil pan can cause this. A leaking Oil filler cap or leaking Oil dip stick is enough. We think this one was pulling air around the vanos seals, they were shot.
If this air leak has gone on for a period the valve cover gaskets many vents and oil deflectors can plug up. The valve cover will need to be removed and a thorough cleaning take place. The underside is full of passages that allow the PVC to work and not inhale oil. They are hard to clean out.
FYI, if you have bad valve stem seals it usually smokes heavy on START UP and then cleans up considerably while running although it can still use a lot of oil, less than 500 miles per qt is possible. Pull your spark plugs, if they all look the same it is not valve stem seals. Valve stem seals will typically dump a lot of oil in one or more cylinder and not dump any in other cylinders and you will see this in your plug reads. If you don't know how to read a spark plug go to Champion, NGK, Bosch web sites and read up or Google how to read a spark plug. ( By the way, Champion makes a great plug for the BMW in my opinion, it is Iridium plug part 9202 fits both the 6cyl and 8 cyl, Iridium's offer a 7 year unlimited mileage guarantee from Champion. I think these are cutting edge. but read for yourself and I will also mention this is not the old Champion company that supplied crappy plugs in the 80's, today they supply Mercedes on new engines and all Formula One engines, Iridium sparks with lower voltage input and will last 200,000 plus with less miss fires than any plug available, but enough of that, sorry )
My son installed New Vanos Seals, valve cover gasket and there are a few other seals involved with this valve cover, cleaned everything and re installed, I am afraid we may have installed the Vanos wrong or messed up the sensors in the Valve cover assembly while cleaning it. The car starts and idles great, revs great in park, runs perfect in 1st gear, in higher gears when you try to accelerate it DIES, obviously the electronics are not working properly but we have not traced the source yet, the problem is Load related.
Any Idea's out there? Thanks

I am dealing with this same issue on my 2005 X5 4.4i with 93K miles. No smoke on start up, but blue smoke if I rev engine after it has idled for a minute or so. No smoke under power. I also have oil consumption issues as well. My indy believes it is the valve stem seals and estimates $4K to replace the seals. I would like to talk with you about your symptoms and repair. I am very interested in the spark plug analysis as a diagnostic step. Thanks for any help you can give me.

[jaboykin]

I am working with my Son on his X5 4.4L 2005 with similar oil smoke on idle and using 1 qt in less than 1000 miles. His smokes more hot, not on start up but after sitting at street lights etc. Pulled the vacuum feeds off that go from the manifold to the valve covers. Both are coated inside with oil and if you penlight the manifold where these enter the engine you can see evidence that Oil has been pulled into the engine. Replaced the PVC in the valve covers first and had no improvement.
The PVC, positive crankcase ventilation system in these is unique; at least I have not seen this type used before. If it is not working correctly you will inhale oil.

This is the problem we are fixing. Not done yet, on second attempt to fix this oil consumption we are having issues getting the Vanos working again but I think we cured the oil issue. Old seals and gaskets leak, in this engine if a valve cover is leaking AIR into the engine you will pull OIL into the intake.
The PVC in these engines pull vacuum in the oil pan and in the valve covers if the vacuum does not match it allows blow by into the intake manifold with oil in the blow by. Any air leak into the valve covers or oil pan can cause this. A leaking Oil filler cap or leaking Oil dip stick is enough. We think this one was pulling air around the vanos seals, they were shot.
If this air leak has gone on for a period the valve cover gaskets many vents and oil deflectors can plug up. The valve cover will need to be removed and a thorough cleaning take place. The underside is full of passages that allow the PVC to work and not inhale oil. They are hard to clean out.
FYI, if you have bad valve stem seals it usually smokes heavy on START UP and then cleans up considerably while running although it can still use a lot of oil, less than 500 miles per qt is possible. Pull your spark plugs, if they all look the same it is not valve stem seals. Valve stem seals will typically dump a lot of oil in one or more cylinder and not dump any in other cylinders and you will see this in your plug reads. If you don't know how to read a spark plug go to Champion, NGK, Bosch web sites and read up or Google how to read a spark plug. ( By the way, Champion makes a great plug for the BMW in my opinion, it is Iridium plug part 9202 fits both the 6cyl and 8 cyl, Iridium's offer a 7 year unlimited mileage guarantee from Champion. I think these are cutting edge. but read for yourself and I will also mention this is not the old Champion company that supplied crappy plugs in the 80's, today they supply Mercedes on new engines and all Formula One engines, Iridium sparks with lower voltage input and will last 200,000 plus with less miss fires than any plug available, but enough of that, sorry )
My son installed New Vanos Seals, valve cover gasket and there are a few other seals involved with this valve cover, cleaned everything and re installed, I am afraid we may have installed the Vanos wrong or messed up the sensors in the Valve cover assembly while cleaning it. The car starts and idles great, revs great in park, runs perfect in 1st gear, in higher gears when you try to accelerate it DIES, obviously the electronics are not working properly but we have not traced the source yet, the problem is Load related.
Any Idea's out there? Thanks

I am dealing with this same issue on my 2005 X5 4.4i with 93K miles. No smoke on start up, but blue smoke if I rev engine after it has idled for a minute or so. No smoke under power. I also have oil consumption issues as well. My indy believes it is the valve stem seals and estimates $4K to replace the seals. I would like to talk with you about your symptoms and repair. I am very interested in the spark plug analysis as a diagnostic step. Thanks for any help you can give me.