In The Shop Today
E39 M5 Rear Main Seal and more
It’s not every day that we have such an iconic BMW shows up needing automotive repair, and certainly not one that is in this pristine of a condition. We consider it an honor to be able to contribute to keeping an E39 M5 such as this one on the road. It’s quite obvious that everyone who came before us has taken exceptional care of this Avus Blau beauty and we made sure to handle this with the same level of care as them.
The initial concern was a leaking rear main seal, however as many know there are some “might as well items” that come along with that repair, most notably a new clutch and flywheel assembly. With those larger items knocked out, we turned out attention to other maintenance items in the way of new cabin filters, spark plugs, diff fluid, as well as replacing a couple of tired control arms.
Dropping the transmission on one of these vehicles is for the most part pretty straigh forward however it does require a few specialty tools that we have here on hand. We do not recommend trusting your motorsport investment to just anyone for these reasons.
With the transmission and clutch assembly out of the way we were able to gain access to the rear main seal carrier. On this particular application the seal is removed from the factory carrier and carefully reinserted. If this is not done correctly it can lead to future leaks and require the job to be done again.
Brand new OEM replacement clutch pressure plate and clutch disc ready to be installed
Brand new factory E39 M5 dual mass flywheel replacement also ready to be replaced. It is highly recommended to replace the flywheel when doing the clutch assembly as dual mass flywheels do have moving parts which can fatigue or fail over time. When a dual mass flywheel starts to fail or fails entirely it will cause very hard shifting as well as sloppy power delivery as you come on and off throttle. If your car is feeling vague and unresponsive then this can be the culprit. Engine and transmission mounts also often cause a similar sensation.
A shot of the rear main seal installed in the OEM carrier.
With the plugs and air filters up front all buttoned up we felt confident that could give this S62 engine a clean bill of health and send it on its way. We’d like to thank the owner once again for the privilege of helping to keep such a wonderful piece of German machinery on the road.