V8 valve stem seals
Discussion
I've been living with this smokey problem now for about 4 or 5 years which is as long as I've had the car. Generally it doesn't bother me. I can avoid the smoking by avoiding prolonged idling when it's hot by just switching the car off if I think the traffic isn't moving. Obviously its worst in the summer too. My car doesn't use much oil so it can't be too bad when the engine is running normally.
What car have you got?
I didn't mean to come across as a know it all. It's always in the back of my mind to fix mine but I begrudge spending a grand if I can avoid it. I can understand wanting to get it done. I've toyed with the idea of doing mine myself but it just feels a bit low priority to me. I honestly believe my car runs fine and I must have done 40000 miles in it. I think my plugs are probably due a change but they are still plugging away - see what I did there. No cat problems too. The car has passed MOT fine.
I didn't mean to come across as a know it all. It's always in the back of my mind to fix mine but I begrudge spending a grand if I can avoid it. I can understand wanting to get it done. I've toyed with the idea of doing mine myself but it just feels a bit low priority to me. I honestly believe my car runs fine and I must have done 40000 miles in it. I think my plugs are probably due a change but they are still plugging away - see what I did there. No cat problems too. The car has passed MOT fine.
Quavers said:
I have a 545 - and you never came across that way. There are various seal conditioners that may help - in my case 32 bad seals are too much for a bottle of additive.
The seals, especially on the exhaust valves go rock hard like bakelite - i dont think anything is bringing them back once in that state. (based on my 750 that was eventually smoking after 30 seconds)ATM said:
I read some geeky thing written by an American who claims that the change in thermostat temperature that BMW started using has caused the valve seals to go off along with all rubber hoses and rads and that's why they all have problems now but they didn't used to.
He's absolutely correct. For emissions they run as hot as hell and that just cooks everything.It started with the M62 V8 with the ECU controlled stat that keeps the engine as close to 100 degrees as it can under light throttle. After 80k, the rubber gaskets on an N46 E90 engine and rock hard and just break up ion removal. That's why they piss oil out everywhere. On a modern BMW I'd be looking at lowering the coolant temp to something sensible like 88-90 degrees. Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff