[Alliedacid]

Took about an hour but I got it out with two picks and an alligator forcep
Bolt is a M9 x1.25 length 70mm... Which is too long to get out if the intake manifold is still connected.

Had to take out the two air box out and the 6 bolts/ nuts off the intake cover

Could not find a steel bolt that Wouk fit since it is 2:30 on a Sunday.

Toyota caliper pin bolt is the right thread pitch but a bit long!

I am takin the am offf to hit up a local dealer ship for part...

[Brad from the OC]

Originally Posted by Alliedacid

to start;
everyone great photos and info, thank you!!

Well last week my 06 325i (97k) over heated... water pump intermittently failing... so this Saturday I:

- replace the water pump
- thermostat,
- did a full coolant flush (5 gallons of distilled water through the system)
- tossed in some new plugs (cleaned the coils)
- battery
- changed out the rear diff fluid.

(extended warranty clock ran out )

In the process, I too found the random bolt in question to be snapped.

(FYI/e: Also i did have my AL Valve Cover Bolts done by dealer under my extended warranty; around 86k I think)


so in reading all the posts i came up short on some item of info:
1. how long is the bolt?


2. is it short enough can it be removed without taking off the intake manifold; please consider the new bolt will be longer (it will still have it's head

3. Regardless what is the torque?

4. Personalized; my snapped bolt is broken just below the bolt hole machined flange, it wiggles back and forth with a screw driver, so there is no torque on the threads.

The plan was to use a dremmel tool and notch the screw and back it out with a flat head (please DON"T comment on dremels and bs about chips getting in the engine; I know what I am doing; a rag with grease and a well place shop vac are the best chip collectors.

The issues;
it is Sunday, I do not have a new bolt and Stealer-ship is closed... so my question is:

those that have the broken bolt head which is not leaking, have you noticed if the bolt moves under driving vibrations?? if so further in or out ??

Thank you in advance!




FYI my Bmw service manager is a not well educated on his product! claimed he had no idea about it, sent a picture, had no clue as to what it was or what it did for engine... also his tech had changed the oil 4 days earlier, post the over heating (had a coupon) and did not notice a broken bolt right next to the oil filter housing!

After reading this thread, I looked at my 2006 325i and observed that I also have this same broken head bolt. I found the broken off head laying in a crevice adjacent to the broke bolt. I did not see any oil leakage and I was able to wiggle the broken bolt with a mechanics pick. I tried to back it out, but it didn't rotate out.

Let me know how your repair went as I will probably need to do this fix soon before oil starts to leak.

[Alliedacid]

Repair is simple; 2 picks, 1 straight and 90 deg pick, used to turn the bolt til it was high enough so i could use the forceps; so if your not turning it; you are not backing it out!

Completely unscrewed the remaining bolt, learned that it is too long I remove with the intake manifold in place... Equally the manifold will not clear the bolt if it is not screwed in

What did we learn:
0. Remove everything as if you where doing a spark plug job...
1 see if you can get the bolt high enough to grab it, do so if not you're drilling and tappin it
2, with the bolt up ( no more than 1/2 in)….
Remove the 2 bolts holding the air box; disconnect the front intake...
Unbolt the 3 bolts and 3 nuts...
3. Move it by gentle pulling the intake up, the studs will be a guide... The air box and throttle body will move with it!

4. Completely remove bolt, I you need to drill it, put rags over the intakes on the block.…
Easiest way to remove this bolt would be to use a left direction drill bit… in a drill going in reverse…

5 insert new bolt/
6 te I install everything back on the car
Sorry I don't have torque number

[trk06]

I had the same issue !!
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=461241

follow the steps on what Alliedacid posted.
easy fix. nothing happened since the screws replaced..

[Brad from the OC]

Originally Posted by Alliedacid

Repair is simple; 2 picks, 1 straight and 90 deg pick, used to turn the bolt til it was high enough so i could use the forceps; so if your not turning it; you are not backing it out!

Completely unscrewed the remaining bolt, learned that it is too long I remove with the intake manifold in place... Equally the manifold will not clear the bolt if it is not screwed in

What did we learn:
0. Remove everything as if you where doing a spark plug job...
1 see if you can get the bolt high enough to grab it, do so if not you're drilling and tappin it
2, with the bolt up ( no more than 1/2 in)….
Remove the 2 bolts holding the air box; disconnect the front intake...
Unbolt the 3 bolts and 3 nuts...
3. Move it by gentle pulling the intake up, the studs will be a guide... The air box and throttle body will move with it!

4. Completely remove bolt, I you need to drill it, put rags over the intakes on the block.…
Easiest way to remove this bolt would be to use a left direction drill bit… in a drill going in reverse…

5 insert new bolt/
6 te I install everything back on the car
Sorry I don't have torque number

When you reinstall the intake manifold, did you need a new gasket? Were any of the intake manifold bolts made of aluminum?

[Alliedacid]

Originally Posted by Brad from the OC

When you reinstall the intake manifold, did you need a new gasket? Were any of the intake manifold bolts made of aluminum?

no gasket,,, each connection has an O-ring... took a look with a mirror, all in place and in tacked so i left them alone,
intake manifold bolts are all STEEL, combination of 3 bolts and 3 studs with lock nuts.

[Alliedacid]

FYI picked up the bolt kit from BMW dealer this am... 25 min later the car was running !

asked the local SA and tech what the torque setting is and
" I could tell ya the book number, but that shit is wrong! snug it down and then take it another 1/4 to 1/2 turn."

so that is what i did, drove it 100 miles this am, hit 95mph, no leaks no ticks, no nothing. my MPG is up (new NGK plugs and the engine is running real nice!

OH AND IT IS AN M9 x1.25 70 mm bolt

P/n is: 11 12 0 392 547 $6 at parts counter, cheaper online but i did not fell like driving the ML350 (POS) all week waiting for it, the gas i save alone will make up for that few dollars

[buffalony]

Morning guys, I actually have the same issue. 99% sure. i have the same oil everywhere and sure enough there is a cavern/chamber behind it filled with a slight amount of oil. and low and behold there is the Damn head of the bolt. sitting in a tiny puddle of oil. Now what are my best options to get this out.

Extractor? the though of drilling and tapping makes me nervous.

Also i just did my oil filter housing gasket and poked arouns a few days later. thinking to my self crap there is still alot of oil.

[buffalony]

just noticed this on my car today after wondering where the F the oil was coming from after i did my oil filter housing gasket. will this cause any issues other than making a mess? i plan on fixing this/getting this fixed asap/

[Casca]

Ordered the valve cover gasket set + all the bolts as a just in case. In the middle of changing out my clutch and had to remove the intake manifold anyway for the 3-stage upgrade so did that at the same time as the clutch to make getting the top transmission bolts easy/ier. Checked all of my valve cover and head bolts. They are fine. 2006 325i (Feb 2006 build) 118,000 miles, no broken bolts.

[mvvette97]

So what years does this broken bolt thing mostly happen to? Mine is an 08 328i and so far it looks to be ok.

[thomas88162]

Originally Posted by mvvette97

So what years does this broken bolt thing mostly happen to? Mine is an 08 328i and so far it looks to be ok.

This issue is much more common to the early models with metal valve covers, which use aluminum bolts.

[jarettg]

i took my 06 325xi in for a valve cover gasket replacement as it was leaking oil. the tech broke one of the engine bolts while removing it. bmw dealership tried charging me an extra 1.5 hours labor at $155 an hour to fix their mistake, on top of the $850 job to replace the gasket.

[roundle]

Bring the thread back from the dead.

I just found out that my 2011 328i has a broken (external) head bolt -- the one near the oil filter housing.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1267589

[Willsbma]

Guess we're all gonna be checking now...best of luck to you and the rest of us!

[Vitalität]

IMO, its an easy fix.

[antzcrashing]

sucks, I have this problem too. I just replaced valve cover gasket and oil filter gasket thinking those were the culprits - at previous services both a dealer and an indy shop mentioned those as issues. I guess the head bolt is the real culprit. Car is way out of warranty, indy shop quoted $550 - 750 for this

[BruceJ]

Originally Posted by voltron1011

The one thing that does erk me is that I thought that BMW was building really tough engines, and that the engine would be the least of my problems down the road.

They are no better than any other mfr in that regard. Their modern engines have inherent weakness from engineering and manufacturing, typically built to last 60-80k miles before needing several thousand dollars of maintenance. Many times simply due to inferior and/or plastic parts.

Owning a BMW long term is a love/hate thing.

[NCSUPack24]

Well, add me to the list of people plagued with the broken bolt. My car (2007 328i Sedan) is sitting at just over 100k (I've only had it for 30k), but there's no telling how long this has been that way.

I've attached four pictures, just making sure that 11 12 0 392 547 is the correct part for this job? I'll try to tackle this myself with a dremel or tap-out.

Side question, I've got oil around the oil filter housing that you can see in the pictures... but it's not excessive or running down the engine by any means. Should I replace that oil filter housing gasket?

All help is much appreciated.

[Germanbato17]

happened to me to, 2006 330i, just replaced oil filter housing and the oil kept leaking, until I found the E12 head bolt broken, close to the oil filter housing.

I dont know if the other three are broken too (inside the valve cover), or they are on the oil pan (Should I stop driving until I find them?)

BMW should take care of this issue, makes mad and disappointment.

I will complaint to NTSA or wherever called.

[smass]

Originally Posted by Germanbato17

happened to me to, 2006 330i, just replaced oil filter housing and the oil kept leaking, until I found the E12 head bolt broken, close to the oil filter housing.

I dont know if the other three are broken too (inside the valve cover), or they are on the oil pan (Should I stop driving until I find them?)

BMW should take care of this issue, makes mad and disappointment.

I will complaint to NTSA or wherever called.

Most of the time only the one external bolt breaks. In my case one of the internal ones was broken also. The head was still sitting on top of shaft and I got it out before it fell into the pan. Even if it fell into the pan, there is no way the engine can suck it up. There is a screen over the oil intake.

I was able to change the 3 internal bolts by removing the timing chain sprockets to get access. I took pictures if you are interested.

If you are due for a valve cover gasket, go ahead pull the VC and take a look.
Check each one with a pry bar as they can be broken but look fine. Otherwise just pull the intake back an inch or so and replace your one external bolt.

[NjPrince]

This seems to happen more often then not :/ Terrible choice of bolts in the bmw's