2004 X5 4.4 85K white smoke

[Turbo_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by jdd

BMW use oversize valves (larger diameter stems) along with reaming out the valve guide to fit. This adds additional cost as you need to then purchase new valves of which there are 32 if you replace all of them plus the cost of reaming all the guides and re-cutting all the seats.
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jdd, I'm curious to learn more on what you say about larger diameter stem valves. I looked in realoem (for a 4.8is), and they don't list oversized stem valves.
Is this information in TIS?
It may be a better move to have aftermarket valve guides fitted and use the original valves instead of buying 32 new valves + the cost of machining.

[sweetbabu1]

I had the valve stems replaced about 2 months ago after bringing my car to the dealer for white smoke coming out the exhaust after sitting idle for a light or traffic. I had 120K on the odometer and oil and maintenance done religiosly. cost me $5400. I also had the injectors/fuel system cleaned. Runs like a champ. no more surging at a light, rough idle, and stalling. I know it is a hit in the ass from a cost perspective but if you plan on keeping it, worth every penny.

PS. the dealer had to actualy remove the engine to do the work.

[Turbo_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by sweetbabu1

I had the valve stems replaced about 2 months ago .

Do you mean valve stem seals only or they machined the heads and used new valve guides + seals?

[sweetbabu1]

Originally Posted by Turbo_Bimmer

Do you mean valve stem seals only or they machined the heads and used new valve guides + seals?

the dealer only replaced the valve stem seals. I had them replace the water pump and belts as long as they were at it. again $5400. as i said before the X runs great, fast and strong.

[jdd]

Originally Posted by Turbo_Bimmer

jdd, I'm curious to learn more on what you say about larger diameter stem valves. I looked in realoem (for a 4.8is), and they don't list oversized stem valves.
Is this information in TIS?
It may be a better move to have aftermarket valve guides fitted and use the original valves instead of buying 32 new valves + the cost of machining.

According to the Dec 2007 copy of TIS I have, the oversize valves are listed as available for the M62 (4.4 and 4.6). The standard stem diameter is listed as 6.0mm with oversizes of 6.1 and 6.2 available.
The TIS doesn’t mention anything about oversize stems available for the N62 (4.4 or 4.8) but since there are aftermarket valve guides available for the N62, I would assume you could also get aftermarket oversize valves as well.
Depending on what wears, which I assume most of the wear is in the guide and not the valve stem, if this were my car that I intended to keep, I would be looking at getting after market valve guides fitted.

[Turbo_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by jdd

According to the Dec 2007 copy of TIS I have, the oversize valves are listed as available for the M62 (4.4 and 4.6). The standard stem diameter is listed as 6.0mm with oversizes of 6.1 and 6.2 available.
The TIS doesn’t mention anything about oversize stems available for the N62 (4.4 or 4.8) but since there are aftermarket valve guides available for the N62, I would assume you could also get aftermarket oversize valves as well.
Depending on what wears, which I assume most of the wear is in the guide and not the valve stem, if this were my car that I intended to keep, I would be looking at getting after market valve guides fitted.

Thank you jdd for the information.
In the meantime, I talked to a friend machinist, and asked him about re-boring the head + bigger valves vs re-boring + installing the new guides, and the option of installing the new guides is the best one, especially, like you said, when someone plans on keeping the car for a long time (servicable in the future).
The guides are cheap, its the labour, as usual, that is the big chunk of the bill. The stock valves shouldn't wear (steel), it's the head (aluminum) that should wear, so, new guides with the original ID should work with the stock valves.

[manfrmbklyn23]

Just had a long phone convo with a reputable Indy shop in my area and he's advising just to get rid of the car, he says the job can take forever and can't put a price on it because it can get a bit crazy once they take a deep look. Furthermore they can't garantee that the valve stem seals will permanently fix the job. I'm going to seek a temporary oil treatment like liquomoly and just move on. It kills me because I love this car, it's perfect for me but, I can't justify pumping that kind of money into any car that loses value day by day.

[bagpype]

Its probably sludge buildup. Search and youll find a lot of info on it on this forum.

[pnoyako85]

TIme to trade it and use that 8-13000$ for X5M...sorry to hear that..

[manfrmbklyn23]

Sludge build up?? That's new to me. Ok I'll look it up, thanks! Yeah yako it sucks but, your right. Gotta move on.