How many hours to do Valve Guide Seals?
 

How many hours should it take a pro-mechanic to do the valve guide seals on a 4.8 N62, using the AGA kit? This is assuming he's done the job several times and knows the job.

I am contemplating having a good neighborhood independent do the job for me, and he's never done this job before. I want to agree on a proper number of hours to be billed before he starts; I don't want to pay for his learning curve, nor would he expect that.

I'm guessing around 15 hours...what do you folks think?

Going rate for the job seems to be $2000-2500. Two days perhaps? 15-20 hours.

I seem to recall seeing some guidance on how long the job should take when I watched the AGA training video.

Does anyone have a pic of spark plugs and how they look when an engine has this issue? I can't find much on the web.
The reason I ask is the last plug in this pic. It does not look like the others.
I have not however noticed any obvious smoke of any color in my exhaust, but haven't really looked while someone else drove it.

Attachment 72469

Those look very healthy. As far as the engine having this issue, the tailpipe is really the first place to look.

Initial symptoms are: After the car sits at idle for a minute or two, if you hit the gas hard, you'll see a could of blue/white smoke out the exhaust.

Left unchecked, this will cause other issues, such as clogged cats, (which have their own symptoms), and carbonized secondary air passages.

Also, I called AGA, and they said when they do this job in their shop, they typically charge 21-22 hours. The X5 has some slight complications vs the 545/550 or 745/750 applications, so figure 22 hours.

Take a few moments and read the notes from this forum under Westlotorn. They might show you the problem is not valve stem seals.

2004 x5 smoking out exhaust - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums

Yeah it isn't always valve stems it could be the Crankcase Valve starting to go.

I've already replaced the valves. But this thread talks about ANY air leak from a variety of sources. I've had a number of oil leaks, so I'm pretty sure everything is sealed up. Something worth checking again though.

Just pull off your vent hose where it enters the intake manifold. If it has oil in it you have air leaks. You can find out where later. #1 before beating a dead horse check to see if your intake is wet with oil. Pull that hose, see if it is wet with oil and shine a flashlight into the fitting that hose came off. It should be dry and clean not wet and oily.

That's not how long it takes them.....

We've had multiple mechanics post on the job, it is not 3 days....