308 - Upgraded Valve Stem Seals? Other makes?

FWIW I used the OEM Teflon seals when I did my heads a couple of years ago. None of the research I did nor people I had talked to ever mentioned there being an issue with them. The engine had about 60,000 miles on it when I did this due to a leaking head gasket and I did not have any oil consumption problems of any sort nor did I see anything wrong with any of the original seals. Putting the new ones on was a bit of a challenge and I messed up and had to redo 3 or 4 of them before I got the procedure down right. They've got about 15-20k on them now with no problems. Also my car is a QV so the seals are smaller than the 2V ones if that makes any difference. There's also twice as many of them so you get real good at installing them by the time you're done. d;-)

I respect the opinions of others here and the Viton seals may indeed be superior but maybe calling the original seals "junk" is a bit over the top. When I did my work I just didn't want to go down any experimental routes and figured this has been working so far, may as well stick with it. Just my two cents.

 

Good update video from Jack:

 

I left a comment that he shouldn't be turning the engine over with the heads off without hold-downs for the liners.

 

Given that "Jack" posted a video showing smoke on start up back in June of 2021, shortly after putting the engine back together, the seals popped off almost immediately. But it's not the type of seal that was the problem. It was that the supplied seals did not fit properly. Something that, IMO, the shop should have checked. An example why most shop won't install owner supplied parts.

 

Can't you glue them in place ?

 

No, that is what the spring collar on the valve seal is for. Making certain the valve seal fits your particular valve guide correctly is the trick.

 

Even if the original is still available, I would still get and use them, imagine they lasted 40 years, now what’s wrong with that?

 

Jack....I used 8mm Viton valve seals on my '77 308 GTB engine rebuild back in '19. So far, no issues. I purchased them from my local BMW shop. The P/N was
Cortico 026109675. For reference, there is marking on the seal itself. = CFW E26 VA3 8-26. Hope this helps . This is a stock photo of the seal which matches mine perfectly.
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