N62 valve guide seal failure (poll)

[motuman]

I'd like to inquire:

How many miles on your N62 engine?

Have the valve guide seals bean replaced?

If yes, what was the mileage at time of replacement?

Very interested to know how many N62 engines have made it to old age without replacing the valve guide seals.

Thx!

[jbontke]

113k. Replaced at 112k

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[BrentOC]

I just replaced the valve stem seals at 118,000 miles on my 545i, along with removing the heads and having them machined to clean the secondary system as carbon had clogged the ports and "Increased Emissions" warning on and would not pass smog. The valve-stem seals leaking oil into the intake accelerates the carbon clogging the secondary. I took my car in immediately when I saw smoke from the exhaust when starting from a stop light. So hopefully I saved my cats which cost around $4,000 to replace+labor. Under advice of two indy bmw mechanics they recommended NOT to do the AGA tool clean as they have had bad luck with it. Many times the AGA tool clean for the secondary does not work at much expense for the labor. The only true way to clean is to remove the heads and then take to a machine shop to bore out the carbon clogged ports. The estimate was approx. $10,000 for Stem Seals, remove/machine the heads, replace the cats. I was charged $6,000 without the cat replace. I recommend Bullet Performance in Costa Mesa if you live in So Calif. They were honest with me up front about the AGA issue the other Indy first said go with the AGA tool but when I asked a lot of questions and raised concerns they finally said best to remove the heads.
On top of this, my car would not pass smog last year due to a leak in the intake manifold. A new manifold and labor was over $4,000. This is why you don't see many 545i's or any other BMW with the N62 engine on the road anymore because to do these repairs it costs more than the car is worth. The car runs great again, well for the time being. I have logged all repairs since I purchased it with 24K in 2006. Estimate over $30,000 in repairs!! about half under warranty, about half not. The problem is you spend so much $$$$ to fix it, and runs great when fixed, that you don't want to sell knowing how little you will get for it. Will I ever buy another BMW again? What do you think
Good luck!

[jbontke]

Brent OC, thanks for the information on the AGA tool clean. I am still going to try and use this tool to solve my increased emissions issue. Pulling the cylinder heads just seems extreme to solve the issue. For those interested about the tool, here it is:

http://www.agatools.com/tool/n62-secondary-air-cleaner

Here is a video that shows why the ports get clogged from the bad valve stem seals. It's a description about an ADA tool, but around 5 min, they explain the clogging issue that the ADA brush tool cannot address.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMJeXDrrIK8

[Stephen Max]

I replaced mine at 119k miles. And, like BrentOC, I also had to remove the heads in order to replace worn valve guides and to decarbon the secondary air ports. I removed the heads myself, so the total bill was only about $1000 for the head work and new gaskets.

I've got 155k miles on the car right now. Runs great except for a recent CEL related to coolant temp being to low. Any ideas what causes that? I replaced the thermostat and the temp sensor at the big hose near the radiator.

[jtbgonesailing]

Open the secret window and monitor the coolant temperature.