Category Archives: bmw mechanial problems engine

BMW THERMOSTAT PROBLEM AND SOLUTION. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ON THIS SITE!!

THIS POST AFFECTS ABSOLUTELY ALL BMW GASOLINE ENGINES AFTER 1995! M54, M62, M62TU, N62, N63, N52, N47, N63TU AND OTHERS, OR WHY IT IS A VERY GOOD IDEA TO LOWER RUNNING TEMPS!

Why I called it BMW THERMOSTAT PROBLEM? What is wrong with that simple part in BMW?? It looks like a well made thermostat and lasts for a while. Obviously nothing wrong with thermostat quality, in fact its a very good quality part made by BEHR.

So here is the thing. Since 1996 BMW introduced 105C MAP DME controlled thermostat for V8 and 97C for Inline 6 cylinders, which can be controlled by DME when needed.

So here is what it is, Nothing crazy here- just a heater, so DME can heat it up and open it earlier than thermostat is calibrated. Lets say it can open it at 95C versus 105C mechanical specs.

Sounds like a cool idea:

-Run your engine hotter in the city or low engine loads 105-110C to get better mpg and less emissions with REDUCED POWER OUTPUT, because they think you don’t need it in the city, so to save mpg. May be a good innovative idea.

-run it cool on the highway 90-98C to get full POWER OUTPUT.

BUT HERE IS A DOWNSIDE, OR A SMART BMW MOVE??:

You cannot raise the temperature to 110C without raising coolant pressure (otherwise it will start boiling), So they installed 200 (2.0 BAR) radiator cap. So imagine in the city your cooling system is under serious pressure. Compare it to Toyota 1.0-1.3 BAR max! But they run 87-90C simple conventional thermostats, without any innovations like DME controlled THERMOSTAT, and most Toyotas don’t have any serious issues at least 7-10 years, unlike BMW where you get cooling system failures all the time! Exploded, cracked coolant tanks, hoses, gaskets and other cooling system parts. Any tiny leak will lower cooling system pressure and you will get micro boiling, where OEM 105C thermostat can not open due to that micro boiling and you can experience ALWAYS COLD LOWER HOSE SYMPTOM I’M SORRY BUT IT WASN’T THE CASE FOR 1970-1995 BMW ENGINES WHERE THEY USED 85-95 TSTATS.
Your engine runs at 105-115C will raise oil temperatures to up o 120-130C which is a lot, though they say synthetic oils can easily withstand it. They forgot to tell you all rubber parts don’t like this temperature at all, and rubber becomes dry or even plastic very early: VALVE SEALS, VALVE COVER GASKETS, VALVE COVERS GET WARPED VERY EARLY, ALL RUBBER GASKETS IN THE ENGINE (OIL PAN GASKETS, ALTERNATOR BRACKET GASKETS, SPARK PLUG PIPE GASKETS, VAUUM PUMP GASKETS, VANOS SEALS AND OTHERS). There is a mechanic’s favorite joke: -IF BMW DOESN’T LEAK ANY OIL, IT MEANS THERE IS NO OIL LEFT!!!!! I’M SORRY BUT IT WASN’T THE CASE FOR 1970-1990 BMW ENGINES , WHERE ENGINES WERE THE MOST RELIABLE! NOW IN 2016 YOU CAN BUY 5YEAR OLD BMW AND START REPLACING ALL GASKETS. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT COSTS? VALVE SEALS ON V8 MIGHT COST YOU 3000-8000$ EASY! That’s why you can get 5 year old V8 BMW for “cheap”. THERE IS NO CHEAP USED BMW:) IF YOU GOT IT CHEAP, IT MEANS THEY GOT RID OF IT NOT TO DEAL WITH REPAIRS. ALSO OIL LEAKS WIL LDESTROY YOUR SUSPENSION VERY QUICK!
High running temperatures 110+ will get you small detonation, but since BMW has knock sensors, you will not hear it, because DME will retard timing in milliseconds, so everything sounds ok, but engine power is reduced! Try to drive your car in the morning when cold and compare it to traffic city driving when hot. If you Have turbocharged engine you will notice a huge difference, because high temps will affect inter cooler cooling as well.
High running temps can affect cylinder walls cooling unevenly, causing piston rings to lose flexibility and therefore its function, they also call it frozen piston rings (loss of compression, high oil consumption). Thus you might get high oil consumption even on low miles vehicles, but BMW will tell you it is ok AND WITHIN SPECS to have 1QT/1000MIES! N63, M54, N52 ARE THE WINNERS HERE:) OTHERS CAN BE FIXED WITH NEW VALVE SEALS.
TRANSMISSION: Since transmission has no separate cooler and connected directly to engine radiator, it also run hotter then it supposed to, and if you have always cold lower hose symptom, I can tell your tranny runs way too hot and way over 82C specs, sometimes I see 115-120C temps, running with these high temps will destroy any transmission internals pretty quick. Even 82C is somewhat high, but still okay. best temps 70-80C for this tranny.
In M62B44TU, M62b44 we see lots of issues with chain rail guides broken after 100k-150k, but we do not see this problem on M62B44 E31, where they run conventional 95C thermostat, BUT THE ENGINE IS 100% the same, and this exactly the same engine lasts at least 2x times longer compared to the one with 105C MAP thermostat (E39/E38/E53/RANGE ROVER HSE), needles to say their cooling system lasts 20 years easily. You can ask e31 owners about their experience and how often they replace chain rail guides and compare it to all other running 105C tstat in all other BMW models except E31 of course. My e31 1994 with M60 running 85C tstat had original cooling system, when i bought it in 2012! All parts were original (coolant tank, tstat, water pump, hoses), it had infamous NIKASIL problem (cylinder walls cororoded), but other things were in perfect shape after 20 years and 150kmls! WHICH MEANS BMW QUALITY IS SUPERIOR TO OTHER BRANDS IN SAME CONDITIONS, BUT PHYSICALLY THEY CAN NOT WITHSTAND THESE HIGH TEMPERATURES AND PRESSURE.

So as you can see BMW innovative thermostat design might sound innovative, but personally I believe it is done to SHORTEN ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION LIFE, SO YOU BUY A NEW CAR EVERY 3-5 YEARS. THATS THE REASON 10 YEAR OLD BMW V8 COSTS LESS THAN TOYOTA CAMRY SAME YEARS AND MILES!

SO TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM WE CAME OUT WITH INNOVATIVE SOLUTION TO RECALIBRATE ORIGINAL THERMOSTATS AND LET IT OPEN AT 87-90C, VS 105-110C, ITS ALMOST 20C DIFFERENCE AND IT IS HUGE DIFFERENCE, BECAUSE THIS WAY WE CAN REDUCE COOLING PRESSURE TO 1.0-1.3 MAX JUST LIKE ALL NORMAL JAPANESE CARS. ALL RUBBER GASKETS WILL LAST AT LEAST 2X LONGER, BECAUSE AT 110 RUBBER DRIES OUT VERY QUICK. ABSOLUTELY NO ERRORS AND YOU WILL FEEL THAT YOUR CAR RUNS STRONGER IN THE CITY, AND GAS MILEAGE IS ALMOST THE SAME OR EVEN BETTER VS OEM TSTAT. AFTER TESTING IT FOR 4 YEARS I CAN TELL, IT DOES NOT CAUSE ANY PROBLEMS TO THE ENGINE, BECAUSE EVEN WITH OEM TSTAT YOUR CAR RUNS 90-93 ON THE HIGHWAY! WE HAVE 85-95C THERMOSTATS FOR ALMOST ALL BMW ENGINES STARTING FROM 1995.

I UNDERSTAND, LOTS OF YOU WILL SAY BMW ENGINEERS DESIGNED IT, AND WHO ARE YOU TO SAY THAT? WELL, I HAVE MECHANICAL ENGINEER DEGREE AND OUR PROFESSOR ALWAYS TOLD US, THAT 90-95C IS THE BEST RUNNING TEMPS FOR THE ENGINES, EVERYTHING HIGHER GETS YOU DETONATION RISKS AND NOT MAKE MUCH SENSE TO GET A LITTLE BETTER MPG…

HOW ELSE TO EXPLAIN HIGH ENGINE RATE FAILURE IN BMW COMPARED TO SIMPLE TOYOTAS AND HONDAS?? EVEN KIA IS WAY MORE RELIABLE THAN MODERN BMW, THEY ALL RUN 82-87C TSTATS WITHOUT ANY INNOVATIONS. MERCEDES ALSO RUNS IT COOL 90-95 MAX, THEY HAVE OTHER ISSUES, BUT COOLING SYSTEM IS RELIABLE AND NOBODY REPLACES VALVE SEAL GUIDES AFTER 40-60K MILES ON THEM, NORMAL ENGINE CAN EASILY LAST 200KMLS ON ORIGINAL VALVE SEALS, AND SAME PARTS SUPPLIERS USED FOR BOTH BRANDS BY THE WAY.

ALL BMW M ENGINES RUN LOWER TEMP 79C THERMOSTATS, AND THESE ENGINES ARE INNOVATIVE FOR SURE AND THEY LAST MUCH LONGER AND KEEP THEIR VALUE :

S54 RUNS 79C
S62 RUNS 79C
S85 RUNS 79C P/N:1153783615
ALL DIESEL ENGINES BMW RUNS AT 88C AND THEY EASILY LAST UP TO 500k MILES WITHOUT ANY LEAKS OR FROZEN PISTON RINGS (THEY HAVE EGR PROBLEM (which can be deleted) BUT ITS NOT RELATED TO OUR TOPIC)

SO APPARENTLY THERE IS NOTHING WRONG TO RUN THESE ENGINES COOLER, JUST LIKE ALL OTHER NORMAL CARS DO. AS YOU UNDERSTAND BMW EVOLVED A LOT SINCE 1995 AND USED BMW CARS DEPRECIATED CRAZY SINCE THEN, ONLY BECAUSE OF RELIABILITY ISSUES. COULD BE COINCIDENCE??? I DON’T THINK SO, I KNOW TONS OF PEOPLE WHO DUMPED THEIR CARS FOR NOTHING, BECAUSE OF THE REPAIRS. IMAGINE NEW 7″ COSTS 100K AND 10 YEARS LATER YOU CAN GET IT FOR 10K OR LESS ALMOST CAMRY PRICE! SOMEONE SAID BECAUSE BMW USES LOW QUALITY RUBBER GASKETS, IT NOT TRUE, THEY USE TOP NOTCH QUALITY CONTROL.

I HIGHLY DOUBT BMW CAME UP WITH THIS 105c TSTAT JUST TO SAVE MAY BE 1-2% MPG, HOW COME OTHER CARS DON’ T DO IT???? IT IS MUCH EASIER TO SELL LOWER MPG CAR, RIGHT??

ANYWAYS, IT IS UP TO YOU TO BELIEVE IT OR NOT, BUT SIMPLY TYPE “BMW LEAKING OIL OR COOLANT N62, N63” IN GOOGLE AND THINGS WILL LOOK VERY DIFFERENT FROM OTHER CARS MAINTENANCE.

INTERESTING STORY:

One friend of mine bought 750li 2007 with 103k in okay condition with ONLY check engine light on, so when i inspected it, i was pleasantly surprised:

engine had zero leaks from valve covers and valve seals were in okay shape!!!! at these miles it is almost 100% valve seals are gone and valve covers leak along with upper timing covers and other things!! so no oil leaks
cooling system had ZERO new parts installed, everything was in okay shape, all hoses original and no issues at all. even coolant tank had no cracks, which is very rare. so all components lasted 100k!!! and still lasting
THE ONLY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT INDICATED JAMMED THERMOSTAT, WHICH IS NORMAL BECAUSE THEY DON’T LAST FOREVER. SO PREVIOUS OWNER WAS CHEAP AND NEVER TOOK IT TO BMW AFTER WARRANTY EXPIRED!!! BUT THIS JAMMED OPEN THERMOSTAT (FIRST OCCURRED AT 50KMLS) LET HIS CAR RUN AT 80-90c MAX, BECAUSE IT WAS NEVER 100% CLOSED DUE TO WEAR AND TEAR, SO THIS IS WHAT SAVED HIS CAR FROM EXPENSIVE REPAIRS. ABSOLUTELY ZERO NEW PARTS WERE INSTALLED ON THIS ENGINE AND ZERO LEAKS ANYWHERE! CAR RAN PERFECT!

SO HE REPLACED THERMOSTAT AND NO MORE ERRORS, BUT IN 3 MONTHS HIS VALVE COVERS STARTED LEAKING BADLY….. 5 MORE MONTHS LATER HE GOT INFAMOUS ALTERNATOR BRACKET LEAK (800$+)

THAT’S WHY WE DESIGNED THE WAY TO RE CALIBRATE ORIGINAL THERMOSTATS TO RUN AT 90-95C. NO ERRORS WERE THROWN, ENGINE RUNS PERFECT SINCE 2013 AND NO NEW LEAKS.

WE CAN RE CALIBRATE ANY BMW AND OTHER BRANDS THERMOSTATS, YOU CAN EMAIL US WITH YOUR QUESTIONS.

NEW ORIGINAL RE CALIBRATED THERMOSTAT FOR N62, N63 WILL COST YOU ONLY 199$ (FAST&FREE SHIPPING INCLUDED), WHICH IS THE BEST UPDATE FOR YOUR HOT RUNNING ENGINE. SOON IT WILL BE POSTED ON EBAY, SO IF YOU FELL MORE COMFORTABLE YOU CAN BUY IT FROM THERE, BUT ITS A LITTLE EXTRA DUE TO EBAY FEES. ALSO WE RECOMMEND INSTALLING NEW HEATER VALVE EVERY 5-7 YEARS (standard symptom-no cabin heat or one side is hot and another is barely hot, also it might cause overheating as well, because you cannot bleed the air if tat heater is partially clogged). If everything is good and no leaks i recommend replacing: thermostat, heater valve, radiator cap. With this 90C thermostat you can easily install 140 (1,4 BAR) cap from diesel engines, because pressure is reduced due to reduced boiling point, which is a good idea, since you do not need to build high pressure anymore, though with 90C thermostat it will rarely get to that point even with stock 200 cap. All bmw diesel engines run 140 (1,4 BAR) caps, same thing with old M20 engines, they run similar temp 75-80C TSTATS or even lower. As you know those old engines could last 500kmls easy, isn’t it interesting coincidence: the lower tstat is, the more reliable engine is? You can try our thermostat, and if you are not happy you can return it for a full refund. In most cases people respond with better torque and throttle response after installing our thermostats. Obviously you noticed your BMW runs better before 100C and becomes weaker after 100C.

EBAY LINK TO 90C THERMOSTAT N62/63

BMW ENGINE LAG PROBLEM

2 Replies

BMW N62 GAS PEDAL ENGINE LAG!

On BMW N62, N63 and other engines especially e65, e66, e60, e63, e64 series most likely you might experience some gas pedal lag delay or uneven power delivery at lows. It feels like you press on it and engine barely revs from lows or it revs, but you have to press it harder to feel it. Assuming engine and tranny do not have any problems and all other components run as they should, I mean no vacuum leaks, all sensors read correct values etc, but still it feels like gas pedal is slow at lows, usually in the city driving. Funny part BMW will tell you its normal lag because of drive by wire nowadays standard, though there was no delay on m62tu engines with similar drive by wire gas pedal back in 1999. Lots of people buy some magic gas pedal boosters 200-300$, but they should understand, that this booster simply sends 2x signal to DME (engine brain),so it basically feels like you press 2x harder. This method (if you call it a method) is not a good one for a few reasons:

-it will make your car less smoother or some say it fells jerky

-not safe, you can easily rear end someone in the city

-premature transmission wear and tear

-overall more stressful for the engine and tranny

-higher gas consumption

-overpriced 200$+

So we have been looking for a solution for a while and looks like we found it!!!

and its all original BMW OEM. You simply need to replace your gas pedal assembly with the newest one they sell at the dealers or online, but make sure they sell you the newer design, because newer pedal assembly is way better and has newer chip built in, also it has newer pedal design, so it wont get sticky if dirt or water gets there. You will be really surprised, that the lag will be gone and bmw will perform like it should without any lag from lows and overall will make it fell much smoother. Look at these pics:

newer part number is: 35426859999

you will find this pedal installed on the newest BMW F series

you can get it form the dealer or online, just make sure they sell you newer design only, because lots of sellers still have old pedals in stock.

newer gas pedal design:

older gas pedal design:

It is very easy to remove it, just remove plastic cap, unscrew the metal screw 2, and then disconnect a connector. Install a new one and done! you can reset engine adaptations, but not very necessarily, it will work as is.

Basically BMW updated gas pedal design for that reason, but of course they didn’t recall it, so they know this problem really well, otherwise why they completely redesigned it??

This modification will work on any BMW with similar part numbers.

BMW ABS/DSC/BRAKE LIGHTS ON? Christmas tree on the dash?

ALL BMW M54, M52, M60, M62, M62tu, M56, N62, N62B48tu and others!! Engine Overheating? No its not a head gasket problem!

6 Replies

Ok, i decided to create this post because i see lots of bimmers running hot or even overheating. You would say nothing new here, right? Well believe it or not lots of mechanics or shops trying to resolve this problem with no luck and in the end as a final solution they offer head gasket repair, which won’t fix anything.

So here are the main standard problems, applies to any water cooled engine:

Radiator cap not sealing well or valve inside is not working anymore causing boiling in your cooling system due to pressure loss. Solution? replace radiator cap every 5 years even if its good.
Any coolant leak will create pressure loss and introduce air in the system. Make sure there is no leaks. Use Pressure tester.
Thermostat if bad, it stays open on these engines, and you usually get error code P0128 if heater inside burned or you get thermostat jammed error code. usually tstat lasts 70-100k easily.
Water pump impeller can slip or even fall apart or bearing might seize causing total failure. Good thing these engines head gaskets are very strong and can sustain serious overheating.
REPLACE TEMP SENSORS EVERY 70KMLS, THEY DO GO BAD AND SOMETIMES SHOW LOWER TEMPS THEN IT IS, ESPECIALLY WATER PUMP TEMP SENSOR, LOWER SENSOR IS KNOWN FOR O-RING LEAK, APPLIES TO ANY BIMMER.
Main engine fan (electric) is bad or fan clutch not working anymore, though even with a bad fan clutch and fully working cooling system you will not get overheating, unless you are in Dubai traffic:) AC fan is very effective even with a bad fan clutch. Since 2004 BMW uses only electric fan for both AC and engine, so if it goes bad, you will get overheating.

So, i was not going to create simple overheating article you can find anywhere, right? Its gotta be unique on this site! Here we go:

So what to do if there is no leaks and all hoses are new, gaskets etc, pressure tester confirmed no pressure loss, but engine still runs hot overheating transmission as well??? Did you know running hot will destroy all rubber gaskets and other rubber parts? Why? Because engine temps are not consistent like it was designed! Ok, here is something nobody cares about when trying to fix overheating issues:

NORMAL TEMPS FOR 6cyl=94-98 max

NORMAL TEMPS FOR 8cyl=103-108 max

TO CHECK RUNNING TEMPS YOU NEED TO OPEN HIDDEN MENU:

1) hold reset odometer button until you see the menu

2) go to 19 unlock menu (press button once) and enter (hold the button to enter) the sum of your last 5 vin numbers:

ex: last vin 23657, so sum=2+3+6+5+7=23

3) now go back to menu 7 and hold the button until you see running temps, if you don’t, it means you enter unlock code wrong:

here is a picture of running temps with RECALIBRATED 87C thermostat, these are actually really good temperatures for this and other V8 engines! It will keep your cooling system healthy and will prolong the life of all rubber gasket seals including valve seals. Moreover it will reduce detonation so you’ll get extra power in the city driving! Imagine lowering cooling pressure from 200 to 120??? 200 is what your tire pressure is. It is a big deal, all rubber gaskets run under serious stress and we see tons of exploded hoses, coolant tanks and other expensive leaks like:

wheep hole 2000$ if you install oem pipe

rear cover plate (Tranny needs to be removed)

valley pan (intake removal needed)

Soon we will offer these cooler temp tstats.

HEATER CONTROL VALVE! THIS VALVE DOES NOT LAST! RUBBER SEALS INSIDE BECOME BRITTLE, CLOGGING UP THE COOLANT CHANNELS GOING TO THE HEATER CORE! RESULT IS OBVIOUS=YOU CANNOT BLEED THE AIR OUT OF HEATER CORE=OVERHEATING! THIS ENGINE HAS SELF BLEEDING COOLANT SYSTEM, BUT IT WILL NOT WORK IF THIS VALVE IS CLOGGED.

HERE IS DISASSEMBLED HEATER VALVE FROM 2006 750LI with 98kmls. As you can see rubber seals are cracked and not flexible anymore, BUT if you have working auxillary water pump, you still get okay heat cabin, but system has air pocket, since you need very good flow when bleeding coolant system.

HERE IS THE MAIN PROBLEM: YOU SHOULD SEE A NICE RUBBER SEAL AROUND THE VALVE, BUT ITS ALL BROKEN AND THE WORST PART IT CLOGGED RIGHT CHANNEL COMPLETELY:

SO GOOD RECOMMENDATION IS TO REPLACE IT EVERY 5-7 YEARS AND START EVERY COOLANT SYSTEM PROBLEM FROM THIS VALVE REPLACEMENT. IF THIS VALVE IS GOOD YOU CAN DRIVE YOUR CAR EVEN WITH LEAKING COOLANT (I KNOW ITS NOT A GOOD IDEA), BUT YOU WILL NOT GET OVERHEATING ISSUES IF YOU KEEP ADDING COOLANT, BECAUSE ENGINE WILL BLEED ITSELF ALL THE TIME IF HEATER CORE HAS NO AIR POCKETS. REMEMBER COOLANT SYSTEM IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SYSTEM IN YOUR CAR!

SO UNTIL YOU SEE OIL IN THE COOLING SYSTEM, OR COOLANT IN THE OIL OR EXHAUST SMELL FROM COOLANT TANK, DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE HEAD GASKET FAILURE. WHEN HEAD GASKET IS BAD, YOU WILL KNOW IT FOR SURE:) V8, IS VERY STRONG ENGINE AND ITS NOT EASY TO DESTROY HEAD GASKET BY JUST OVERHEATING, DOESN’T APPLY TO STRAIGHT 6 THOUGH….

IVM or why my engine runs sluggish??? N62 applies to ALL cars with it. E53/e65/e60/e63/e64/e66

21 Replies

In this unique article i will describe why your engine feels weak and you don’t feel low end torque anymore.

So you cannot find any faults in DME and no lights are on, everything is clean, but you feel your V8 runs like 4 cylinder KIA on lows? It applies to all bmw with n62 engines: E53, E63,E65, E66, E64, E60 and others.

Probably you heard about IVM failure main symptom:

-it will not start when you press the button, like no cranking at all, but it might start the next time or in few secs. It also might throw few errors in CAS because it didn’t start.

Yes, this happens when IVM went out completely and you are lucky if you got this symptom and you replaced IVM and found out it runs so much better and no issues at all.

Well, but in most (90%) cases it will not fail completely and will not show any symptoms and errors will be thrown. For example in my case, i didn’t have any faults, but i was trying to find out why i have:

-Weak torque o low rpms 2-3k rpm, it just feels weak, gets better if it gets past 4-5k

-weak response when you press the gas pedal

-delay hesitation on take off

-transmission shifts incorrectly and feels like it shifts to higher gear too early. Like it will shift to 5th gear, but there is no power for it.

-sometimes you feel slight vibration on idle

-on HWY you feel like you need to constantly press the gas pedal otherwise it will slow down a lot. IN OTHER WORDS IT DOESN’T PULL BEFORE 4000K

-MPG is very bad

Anyways after spending some time and lots of money, honestly, it was very annoying and upsetting, so i was about to get rid of my car, because it doesn’t feel V8 at all, it simply feels like 4 cylinder honda or something like this. You press on the gas and it doesn’t go, you have to press to 4000rpm to make it moving!!!! So after i tested my engine compression, transmission and all diagnostics showed up no errors, i was upset, because nothing else was left! I even replaced fuel pump though old one was showing ok pressure etc. NOBODY COULD TELL ME WHAT WAS WRONG.

and inside after T40 torxs were taken out:

And at some point i decided to open IVM since i was replacing the Ebox fan ( if you have ebox fan error, i strongly recoomen to replace it, because it helps to cool down ecu, and if it overheats it will cost you thousands easily). So what i found in IVM??? First what is IVM???

IVM is an INTEGRATED VOLTAGE MODULE, but in reality is just a relay module with 12 mini nice looking 4$ relays, yes simple relays, and everything looked good, except for DME RELAY!! 2 legs had soldering points cracked!! I assume they use silver solder and it cannot withstand the heat !! so…. you understand now what happens if DME relay points don’t have a good contact? yes, injectors will not get a good signal and cannot open like they should and probably same thing for ignition! As a result engine runs like crp:)

After i repaired it, my N62 started running like brand new! and now i get 17/25 mpg easy! after that i saw about 30 cars and all of them had same issue, but nobody complained about engine torque:) they thought it was supposed to be like this! this is repaired IVM:

I recommend to install a new one if you are not ok with soldering or try to solder it yourself and save 80$. Always clean contacts from old solder and sand it as much as you could and use old school lead based solder with good flux.

TRY IT AND ENJOY, EVEN IF YOU THINK EVERYTHING IS OK WITH YOUR CAR!! TAKES 10 MINS TO REMOVE. DO NOT BELIEVE THE DEALER THAT NOTHING IS WRONG WITH YOUR CAR BECAUSE COMPUTER DIDN’T SHOW ANY ERRORS, NOTHING IS PERFECT SO IS BMW, IT CANNOT DIAGNOSE ITSELF 100%. I FOUND THIS PROBLEM ON 30+ cars and counting! ITS A DESIGN FLAW, BUT BMW WILL NOT RECALL IT, THEY WILL ONLY REPLACE IT WHEN YOU GET NO START ERRORS!!!

Smoking white from tailpipe?? N62, N72 family engines applies to any V8, V12 from 2002 AND UP.

6 Replies

Smoking white from tailpipe?? N62, N72 family engines applies to any V8, V12 from 2002 AND UP.

So most likely if you own bmw with N62 or N73 engine, most likely you have oil consumption or you noticed your car smokes white after prolonged sitting and idling??? Well this is the worst and very common problem with these engines. Do not listen to any fairy tales and accept it:

YOU NEED NEW VALVE SEALS! AND IT ALSO CAUSES CLOGGED AIR PORTS ON N62B44

Nothing will help and don’t waste your time and money:

-don’t even try thicker oils, it won’t help and is very bad for vanos lines

-don’t think any seafoming can help

You can replace CCV or mushroom valves on the valve covers. If they are cracked, you will get check engine light or simply it will introduce oil fumes into combustion camera. But here is the catch:

even if CCV is bad and torn completely, there is not much oil in the fumes to produce that much smoke anyways, even if you connect crankcase line directly into intake manifold (this is how it was connected in old cars anyways), you will not get much or any noticeable white smoke if compression is good, but it will affect oil consumption for sure.

But when valve seals are bad, you will definitely introduce lots of oil into the combustion camera, because it leaks right on the piston, compared to CCV, when there is time to mix oil fumes with intake air.

this what you need:

FAILURE TO REPLACE VALVE SEALS WILL CAUSE:

-CATALYTHIC CONVERTERS FAILURE SOONER OR LATER

-RESTRICTED AIR FLOW FOR SECONADRY INJECTION PORTS ON 745LI, 645I, 545I, 745I

-WILL DAMAGE SPARK PLUGS

-WILL MAKE YOUR COMBUSTION CAMERA DIRTY, CAUSING ENEVEN IDLE AND POWER LOSS

-DRIVING WITH LOW OIL LEVEL WILL DAMAGE THE ENGINE

-WILL CLOG MUFFLERS AS WELL

So long story short you need valve seal job, which is expensive even at small shops 1500$-3000$ or 8000-9000$ at BMW dealerships!!!!! Good news is new valve seals were updated and will last for long.

My GOOD recommendations:

-YOU CAN DO IT WITHOUT REMOVING HEADS

-AVOID AGA MAGICAL TOOL: IT IS MUCH FASTER AND EASIER TO REMOVE CAMS AND DO IT RIGHT.

-ALWAYS REPLACE UPPER TIMING CHAIN COVER GASKETS ALONG WITH NEW VALVE COVER GASKETS

-REPLACE CHAIN TENSIONERS IN THE HEADS, BUT I ALSO RECOMMEND NEW CHAIN GUIDES, BECAUSE THEY DO WEAR OUT AND CAUSE UNEVEN IDLE AND POWER LOSS.

-INSTALL NEW CCV AND CLEAN CCV LINES EVERY 60KMLS

-DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT USED ENGINE!!! IT COULD AS BAD AS YOURS, BECAUSE RUBBER VALVE SEALS DO AGE WITH YEARS OF SITTING BADLY.

ALL VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH N62 ENGINES WILL EXPERINCE THIS PROBLEM SOONER OR LATER! IT CAN HAPPEN EVEN TO LOW MILES CARS, EVEN 40-60KMLS, SO WHEN YOU BUY N62 CAR

Everything about your ZF 6HP26, 6HP19, 6HP28 transmission issues

What you are supposed to know about your ZF6HP26, 6HP19, 6HP28 and similar ford Transmissions.

It applies to all BMW, Jaguar, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Maserati, Audi and others with ZF 6HP26, 6HP19, 6HP28

In this post i will be explaining why you have transmission issues like:

-harsh shift 2-1

-not able to shift into park when hot

-weak torque feeling

-gear speed ratio faults

-other faults

All highlighted problems you can experience even on low miles cars less than 70-80k, it depends on at what speeds your car mostly runs. On the highway this tranny will easily last 200-300kmls. AND EVERYTHING IS RELATED TO VALVE BODY PRESSURE LOSS DUE TO SOLENOIDS OR ACTUAL VALVE BODY SEALING GASKETS LEAKING INSIDE, BUT BETTER DO BOTH. DRIVING WITH LEAKING VALVE BODY WILL EVENTUALLY WEAR OUT ACTUAL TRANSMISSION HARDWARE.
BEST ADVICE FOR YOU: SINCE 99% issues with this trannies are related to valve body fluid pressure loss, I strongly recommend new (re manufactured) valve body from ZF (expensive 1600$), (you can find some companies offer this rebuild, but they charge almost new VB price, or rebuild it yourself with NEW SOLENOIDS PACK (300-400$) and SONNAX zip kit (150$). If after you rebuilt or replaced valve body and RESET ADAPTATIONS USING BMW SOFTWARE INPA OR ISTA IS A MUST, OR YOU WON’T SEE ANY DIFFERENCE AFTER REBUILT, BECAUSE TCM KNOWS VALVE BODY PRESSURE VALUES AND THEY MUST BE RESET. IF AFTER REBUILT, it’s not shifting well, it means YOU WAITED TOO LONG WITH VALVE BODY REBUILT AND DESTROYED transmission hardware (bushings or actual clutches failed) and you need to rebuild it, but like i said main problem STARTS at valve body and then if not fixed in time you get worn out transmission. All those jolts, bumps or harsh shifts cause premature wear and tear on your tranny. Rule of the thumb is not to drive it if it jerks,or shifts wrong.

replacing just solenoids without rebuilding valve body, where accumulators/pistons always go bad after 60-70k, will not get you perfect results, but might improve shifting quality. Remember-cheap people usually pay twice (no offense).

So you hate the way tranny shifts and dealer and other shops didn’t find any faults and told youit is what it is and this is how it is intended to work! Well it is total lie they are trying to get rid of you with.

In fact ZF 6HP26 6hp19, 6hp28 is a very good transmission, powerful, bullet proof pretty much if serviced in time and proper fluid pressure maintained! This tranny is still considered one of the best and has carbon clutches vs cheap paper ones you can find on Japanese cars. But this tranny has very serious and very

important weak spots you have to take care of:

-First thing first check tranny temperatures. If it is higher than 95C, then most likely you have a problem with tranny cooling system or your engine cooling has some leaks causing running it very hot.

Usually high temps indicate following:

1) engine cooling system problem- air bauble or airlock

2) if everything is good with cooling system, check your tranny oil cooler- it gets clogged up pretty often and also indicates that some clutches or TC clutch is worn out and that debris clogged oil cooler.

3) worn out TC clutch slipping overheating transmission fluid.

Your good engine temps are 103-105C and if it climbs to 107-110C in traffic, it means you’ve got a leak :

-lower radiator hose sensor leaking (usually shows a white residue around the sensor)

-valley pan under intake

-rear cover plate between tranny and engine. Very common after 100k or 8-10yrs.

-coolant tank cracked

-radiator cap leaking pressure

-coolant pipe seal leaking

-other cooling issues

It is very important to keep temps in specs not only because of few degrees, but because with leaking

cooling system you lose coolant pressure introducing air in the system, causing uneven cooling and overheating both engine and tranny. Good OEM specs are 103-105 cycle when idling and lower hose should be hot around 60-80C. When you drive it tstat is controlled by ECU therefore it keeps it cool on the freeway.

Easy way to test your cooling system

1) Disconnect aux pump connector assuming aux pump is working (they fail often)

2) Drive your car to warm engine well

1. 1. Turn on heater on hot but low speed
  2. check if you get hot air from vents for 10 minutes.
  3. If after a minute you noticed your heater is not hot anymore, it means you’ve got a leak!
  4. This Engine has self bleeding cooling system, which means you cannot get air pocket if system is well sealed.

So if engine temps are good and tranny still runs hot 100-110, it means heat exchanger is clogged with tranny clutches, TC wear and tear dirt. Replace it and check if it got better. This tranny will die quick if temps are not good.

–MECHATRONIC ADAPTER SEAL.

This adapter (number 2) usually lasts only 60-70kmls (BMW lifetime). Replace it every 60kmls even if tranny shifts well. It is very important because it keeps your mechatronic valve body under specified pressure therefore it controls how clutches are pressed! Which means if your gasket is weak your tranny clutches are not pressing well on each other causing premature wear and tear, also tranny pump and TC clutch will be affected. This square seal also can CRACK, in this case you will get tranny fail safe errors and even clutches slipping ERRORS, causing very quick TRANNY DEATH. DON’T DRIVE YOUR CAR IF YOU’RE GETTING ANY TRANNY FAULTS, EVEN AFTER RESTART TRANNY ERRORS GO AWAY FOR A WHILE, IT IS NOT A TRANNY COMPUTER GLITCH!!!

http://www.thectsc.com/products/mechatronic-seal-adapter-6hp26-6hp28-6hp32-42-52.html

YES THIS SMALL, CHEAP GASKET CAN DAMAGE YOUR TRANSMISSION PRETTY BAD.

-OTHER 4 RUBBER PIPE SEALS.

They 5,6,7 also control clutch pressure, but even if they are flattened pretty bad transmission won’t give you any errors. Its always good idea to replace it- you’ll notice a difference how your tranny shifts. WWW.RMEUROPEAN.COM has these seals under transmission parts section.

–SOLENOID KITS. 2 TYPES

-MOST COMMON E65, YOU DON’T NEED PARKING SOLENOIDS SINCE THEY DON’T GO BAD OFTEN, SO YOU CAN USE M-SHIFT SOLENOIDS, BUT YOU CAN GET E-SHIFT PACK AS WELL, WHICH IS 200$ MORE.

http://www.thectsc.com/products/solenoid-kit-6hp19/26/32-m-shift-36-45.html

Yes they go bad and are not simple solenoids you used to know from old school trannies. Now these are pressure regulators and they do not only work open\close operation, they control pressure and after so me time they get clogged, overheat, etc. So if your tranny temps are good and your tranny shifts hard, it could be your solenoids. Its good idea to replace them every 100k, because they control everything in the tranny. You will be surprised how tranny shifts with new solenoids. And you don’t need 2 parking solenoids, so you can use 200$ cheaper kit, which fits 5,6 series without E-SHIFT. Also dont be scared if you open your transmision and find out that color is not the same- relax it changed color because of temps and age. There are two types of kitsAll the parts at very good prices can be found here:

http://www.thectsc.com/catalog/mechatronic-parts-52.html

-GUIBO FLEX DISC. They usually go bad after BMW lifetime period 60-70k.

Common Symptoms:

a) hard 2-1 sift

b) at stop you can hear clunking when shifting from P-R-D

c)overall tranny shifting quality

-Tranny fluid level.

Yes due to leaking oil pan gasket you might loose some fluid. Always check tranny oil pan for leaks and tranny fluid level (use BMW sealed tranny fluid level check procedure). It is always better to install metal oil pan- it never leaks and cheaper to maintain!

You can add BMW OEM PENTOSIN brand fluid or you can use MOBIL1 or CASTROL synthetic ATF fluid (10$/qt) import multi vehicle formula, believe it or not it has same specs if not better than BMW fluid and works great. Tested for 160kmls. BMW will only recommend OEM FLUID of course, but its up to you, so please do not comment here that different than OEM fluid will kill the tranny. But always make sure it has the same specs of course. Mostly Dextron 6 fluid applies as well for this trannies.

UPDATE: TRANSMISSION RUNS MUCH BETTER WITH OEM ZF FLUID OR SHELL M1375.4 FLUIDS, SO BETTER SPEND FEW MORE BUCKS FOR CORRECT FLUID. FEBI OR ZF WILL WORK GREAT. SOME USE FORD FLUID, SINCE ITS THE SAME TRANSMISSION BUT FLUID IS MUCH CHEAPER.

-Torque converter clutch.

Yes it can go bad just like any clutch, because this tranny engages this clutch very early causing premature wear and tear. In sport mode it can engage clutch as early as at first gear!! That’s why we get decent mpg from this tranny. In other words it is more like a manual tranny with torque converter working only at very low speeds and low rpm. So I would not recommend driving it very aggressively in the city, unless you enjoy paying 4-5k for a new tranny. Don’t forget this tranny handles 300-400hp and some impressive torque. Driving in normal mode, TC can last up to 300kmls!!

most common symptoms of bad clutch:

-sometimes when clutch is very bad it will throw 1721 error clucth slip

-bad MPG. Without TC clutch your car is still driveable, but you can feel its very weak even though engine feels strong

-after 4th gear tachometer arrow is not steady

-weak pickups, downshifting when driving uphill

-bad slipping clutch will overheat tranny pump and finally will kill internal tranny parts (clucths, valve body, seals, etc)

good news you can have your TC rebuilt for around 300$ and from personal experience i must say its not as perfect as new, but decent still.

IMPORTANT NOTE: DON’T FORGET TO RESET TRANSMISSION ADAPTATIONS AFTER ANY REPAIR DONE ON THE TRANSMISSION!!! IF YOU DON’T RESET IT, TRANNY WON’T SHIFT ANY BETTER BECAUSE IT REMEMBERS BAD VALUES. SOME PPL THINK PRESSING GAS PEDAL AND SAYING SOME MAGIC WORDS RESETS TRANSMISSIONS EGS ADAPTATIONS IS A TOTAL MADE UP JOKE. YOU CAN ONLY RESET IT WITH BMW SOFTWARE INPA, ISTA, AND SOME OTHER SOFTWARE SNAP ON ETC.

I know its a long list of issues, but if you take care of your tranny every 80-100kmls it pays for itself pretty good. Most important thing for this tranny is correct fluid pressure and temps, other parts like clutches are very durable and made with highest quality standard. Don’t forget the same tranny they still install on newest Bentley, Rolls Royce, Audi, Maserati and other luxury brands. This tranny is way more reliable than Mercedes one or Lexus trannies with same specs. Great prices on BMW parts you can get from www.rmeuropean.com, they are pretty good and sell only OEM parts from original suppliers. All transmission parts you can find here http://www.thectsc.com/catalog/6-speed-parts-113.html