Valve stem seals replacement

[Jamesrf3107 0]

Hello all,

I have a x5 e70 with the 4.8 V8 N62 engine and I’m having the early signs of the Valve stem seal problem, Leave it to idle for 5mins then take off and get white smoke from the exhausts  The car is extremely tidy I have put a lot of work into it and drives like brand new with 150k on the clock and I really like it and would love to keep it on the road until for at least another 100k. My mechanic tell me I’m looking at about 8k to do the job which from what I have read on the web this seems accurate. The parts cost near on nothing but there is quite a lot of labour involved, I have thought about doing this myself but it seems quite daunting with I would say my somewhere between novice and intermediate mechanical skills. Wanting to know if anyone has given this a go and whether it’s worth having a crack myself or if they have paid somebody to do it and how much it cost. 

[Eagle 1758]

8k seems excessive, probably doing it the long way. Someone who has proper tools and done the job before should be much cheaper, there was a thread in 2018 which the job cost someone ~$3000. Obviously prices have gone up since then and part brands can vary the price some what, but pays to shop around as they were quoted $5000 to do it via another workshop.

There is another Wellington member @Spinner99 who did the job in that thread and bought tools so maybe he can help you out.

[Spinner99 60]

Yep I still have the tools.  I'm not overly keen to lend them out but if you want to chat about some options send me a PM .  I feel like the parts we're somewhere in the $600-$800 mark for all the "stuff" (e.g. apart form the valve stem seals, new spark plugs, all the spark plug tubes, valve cover gaskets and associated o-rings etc etc) but please don't quote me on that .

[Spinner99 60]

I had a bit of a think about whether I would do this job for someone else and came around to “yes, but”.  Before I say more I’m not a qualified mechanic, I just enjoy working on cars at home.  I’ve done the job on my own car using the AGA tool method, and I recall someone saying that if you’ve done the valve covers then you can do the valve stem seals too.  I agree with that statement.

To do it yourself with the most limited stripping of the engine you’ll need the AGA tool, plus some other things like a leak down tester or some rope to stop the valves dropping into the cylinder, and a week of your time.  There are other options (e.g. cheaper tools) out there besides the AGA method if you don’t mind removing the camshafts and retiming the engine.

I also recommend doing a valve cover gasket job at the same time (it’s coming off, so you may as well replace all the gaskets while it’s off), and I’d encourage you to consider replacing the spark plugs if they aren't newish as they have to come out, and it’s so easy to install new spark plugs with the valve cover off compared to when its on.

Beware though, other unrelated parts in the car may break during disassembly or reassembly as with age and heat some materials such as plastic and rubber become brittle.  You may be up for extra parts (and $$$) to replace those also.

Here's a parts list I put together in case it helps you.  I suspect it will be the same for your X5 as it was for my E61 but maybe double check just in case. 

Description	Part Number	Quantity
Valve Stem Seal Kit	11340029751	2
Valve Cover Gasket Kit 1-4	11127513194	1
Valve Cover Gasket Kit 5-8	11127513195	1
Spark Plug Domes	11127570219	8
Upper Timing Cover Gasket 1-4	11147506424	1
Upper Timing Cover Gasket 5-8	11147506425	1
Valvetronic Actuator Seal	7119903596	2
Camshaft Position Sensor O-Ring	12141748398	4
Eccentric Shaft Sensor Gasket	11127518420	2
Vanos Solenoid Seal (large)	11367513222	4
Vanos Solenoid Seal (small)	11367546379	4
Vacuum Pump Seal (small)	11667509080	1

In my notes I wrote down the Febi Spark Plug Domes I used didn't fit as well as the genuine ones so I would use genuine Spark Plug Domes next time.  Genuine ones are quite pricey though (e.g. $100 ish each).

As much as I enjoy working on cars, this isn’t a couple of hours on a weekend helping someone out job, it’s a take a week off work to do it job.  Because of that If I was going to do this work for someone else I think I’d be looking to quote somewhere around $3k depending on current parts prices. That's a lot of money so swapping hats for a minute if I was looking at $3k for some random guy who isn't a mechanic vs $5k for a proper mechanic that comes with all the guarantees etc I'd be seriously considering the proper mechanic option.

Hopefully that helps.

Edited yesterday at 10:16 AM by Spinner99