Valve Stem Seals - Repaired
 

Hey Everyone - I just wanted to let you know that I had the valve stem seal job completed on my 05 4.4i. My symptoms were, as described by others, after idling for a few minutes and revving the engine, I get a huge plume of blue exhaust and it smelled really bad.

I contacted a guy named Anthony (he's on bimmerfest) based on his thread on that site before New Year's and asked him many questions which he answered completely and timely. He had a cancellation for New Year's weekend so I jumped on it and I'm glad I did.

I'm from northern NJ so I drove to LI where he lives. He drove me to the train station and I was back home early afternoon. All the time he had the car, he answered every email and text I sent in a timely fashion and gave me complete updates. The X5 was finished Saturday afternoon but I picked it up Sunday morning - Anthony waiting for me at the train station. I picked up the car and now no more blue exhaust! He gave me all the old parts (gaskets, etc) and he showed me my seals vs. the new seals and I could definitely see how the oil was getting past the old seals as they were much wider than the new ones (X5 has less than 70k and mine wore out!).

When I started my journey back home to NNJ, I immediately realized the X5 had more "pep" and the throttle response was tighter. I'm not saying its a night and day difference but its definitely noticeable!

All in all, I'm very pleased and very glad I can recommend Anthony highly! Unfortunately, the N62 has this issue and for those of you mechanically inclined, you're lucky - you can save money on an expensive repair. But for those of us not mechanically inclined, its nice to know there's a good dude like Anthony around!

His email is [email protected]

Great to hear, all N62 should be seeing this guy for the repair in the tri-state area, his pricing is very reasonable compared to the dealer.

Curious what was his rate?

How long did it take him to get the job done? it seems from your post, it took him a weekend, right? I have a college buddy who lives in Staten Island, so I was wondering if staying at his place while the car is being fixed at Long Island is not wearing the welcome too thin... lol... going to NYC and back VA and then back again - seems a bit too much for my old bones... :)

Wow... 70k miles and you're blowing smoke. I'm almost at 58k and haven't noticed any smoke issues yet.

I'm curious to know at what mileage others with N62 started smoking from valve stem seal issues?

he charges $2500

it would probably be less of a headache to just get a room for a night than drive back and forth from Staten Island to Long Island because of the toll, gas, traffic, ect.

I know a guy that charges $2000 for valve stem seal job

What ~shortcuts~ are done at the 2K range.
I recall asking 2 of my Indys, and both were 2X - 4K and up for a similar job.

he is definitely legit, and does not cut corners. many use him (check the e65 boards)

I am aware or bmwoems track records. I have not looked at what the repair procedure is, but certainly, there seems to be a 16+ hr difference between 2 Indys who have quoted around 4K and up....

in speaking to my local guy, it became immediately clear that there are those who do this job with some regularity, and those who are just familiar that is needs to be done. I trust my local a lot, but wouldnt for this job. He didnt even have any idea what it would cost. When asked about it, he went on about needing a special tool from Germany. He ALSO mentioned that he has seen the job need to be repeated within 18-20k miles...

in other words, find someone who has done a bunch of them.

my opinion only of course

The gent in LI is a dealer tech so I'm sure he's got a couple of shortcuts. My indy is a BMW OEM Master Tech ....and does a couple of engine rebuilds almost every month. There must be a parts difference as I certainly still don't see a 15hr difference....Not trashing the guy. Just was seeing if someone had the quick answer on the routes taken on the N62 - whether there is 1 route that has like at least 8+ hrs less on labor

I've got 111k on mine and no signs of smoking at all! I've owned the car since May 2011 and then it had 73k miles on it.




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From my understanding, most of his customers drop off their vehicles Friday night and he begins working on it that night and finishes Sunday mid afternoon. With me, I dropped off New Year's Day morning and it was ready Saturday late afternoon.

I do not profess to know all the ins and outs of this procedure but I believe BMW instructs the dealers to remove the heads for the valve stem seal job. I guess that's what add a ton of hours to the job. I believe the LI kid does the "All German Auto" route with their tool which you can see on their website. That saves a ton of hours to the job.

thats what I was getting at. Using the AGA tool cuts loads of time off the process. If the shop is not familiar, well, $$$

At around 98k miles heavy smoking & 1qt oil/250 miles. Valve stem seals & new seals and gaskets all around fixed it, but I did the repair.

The normal rate for this job when I was searching is around $2000 - $3000 range. That seems to be the norm for doing it with the AGA Tool. Anything higher than that they are probably removing the heads which is more time intensive.

Its not a massively hard job to do but can be a bit intimidating so you just got to jump right into it! Ask questions this forum has a lot of people who has done it and is more than happy to help! I did! Its more of a tedious job than anything really!

My valve stem seal service is scheduled for next week through a local indy shop. In talking to a couple of shops, I found some pretty big differences in pricing.

The shop I chose is owned by the former service department manager at a local BMW dealership. They use the AGA tool and charge $2500 for the service (shop rate is $105/hr). They're going to have my X for a week because they're doing a couple other things and are going to run them through my warranty which will probably require an adjuster to come out and look.

We talked about removing the heads and the owner said that allows for cleaning of some ports and tubes in the head while they're at it. But it's a significantly more expensive service ($5k-6k+ if I remember right).

Another reliable and highly rated (and also a little expensive) indy shop I went to also uses the AGA tool. They said to budget $5000 for the service. They quote the job at 10 hours of labor at a rate of $115/hr and said that while they're in there, they would do all sorts of other things too.

I was going to talk with the local BMW dealership about the service until they told me their shop rate is $190/hr. :wow:

And for what it's worth, my X5 started smoking around 75k miles...after the 1st oil change I did. I think the previous owner might have used an additive of some kind. :(

My X is blowing smoke at 110k km. Not impressed, and will need to be doing this fix soon.

Anyone have this issue cause cascading problems with the cats?

what are the symptoms of a bad cat?

Generally failing cats on any car give off a rotten egg smell when under load, like going up a hill.

thanks!.

I also just did my valve stem seals and no more smoke.
Car is really responsive now and acceleration is amazing!

Doru,
Did you remove the heads or just went the AGA route. Mine is starting to smoke and looking for information to do it myself. Any suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks
Ted

Hi Ted.
No need to remove headers if using the AGA tool. Here's some read. And double-check the dip stick guide as well.

Dorin