Hey vespa, thanks for the excellent write-up. I've just used it to replace a leaky valve cover seal on my RHD 2012 E91. I don't know if it's due to having the steering wheel on the right side of the car, or it being an E91, but I did a couple of things differently:
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Originally Posted by vespa
[*]Loosen all the valve cover bolts. Use some combination of size adapters and u-joints to make extensions just the right length for the rear bolts. The right rear bolt is a doozie. Best to have a friend hold the socket/u-joint while you work the wrench. Try not to drop the socket, it's very difficult to find stuff in that part of the belly pan. This bolt alone could be a 30 minute job depending on how many times you drop the wrench.
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I'm glad to say that with a 6" wobble extension, I didn't have any issues trying to get this bolt out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vespa
[*]The valve cover lifts up easily but it's pretty difficult to find a path to get it out. Have a friend bend the cowl/firewall area while you zig and zag to wiggle the cover out. Now you will see why the windshield wiper needed to be removed and the injectors needed to be protected. Dirt will rain from the bending cowl onto the #6 injector and you won't even be able to keep track of the trauma faced by the other injectors. Don't force anything -- find a way to get it off gently and then remember how you did it so that you can reinstall in the same manner.
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I got a bit carried away and removed both wipers, the cowl that attaches to the base of the windscreen, and the right-hand black vertical panel that segregates the wiper assembly from the engine bay. Removing this panel meant that I could lift the valve cover straight up & off the engine without having to worry about it fouling anything. This also meant that it was much easier to refit the valve cover while dodging that super-sharp camshaft bracket.
Refitting the windscreen base cowl did involve a bit of swearing though...