OV9

And speaking of cats, one of them had clearly been removed at some point, and jammed back in a bit wonky, then tightened up regardless. It was blowing quite badly.

Even with the engine out there’s still quite a bit of work to actually get at the seals.

You need take the cams out too, I did them one at a time. Exhaust:


Intake is more complicated as there’s the valvetronic variable-lift gubbins to deal with, visible in the previous pic. There's a special tool for removing the valvetronic springs. I used some long nose mole grips.


Old/new. Not surprising they were leaking.

Refitting, as always, is the reverse of removal.

The End.

Fair fucking play mate, that's a decent effort I did wonder how it was going, glad I didn't ask! Great that it's working well now!

Thought you said it was hard, that looks really easy

I definitely wouldn’t have attempted it. Bet it’s satisfying to have done that and got it back together and working

Massive well done

That's a heroic effort! Well done.

Proper roll your sleeves up stuff - fair play Steve.

Sundayjumper wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 9:21 pm Refitting, as always, is the reverse of removal.

The End.

Thanks Haynes, you liar

That looks like an absolute fucking mission.

What do people who aren't psychopaths on a mission do - pay BMW £3000 for the same job? Or just leave it pissing oil around?

I mean, we know what your previous owner did, obviously...

Wowzers.

In some ways I wish I had time to do something like that.

In other, more realistic ways, it’s good I don’t otherwise I’d probably end up pouring a Jerry can of SUL over it and giving it a Viking burial

I’d imagine it would be closer to £10k in labour alone to pay bmw to do it. I expect the choice for many is “will my warranty cover it?” or if they don’t have one, “how much can I get for it from copart / wbac?”

Beany wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 9:43 pm What do people who aren't psychopaths on a mission do - pay BMW £3000 for the same job? Or just leave it pissing oil around?

£3k ? From BMW ? Bless A specialist will be £3k++. THIS competent-looking indy quotes £3540 and it's not totally clear if that's including VAT, which would make it comfortably over £4k. BMW dealer probably double that ?

That indy does seem to know their onions though. They have a rather quick F10 M5.

Beany wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 9:43 pm I mean, we know what your previous owner did, obviously...

Well, the previous owner didn't have it long, I guess for obvious reasons (!), and I don't know how he came by it, whether direct from the previous owner, or if it was traded in and he got it through the trade somehow. He's "Contract Hire & Leasing Manager South" for Mercedes. Seemed a decent guy IRL but here we are. The previous owner had it six years and spent a lot of money maintaining it with a specialist in South Wales. They weren't shy replacing various parts - brakes & headlights being "ouch" items in the history - but I guess even for them this was a final straw.

Funny story - I figured I'd drop a line to that specialist to see if they could put me in touch with the good owner. I have copies of the invoices but the owner's details are redacted. Turns out the specialist is dead, after a short illness in March.

Top job
Unbelievable about of work for something that you’d think would be simple!

integrale_evo wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 9:51 pm I expect the choice for many is “will my warranty cover it?” or if they don’t have one, “how much can I get for it from copart / wbac?”

I think it's exactly that. Or an "accidental" <ahem> Viking burial as GG alludes to, or some other insurance-related exit.

These are already down to not much more than £10k when sellers are honest with their descriptions, and a £5k repair bill is easily enough to write them off. They're going to be quite rare in maybe 5 years time.

An absolutely massive job well done, impressive work!

Mito Man wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 10:13 pm Unbelievable about of work for something that you’d think would be simple!

The seals are literally barely more than £1 each. There's some incidentals too of course, but it's mostly all down to the massive amount of labour, which in turn is due to it being a V8 and the heads being very close to the side of the engine bay, making access difficult. I did valve seals on one of our MINIs, they're right on the top and dead easy. Relatively.

There is a special tool kit available - CLICK - that makes it possible to do it in-situ but it's $2k+shipping+tax, and this very good video of it in use says it took him 20 hours not including removing the cam covers to get there in the first place. Or putting it back together after. And he says that his 6-Series has better access than the 5-Series. Engine-out obviously gives full access to everything so overall, that's the better way to do it. Evidenced ^^^^ by that specialist that shows an engine very much not in the car.

Sundayjumper wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 10:19 pm

integrale_evo wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 9:51 pm I expect the choice for many is “will my warranty cover it?” or if they don’t have one, “how much can I get for it from copart / wbac?”

I think it's exactly that. Or an "accidental" <ahem> Viking burial as GG alludes to, or some other insurance-related exit.

These are already down to not much more than £10k when sellers are honest with their descriptions, and a £5k repair bill is easily enough to write them off. They're going to be quite rare in maybe 5 years time.

I was actually more angling at my level of impatience rather than anything else.

ETA - more importantly I presume the 360 is not in bits for Gav to use on Sunday and are you coming along? I presume the Aston needs another run out…

Very impressed. It also makes me even more impressed with Sreten videoing his similar jobs - I can’t imagine how much extra time it takes to move cameras around and edit the whole lot.

Great job SJ anyway.

GG. wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 10:36 pm ETA - more importantly I presume the 360 is not in bits for Gav to use on Sunday and are you coming along? I presume the Aston needs another run out…

Funny you should mention it, the 360 was up in the air today because I was wondering why the undertray is full of oil


As best I can tell, it's probably the cam cover gaskets. Not the crank seal, fortunately, because that would end up being a new clutch.

I took the opportunity to refit the Capristo tail pipes, but still with the standard main box. After a quick drive it seems like a reasonable compromise to me, it's a bit louder but not as bad as the full Capristo system. Looks better too.

Nice.


Lame.

Ok so that’s a cautious yes then! Good stuff.

Sundayjumper wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 11:25 pm
Funny you should mention it, the 360 was up in the air today because I was wondering why the undertray is full of oil

It's a BMW in disguise!

Sundayjumper wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 11:25 pm As best I can tell, it's probably the cam cover gaskets.

It really is a BMW in disguise