[Donutz]

Originally Posted by dapz325

Also how are yal cleaning the valve cover channels and other parts mentioned in to diy ?

I'd encourage you to take a good hard, close look at your valve cover before changing the gasket. Every pic I've seen of the cracked covers are all cracked in the same spot. It would suck if you spent the time to change the gasket only to find it still leaks from a cracked cover.

[dapz325]

Originally Posted by Donutz

I'd encourage you to take a good hard, close look at your valve cover before changing the gasket. Every pic I've seen of the cracked covers are all cracked in the same spot. It would suck if you spent the time to change the gasket only to find it still leaks from a cracked cover.

Dang, looked up the photos of the typical location. Went out to look and Im guessing this tiny hole has no business being there

I really thought i could get away with just spending $30, guess now ill have 10x it...... Unless this could be patched up with high temp jb weld. Looked around and its been done before just dont know how it will hold up.

[mrmax1984]

So I just completed this procedure on my 335i. I have a couple of pointers:

If you tie off the injector/spark plug wiring harness to the left, and the ECU wiring harness to the right, you can get enough clearance to put the valve cover back on effortlessly.



And with the valve cover in place:



If you forgot what you read by the time you are knee-deep in things, you may find yourself cursing at the thought of trying to get those ignition coil shields back into the spark plug tubes:



Fear not, as a simple 21mm socket will push them down in to place:




Other than those notes, I found that my torque wrenches must be out of spec. I was greeted with both a fuel spray from the rail as well as an oil leak from the passenger-rear corner of the cover (arguably the most difficult bolt to get to). I had to snug everything by maybe a quarter or half turn, but now things are fine.


If you are replacing the entire valve cover, you might also find yourself struggling with how to remove the old oil filler cap. I found this video useful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vo5...%27sAutoRepair

Thanks for the write up, it was great.

[Mtaz]

Many thanks. This worked out well as a DIY and the walkthrough was great. Two mistakes along the way for me. I snapped off the vacuum hose fitting from the right side. $70 to replace through BMW. Advice would be take off from the left side so if you break the fitting on the left, you can just take that opportunity to replace the vacuum hose all the way and replace the hard line. The other miss I made was I didn't connect the fuel line back with the 17mm nut resulting in fuel spray. I was clearly in a rush and too excited to start the car All good now and 3 days with no sign of oil leak.

[HooDat]

Yepp this DIY guide definitely helped a lot. Used this and the ECS Tuning install PDF and everything was pretty straight forward. Took me about 7 hours to do this job (start to finish) by myself (except for removing and putting on the VC). Definitely can do it in less time now that I've done it once. The most troubling parts were removing the crank vent hose (just break it off and buy a new one for $25) and getting the caked off silicone tubes off (ended up breaking the nipple on the vacuum canisters). Also as mrmax1984 did, bungeeing all the wires made it SUPER easy to take out and install the VC. Took me about 5 minutes to get it off and less than 5 minutes to get it on. ohh and another pain was cleaning all the caked on valve cover gasket off. Definitely lots of frustration during the process but was definitely fun and feel more confident doing it now. DEFINITELY helps to have all your tools before hand.

[Sgop335]

Originally Posted by HooDat

Yepp this DIY guide definitely helped a lot. Used this and the ECS Tuning install PDF and everything was pretty straight forward. Took me about 7 hours to do this job (start to finish) by myself (except for removing and putting on the VC). Definitely can do it in less time now that I've done it once. The most troubling parts were removing the crank vent hose (just break it off and buy a new one for $25) and getting the caked off silicone tubes off (ended up breaking the nipple on the vacuum canisters). Also as mrmax1984 did, bungeeing all the wires made it SUPER easy to take out and install the VC. Took me about 5 minutes to get it off and less than 5 minutes to get it on. ohh and another pain was cleaning all the caked on valve cover gasket off. Definitely lots of frustration during the process but was definitely fun and feel more confident doing it now. DEFINITELY helps to have all your tools before hand.

Would you recommend going w someone who will charge $200?

[HooDat]

Originally Posted by Sgop335

Would you recommend going w someone who will charge $200?

$200 for the install? yes that's a very nice price. I probably paid around $100-150 in tools/materials alone to get the job done. So I would say that is well worth it.

[mkster08]

Has anyone does this with a single turbo? Without removing the turbo..? Or does it have a track it has to come up and off?

[asquared]

Originally Posted by mkster08

Has anyone does this with a single turbo? Without removing the turbo..? Or does it have a track it has to come up and off?

I don't have a single turbo but from having done this twice, almost positive that the turbo is gonna be in the way and will need to be removed.

[bimmer003]

Originally Posted by dapz325

So whats the deal with this mystery leak? Im having the same problem, leaks down to dps and getting a nasty whiff of oil. I cleaned everything and lets it get to temp and gave it some revs. Immediately there was spots of oil in the groves. No oil near the oil filter housing. I was planning of changing out the gasket this weekend but it seems people are having these problems even after replacement. Maybe the people that had this problem just replaced the gasket and not the cover ; cover might be cracked. Mine doesn't appear to be cracked but hard to tell when still in place.What else can cause this? What needs to be done to prevent this? Someone has to know after all this time and multiple complains. Any help would be appreciated

same issue... new valve cover, new gasket, new bolts, new oil filter housing gasket, new oil cooler housing gasket... torqued down the valve cover in a criss cross fashion with 8.5Nm... Still the leak! HELP!!! Anyone solve the mystery leak problem yet... Greatly appreciate any insight! Dapz325? Someone...

[kisarci]

Originally Posted by bimmer003

same issue... new valve cover, new gasket, new bolts, new oil filter housing gasket, new oil cooler housing gasket... torqued down the valve cover in a criss cross fashion with 8.5Nm... Still the leak! HELP!!! Anyone solve the mystery leak problem yet... Greatly appreciate any insight! Dapz325? Someone...

Another common area for a leak is the rear main seal! And also the oil pan gasket which I think occurs more in higher mileage cars

[bimmer003]

Originally Posted by kisarci

Another common area for a leak is the rear main seal! And also the oil pan gasket which I think occurs more in higher mileage cars

Thanks Kisarci. The leak is on the heat shield/tray on top of the turbos. Most likely it's the valve cover gasket which is hard to believe since everything is new and the head is definitely not warped. Thought I'd see what others have adopted as a solution before I needlessly/needfuly replace the gasket. I had her on for 30 minutes and the leak... Grrr

[Sgop335]

Originally Posted by bimmer003

Thanks Kisarci. The leak is on the heat shield/tray on top of the turbos. Most likely it's the valve cover gasket which is hard to believe since everything is new and the head is definitely not warped. Thought I'd see what others have adopted as a solution before I needlessly/needfuly replace the gasket. I had her on for 30 minutes and the leak... Grrr

Sorry this must be frustrating as shit. I did mine last weekend one of the worst diys i have done. Putting the cover back with gasket intact is so critical, may be yours slipped some.

[bimmer003]

Originally Posted by Sgop335

Sorry this must be frustrating as shit. I did mine last weekend one of the worst diys i have done. Putting the cover back with gasket intact is so critical, may be yours slipped some.

Thanks Sgop335. Im pretty sure I installed the gasket right (checked 2 times before bolting it down) but I guess I cant be sure enough. What i did not do is the glycerine bit as stated in Bentleys but the surfaces were free of any oil and debris before I installed. Im glad you did not have the same problem.. must have done something right!

[Sgop335]

Originally Posted by bimmer003

Thanks Sgop335. Im pretty sure I installed the gasket right (checked 2 times before bolting it down) but I guess I cant be sure enough. What i did not do is the glycerine bit as stated in Bentleys but the surfaces were free of any oil and debris before I installed. Im glad you did not have the same problem.. must have done something right!

Eh i was not sure either. First time it slipped. Then i tie wrapped all the wires out of the way as much. Pressed the gasket in hard into the cover. Its a pain. Not to mention how hard it was to remover my stuck cover, 10yrs sitting.
Did you torque w a torque wrench? Whats it 8.5Nm

[335isehrgut]

Hey everyone, preparing to do this DIY, purchased the valve cover from ECS, when it arrived, it was missing the metal screw connector clip for the beauty cover, front passenger side, where the beauty cover screws into the valve cover itself. how do I remove the metal clips from the old valve cover so I can securely attach the beauty cover to the new valve cover, thank you so much.

[jcsbmw]

Originally Posted by dapz325

So whats the deal with this mystery leak? Im having the same problem, leaks down to dps and getting a nasty whiff of oil. I cleaned everything and lets it get to temp and gave it some revs. Immediately there was spots of oil in the groves. No oil near the oil filter housing. I was planning of changing out the gasket this weekend but it seems people are having these problems even after replacement. Maybe the people that had this problem just replaced the gasket and not the cover ; cover might be cracked. Mine doesn't appear to be cracked but hard to tell when still in place.What else can cause this? What needs to be done to prevent this? Someone has to know after all this time and multiple complains. Any help would be appreciated

I will appreciate any guidance since I am having the same problem, I replaced the VCG twice this weekend and I am having the same problem.

[Donutz]

Your vc is likely cracked. One other thing to look at, if you're absolutely certain that your vcg was installed correctly, is the oil filler cap and engine cover. A friend of mine had continued leaking after a vcg change and it turned out his filler cap had failed, continuing to leak.

If your cover is cracked and leaked any amount of oil into the foam liner of the engine cover it can release oil as it warms. I suppose this could happen if there was an oil spill during a fill too. This was the case for me. I took the engine cover off and used a roll of shop towels to squeeze the excess oil from the foam. After that the leaking from the top of the motor stopped.

[CLRBLND]

Is it required to use a gasket sealer? Getting mixed answers

[AndyW]

Originally Posted by CLRBLND

Is it required to use a gasket sealer? Getting mixed answers

No. But you can if you want. Belt and suspenders kind of argument from my perspective. I did not and have had no issues.

[CLRBLND]

Originally Posted by AndyW

No. But you can if you want. Belt and suspenders kind of argument from my perspective. I did not and have had no issues.

Thanks alot!
I just ordered the gasket and ill tackle it soon

[Mattistics]

I used this DIY and the ECS Tuning PDF to guide me, which was very helpful. Two things happened to me during install: I stripped the threads in the head on the front right bolt for the vavle cover. Stupid me thought I could use pressure of the bolt to push bolt jacket into valve cover....WRONG!!! I couldn't tap and dye the hole because I didn't have the tools. I pushed really hard and got the bolt to go in. I'll have to tap and dye if the valve cover comes off again. Also, I was installing the Rob Beck PCV valve and my PCV valve cover/holder broke. A $100 valve cover gasket install turned into $650 new valve cover..ugh!! I couldn't wait for ECS Tuning to over night a new valve cover for $400.