What's best thread for Head R+R E39 M62 motor?

[Teledyol]

I got two 540i E39 motors where I want to pull the heads and service them.

I'm using the Baum timing toolkit. Looking for online forums, but not finding the best threads for that.

I have Bentley manuals. I did the valley gasket on one a few years ago, but I never pulled heads on the M62

Just looking for best workup, most instructions jump around to other repair sections ( which get's to be annoying when you're actually doing the work ). There are many parts that could be left on intake assembly as one unit without removing them completely. So, it would be nice to have one set of steps for head gasket R+R to save research time and avoid confusion.

If anyone has a recommendation for best machine shop for the head service near Oakland CA, I'd also appreciate that. Will probably use Wise in Berkeley.

RAW

[JimLev]

I've stripped a few M62's in the past and put heads back on.
This isn't a step by step. If your going to do this you should have a pretty good idea of what your getting into.
You'll need to pull the intake manifold, it's bolted to both heads. Remove this intake tube and air box.
Remove the belts, mark all cables and hoses you remove, take pics.
Remove the fan, the crossover tube in front of the water pump. Take the valve covers off, remove the coils, take all of the exhaust nuts off. Remove the rear crossover coolant manifold at the back of the heads.
Disconnect the fuel line. You'll need to at least one cam gear to get the chain off so you can pull the cams.
When you've got that done let us know.

[Teledyol]

JimLev gotta paying gig this weekend, so I didn't take any photos so far. I'll have time on Tuesday to remove heads.

I finally found the thread for using the Baum tools for Timing Chain R+R http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/876903 but that job was already done and I'm not in the mood to strip off more than I need — hence, the request for a Heads Only thread.

I removed radiator (more room and better than easily whacking up radiator) and intake assembly as a unit and valve covers. I could almost do that job in my sleep. thanks for your tips.

[JimLev]

That's for a tu motor which you probably don't have. You'll have less to take off.
You will need to pull the chains to get the heads off and then time the motor after you put it back together.

[geargrinder]

Yeah exactly - you'll still need to pull the UTC's and wire / ziptie the primary chain up in the air on both sides etc. Good news is, when I had my motor apart I tested, and it seems nearly impossible to force the chain to skip a tooth down at the crank by jiggling from above but obv you still want to be as careful as you can with that.

Exhaust manifolds will be the biggest hassle. Those nuts are a beyotch to get to and the manifolds dont have much room to move around down there.

[JimLev]

You'll need to get some of those exhaust manifold nuts off from underneath after you disconnect the exhaust pipes from the exhaust manifold on the heads.
The drivers side will be the biggest PITA to deal with, you'll be doing some of them blind, by feel.

[Teledyol]

Exhaust manifolds will be the biggest hassle. Those nuts are a beyotch to get to and the manifolds dont have much room to move around down there.

Pelican site instructions (still chopped up) said that you can detach at downpipe connection then leave headers attached to pull with heads. I'm going to give that a try. Wonder if any members have tried this already.

[JimLev]

Good luck with that. The head with the exhaust manifold attached will be HEAVY.
Maybe that will work on the I6.

[Teledyol]

The head with the exhaust manifold attached will be HEAVY.

Maybe I'll try using an engine lift to make it easier

[geargrinder]

Good luck with that. The head with the exhaust manifold attached will be HEAVY.
Maybe that will work on the I6.

Agree the combo of weight and awkward shape is going to be challenging.

Maybe it works OK I dunno. If you use a hoist you'll have to rig a place to lift each head from too... not sure how that's going to work... I wouldnt use any of the VC bolt holes... maybe a sling somehow using a couple intake manifold bolts then run across around the exhaust manifold and back again...

Another consideration is that personally I always want to do ARP studs instead of replacing the OEM one-use stretch bolts. But with studs in place it's going to be even more challenging to drop the head down. I suppose you could thread the studs through the head after its set down as if they were bolts... but then you have challenge of getting them fully bottomed properly with very little end sticking up out of the head.

[Jackwagon]

"Pelican site instructions (still chopped up) said that you can detach at downpipe connection then leave headers attached to pull with heads. I'm going to give that a try. Wonder if any members have tried this already."

I have done it this way, it can be done, but not easily. Although it might be easier than trying to unbolt the manifolds! If I remember correctly, the passenger side will come out without too many acrobatics. I unbolted the motor mount on the driver side and jacked up the engine to get that side in and out. I also used a hoist....they get heavy.
Jeff

[Teledyol]

Thanks Jackwagon.

I now have a conundrum. I got to the point where I lined it up on TDC and was able to place the Baum cam blocks on and it's obvious that they aren't seating properly. ( I trippple checked them to make sure they were on correct side and everything). So the question is if the valve timing was off.

A mechanic in Livermore had worked on the car and had replaced the timing chain and rails, it's likely that he did not buy the special tools. However, the car has been operating for a few years and passed smog-test twice.

IMG_2911.jpg

IMG_2912.jpg

The images are upside down, I couldn't find control to invert them

[Teledyol]

The short answer is that I can leave the sprockets and chain marked and connected and go with that…

…or, the Vanos system should be checked and reset. http://www.beisansystems.com/procedu..._procedure.htm

There's a few threads here that talk about the Beisan Systems rebuild.

[JimLev]

Did you turn the intake cams manually with a wrench to get the lock blocks to drop in place?
Watch this video.
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...a-540tu-engine

[Teledyol]

JimLev, thanks for the videos.

I still haven't pulled the heads. My question is if I should go with the current setting of the sprockets that I marked:

IMG_2906.jpg

You see white dots on chain/sprocket.

Or if I just try to reset timing. I'm trying to figure out if the tensioner pistons were replaced when the chain was replaced.

I'm thinking that retiming is way to go, the question is if I should rebuild Vanos (Beisan or DrVanos) and go down that rabbit hole

[JimLev]

I'd time it the way it should be done. Too risky not doing it the correct way.
Not doing the vanos while its apart would be a mistake.
The tensioner is hardly ever a problem even though it almost always gets replaced.
They can be pulled apart and cleaned. The spring in the older tensioner provides more tension before the engine is started, after its running oil pressure takes over to do the tension.

[Teledyol]

Ya JimLev, that's what I'm thinkin

[geargrinder]

Confused by the "98" and but then the pictures of a TU... but just caught the edit of "have a few motors". OK. So you have some TU motors unrelated to your 98 car.

To comment above...... Yes very very very very very very very very very likely any mechanic who tried to eyeball/workaround/mark-it time a TU motor, effed it up on reassembly. Actually marking chains and sprockets like that won't do shi7zz because you have no idea where the VANOS is sitting... you need the VANOS timing tool kit wrench to pump the oil out and close the VANOS down. If you could accurately mark the VANOS as well as all the actual cam-to-sprocket locations theoretically it could work but in reality - it never does. You'll see when you get those sprockets off - they are not keyed or splined or anything. They are 'infinitely adjustable' and can just spin like pinwheels. So your marks could like up perfectly but who has any goddamn idea where the cams actually are... the sprocket mark/location is completely arbitrary.

That said, once you have the hang of it, and have the tools, the timing isn't that bad, so indeed "just do it". The big TU tip is - aside from triple checking that the VANOS is fully rolled over - to make sure you time it, turn it through 720, check again, then repeat at least one more time. Ensure the manual tensioner used in the kit is very very tight while you do that. Odds are that will result in some final fine tuning adjustments from slack getting worked through.

[Teledyol]

My apologies gear grinder, JimLev forgot to update my cars. The 98 is dormant (wife coked the rings) and that motor might be my next project. OR I might just pull that motor and and use the manual transmission. I saw that you did a "Getrag 420G 6 speed manual transmission conversion"

Which VANOS timing tool (s) are you referring to?

[geargrinder]

The timing tool kit for the TU includes a pin spanner that is used to rotate the VANOS during the timing operation

[wagons ho]

My advice which matters not,but comes from experience is pull the motor.
You are draining the radiator, and pulling the exhaust anyway, so yank that thing out.
Working around the rats nest of wires piled up on top of the engine is no fun. The harness is designed to be ATTACHED to the motor during removal.
Any job requiring pulling the heads probably has other incidental work needed that may be unseen in car. Like rear block coolant plate.
And the job is so much easier on the floor with better chances of success in timing and resealing all the gaskets and covers.
And will provide you with the opportunity to really get to know and clean your car. (I'm sure it needs a good clean)

[JimLev]

^---What he said, much easier to do everything.

Cam_6.JPG

[Teledyol]

Bad news, good news…

Appears that I won't be publishing that Head R+R step by step thread that we could use.

Appears that it's most likely the valley pan that all of my authorities should have suggested. MY bad. I was going to run the simple Coolant CO test that takes about five minutes to do before you start tearing everything apart. I don't have a leak down tester … yet. But the CO test is too easy.

I dug around testing some pressure though and seeing if I could find a head gasket leak.

IMG_2935.jpg IMG_2936.jpg

I just wanted to be doubly sure that it was NOT the head gasket. Anyways, it appears to be that valley gasket after all

IMG_2937.jpg

But now I got all of the VANOS pulled apart and after I reassemble it I'll do a leak down test to be trippply sure. Is the VANOS rebuild worth the effort? Now that I know what I'm doing I could wait until it's a problem and just be happy with retiming cams and inspecting everything.

[StRaNgEdAyS]

Do it while it's apart...

Absinthe makes the tart grow fonder

[geargrinder]

LOL. We never were asked if you should do a HG. If you'd posed that question, and you didnt have any unusually definitive evidence, easily the answer is "almost certainly not". They have plenty of other crap issues and weakpoints certainly, but these motors very very seldom blow HGs.