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BMW E60, 545i N62, Engine Removal, Rebuild, Installation

268K views 819 replies 62 participants last post by  bimmer7410 
#1 ·
This thread is for the removal/rebuild/installation of my engine. The title to my previous thread was about a head gasket, which was no longer really the case

I will go back and add the early pictures and more detail to this thread later. Below are all the ones from last weekend and this weekend.

--------------------------

Alright, ENGINE IS OUT!

Here are pics from the day--will go back and add text later. Overall, I can't feel any real wear on the cylinders of the old engine (fingernail doesn't catch at the top), but the thing is leaking from every seal there is. Oil pan, timing cover, alternator seal, rear main seal, rear coolant cover, you name it, they are all leaking. Anyways.. here are pictures

On the way to the parents house with the engine.. dog came with me


Getting "new" engine out of the truck. That was a chore as there wasn't much room to back the truck in


Another of the same






well, there she is


Here's how I left it last time..


Here's how I left it


Pulled alternator out


Not sure




Shot from underneath


Trying to figure out what to do about those transmission oil lines--ended up removing them from transmission and leaving the connected to the engine


Another--AC compressor unbolted


A lot of sensors unhooked, wires hanging everywhere




Torque converter to flex plate bolts






And finally a visible one


Plug that covers access to torque converter bolts


Torque conv. bolts + crankshaft sensor






I dread putting all those wires back










Thought I was ready to pull it out.. then found one more bellhousing bolt




 
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#162 · (Edited)
Pictures from today. Did a wash on the block--def not final wash by any means. Still have to polish the cylinders and plastigauge all the bearings once I finally get the last one I am waiting on in.

Also weighed all the pistons/rods to try to figure out where I'm at balancing wise. Everything is close, I don't think anything is more than 2-3 grams apart from lightest to heaviest.. I was pretty surprised by that. I have 6 rods that are with .2 grams of one another and 2 more only about .3 grams further out. Should be plenty close for my purposes

Here is what I ended up with on the honing pad device--basically threaded the aluminum block to fit an adapter from an old hone I found laying around.


Here she is after some scrubbing--nothing crazy, just wanted to get it pretty clean for now


Haven't spent much time on the cylinders yet, was mainly just trying to clean everything else out. The block is a lot more open than I remember it being once nothing is in there. The machine shop did a great job getting the burnt oily brown stains off of everything


I am going to have to spend some time on where the coolant crossover pipe goes--it's still got some rubbery plastic pieces hanging on


Passengers side deck--will get a little more cleaning but would probably be just fine how it is


Driver side deck. Same
 
#163 ·
Here's where the rods ended up. This is a combo of the old ones (excluded cylinder that was cracked) + "new" engine ones (excluded ones where pistons were broke). Pretty dang close, and these had varying amounts of oil on them that I had put on there to stop them from rusting, so they really may be closer than this if I really cleaned them off well.

Weight included bearing (another variable), cap and rod bolts


Rods

556.0

555.3

555.2

555.8

555.3

555.9

556.8

557.1

555.0

554.4

554.7

557.1

557.5


Average555.9
Max - Min3.1
Std Dev.1.0
*******> ********>
 
#164 ·
And the original pistons (all of them)

If you take out that 479.7 it takes the max-min to 2.2 and std dev. to 1.0. May use a few of the best of the old + the best of the newer ones I bought. A few of the new ones aren't as goo as I'd like, so I am thinking between the two I can make a well balanced/low wear set


Original Pistons

476.1

474.3

476.5

474.7

474.3

479.7

475.8

476.5


Average476.0
Max - Min5.4
Std Dev.1.8
*******> ********>

---------------------------------------


New Pistons

475.7

473.7

472.9

472.2

477.7

474.0


Average474.4
Max - Min5.5
Std Dev.2.0
*******> ********>
Similar story here--pulling out that 477 or 472 would get the numbers quite a bit closer. I need to get all these pistons in one place and decide what I'm going to use, then sell the rest. Time to recoup some money!
 
#165 ·
Any ideas on how to get my hands on one piece of part number 11217532955? I have one on order with ECS, they say it won't be there now until December 30th (was originally supposed to ship today)

Called BMW south Atlanta, haven't heard back

Checked eBay, only one listed on eBay and they said they don't actually have it and are taking the listing down

Any other ideas? It is the one part I need
 
#166 ·
Have you tried getbmwparts.com ?
By the way, Bud, you put together some of the best and most detailed DIYs I have ever seen. Many thanks and kudos. Just, WOW!!!!!
 
#171 · (Edited)
Talked to Pelican, they're going to call me back after they figure out what the lead time really is

Also sent emails to Turner and BMWparts

Also emailed some parts places in Germany, so I expect I'll get some replies once they're back in business hours

I have a feeling my best bet is finding a place in Germany that will ship one over to me

I really wanted to take two weeks off of work over the holiday and knock this thing out..

Also, thanks in regards to the DIY's. On one hand I wish I didn't NEED to do the work that they're describing.. but oh well, at least I can do it myself
 
#168 ·
Thanks I will start calling when I get home! The get BMW parts one I emailed an hour or so ago. I have it ordered from BMW south Atlanta as well. Somebody is going to have this damn thing, lol
 
#169 ·
Funny story, the first time I did the alternator bracket gasket with a buddy of mine we stripped one of the Torx bolts that held it on. He called around looking for a replacement, found it at the 2nd dealer he called - it was one of 2 in the country. Apparently this dealer and one on the east coast were the ONLY ones in North America with 1 in stock each. Yup, in their infinite wisdom BMWNA had 2 in the country in case it needed replacing. Needless to say my buddy was VERY happy he found it, it was his car.
 
#172 · (Edited)
Everyone I have heard back from has said there aren't any in the country. I have them ordered from ECS, getbmwparts.com and BMW south atlanta.com. Whoever gets here first wins :rofl:

All are saying that they cannot tell me how long it will take

I never heard back from any shops in Germany :(
 
#173 ·
Wow, that sucks, so hard to get things done when tiny but important parts are not available. Good luck Bud
 
#174 · (Edited)
Thanks--honestly if it were a upper main bearing shell I'd probably just use the old one as they looked closed to perfect, but since this is the side that takes all the abuse (and a rod bearing) I really want to put new parts in

I really wish ECS had just freaking told me this two weeks ago. I basically want to have one here by the 20th at the absolute latest, which would have been easily doable starting the clock two weeks ago. Now I'm stuck in the "2 to 4 week" generic time all the parts places are telling me, so it may make it and may not

There goes my holiday plans if it doesn't make it in time!
 
#180 · (Edited)
Got this back from getbmwparts.com

it would just be an additional $10.00 to expedite this item from Germany. This process typically takes between 5-7 business days as opposed to 2-3 or so.
So, of course I told them to do it, and that I'd gladly pay 5x that at this point to get this part in faster.

Hopefully that means I still have the part in time for Christmas break. I may push my days off out a little bit, taking time off at the first of the year instead of before Christmas

Update: I asked if they were sure it'd be here within 2 weeks and they confirmed it would be, so I cancelled my other orders for this part. Now I just hope they come through!

Yep, it should definitely get here within the next 2 weeks.
 
#181 ·
Just put in my time off paperwork. I'll work the 20th, come in for some training the morning of the 23rd, then I am done until January 6th

I sure hope all the parts make it in time.
 
#182 · (Edited)
Was pouring down rain and 33* here today, so I didn't do a lot. Spent a few hours cleaning the upper/lower oil pans. Man these things were nasty. It literally took 2 hours of cleaning to get them to this point. Sorry, forgot to take any pictures of what I started with.

I could not believe how well the old oil pan gaskets were stuck on.. I literally ripped the metal part off of the gasket and the silicone (or whatever it is) part was still on there. I had to peal it off in quite a few pieces and do some scraping to get the last bits off..

I am also looking into buying a cheapo soda blaster to help clean the rest of the parts a little quicker.. we'll see





 
#183 ·
Looks great, good job with the cleaning! what are you using? a general purpose degreaser or something stronger?

Shame about the bearing shell, hopefully it arrives in time so you can start the re-build!
 
#184 ·
I was just using goo gone and Dawn detergent, and a lot of scrub brushes.. I used a little bit of purple cleaner but was afraid it would start etching parts so I didn't use much of it

I hope so too on the bearing! Bad part is there's no real tracking for parts that are expedited from BMW, so it's still an "it gets here when it gets here" kind of thing

I've been looking into soda blasting.. pretty cool, may try to pick up the cheapo kit from harbor freight and see if I can get it going sometime this week
 
#185 ·
Thanks, I'm in the UK so will source some industrial cleaner or something similar from eBay for the smaller parts. Luckily the company I work for has a few industrial parts washers which I hope to put most of the big bits in, and the aqua blast or sand blast some parts,covers for the hell of it! Although I do find cleaning parts by hand great fun!

It will be great to properly clean the engine bay too when the engine is out, when my il pressure switch split (I have never seen so much mess!) I managed to clean most of it out with some strong kitchen cleaner and a steam cleaner! As you know though, most of the gaskets leak after time and really makes a mess of things!

Stuart
 
#186 · (Edited)
Got an update from getbmwparts

They should be arriving here any day now actually, and I can have our shipping staff contact you prior to completing the order via email as well.
So, sounds like I am getting close.. they have been the most responsive of any BMW parts supplier I have ever seen. ECS is pretty good usually, but they were not much help in trying to get this part expedited. They just gave the usual "it's gonna take 4-6 weeks.." thing
 
#187 · (Edited)
IT'S IN THE US! They even brought in a full set even though I only needed one.

I asked them to get it here by Saturday.. so we shall see. Thanks to whoever recommended these guys!

this item has arrived and is ready to ship ***8211; when did you need to receive this order?

Also, I know you ordered just one ***8211; but I wasn't sure if you needed the full set of 4. These are actually sold individually by BMW so if you need 4, they will be $31.14 each. We got a batch in, so I can send as many as you need.

Let me know how to proceed, and thanks again -
$15 for shipping and it'll be here Friday. Win.
 
#188 ·
Great news!!!!! Looking forward to the pictures of the rebuild! Bet you can't wait to get started!

I can't wait to tear mine apart now, although need to get a run around in the meantime!


Sent from BimmerApp mobile app
 
#189 · (Edited)
Great news!!!!! Looking forward to the pictures of the rebuild! Bet you can't wait to get started!

I can't wait to tear mine apart now, although need to get a run around in the meantime!

Sent from BimmerApp mobile app
I'm torn on it.. a little worried, there's just so many little things to get right putting the engine back together and so few people have rebuilt these their selves that there is not a lot of advice to go on. Just little things like for some of the bolts that are torqued the specs say to oil them, then in other places it'll say be sure the bolts are dry.. so it's like which one do you do??

Then there's physically getting the engine into the car which is just going to be a battle any way you cut it. Then trying to get all the bellhousing bolts in when I could barely even get them out even when I had a head off along with both valve covers.. Over on another forum someone told me that if you remove the transmission mounts so that you can basically tilt the whole engine back (basically transmission down/front of the engine pointing up) it gives you enough space to get to the bellhousing bolts. He has the engine out of his 550 to do basically a top end rebuild.. Obviously I have to get a few bolts started to get the engine/transmission connected first, but I am going to give that a try most likely.

So yeah, I'm looking forward to finally making some real progress, but also trying to be patient and finish it right after all the time and money I've put into it. This is literally probably only the 3rd engine I've built, so I'm no professional by any means, and this is by far the pickiest one with the tightest tolerance.. the valvetronics stuff is what I'm really worried about the most

But it will be nice to get back into my car. I sat in it the other day and it smells so good compared to the Honda I'm driving now. I really hope I can knock it out over Christmas break. Speaking of which, there is one radiator hose I need to order, forgot about that!
 
#190 ·
Im just browsing through this thread, i remember when you bought the engine i dont know if you were planning to rebuild it when you got it or were just going to throw it in but im soo glad you took it a part to see what was in it. I remember when i was putting engine in my project car just hoping everything would be ok just to have to take it out again because it had shAt compression. Did you change the main bearings though? Looks can be deceiving i would have replaced them to be on the safe side(you have a really good camera btw). The machine shop is your friend. Otherwise this is a great thread to read through looks like your doing everything thoroughly, helps when you have the time and an extra car to do the job right.

Im still struggling with my car i plan on buying another car for a DD than picking up all the parts for valve seals, coolant tube, transmission solenoids and whatever else common problem has not been addressed on this car, then knock it out in the summer time when im off from school.
 
#191 ·
Yep, am replacing all main and rod bearings. One of the mains is what I have been waiting on for the last few weeks.. They were not cheap, that's for sure..

Took my battery by Auto Zone (H8-AGM) today, it was only about a year old and no longer will charge, so they are replacing it for free.. I'm sure it sitting with the car in piece for a few months didn't help. And part of that time it was still connected so I'm sure the computers sucked it dry
 
#192 ·
Make sure the battery is not sitting on concrete its ok for a day or 2 obviously, but Concrete actually drains batteries and will eventually kill them, put a piece of cardboard or wood under it. You only have 2 free replacement on the battery and used one so save the other IIRC those Batteries have 3 year free replacement and a 2 year prorate after that(i use to work at autozone :eeps:)
 
#203 · (Edited)
NOTE: THIS IS NOT A BMW APPROVED PROCESS, AND I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS DONE ON ANY OTHER BMW. I DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE DO THIS TO THEIR BLOCK. IF ANYONE DOES DECIDE TO DO IT ANYWAYS, I HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE YOU MAY CAUSE..

(that being said, it has been done before on Porsche engines with the same Alusil material blocks successfully, so I think it will work..)

---------------------------------


(The pictures I took today were mainly of the same thing of each cylinder.. so the pictures get a little boring and repetitive this time, sorry!)

Alright everyone, here is what I got done today:

-Scotch brite cylinder (to deglaze them)
-Polish with Sunnen AN-30 compound
-Wash block to remove AN-30 & clean out bolt holes
-Plastigauge main bearings
-Plastigauge rod bearings if time permits (didn't make it to this)

Here we go:

I went and bought a low speed drill from harbor freight last night ($49)--the chuck on the drill I was using in the past was just plain useless (even tightening it with pliers it would barely hold the hone without slipping), and I also needed one that would easily maintain a low speed (old one I had if you touched the trigger just a littttle bit more it would go from too slow to way too fast..). Anyways, it worked quite well considering the low price. They have another model that has an adjustable limiter on the trigger which they were sold out of--that would have been awesome for this and made it really easy to be consistent, but what I got worked just fine.

Here is my setup.. AN30, green scotch brite pads, low speed drill & standard 3 arm hone with felt pads sewn on. Also a lot of rags..


Here's the block before I started.. I need to get that Mustang back going sometime!


Here is a picture of all the cylinders prior to me doing anything. They are all relatively clean, a few scratches and some splotchy black stuff, not sure what that is from

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8


Basically for the deglazing process I wiped the cylinder down with detergentless 30W motor oil. Not sure if it matters, but this is what guys have used on the Porsche boards with Alusil cylinders, so I didn't want to change anything from what they did since it worked..


Soak down the scotch brite pads and put the whole contraption down in the cylinder


I went at I would guess about 150RPM, for about 45-50 seconds. Goal was to skim basically the very top layer of material and to take out any scratches or junk on the surface


Looking pretty good to me!


They aren't perfect, but should work fine




Here is a whole bank completed--the sun is shining right on them so the crosshatch pattern looks deeper than it really is. A few of them are steeper than I wanted but oh well






 
#204 · (Edited)
Here is a closeup, before any work


Pretty ugly.. although it didn't actually feel bad with my fingernail


I used this to spray the oil on the cylinder.. made it a lot neater


Spray it down


Slather it around..




Here is my hole setup.. I used zip ties to put the scotch brite pads on. I replaced them every other cylinder




The small piece is actually on backwards, oops


Put 'er in..


Spin for 45 seconds, the direction for the AN-30 compound said to keep the "overthrow" to a minimum, so I kept it to a minimum here too. That is probably why some of the little carbon deposits at the very top of the cylinder didn't all come off








Here is afterwards


And this is a cylinder after most of the oil/gritty stuff is wiped off. Muuuuch better.


I assume I must have gone through and taken a picture of each cylinder afterwards? Not sure which is which now.. but here they are


Another


Another


And another


How many cylinders do these things have again?


Lookin pretty good!!
 
#205 · (Edited)
Somewhere in all of this the pictures switch over from being after deglazing to being after the actual polishing process. I'll try to figure it out later, but I am pretty sure this one is after being "conditioned" with the compound. I'll show more on that later


You can see the remnants of the compound on top of the cylinder so I'm sure this was after. See the chalkboard like look almost? That is what I was after














Here I was washing the block down.. looks like I missed a spot on the back [front really] cylinder. Beautiful looking block otherwise IMO




At least with an all aluminum block you can go to town on it with soap/water and don't have to worry about rust


Wish this hadn't been out of focus
 
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