KelvinD

Update:

I have norrowed down the power loss to the maf as the biggest contributor if not the only one.

Symptoms included

After 3500rpm the car would just lose a lot of power, like going from 8cyl to a 4 banger but still smooth running on all 8.

On colder mornings sometimes the problem was barely noticable

Holding throttle at about 5 - 10% in neutral would make the rpms surge between 200-1500 but at 20% or more would hold constant rpm

OBC set on l/hr on a wot pull would show it increase steady untill the power loss then drop off considerably and sit around 40l/hr

I checked the fuel pump and made sure all connections were tight, done a smoke test to ensure no air leaks from when i done the valley pan and timing chains etc. and also as i mentioned earlier unplugged the maf which is what made the obvious difference.

Whatever you do when looking for a maf DO NOT buy a no name chinese knock off.... i know i know. Its been said many times before but i thought what the hell its only $30. When i put it in, my baby wouldnt even start, just fired and died. I bought it knowing this might just happen so i got one with a warranty so at least i got my money back and no harm in trying right?

Anyway new bosch one installed and WOWZER! This thing throws down some power, i was expecting an improvement but not the "stick you in the seat" kind.

Moral of this long winded story, take the advice from other people that have had the same issues and dont cheap out on chinese copies, they are NOT the same.

My 540 is knocking on the door of 300k now and i have no history on it apart from what i have done and seen so it will be a long road yet before im completely content.

Ok so i found a used one on facebook, shipped to me overnight so no mucking around, my actual oil cooler only had a few bits of debris in the radiator side that i could see like silicone and what looked like leaf stems? Picked them out and washed it. When i went to istall the replacement thermostat to the top it would not fit so im thinking wtf! The holes where too far apart to fit on the cooler. So i played with it a bit and i could compress it together as its 2 pieces but just not enough so i thought what the hell ill take it apart, only then did i see what you mentioned before about the clay like substace that builds up in there, this thing was blocked and so badly it was preventing the pieces mating together, i checked my old one and it was clean as a whistle. So im glad it didnt fit at first or i never would have looked, I cleaned it all out, installed it and it now works great, and learned my lesson not to put a long bolt through the front mount that will crack the housing. All up and running now, on to the next project.

1 hour ago, Eagle said:

Yeah don't think I've driven one with known good vanos seals.

Its hard for me to tell if there is much difference yet, when i bought the car i only got to drive it for 3 weeks before the chain guides exploded so then it sat for 3 months before doing a 80km round trip yesterday which was good fun, it reminded me why i decided to do that job in the first place rather than just give up on it. As i said in the previous post the throttle response seems to be much much better/cleaner and giving more power with less pedal action but that could also be because i fixed a big vacum leak while i was in there. The one thing that still bugs me is the power loss at high rpm WOT, which im guessing is a maf issue because if i unplug it, it will pull right through the rpm range. So that is on my to do list for the near future. Just happy to have it running again, i dont think i stopped smiling till i went to sleep

11 hours ago, zero said:

Be interested in hearing if it feels different to drive.

Not sure if its because i got used to driving another car but the throttle response seems waaayy better, the sticky lifters that suddenly appeared after the chain guide job dissapeared after a good hard drive up the windy road. Still have to get her feet balanced and aligned after replacing the control arms so that bit is still the same. Im already looking at the next project on it which will be removing interior trim, re gluing head liner and pillars and dying them black. Replace the steering wheel and fix the rear sunshade.

Where are you located? Pick a part in Tauranga has a 740i in there mostly untouched.. well it was when i was there 5 days ago, it has the alternator you are after.

Here she is basking in the sun after 3 months of hibernation and rehabilitation after all is said and done im glad i took on the project, i got to know her just that little bit more

Time for a good clean inside and out, then off for a drive to town to get re aquainted with this sexy thang.

Thank you everyone for the help and support you are awesome!

Sounds easy enough, well compared to the timing chain and guide job i just done anyway, it makes sense for the crud to settle there the more i think about it, after all its the lowest point in the cooling system.

20 minutes ago, andrewm said:

When you do get that off make sure to shine a light inside the cooler, all 3 540I m62TU's ive worked on had some level of crud buildup in there.

Also make sure to get the O rings for the thermostat, from memory my new thermostat didnt come with them - i ordered them seperate.

I'll have to take a look next time im under the car, it's easy enough to see inside without removing but never even gave it a thought, thanks for the tip on the o rings, if there is crap in there what did you do to clean it out?

I havent taken the cooler part off as its still connected to the trans lines, the overpriced plastic piece on top on mine was clean as a whistle but so was everything else coolant related, i just put too much pressure on the fitting trying to route it behind the crank hub and it broke off. I do get it lurch forward sometimes coming to a stop but im yet to investigate that, wish it was as simple as a bit of crud in the cooler. I will get in touch if i go with fcp, im trying to find one in nz first for a decent price if there is such a thing

As the title states i broke my trans oil cooler when installing back to the car, dumb mistake on my part. Anyway i was wondering if anyone has or knows of a 540i Auto with the M62TU engine they are parting out. Im after the plastic thermostat piece that sits on the cooler - not the actual cooler. Part number 17211437772 , any leads would be appreciated. Otherwise ill be biting the bullet and buying one from fcp euro, just shipping is near the cost of the actual part. Thanks

Ok I couldnt wait for my parts so i went on a road trip to pick them up from the courier depot, I battled into the night doing a solid 8hrs but it was well worth it to hear her fire into life. I did a video of the first start but cant add videos to this forum? So now im just waiting on the new drive pulleys and shes done, it feels like its been way too long, cant wait to get her back out on the open road!

4 minutes ago, zero said:

That damage on the lower cover is scary.

Was the chain rattling about so much it was rubbing against it?

Yea the reversing guide had completely gone so there was no lip to prevent it rubbing on the case, it also rubbed a little on the vanos solenoids and upper covers, the guide rail has big score marks where the chain de railed and the bank 2 rail had started to chip away also, what freaked me out the most is where it was rubbing was directly behind where the water pump mounts. There is still plenty of material left where it ate the cover so i will be ok with that and im replacing all chains, tensioners and guides so i should be ok for a little while. It serves as a good example of how things can get really bad really fast if the guides explode on these engines.

So here is an update with some snapshots. The last of my parts should be arriving in the next day or 2 and i cant wait. Notice the wear on the lower cover from the chain, i count my lucky stars that wasnt any worse than it is. Even ordered the wrong water pump, but that was just peventative maintenance and can wait a little longer to be replaced. So far i have replaced the oil seperator, pcv tube, ccv and all associated intake gaskets, valley pan gasket re sealed and a new oil pump chain. The amount of guide pieces i have pulled out of every orrifice of this engine is just crazy, its as if a grenade went off in there, the alloy filings are another pain in the butt although the filter captured most of it thankfully. At least it feels like im on the home stretch now with every surface and orifice cleaned up and ready to accept the new parts.

17 hours ago, Etwenty1 said:

I have the tools. Pm me if you want to discuss hire.

 

Thanks, ill be in touch. Just to be clear do you have just the timing tools? ie. Cam locks, vanos, cam sensor, locking pin etc. do you also have crank pulley holder and vanos seal press? 

1 hour ago, aja540i said:

I have a Besian vanos kit (seals and tools) from when I had my 540i, never got around to using it so will part with it for a fair price. PM me if you're interested.

Yea could be keen mate, ill be in touch later when im sourcing all my parts.

6 hours ago, zero said:

Done well to get this far if those are the original guides.

Looks like you stepped in just in time.

Looking at it my guess is they are original, doesnt look like anyones been in there before. Only had the car a month before they went, changed oil and filter the first week of owning it then 3 weeks later the chatter started. Just my luck haha. Its only the second BMW ive owned, the first being a 96 528i that had a blown head gasket but thats a whole different kettle of fish.

39 minutes ago, zero said:

How many kms on the engine?

285000km

22 minutes ago, Shady46 said:

If you mean listing 1787511103, that's sadly an RF one, not IR - already hunted around on there

Not sure, it was like mine in the pic below which is IR. Would be nice to upgrade to RF as IR has crap range and you literally have to point at the clown nose to get it to work as you probably know.

Well i got to dig into the M62 this afternoon thanks to getting off work earlier than normal. Going well so far but im at the point now where ill have to order my tools and parts but at least ive had a little look at what ill be replacing. what did surprise me is how clean the valves are, not a spec on them. Also noticed the valleypan was leaking so good thing ill be replacing that while im at it. Its no wonder the guides gave up, they are so brittle and almost worn paper thin by the chain, that and the pitting im surprised they didnt go sooner.

I thought about making all that but buying/hiring seems a much less fussing around way to go. If watching every video i can find and reading every forum also in the past month and making an exhaustive list of parts and tools and torque specs hasnt prepared me... i dont know what will. I've learnt a lot from videos and forums of what not to do and what to watch out for so a big thanks to those guys sharing their experinces allbeit bad ones but it helps us put a good plan of attack in place.

Good luck, id like to find one too so i can have a spare one, theres one on trademe with all internals but thats $60. Im sure there would be some sort aftermaket fob, just the button type with ir somewhere out there

On 10/2/2018 at 2:46 PM, zero said:

Crank bolt will come off with a decent rattle gun.

 

Looking forward to following your progress.

I think ive settled on a good 3/4 breaker bar with a 6 point socket and holding tool, ill need the 3/4 for pressing the vanos when i do the seals too so it will serve 2 purposes.

On 10/2/2018 at 4:12 PM, aja540i said:

Do the oil seperator while you are in there its behind the timing chain and made of plastic.....

Yes i planned on doing this while im in there as it did used to smoke a little tiny bit on cold starts

On 10/2/2018 at 3:06 PM, necsis said:

I have done this job twice, my own 540I and my fathers.

-Research, I spent about two weeks doing researching everything single little thing - I was lucky to have another car to drive.
-Spend time confirming part numbers and making lists of the parts you need and tipple checking. www.realoem.com is good for this
-I highly recommend replacing other items whilst you're in that deep.
-You definitely require the special timing tool kit for the M62. I managed to rent a kit.
-I bought the crankshaft holder tool and the Vanos press tool. Other tools, torx and e-torx sockets, seal picks and a left hand torque wrench
-Take your time and label/bag up all items. Have a clean working surface when doing the Vanos rebuild.
-Thoroughly inspect and clean oil pick up as you will find tiny bits of chain guide
-Have a laptop out in the shed for easy access to forums/help
-Be very careful removing plastic parts as they can be brittle - replace if you think it needs replacing
-Take special care installing alternator with new seal as I pinched mine which caused a small coolant leak. $65 from the dealer instead of $14 from Pelican for the same part....
-Buy a cheap scan tool cable that plugs into a laptop - they work well just for pulling codes and clearing them.
-Once you have completed the job successfully. I recommend changing the oil and filter within a few hundred kms just in case any debris/tiny bits of chain guide were still in the engine.

It's a massive job, a lot of pissing around triple checking, cleaning, torquing etc. There's a lot of info on the internet about all this, as well as some good youtube videos. You can do this job quite a bit cheaper if you only want to replace the timing chain associated items. I'm a fussy prick though and will be keeping my 540i for as long as I can. I f**king love it.

I rented the timing tool kit from a guy in Tauranga - PM me if you want his number.
Happy to rent you my VANOS press kit and crank holding tool...

Thanks mate  I will take you up on the vanos press tool and crank holding tool. I will be in touch some time soon, i plan to do this around xmas once all my parts and tools arrive.

Hi guys,

I'm about to start tearing into the engine to replace my guide rails, will do vanos seals, valley pan and a few other bits while im in there. I am wondering if anyone has done this job before and has the cam lock blocks and timing tools i could possibly borrow/rent? Buying them for a 1 off job seems a bit of a waste. Also want to hear any tips or tricks to get that stubborn crank bolt off, i understand it can be a right p.i.t.a.