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the M156 issues are well documented and a million times better than BMW's "service interval rod bearings" or their VANOS pumps that explode destroying engines from top to bottom.
My uddy lost his rod bearings in the V10, which took out the vanos system. Crazy expensive. Seems like they have some of the same issues we have, the factory telling us to use certain oil no matter where you live. They had a oil change interval of 10k, then updated him when he went back to have the engine swapped out.
Worse part about it is the stigma the M156 has now, even if the bolts have been replaced, the cams are a whole other deal.
I bought my 2007 E63 w/94k back in Dec. 2017 and once I removed the Intake due to high idle I could see tons of carbon build up on the intake runners. I mulled around the idea of using Crushed walnut shells to powerblast/clean but ultimately decided to do it right and get the heads themselves rebuilt as well as the intake manifold. Turns out 8 of 16 Intake valves were slightly bent (and I mean so slight, I had a really hard time eyeballing them after the fact!). That combined with the intake throttle body plenum having been riddled with holes/rust) explained way my idle was increasing to 1200rpm at idle!! Deciding to take the time to do the rebuild(yes with new updated Headbolts as well as Manifold bolts and many other new bolts all around) allowed me the room to easily replace the P/S Pump and have the HP P/S hose rebuilt as the new one I had ordered was not even similar!!! Dropping in a new Crankshaft Position Sensor was an easy task and routing a catch can to keep the intake clean (it was previously coated with oil) took a little tinkering but turned out alright except for the occasional cough at idle. Yes it throws a “check engine” cell that renews itself when I clear it with DAS/Xentry. The cell has to do with air pressure in the intake manifold being slightly out of range at idle as compared to readings at WOT. No biggie!
i also added the STS Valve tappets in the heads, rebuilt the front suspension with newly refurbished OEM front air shocks as well as a new air pump, added new ball bearing pulleys, F1 adjustable upper camber Arms which allowed me to dial in the steering which previously pulled right, as well as new injectors and ignition. I should mention that I dropped the Oil Pan as a matter of course and was glad I did because it was totally filled with sludge!!!! Yikes!!!
i’ve since.been able to experience its prowess easily overtaking practically anything on the road during a few road trips of late!!
Next up is to to address the very slight leak from the rear main seal. I have ordered all the parts for that as well as the bits to rebuild the drive train and all the rear suspension bushings as well as rear hubs and shocks. I need to rent a space that has a full lift to do that phase of rebuild however!!!
Well Benz Elite Automotive called, to inform me that they have successfully removed/replaced and torqued the new head bolts. I was very concerned that one of them might snap off, leading to the removing of the entire head. But that didn't happen.
They also replaced the valve tappets as they shown some wear, that was visible and you could feel it when you scrapped your finger nail against it. This is due to the dissimilar metal between the cams and the valve tappets.
They said that for 87K, the cam lobes show very little wear, and that the wear is typical for a car of this age and mileage.
Well, I just picked up my E63 from Benz Elite Automotive. I examined all the head bolts and valve tappets, as you can see most if not all of the head bolts had some type of surface corrosion on them.
But not the type of corrosion that was eating into the bolt. But I'm glad that I replaced them. My worries are over, wondering if and when they might fail. And the steps I've taken to mitigate this.
The second bolt from the left look suspicious, possibly a hair line fracture.
The one tappet at 3 o'clock showed more wear than all the others.
This must be the one that Eddie described to me.
It's surprising that some bolts have more corrosion of them than others.
While others looked perfectly fine, given their age.
This was probably the worse looking out of them all.
I'll post photos of the cam lobes tomorrow, as my tech hasn't sent me them yet.
Mine only had 30k on them but looked like those. They sit in antifreeze/coolant so they will corrode, even if the coolant is replaced. It’s nice having them replaced and not having to worry. I swapped out my pulleys and upgraded the cam phaser bolts as well as new intake gaskets and bolts. I found about a half a cup of oil in the intake so I also added a catch can. Nice seeing people take care of these cars, they are awesome.
Originally Posted by Yuille36
Well, I just picked up my E63 from Benz Elite Automotive. I examined all the head bolts and valve tappets, as you can see most if not all of the head bolts had some type of surface corrosion on them.
But not the type of corrosion that was eating into the bolt. But I'm glad that I replaced them. My worries are over, wondering if and when they might fail. And the steps I've taken to mitigate this.
The second bolt from the left look suspicious, possibly a hair line fracture.
The one tappet at 3 o'clock showed more wear than all the others.
This must be the one that Eddie described to me.
It's surprising that some bolts have more corrosion of them than others.
While others looked perfectly fine, given their age.
This was probably the worse looking out of them all.
I'll post photos of the cam lobes tomorrow, as my tech hasn't sent me them yet.
OH HELL!!! You guys just don’t give it a rest. Hahahahaha.
There is sooooooo much info on this now, and now posting a Vid. WOW JUST WOW.
Well, when I was looking for info on head bolts, as someone who had never done any work on engines other than spark plugs, I wished there was a detailed video. I couldn't find any and did my own. Following a written instructions may not be easy without previous experience working on cars, because sometimes the person posting on the forum skips some steps that seem easy to them. Sometimes thing that just don't go as written. Without info on this forum and videos from Tasos I could never do it. I sure did mistakes and decided to document everything in a video so that future first time DIY-ers like me don't repeat my mistakes. I hope someone will benefit from it. Other more knowledgeable ones can just keep scrolling.
Researching and doing the head bolt job yourself was great. I applaud you for that Not many people willing to try to even change oil in their car.
It would be nice to see more threads of people doing work on their cars instead of beating down the same thread over and over.
Making the vid and posting a helpful how-to helps others, and is fantastic.
I didn't even think about doing this job myself, as timing has to be set right, or piston to valve damage. I'd rather pay someone to did it right the first time.
Thus far no issues have occurred
08-26-2019, 06:02 PM
I was very concerned that one of them might snap off, leading to the removing of the entire head. But that didn't happen. 
