So I've been an e38 owner for 14 years and am looking to replace with a 2006 750iL with 50K miles. But this forum and others have scared the stuffing out of me with apparently every e66 needing valve stem seal work, an expensive coolant leak, and expensive gasket replacements. Never needed this stuff on my e38 with 154K miles, I thought BMW engines were bulletproof.
Can we get some perspective on how many / what percentage of the e66 suffer these problems? If you care to participate, list your model, year, which of these have failed and at what approx. mileage they broke.
Following as a former e38 owner (step-dad bought it from me) and a new Alpina B7 owner... just awaiting delivery.
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'07 e65|N62 - Alpina B7 - Black Sapphire|Black|Loaded|GONE
'02 e46|M54 - Orient Blue|Beige|'Vert|GONE
'00 e39|M52 - Anthrazit Metallic|Grey|GONE
'01 e38|M73 - Anthrazit Metallic|Schwarz|Shadow-Line|GONE
'91 e31|M70 - Schwarz|Schwarz|M70|FOR SALE
'13 328i Auto - Black Sapphire|Coral Red|Sport Line|GONE
'05 545i SMG - Jet Black|Black|Bamboo Anthracite|GONE
'07 335i Auto - Montego Blue|Grey|GONE
'05 545i SMG - (Euro Delivery 7/22/05)|Black Sapphire|Auburn|GONE
'97 528i Auto - GONE
My advice to you is, if you have the means for it, buy a high mileage (150,000-200,000) 750Li for an extremely discounted price. I purchased an 06 750Li back in June with the intention to rebuild it(Side Impact). What I didn't see was the rocker panel was pushed into the actual floor! The fire department bent the seat rails up with their jaws of life. Seats had some tears, and some blood of the unfortunate driver who was driver at time of impact. Anyways, it was total loss. The B pillar was cut off. All side air bags deployed. Both doors were mangle. It was enough for me to deem it as a parts car. The funny part is that I bought it with a clean title. Total price $2200.
A month down the line I bought another 750 with 150k, no start. Turned out to be a battery. I also determined it had a bad head gasket. Blown expansion tank, overheating, white smoke from the exhaust, etc. 07 cost 3200
So my plan is gut the 06 and transplant it into the 07. 06 has rear entertainment, motor and tranny that run as smooth as silk. I smell oil burning, so when I swap the engine EVERYTHING is getting replaced. Valve stem seals, vcgs, timing cover gasket, I might even do timing service to it.
If you have the means for it and the time, you an save a lot of money on a 10-15k car. I project to save 6-7k.
You aren't going to need to replace your engine per se, but you can do a mini rebuild by replacing all the seals, gaskets, etc.
Pardon the rambling, but I think it helps drive the idea home.
Every N62 engine needs valve stem seals and all the gaskets replaced. I've seen them done as early as 70k, but as late as 120k. These engines run at a hotter temp than your E38. It just cooks the gaskets and seals. Not to mention the long oil change intervals.
ASE and BMW Master Certified Technician
Thanks very much White. Are you a mechanic at a BMW dealership? Your post is exactly what I didn't want to hear but needed to hear. Maybe I will keep my e38 for another 10 years until a more reliable 7 series is affordable. Its very difficult to find out what repairs have been done to BMWs on Ebay for example. Sometimes you can find the dealer where the car was serviced, but many (most) won't tell you the cars history. There are exeptions. In a perfect world, sellers would list repairs performed to known problem areas.
Are there cooler thermostats available for N62's, like there were the Euro ones for M62's?
Yes, I've been a dealer tech for the last 12 years
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ASE and BMW Master Certified Technician
White, you said how to identify tranny issues (big bump on 2 to 1 downshift, men dressing as girls) and valve stem seal failure (smoke after long idle with hot engine). Can you tell me how to identify gasket failure? Do you see oil leaking from the engine or smoke from the exhaust or? Anybody got a picture of where it leaks?
Dupe.
'07 e65|N62 - Alpina B7 - Black Sapphire|Black|Loaded|GONE
'02 e46|M54 - Orient Blue|Beige|'Vert|GONE
'00 e39|M52 - Anthrazit Metallic|Grey|GONE
'01 e38|M73 - Anthrazit Metallic|Schwarz|Shadow-Line|GONE
'91 e31|M70 - Schwarz|Schwarz|M70|FOR SALE
'13 328i Auto - Black Sapphire|Coral Red|Sport Line|GONE
'05 545i SMG - Jet Black|Black|Bamboo Anthracite|GONE
'07 335i Auto - Montego Blue|Grey|GONE
'05 545i SMG - (Euro Delivery 7/22/05)|Black Sapphire|Auburn|GONE
'97 528i Auto - GONE
Yes, interested in this too. If this helps the engine truly run a bit cooler, does it prolong the sensitive gaskets. Also, I’m currently just under 50k miles, but does it make sense to start running high mileage synthetic to help keep seals conditioned better?
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'07 e65|N62 - Alpina B7 - Black Sapphire|Black|Loaded|GONE
'02 e46|M54 - Orient Blue|Beige|'Vert|GONE
'00 e39|M52 - Anthrazit Metallic|Grey|GONE
'01 e38|M73 - Anthrazit Metallic|Schwarz|Shadow-Line|GONE
'91 e31|M70 - Schwarz|Schwarz|M70|FOR SALE
'13 328i Auto - Black Sapphire|Coral Red|Sport Line|GONE
'05 545i SMG - Jet Black|Black|Bamboo Anthracite|GONE
'07 335i Auto - Montego Blue|Grey|GONE
'05 545i SMG - (Euro Delivery 7/22/05)|Black Sapphire|Auburn|GONE
'97 528i Auto - GONE
So you've been a dealer tech for 12 years - awesome! Now we can ask some good questions from ya!
How do you guys do the valve stem seals on these engines, do you use the tools that were developed to eliminate having to remove the cylinder heads?
How long does it take?
What's a valve stem seal job go for from BMW for an N62?
If you're referring to the AGA tools that don't require you to remove the cams, no, we do not use those. The handful of us that do the job each bought our own universal valve spring compressor. We do not remove the cylinder heads, but we all drop the motor out of the car to make life easy. Remove the cams, put compressed air into the cylinders to keep the valves from opening, and compress the spring. Remove the keepers, spring, old seal, then reverse procedure. Multiply that times 32 valves.
Not going to say how long the job actually takes me, but we typically charge in the neighborhood of 30 hours labor.
ASE and BMW Master Certified Technician
No problem!
Yes, I did buy two Chrysler products at the same time. BMW doesn't make trucks, and I did not want to put the wife in an X5. After work, it's like "if I see one more freaking BMW....."
We downsized from her Tahoe. And I upgraded to a diesel Ram from my previous Tundra. In the past, I never thought I would own Chrysler vehicles, but I really wanted a Cummins. And I love the look of the Grand Cherokee over most of the other similar size vehicles
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Last edited by White94RX; 10-08-2017 at 02:01 PM.
ASE and BMW Master Certified Technician
Go on facebook and type in bmw aga tool rental. Hes a very good guy. And very helpful. About 275 for a week i believe dont quote me on the price. Also has the timing tool dor rent as well. But you should not need that if you do everything properly with the valve stem seal tool. And follow all instructions.
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