M62 valley cover fun

[blunttech]

jean did that stuff drop shipped work out ok?? what did it say on the return label??

[scabzzzz]

I dont know if it was said and if it was, sorry, but replace those intake manifold gaskets while you're in there! they're only good for like 40k miles.

[Jean]

Yeah, every single gasket is being replaced while I am doing the valley cover for sure.

Steve, didn't show up last night so maybe today.

[Jean]

Alright all done, that was fun! Dealer actually had 8 tb gaskets in stock, at $18 each before bmwcca discount... what a rip. anyway. My back is killing me now!! fUUuuu

Started the day with removing the rear coolant accumulator pipe, used a small mirror / flashglight to clean up the old gaskets from the back of the cyl. heads. Cleaned up the coolant piece, installed new o-rings and gaskets. I ended up having to remove the vibration damper in order to remove the water pump and replace the gasket there. Then replaced the intake manifold gaskets, installed new vent pipe and rear cover, cleaned up the tb (it was pretty damn nasty inside), and basically was just re-installing everything back up. The new heater hose for some reason didn't match up with the one that was on the car, so I couldn't use it. Heater hose can be replaced later if it starts leaking, w/o removing the manifold, I just wanted to do it while it was easy to do.

After connecting all the electrical plugs, it was nice to hear it fire right up :) It idles better now, and runs smoother, gaskets and cleaned up tb most likely did it's job. Bleeding the system was a PITA. Took it around the block and the "check coolant level" came up. I kept adding more and more coolant, and then used the small plastic screw on top of the expansion tank to let as much air out as I possible. Let the car idle for about 20 minutes and it's at 1/2temp. Installed new clutch fan as well, it's doing it's thing now, old one was shot.

Does anybody know where the "level sensor" is for the cooling system? The exapansion tank does not have any electrical connectors going to/from it.

Now on to the pictures:

Valve covers are on. Just blasted/unpainted look basically.



the $500 tb lol



cleaning the rear coolant accumulator



the needed gaskets/o-rings



fuel rail, I just inspected the o-rings and they all looked ok... easy enough to replace later. Should have sent the injectors to get cleaned up, oh well, next time.



the valley cover shield, rear intake plate, intake vent pipe and the shorter heater hose



older and newer heater hose, note the type of connector on one end. I couldn't get it to work in this car.



needed clips for the cover



valley cover, before removing the stickers



valley cover with it's shield/clips



rear coolant accumulator installed, installing the valley cover and it's pipes



rear intake manifold cover, old vs new





intake manifold with new gaskets and vent pipe


taking the water pump out, along with vibration damper


new gasket installed, water pump reinstalled and coolant pipes connected after installing new o-rings.



manifold is fitted



tb, fuel rail fitted and engine harness connected








yay almost 100k miles... with about $1200 worth of new parts. (valley cover stuff + new gaskets, belts, plugs, filters, fan clutch + front/rear new rotors/pads/sensors + ps stuff + thrust arms). Water pump/tstat/sensor was recently (within the last year) replaced so I re-used those. I am not sure when the last time expansion tank was replaced....

v8 E39s are beasts.

[Eric Giles]

Good job! Brought back memories of a few years ago when I did the same job on my '02 X5 4.4i. That rear coolant pipe was a real pain on the X5 with it being so tall-I had to do all of that by feel. I don't think my hands have ever been as cut and scratched up as they were after I finished that job.

You know, I don't think I have heard of the valley pan gasket issue happening on the S62 motors, so maybe the design is different. Although now that I mention it, I bet my M5 will start leaking coolant somewhere...

[thereisnoyun]

funny that I've done this about 4 times so far in my life. between the 740il and 540i and 2 time blown valley pan on the 540i, I can do this thing in 2 hours with power tools. But man... what a piss poor design I tell you. esp the aluminum pipe taht runs to the water pump.

[Jean]

funny that I've done this about 4 times so far in my life. between the 740il and 540i and 2 time blown valley pan on the 540i, I can do this thing in 2 hours with power tools. But man... what a piss poor design I tell you. esp the aluminum pipe taht runs to the water pump.

LOL ouch! I should have done the expansion tank/level sensor at the same time but I thought it was already done last year... Will be doing that in the next few days.