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745i 2002 engine reconditioning

3K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  cmpcpro 
#1 ·
Hello all.

As the title says I am reconditioning engine of my 745i, which is more of an hobby since I don't need the car to be functional and family have other cars to get them around.
So I have been taking it fairly easy to recondition it. Also I am very busy with the company and now that xmax is around I finally get time to write about it and hoping it will help others or give some in-depth of how this magnificent engine works.

Here is a summery why I decided to do it myself.

My car started to leak oil from left upper timing case and alternator gasket also leaking coolant from return pipe under the manifold. Repair of all these was carried out by independent BMW mechanic in Sydney. Next thing I found was car is blowing white/blue smoke and that was the trigger point that I had enough of, so called specialist BMW mechanic in Sydney. By the way I went through three BMW mechanics after smoke.

They all diagnosed different problem and finally last one said what I thought is "Valve seal".

When I opened the left cylinder head cover, surprise surprise I found block was full of dust and pieces of leaf. That is the part mechanic opened to change the left upper gasket timing case. SO THERE I HAD IT. :mad:

Now I stated digging with the aim just to change valve seals and ended up doing a lot more. Since mechanics broke so many parts and rounded few screws. :thumbdwn:

It is a very warm day in Sydney but once evening draw closer I will post pictures and how I opened the engine.

I hope it will be helpful to you or at least gives you some more info.

Will post soon.
 
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#2 ·
Ok,

Since I started the work on the engine about eight month ago I don't remember all the details. I did not take pictures from the start so all pictures are recent. My guides are realoem and spaghetti websites. Also I crushed my left hand. It is painful to type but here it is:

1- Remove all covers. Main one on the top. Two on each side, one on each cylinder head.
The covers under the windshield must be moved to access the engine. There are two
ducts at each side that clip off.

2- Unplug and move all the cables. Gather them in one place by tape or rope hanging
of the bonnet. It is worth marking them but as I notice so far everything will plug
into particular socket.

3- Now take the spark plug coils out. Then spark plugs. My left bank spark plugs tubes
were full of oil however right bank was dry as. Tip of spark plugs were all black
considering I change them three months before opening the engine. I found that tubes
were lose and oil sipped through the lower holder and into the tube and through the
threads of plug into the cylinder chamber.

4- Taking the injectors are easy. All eight should pop off by pulling on them. There are two
washers on each. Brown and black. I change them and cover the whole unit in a wrap so
dust dose not block holes. By the way I clean the injectors individually too, but I was very
careful not to break the clips.

Ok I included some pictures. Not all related but will load more related pictures soon.
 

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#4 ·
Thanks for posting this. I am going to be doing a head reconditioning (mainly to remove carbon from the secondary air channels) in the near future. I understand that to remove the exhaust headers you have to first lower the subframe. Are the header nuts easily accessible when you lower the subframe?
 
#5 ·
I remove the exhaust without lowering the sub-frame. There are eight nuts on each side.
I jacked the car up and used stands to hold the car up. But removing the sub-frame helps.
I did not post any more pictures and instructions since there was not much interest. But if you need help let me know.
 
#7 ·
I understand what you mean :), however there are some great threads that helped me through the work and the TIS. Make sure, if you are not a mechanic, you find a mechanic that can guide you through the work.
I have pictures that are too big to post on the forum however if you email me your email address I try to email them to you.
First thing I will do though, is to email you part numbers. There is a great company called ecstuning in USA where you live I believe to get parts from.
By the way how are you going with your coolent problem?
I am to talk to my mechanic friend about the thermostat tomorrow. Maybe he shine some info about it and if useful Ill post it on the thread.
 
#14 ·
Thanks for asking. Replaced entire external cooling system and still runs up to 107 at idle... coolant pipe maler says is normal and pipe is ok.. and he sells them but I still think something is up if other xars can run cooler.. thinking fan issue at moment but still really dont know. If you can ask ypur mechanic any info helps.

Typing on phone so sorry for typos junk androids.. iphones never did this..
 
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