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Inspection II and valve shims

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Meeko
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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by Meeko » Fri Apr 29, 2016 6:35 pm

Hi all,

I've just had to fork out £808 for the Inspection II at my local BMW Main Dealer and I was suprised when they said all of the valves were in tolerance - 0.2mm inlet / 0.3mm exhaust. I asked for the report and they said there wasn't one, it was just the mechanic's word that they were OK. A friend also had his Inspection I there and once again he was told that no shims were needed.

Is it quite common for low mileage S54s not to require any, or have we more than likley been ripped off and they didn't bother checking/changing the shims?

Cheers,

Meeko

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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by mmm-five » Fri Apr 29, 2016 6:41 pm

The problem is that you will never know for sure.

ALWAYS specify the report before you hand over the keys - or assume the valve clearance check/reshim has not been done.

Did they even bother giving you any reports for the 'inspected' items - such as tyre pressures, tyre tread depth, brake disc/pad thickness, etc.?

Did they mention how out of date your inflation kit was (should be checked/changed every couple of years).

All of these things missing would point to corner-cutting to me.
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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by Yorkie Z » Fri Apr 29, 2016 6:52 pm

Is it possible to check the valve clearances yourself.??

I would like to check mine if I could.
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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by Smartbear » Fri Apr 29, 2016 7:03 pm

Yes, a set of feeler gauges & tools to remove the cam cover plus some knowledge of the operation-it's not difficult if you have some experience or are a bit handy :thumbsup:
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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by Ewazix » Fri Apr 29, 2016 7:06 pm

Yorkie Z wrote:Is it possible to check the valve clearances yourself.??

I would like to check mine if I could.
Beedub did his recently, having got the right tools and a shim set he got stuck in and it all went well for him,
read all about it viewtopic.php?f=9&t=81492&start=165
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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by Yorkie Z » Fri Apr 29, 2016 7:21 pm

Ewazix wrote:
Yorkie Z wrote:Is it possible to check the valve clearances yourself.??

I would like to check mine if I could.
Beedub did his recently, having got the right tools and a shim set he got stuck in and it all went well for him,
read all about it viewtopic.php?f=9&t=81492&start=165
Thanks for the link :thumbsup:
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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by Meeko » Sat Apr 30, 2016 1:19 pm

Mmm-five - you're right! No report on any of the "inspected items". Really poor to be honest given the price and I'm very unhappy not receiving a report on the valve clearances. They did ask for it cold the night before so I presume they were checked. I think I'll write to BMW and complain about the service. Even when I get my Focus serviced with Ford I get a full health report!

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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by Beedub » Sat Apr 30, 2016 8:02 pm

absolutely, either full refund or doing again with shim report, DONT make the mistake others including myself have done, you have no come back if needed!!
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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by srhutch » Sat Apr 30, 2016 9:23 pm

As before, unless you actually watch them do it or have some form of video or photo evidence as even a shim report could be fabricated.
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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by Adam D » Mon May 02, 2016 12:01 pm

Full main dealer BMW service history from new (including inspection 1 at time of purchase 23k miles which should check the valve clearances) and then took it to a specialist that MMM-Five uses and recommended - it needed 13 of the 24 valves re-shimming back to in tolerance at ~41k miles; a full report was provided of before and after and photographs of the work done... valvetrain was a lot quieter after that and pulls like a champ.

So either these engines can go out of spec in 18k miles or a mid essex dealership didn't undertake the inspection 1 valve check...
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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by Beedub » Mon May 02, 2016 12:56 pm

Adam D wrote:Full main dealer BMW service history from new (including inspection 1 at time of purchase 23k miles which should check the valve clearances) and then took it to a specialist that MMM-Five uses and recommended - it needed 13 of the 24 valves re-shimming back to in tolerance at ~41k miles; a full report was provided of before and after and photographs of the work done... valvetrain was a lot quieter after that and pulls like a champ.

So either these engines can go out of spec in 18k miles or a mid essex dealership didn't undertake the inspection 1 valve check...
they didn't do it....
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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by Mangozac » Mon May 02, 2016 10:40 pm

Adam D wrote:So either these engines can go out of spec in 18k miles or a mid essex dealership didn't undertake the inspection 1 valve check...
Having just done valve clearances (and shim swapping) on an S50 E36 M3 on the weekend it doesn't seem implausible to me that they could go out of spec after 18k miles. If the clearances were only just within tolerance when it was last checked they could certainly have worn just over the threshold in that time.
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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by Havard » Mon May 02, 2016 11:26 pm

Is there any evidence that they replaced the seal on the cam cover or used additional sealant?

Our local indie said that there should always be additional sealant used when the cover is removed.

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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by srhutch » Tue May 03, 2016 6:58 am

Mangozac wrote:
Adam D wrote:So either these engines can go out of spec in 18k miles or a mid essex dealership didn't undertake the inspection 1 valve check...
Having just done valve clearances (and shim swapping) on an S50 E36 M3 on the weekend it doesn't seem implausible to me that they could go out of spec after 18k miles. If the clearances were only just within tolerance when it was last checked they could certainly have worn just over the threshold in that time.
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Inspection II and valve shims

Post by Meeko » Tue May 03, 2016 9:50 am

Thanks for all of your advice. I've just written to BMW Wellsway asking them to confirm to me how they will resolve the matter. The clearances were last checked 16k miles ago, so I find it very hard to believe it didn't need any shims to bring back to exactly 0.2/0.3mm.

I also asked why I wasn't presented with a health report and why the out of date tyre inflation kit wasn't brought to my attention. I was going to cc BMW Head Office, but I'll wait for their reply first.

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