The Worst BMW Engine Ever: BMW M62 4.4L V8

In this video we teardown a BMW M62 4.4L V8 engine from a late 90's E39 5-series. This engine is an all aluminum design, featuring timing a timing chain powering dual overhead cams, with the intake having variable valve timing (VANOS).

Common issues with this engine is an under-designed cooling setup, burning and leaking oil and of course the VANOs system. This particular example suffered catastrophic failure internally due to oil and coolant mixing. The result is a milkshake which does not lubricate or cool critical engine components well and causes them to wear rapidly until meltdown. The connecting rod and main crankshaft bearings were chewed up, spun and missing, the piston head in cylinder #6 was completely destroyed and sitting in the oil pan, the timing chain had jumped timing, cylinder walls were scored, the timing chain guides were chewed up, and one valve was destroyed in the processes with damage to the head. This whole engine would not have been able to be saved, since its oil and cooling passages were full of the milkshake and completely clogged up, with metal and plastic bits splattered throughout the engine.

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[szponiasty]

This was a very poorly maintained engine. M62's are not that bad if you maintain them well. Especially regular oil and filter changes. But I can completely agree, that inline 6-es are more reliable and less needy.

[brynyard]

Fun fact, one of the reason the Vanos fails is because BMW use a rubber sealing that degrades when exposed to motor oil. And they insist on replacing it with an identical seal, but 3rd party suppliers can give you a seal that are actually rated for use in oil.

[Bimmerguy]

Worst BMW engine ever???! You have OBVIOUSLY never worked on the N63 V8 Twin turbo Direct injected engines. That M62 only failed from abuse and lack of maintenance. They kept driving it AFTER it desperately needed the timing chain and guides replaced and they drove it until it jumped timing and blew up. I worked at A European Auto repair shop for 12 years and I NEVER ONCE saw an M62 V8 go bad like that. In that 12 years I only ever Changed ONE M62 V8 and it had been overheated Severely AND ran very low on Oil, but it still drove 30+ miles to our shop and was running before we pulled it out. I currently own a 2001 E39 540i-6 speed and it has WELL over 250k miles on it, and I daily drive it and I drive it like I stole it and she comes back for more every single day! Saying it's the worst BMW engine ever is ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE. Look up the N63 V8, Literally almost EVERY single one has been replaced under factory recall, when they started blowing up left and right there was a GLOBAL shortage of engines to replace them with. BMW would reimburse customers who paid another shop to swap their blown up engine, or would buy the cars back. After they got the multiple defects worked out they actually seem to be somewhat decent engines, but it took a LONG time for them to get there.

[twentyrothmans]

Don't forget to take pictures as you go along so you can reassemble it.

[marekkovacik]

I have an M62TU engine, has driven something between 500, 000km and 600, 000km and drives divine, Consumption of engine oil at 10, 000 km 0.6L. First of all, you need to know the engine its weakest points and know how to take care of the engine. A million km .It is necessary to step the engine with a thermostat from the engine 740D e38 keeps the temperature at a stable 90 C max 95C I change every 8, 000 km Mobil 5w50 and the car serves me perfectly. I have driven 100, 000 km with the taxed engine and it has full power without loss of power, it's just about proper maintenance and money. Greetings from Slovakia

[djzyx]

I had 450, 000km before the transmission went on it. The engine was fine. It's called regular maintenance. Awesome tear down video I learned a lot :)

[jonathanedwards]

Those engines are not that bad. People choose to skip maintenance and just drive them until they break. The timing chain guides are the Achilles heel of that model. If you perform regular maintenance and change the oil regularly. They tend to need to be replaced around 100K miles, although some have gone longer. That particular engine was SERIOUSLY neglected. It had the wrong coolant, the chain tensioner wasn't replaced, and then the timing chain guides started to go. That engine probably gave the owner several cues and the owner chose to continue driving it until it grenaded. ANY engine would fail if it was neglected like this.

[iadicted]

1. The valve covers are magnesium
2. Water pumps are not very hard to do in the car at all
3. Seeing green coolant come out tells me all you need to know, nobody who has a clue would put green coolant in one of these, not compatible with the aluminum alloy.
4. Yes, the chain guides, vanos units have a short lifespan, and water cooled alternator idea does suck.
I've had my e39 540i for 12 years, which has a supercharger on it, and I also have an F10 M5. The M62tu is not a bad engine, it's overbuilt for its original rated power and with the timing and vanos replaced, it's a dependable and stout engine.

[neolerades]

The M62 is a VERY reliable engine, the only problems are - timing chain guides, VANOS rattle, plastic cooling hoses that crack and oil leaks. I have an M62 in my car and I know several cars around - no one has engine problems. The worst gasoline V8 engine from BMW is N63. It is obvious that the person in the video has no experience with the M62, especially when he has several mistakes there. 5:18 - It is only PCV valve (positive crankcase ventilation), small hose is vacuum hose for SAP valve (secondary air injection to exhaust manifold). 9:30 - no, this oil galley feed other timing chain guide for chain lubrication. I recommend changing the timing chain, guides and VANOS every 200 000km (125 000 miles) and change the oil every 10 000km (6000 miles) and I guess M62 will last 600 000km+. I have 385 000 km (240 000 miles) on mine and the engine runs beautifully. I will change timing and VANOS this month.

[KrautHammer_S]

Motor had a failed timing tensioner. I guarantee warning signs were ignored. M/S62 are phenomenal motors when maintained.

[fllower]

I would say the best V8 engine, got it in RR, bought with 208.000km on clock and now it's 350.000km, only timing chains gone in 300.000km, beside that zero problems. Just swap 88C thermostat from 740D and all potential cooling system issues are gone. Changing oil every 8-10.000km and Vanos still not knocking and zero oil consumption. ZF box also fine, changing fluid every 40.000km and shifting better and smoother than 2-3 years old cars.

[Exekutioncro]

They are actual great engines. Maintenance is you most important thing. How can nobody notice that milkshake inside the engine. This means the owner didnt even care, didnt even check oil level regularly, because there he would already notice the coolant has mixed with his oil. Probably the oil wasnt changed for a long time as well. 1000% the owners fault

[BitterCynical]

Surely this kind of damage didn't just happen in a mere moment? Someone must have kept driving the car with that sludge for a while and even after blowing up one of the pistons...

[akio]

1. The M62 is not a bad design overall, just the timing chain setup, unfortunately. The rest of the engine is pretty robust. But, I got 130k miles before I had to replace mine.
2. These things *usually* give plenty of indication before complete timing chain failure.
3. THAT engine has *not* been maintained. It's absolutely filthy inside. Also, green coolant.
4. The middle chamber is the valley pan, and yes. It's known to spring a leak. Someone may have been in there before. It's really not that big a deal to address.
5. The water pump, like most water pumps with a belt-driven fan, is waaay easier to remove if you take the fan clutch off first...
6. The M62 is absolutely not the worst BMW engine... It's not the most reliable, but it's not bad.

I'm not sure what you're driving at. Whoever owned that engine was not kind to it. The M62 isn't a bad engine at all. It does take a little more TLC than average I'd say, but if you take care of it, it'll run for a long, long time.

[omarharmoush]

No way, an engine that was completely neglected failed? Crazy.

[aprilmayjoon]

"engine turned itself into a V7" LOL this dude is a great instructor.

[claytonor]

Sheerly the fact that this engine ran for as long as it did with multiple individual catastrophic points of failure is extremely impressive.

[demonbox]

One of those where you either spend big on frequent oil changes or you spend big on a new engine.

[SPfg]

I love the toothbrush/pointer. Great editing for removing all the dead air time. Makes the video pleasant to watch.

[JustinVerlander]

Someone who calls an M62 “the worst bmw engine ever” clearly has never worked on many bmws. N62’s and n63’s are leaps and bounds worse engines than this. M62’s have common failures but are pretty good. n62s and n63s are horrifically bad engines.