E61 V8 Bearding

[Cliff J]

motoroller said:

A little aside as mine's an E64, but I'm keen to find out the common leaks on the N62. I have my engine out and will obviously do the valve stem seals, likely head gaskets too.

Where are the other common leaks? It's done 98k miles and I want it to be good for another 100k+ and ideally more given that (apparently) some of the materials engineering has improved!

Is the crankshaft seal necessary to replace? I'll do the valve cover and lower / bottom sump cover gaskets.

Oh - and the valley pipe of course. This is getting pricey!

I also have an E64 and in January I had a major oil leak, it came out from behind the alternator and hit my belts, went flying all over the engine and ruined my driveway. I lost approx 3 litres in 2 days.
My car was away at an Indy for 4 weeks whilst they dealt with it, plus 2 x rocker cover gaskets and versions O rings.
£1500 later it came home, luckily my AA repair cover paid £500 of that bill.

[ATM]

Cliff J said:

motoroller said:

A little aside as mine's an E64, but I'm keen to find out the common leaks on the N62. I have my engine out and will obviously do the valve stem seals, likely head gaskets too.

Where are the other common leaks? It's done 98k miles and I want it to be good for another 100k+ and ideally more given that (apparently) some of the materials engineering has improved!

Is the crankshaft seal necessary to replace? I'll do the valve cover and lower / bottom sump cover gaskets.

Oh - and the valley pipe of course. This is getting pricey!

I also have an E64 and in January I had a major oil leak, it came out from behind the alternator and hit my belts, went flying all over the engine and ruined my driveway. I lost approx 3 litres in 2 days.
My car was away at an Indy for 4 weeks whilst they dealt with it, plus 2 x rocker cover gaskets and versions O rings.

My car in almost 120k 55 reg and no leaks. Never had any repairs under bonnet except the bonnet catches sticking and snapping the cable.

Cliff J said:

£1500 later it came home, luckily my AA repair cover paid £500 of that bill.

What's AA repair cover?

[Cliff J]

ATM said:

What's AA repair cover?

I pay £23 per month to the AA, that’s for the usual breakdown cover but also breakdown repair, which means that once an AA patrol man has said my car needs to be recovered to a garage, the repair gets approved and the AA pay the first £500.
I can claim up to 5 times per year.
Once my £1500 bill was settled, I sent in the claim and received my £500 in 6 days.
There are of course a list of exceptions, but pretty much any engine or transmission issue is covered, including my mass oil leak.

[motoroller]

Cliff J said:

I also have an E64 and in January I had a major oil leak, it came out from behind the alternator and hit my belts, went flying all over the engine and ruined my driveway. I lost approx 3 litres in 2 days.
My car was away at an Indy for 4 weeks whilst they dealt with it, plus 2 x rocker cover gaskets and versions O rings.
£1500 later it came home, luckily my AA repair cover paid £500 of that bill.

Is this the dreaded £3 gasket that's on the engine mount? I'm definitely replacing that - and likely putting some proactive sealant in the external vicinity! Wouldn't want to have to do that job in the next 80-100k miles.

I'm considering whether or not the timing chains and guides need replacing now...

[Cliff J]

motoroller said:

Is this the dreaded £3 gasket that's on the engine mount? I'm definitely replacing that - and likely putting some proactive sealant in the external vicinity! Wouldn't want to have to do that job in the next 80-100k miles.

I'm considering whether or not the timing chains and guides need replacing now...

It’s the £3 or £4 seal behind the alternator bracket, ridiculous to do without lifting the car.

[pewe]

ATM said:

Mine had judder under braking since I had it as explained earlier which was fixed with new rear discs.

Shortly after I got it I had new rear bushes and this firmed up the rear end. They were allowing movement at the rear which was causing it to feel a bit wayward. I didn't notice the waywardness until it was fixed and then realised it felt more planted.

Thanks ATM, booked into a local indie for inspection next week so Ill mention that to them.

[pewe]

ATM said:

Have we seen this lads?

7995

2008

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173909338652

Interesting.
I briefly owned that back in March 2018.
Very quickly went back to the supplying trader as it had a long list of required work, not least a new rack @ c.£2k...
You pays your money...

[ATM]

pewe said:

ATM said:

Have we seen this lads?

7995

2008

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173909338652

Interesting.
I briefly owned that back in March 2018.
Very quickly went back to the supplying trader as it had a long list of required work, not least a new rack @ c.£2k...
You pays your money...

How does a knackered rack manifest itself?

[pewe]

Slight shimmy on the steering wheel at speed and on smooth surfaces.
It felt very much like an unbalanced wheel but further investigation by two Indies proved otherwise.
Cheers, Pewe.

[ATM]

pewe said:

Slight shimmy on the steering wheel at speed and on smooth surfaces.
It felt very much like an unbalanced wheel but further investigation by two Indies proved otherwise.
Cheers, Pewe.

I occasionally sense that but assumed it was worn arms and bushes.

[pewe]

ATM said:

I occasionally sense that but assumed it was worn arms and bushes.

Could be - best way is to take it to a local Indie, get up on a ramp and ask him what's wrong/worn.
Should only cost about £50 and has to be worth knowing what's going on down there.
As one Indie said to me "it's a big old lump so bushes do suffer"...
Guess what mine's booked in for tomorrow?
Cheers, Pewe.

[joropug]

I had a cracking facelift E60 530d M sport and I'm currently looking at either the 630i or 645/650 of a similar vintage.

The common V8 faults, how much do they cost to fix and what are the red flags?

I got average 36mpg in the 530d on my normal day to day, nudging 50 on a run. Just how bad are the V8s?

I do 2x 20min urban drives per day and longer drives on weekends

[Andy665]

I have a 650i - urban it's about 18-20 mpg, 30mpg is possible on a run

Mine (fingers crossed) is completely oil tight and there is zero evidence of any historic leaks - maybe I'm lucky

[pewe]

My 550i averages 21mpg and can reach 30 on a run but let's face it you don't buy a big V8 for its fuel economy.
Points to watch out for incl. front suspension bushes and valve-stem oil seals, as well as dodgy electronics and HUD if fitted.
The seals go at around 100k miles (mine were shot at 85k) and can cost c.£2k to fix.
An updated sat nav which has a tick bottom left or right of the screen if you're so inclined, though nowadays I use Waze on the mobile as it gives real-time info.
Best advice is to have a pre-purchase inspection (about 1 hours labour) done by an Indie but don't take their word as gospel.
The local large Indie here in Reading failed to notice mine was a proper smoker - unforgivable...
There are quite a few smaller Indies who, in my experience, really know their stuff - one in Sindlesham and another in Lydiard Millicent near Swindon who I'd recommend.
HTH.
Cheers, Pewe

[joropug]

Thanks both - I think I can live with the fuel costs but the common issues scare me. Think I'll stick to the 630i / 635d if I go with the 6

[Andy665]

joropug said:

Thanks both - I think I can live with the fuel costs but the common issues scare me. Think I'll stick to the 630i / 635d if I go with the 6

The valve stem seals are less than £1k to sort now, all other issues are probably common to all 6 Series, I test drove a 635d and a 630 before I bought the 650 and felt that it was the engine that suited the car best, had mine since Oct, no oil use, no oil leaks, no electrical issues

[Terious Swat]

Andy665 said:

joropug said:

Thanks both - I think I can live with the fuel costs but the common issues scare me. Think I'll stick to the 630i / 635d if I go with the 6

The valve stem seals are less than £1k to sort now, all other issues are probably common to all 6 Series, I test drove a 635d and a 630 before I bought the 650 and felt that it was the engine that suited the car best, had mine since Oct, no oil use, no oil leaks, no electrical issues

I still have my 550i. I dont put oil in it often but it does have smokey valve stem oil seals so it does use a little. I find leaving the oil basically nearly empty is better but that will probably horrify the OCD types. I've had 4 years of trouble free motoring pretty much. I wouldn't hesitate at buying a 650i. I might even have my eye on one right now.

[Quavers]

My 545 dipped it's MOT on a few things. Despite passing it's emissions it smoked at idle - the tester saw his arse. Fail.

Unfortunately he knew little of this engine as do many. Gents be mindful that due to the tightening of the rules around emissions your smoky n62 may not get through the test this year. I think it may kill off quite a few cars.

[BigMacDaddy]

I'v encountered my first failure in 18 months of ownership, albeit possibly a very expensive one to put right; the HUD has stopped working.

It had on a couple of previous occasions failed to come on when starting the car, but normally by the next journey it would be fine again. This time it doesn't want to play ball though, hasn't worked in over 2 weeks now (and yes I've tried turning it back on with the little button to the right of the steering wheel )

Checked fuse 65 in the boot, all OK.

Anyone know of any other potential fixes/causes for this to stop working? Annoying if it has failed as I found it very useful for the nav directions etc, although if it has properly died that means there's no real reason not to upgrade to one of the Android screen units as the nav on them wouldn't have worked with the HUD even if it was still alive.....

[BigMacDaddy]

Also just found out there's a recall today on various E60/E61 models, mine included. Something to do with the battery cable or a related plastic clip apparently.....