2009 650i

[Oldirtyd]

My 2009 650i has just over 90k miles on it and recently started leaking oil like crazy. I had my professional mechanic buddy give it a once over and he told me that it’s bad, and that all in it would probably cost me close to 10k to fix it. I’ve been watching videos on YouTube from the “auto repair guys” and I’m guessing most of my seals are blown. I’m a amateur when it comes to fixing stuff, I’ve done brakes , oil changes etc but nothing major. The oil is hitting the exhaust pipes causing smoke behind the vehicle when it’s running but aside from that the car is pretty cherry. Idk what to do. I want to keep it because I’m assuming most of the cost is labor I’d like to attempt to do that. I just don’t know how reasonable that is. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks in advance.

[Jake Reed]

I have no experience with the 650i. But I have an E38 740i. It sits a lot and was starting to leak from all the normal places. I do a lot of car work on my muscle cars so I have all the tools. I pulled the motor out and did everything myself. Just the engine hoist and a good jack is going to cost you 375-400. Is it your only car? Do you have even the basic tools?

Jake

[BimmerBreaker]

If you want to keep the car, it would probably be worth paying a decent mechanic to drop the engine and then service ALL of the car's major problems then: Valve stem seals, valve cover gaskets, coolant transfer pipe, alternator gasket and oil pan gaskets. It should not cost 10k though, maybe half that at a decent independent mechanic. Maybe even less if you are friendly with them. Most the work will be dropping the engine but once it's out, access is so good that it makes everything fairly easy although the valve stem seal job is still a complex one that I would never recommend to someone not proficient at mechanic work such as yourself

If you do so, the car will be reliable for many, many more miles. Make sure they use upgraded components (Elring valve stem seals, Uro coolant pipe, Uro alternator gasket) and it will last longer than the originals did. Upgrade to the newer style CCV hoses and CCV diaphragms as well while in there. All these parts are fairly cheap - about ~$1600 all said and done and thats adding a complete gasket re-seal on top of the service work

Below is an example of IMO the most finicky part of the valve stem seal job, doing the middle two seals on the intake side





The rest of the work is fairly simple ...maybe you can pay a friend to help you drop the engine and do the valve stem seals and you could in theory do the rest of the work if you take your time