Anyone done valve stem seals?

[rbg]

I don't remember seeing it on the old forum, but I have not looked for it though :-). Our motors run pretty hot and those heat/coo down cycles are not very good for rubbers, so I would imagine the seal will get less elastic and will not seat as tight on high milage cars. Anyone done those? Saying this I am at 155k and no oil consumption... The reason I am asking (apart from lockdowned and bored hehe) is doing cams this summer and was thinking if I should change the seals.

[Obioban]

The stock seals seem to be good for a long, LONG time. I'd wait till you have the head off for sone other reason (head gasket).

That said, if you have the tool, the parts are cheap (ish)...

[terra]

Our motors run pretty hot

Do they? My impression is they run cooler than most

[cozmo kraemer]

I had my head at the machine shop this month and my engined had 178k miles on it. The head was getting the stage 1 treatment by Andrew Lang, which is just the most basic treatment. They measure the valve guides and my head needed all of them. They charge $20 to remove/replace each...so $480 in total. Was a bummer to hear that!

[rbg]

I talked to one pretty good BMW mechanic and he was saying that he did not work much with S54, the seals are quite common problem on M54. That planted a seed of OCD in my head :-)

[Obioban]

I talked to one pretty good BMW mechanic and he was saying that he did not work much with S54, the seals are quite common problem on M54. That planted a seed of OCD in my head :-)

M54 has a lot of pita issues like this that the S54 does not. With how prone they are to burning oil, I would not be at all surprised if the valve seals were a common issue on them.

[r4dr]

S54 is more closely related to the euro S50 than the M54 isn't it?

[Obioban]

S54 is more closely related to the euro S50 than the M54 isn't it?

Has almost no part sharing with either.

Conceptually it's closer to S50B32.

[cozmo kraemer]

For some reason I read this as guides, not seals. If you have the head off, for sure do the seals...easy. That being said, my s54 at 178k miles burned almost no oil. Valve stem seals, do last a very long time on this engine.

[terra]

Has almost no part sharing with either.

Conceptually it's closer to S50B32.

Incidentally, the valve stem seals are one of the few parts shared between all 3 engines.

[Obioban]

Incidentally, the valve stem seals are one of the few parts shared between all 3 engines.

Ha, that's funny.

Does the M54 run hotter?

Looks like they pretty much used the same valve seal on EVERYTHING.

• 3' E36   (11/1989 — 08/2000)
• 3' E46   (04/1997 — 12/2018)
• 5' E34   (01/1989 — 12/1996)
• 5' E39   (02/1995 — 12/2003)
• 5' E60   (12/2001 — 02/2005)
• 5' E61   (10/2002 — 02/2005)
• 7' E38   (03/1995 — 07/2001)
• 7' E65   (07/2002 — 02/2005)
• 7' E66   (09/2002 — 02/2005)
• X3 E83   (01/2003 — 07/2006)
• X5 E53   (08/1999 — 09/2006)
• Z3 E36   (04/1996 — 06/2002)
• Z4 E85   (01/2002 — 08/2008)
• Z4 E86   (10/2005 — 08/2008)

[terra]

Ha, that's funny.

Does the M54 run hotter?

Looks like they pretty much used the same valve seal on EVERYTHING.

• 3' E36   (11/1989 — 08/2000)
• 3' E46   (04/1997 — 12/2018)
• 5' E34   (01/1989 — 12/1996)
• 5' E39   (02/1995 — 12/2003)
• 5' E60   (12/2001 — 02/2005)
• 5' E61   (10/2002 — 02/2005)
• 7' E38   (03/1995 — 07/2001)
• 7' E65   (07/2002 — 02/2005)
• 7' E66   (09/2002 — 02/2005)
• X3 E83   (01/2003 — 07/2006)
• X5 E53   (08/1999 — 09/2006)
• Z3 E36   (04/1996 — 06/2002)
• Z4 E85   (01/2002 — 08/2008)
• Z4 E86   (10/2005 — 08/2008)

M54 does run hotter (typically coolant 95C, oil 100C) and heats up more under load -- no oil cooler - I've gotten mine to 125C driving aggressively on the street where on the M3 that's just about impossible unless you're really pushing it on the track. That said, the consensus seems to be the oil burning is more an issue with the piston rings and low crankcase vacuum. There's some PCV mod that increases engine vacuum and apparently makes the rings seal a bit better. Or so the hypothesis goes.