Drop the pan and look for plastic. You can poke the lower u-guide (the one that replaced an idler sprocket...) if you dare as well.
There's quite a few still on the road, but what sends them to the yard 9\10 is either failure of the 5HP24 or the chain guides. The TU engine is even worse when it comes to reliability, but somehow I've managed to shoestring mine along.
In the past 20k for a total of 148k miles.
- VCG and Timing Cover Gasket (probably reused during PO's guide job)
- Oil Pan Gasket
- CCV
- VANOS makes a dieseling noise, I love it but some people get embarrassed easily.
Some people have great luck with it, others don't, it still doesn't excuse a poor design.
Last edited by XAlt; 07-18-2017 at 11:20 AM.
What he said ^
The M62 is an overrated nightmare engine. If anything, the M60 with all its sluggishness never had any issues. I only did regular service including one transmission service. Otherwise, nothing else. But the M62, don't get me started. Avus Autosport, F1 motorsports and Empowercars all have copies of my receipts.
Board Member of SoCalEights (Marketing, Web Development & Social Media), Vice President: BMWCCA/E31 Chapter, www.cartiologyfilms.com
Current E31s:
1997 BMW 840Ci Black on Beige. CSI 62, 107 and 16. Euro-CSi #892.
Client Represented E31s (Cartiology Films)
1994 BMW 850CSi #11 USA, 1994 BMW 850CSi #31 USA, 1994 BMW 850CSi #58 USA
93-850Ci - manual 6 speed. 97-850Ci - M73 Steptronic. 94-CSi 125, 95-CSi 162 Daytona Violet, CSi 198 White on Red
Past E31s:
1991 BMW 850i. Calypso Red on Beige Nappa and 1995 BMW 840Ci. Bright Red on Beige Nappa
1997 BMW 840Ci. Black On Black Nappa, but changed to Dakar Yellow on Black Nappa and 1994 BMW 850CSi #27. Red On light Silver.
1991 BMW 850i. Automatic. Red On Black and 1996 BMW 850Ci. Automatic. Midnight Blue on Gray.
1994 BMW 850CSi. Black On Blak #107, Black/Black 97-840. White/White CSi. Silver/Silver 97-840
The issue with the 62 boils down to the timing gear. Both leak oil, both have meh cooling systems, M60 has an even crappier OSV, but because of the bulletproof valvetrain the M60 is an engine you can depend on like the Mercedes M119 while the 62 isn't. You still had very bad luck with the 4.4.
plus 5HP30 in the 96>>>>>>>>>>>>>5HP24
Last edited by XAlt; 07-18-2017 at 01:55 PM.
What "thumbs up" really means
Which affects many engine designs, M70, M5x, etc. M62B44s suffer as well. There's also the valley pan that's almost exclusively a 62 issue (they used foamy crap on the first batches and then moved to the famous leaky gasket + plastic cover combo). 1/97 is the cutoff for the 5HP30.
It's been proven that the new long-spring tensioner doesn't really do much to prevent failure either.
Last edited by XAlt; 07-18-2017 at 09:38 PM.
Cor Blimey! One minute this is the E31 community - the next it's a bun fight!
The O/P is well gone and we're looking like a bunch of school kids arguing about who's got the ugliest dad - give it a rest!
Timm..2007 E64 650i Individual Sport..1999 E31 840ci Individual Sport..ex owner of 2000 E38 740..1999 E38 740i V8 M62..1998 E38 735i V8..1993 E32 730i V8..1988 E28 518i
My BMW Repair YouTube Channel
My Current 840ci Sport Individual
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Chase - Heroes to a generation
'91 Dinan 860 Stage III (new 6L engine)
'91 Dinan 850 TT stage III (brand new engine) 21st Century Tech meets 18th Century Dinan...
'91 850i 6sp (mint) (sold)
'90 Dinan 750iL TT stage III (Guido - The Beast)
'94 850 CSi The Detroit Auto Show car (restored to factory perfect) (sold)
'96 850Ci, The George Carlin car
''73 3.0 csi, '08 535i, '03 X5 4.6is
...and a few other non BMW cars
Board Member of SoCalEights (Marketing, Web Development & Social Media), Vice President: BMWCCA/E31 Chapter, www.cartiologyfilms.com
Current E31s:
1997 BMW 840Ci Black on Beige. CSI 62, 107 and 16. Euro-CSi #892.
Client Represented E31s (Cartiology Films)
1994 BMW 850CSi #11 USA, 1994 BMW 850CSi #31 USA, 1994 BMW 850CSi #58 USA
93-850Ci - manual 6 speed. 97-850Ci - M73 Steptronic. 94-CSi 125, 95-CSi 162 Daytona Violet, CSi 198 White on Red
Past E31s:
1991 BMW 850i. Calypso Red on Beige Nappa and 1995 BMW 840Ci. Bright Red on Beige Nappa
1997 BMW 840Ci. Black On Black Nappa, but changed to Dakar Yellow on Black Nappa and 1994 BMW 850CSi #27. Red On light Silver.
1991 BMW 850i. Automatic. Red On Black and 1996 BMW 850Ci. Automatic. Midnight Blue on Gray.
1994 BMW 850CSi. Black On Blak #107, Black/Black 97-840. White/White CSi. Silver/Silver 97-840
He made the right choice for him, as clearly he was not smitten enough. If you love the car, fixing the issues (that any 8 series brings to the table) is part of the enjoyment of ownership. You don't really know your car until you take it apart.
Desecrator of all things Sacred
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