N62 engine valve stem seals

[Westlotorn]

Originally Posted by CleanIsFast

Cool, good to know. Thanks!

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I just replaced my two breather hoses and pressure regulator valves and the smoke is definitely less than it was previously. I am going to assume I need to just "blow out" any residual oil that was in there and report back. Both hoses were oily, enough so to even drip out. One regulator seal was completely torn! Easy DIY and I am happy I did it. I did see an oil leak coming from the vacuum pump so that'll be next.

Nice work, I am glad this may save you money and time.
IF your intake is wet with oil you have a air leak allowing that to happen.
I can't say where your air leak is but any place in the engine leaking oil can be the location of the air leak. The crankcase must be sealed and that includes the dip stick and the oil cap seal on the valve cover.
Just get a new cap, they are cheap and always in stock which tells me BMW has issues with them.

As a mechanic, you know that valve stem seals can't put oil in your intake manifold. If you have oil in there you should accept you have an air leak in your crankcase ventilation system.

If you are paying a mechanic to do this job you will have a ton of labor cost involved, if you are that guy, paying for a mechanics time you could spend a little more money and have them do the valve stem seals.
To me this makes sense if you are facing a couple thousand in labor cost for this job, 80% of the time is already invested just replacing all the gaskets and seals, adding valve stem seals is not that much more.
If you turn your own wrenches and are competent to do this type repair you could seal up your engine at very little cost but maybe 20 hours time of your own under the hood and eliminate oil leaks at the same time.
When I change my wifes X5 oil now the drip pan is clean and dry.
It formerly would be wet with oil leaking.
Doing this job is not for everyone for sure.
Valve cover gaskets on one of these is a real pain for anyone.

I would bet 9 out of 10 of these burning oil do not have a valve stem problem.
If you tear an engine apart at 100K or more miles the VSS will probably tear on removal. Does not mean they were not working before tear down.

I have fixed 3 of the BMW V-8's, 2 4.4L and 1 4.8L in my family, I have not replaced a valve stem seal yet.
It has been 4 years now I think but my son's 4.4L went from burning a quart of oil in 400 miles at 144K to nearly zero consumption in 5,000 miles.
It was at 175,000 last I heard, my son sold it to his Aunt a couple years ago and she has just sold for a new BMW so we have lost touch now.
My son now has the new X5 Diesel, nice car I still have my 2008 X5 4.8L.

I only write this to help you save money not to debate if I am right or wrong.
The 5 minute test anyone can do is to remove the breather hose from the front of your manifold and see if it is wet and oily. It should be mostly dry, may have some residue of oil film, stuff you could wipe your finger in and come away with a dirty finger but but no wet oil.