Hello All. I'm getting ready to take my '01 540k (115k) in to replace valley gasket and a leaky intake manifold. What other work should I get done while my engine is torn apart? In addition to the valley gasket and intake manifold gasket, I'm also thinking vibration isolation, valve cover gasket, exhaust manifold gasket. Any other suggestions? Thank you.
Read this thread - you might want to replace the fan blades. http://bmwcca.org/forum/showthread.php?t=8759 Apparently loose oil pump bolts are a potential issue, don't know if it applies to V8's by 2001, but certainly seemed to be for earlier ones - have to have drop the oil pan, from the looks of it. Probably a good idea to do a water pump if it hasn't been already, but consider the radiator and other cooling system issues. Here's some links - somewhere in there is something about the oil separator valve (OSV) difficult to access at the back of the engine, but easily accessed with everything else you're doing. If you have an automatic, see what needs servicing to extend its life - filters, fluids, etc. Some links: http://www.e38.org/ http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/344734 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/124059 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/124310 http://www.cardomain.com/ride/205279/1998-bmw-7-series/page-16 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/175047 http://www.60ateight.com/BMW_E38/ http://www.cardomain.com/ride/240317/1996-bmw-7-series/page-5 http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/962/1341/2403170064_large.jpg http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/962/1341/2403170065_large.jpg http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/962/1341/2403170066_large.jpg http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/962/1341/2403170067_large.jpg http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/962/1341/2403170062_large.jpg http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/11919 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/816587 http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e38/ http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/607468 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/552039 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/264840 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/121268 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/793672 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/439586 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/233246 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/49387 http://home.comcast.net/~vicent/osve38.html http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e38/forum.php?postid=1751559&page=9 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/140918 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/410780 http://www.magnum1.com/ http://www.magnum1.com/BMW-740/740_Pages/740.html http://www.magnum1.com/BMW-740/740_Pages/Maintenance-Pages/Valley-Pan-740.html http://www.magnum1.com/BMW-740/740_Pages/Maintenance-Pages/Valve-Cover-Gaskets-740.html http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=310&order=desc&page=3 http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1441379 http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=330208 E39 specific: http://www.540i6.com/ http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e39.html http://www.e38.org/e39/ http://www.bimmerdiy.com/dir/e39 http://www.bmwtips.com/
All rubber under the hood... You should consider replacing all hoses, boots, etc as these are aging out and are bound to give you issues. With a 10 year old car body condition is also something you should evaluate... you are at the point where rust can start to appear and once it gets started it is difficult to stop. I added 155k to a 1997 740i that already had 53k when I purchased it. In those miles I replaced the valley pan twice had the engine pulled to check a suspected "rap" which turned out to be the timing gear and chain... they replaced the trans fluid and filter as part of the deal as well as all bearings on the crank went through several sets of radiator and power steering hoses went through 4 radiators (plastic ones like to leak and are super fussy about torque on the hose clamps) two sets of replacement cats with new o2 sensors two water pump replacements 1 fan replacement I also had to replace a number of suspension elements over the years but since mine was an e38 I don't know how relevant that would be for the e39. I sold it with 208k on the odo and the engine and trans were still operating very well. The body was rusting in several places which I had considered fixing but the car just was not worth the expense I would need to put into it at that time. I sold it as a "parts" car but the guy whom bought it planned to use it as a daily driver... it definitely had more miles left in it. Chuck
Replace the valley pan, replace all of the intake gaskets and crankcase vent valve, and replace the valve cover gaskets (the "triple bypass.") If the water pump has been replaced recently, take the cross pipe off the back of the heads. If not, now would be a good time for a water pump, thermostat, and rest of cooling system replacement (radiator, hoses, expansion tank.) It gets expensive, but you should definitely do this so that you can enjoy another 100k miles trouble free. If you have done it before, it is a day long job. If not, it takes a weekend or more. If when you pull the coils any of the plug boots are covered with oil, you may wish to replace those boots. Hit me up if you need any other info on the job.