[Pavlo335]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

If you buy a new valve cover, it will come with new bolts.

If you are only replacing the gasket, then you can reuse the bolts (they are steel).
- Bentley repair manual states to put bolts back to their origial location. I recommend not removing the bolts from the valve cover. (check out my comments from the link above)
- Ensure you use a torque wrench

Scroll up and click on the link i provided that outlines certain points from when i did my gasket a few weeks ago.

NGEE also provided his points in your other thread.

Are you sure the bolts are steel? I have read otherwise, that they are one-time use aluminum bolts and become very brittle due to heat. I read a few VCG DIY threads and saw lots of users post about breaking bolts in the process.

I plan on replacing my valve cover this weekend with a genuine bmw one from fcp. Originally I was just going to buy the gasket but after considering the price of all new bolts and reading so many threads of users who replaced the VCG just to have the cover crack and start leaking again, I figured I am better off spending the extra money for peace of mind. I don’t want to have to pull the valve cover off twice so I’m hoping all goes well.

[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by Pavlo335

Are you sure the bolts are steel? I have read otherwise, that they are one-time use aluminum bolts and become very brittle due to heat. I read a few VCG DIY threads and saw lots of users post about breaking bolts in the process.

I plan on replacing my valve cover this weekend with a genuine bmw one from fcp. Originally I was just going to buy the gasket but after considering the price of all new bolts and reading so many threads of users who replaced the VCG just to have the cover crack and start leaking again, I figured I am better off spending the extra money for peace of mind. I don’t want to have to pull the valve cover off twice so I’m hoping all goes well.

My valve cover bolts were steel. The only two that are not are the ones that secure the wiring harness and they are marked with a blue dot.
People snap these vc bolts because they over torque. Even the Bentley Repair Manual syas to reuse the bolts making sure they go back in the same location.

Once you use a torque wrench and torque to required spec you realize how low of a force it is. Makes you feel that you want to tighten it more, but don't.

Of course if you want to have a piece of mind then yes, relace the whole valve cover that comes with new bolts and gasket.
And if you want to be certain that your bolts are steel or aluminim put a magnet to one and see what happens.

N52 engines with Aluminuin-Magnesium valve cover use Aluminum M7 bolts that require replacement (torque spec for these is 7 Nm + 90 degree)



N54 engines with plastic valve cover use Steel bolts 2-M6x38mm, 26-M6x32.5mm (torque spec for these is 8.5 Nm)

[Pavlo335]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

My valve cover bolts were steel. The only two that are not are the ones that secure the wiring harness and they are marked with a blue dot.
People snap these vc bolts because they over torque. Even the Bentley Repair Manual syas to reuse the bolts making sure they go back in the same location.

Once you use a torque wrench and torque to required spec you realize how low of a force it is. Makes you feel that you want to tighten it more, but don't.

Of course if you want to have a piece of mind then yes, relace the whole valve cover that comes with new bolts and gasket.
And if you want to be certain that your bolts are steel or aluminim put a magnet to one and see what happens.

N52 engines with Aluminuin-Magnesium valve cover use Aluminum M7 bolts that require replacement (torque spec for these is 7 Nm + 90 degree)

Attachment 3000015

N54 engines with plastic valve cover use Steel bolts 2-M6x38mm, 26-M6x32.5mm (torque spec for these is 8.5 Nm)

Attachment 3000016 Attachment 3000014

Ahh okay so whoever posted the vcg diy thread that I read must have been misinformed. Thanks for this it will be very useful to me this weekend. I had read that the torque spec for the N54 valve cover bolts is 7ft lbs, not 8.5nm. When I do the job this weekend I’ll tighten to 8.5nm instead. Does the bently manual contain a diagram of the pattern which the bolts need to be tightened?

[Kenneykickin]

Palvo, how did youre install go?

Mine I think went well. Don’t see any leaks or smell any burning as of right now.. I should have re read this forum tho as I tightened everything to 85 inch pounds but had an adapter on to fit my 3/8 e torx socket.

I went real slow, didn’t follow any bolt sequence like I should have, just tightened grounds hand tight than started working inner towards outer very slowly. Than went over it with 85” pounds.

This valve gasket has been leaking for quite some time though.. underneath the car and belly pan was saturated with dried oil.. all over hoses steering rack etc. almost looks like my ofhg has a slight leak as well but with so much oil still I can’t tell. In the process of cleaning it all up but that’s a job I’m going to do next since car has 130k and I’ve owned it since 55k and it’s never been done.

URO valve cover fit nicely, I didn’t have an inspection Mirror like I should have to make sure I didn’t crimp the gasket in the top left very tight over there but all seems ok. Ran it today to operating temp than for another 45 mins on highway to fry burn any oil residue off and check for leaks.

Until I realized how nasty it is underneath.. gonna take some time to really clean it up.. my pan could even be seeping a little who knows some build up around transmission but car runs like a screamer.

Changed the PCV on the URO cover with a FTP after market one and replaced the vent hose.

Glad I didn’t buy genuine. My original cover 130k miles isn’t even cracked the gasket was cooked tho. So hard could snap in my fingers

[pacmanchriz]

Generally speaking, when replacing the valve cover do you also need to replace all (or any) ignition coils/spark plugs?

Anyone have DIY instructions on the PCV upgrade that I keep seeing when doing the Valve Cover.

[Pavlo335]

Originally Posted by Kenneykickin

Palvo, how did youre install go?

Mine I think went well. Don’t see any leaks or smell any burning as of right now.. I should have re read this forum tho as I tightened everything to 85 inch pounds but had an adapter on to fit my 3/8 e torx socket.

I went real slow, didn’t follow any bolt sequence like I should have, just tightened grounds hand tight than started working inner towards outer very slowly. Than went over it with 85” pounds.

This valve gasket has been leaking for quite some time though.. underneath the car and belly pan was saturated with dried oil.. all over hoses steering rack etc. almost looks like my ofhg has a slight leak as well but with so much oil still I can’t tell. In the process of cleaning it all up but that’s a job I’m going to do next since car has 130k and I’ve owned it since 55k and it’s never been done.

URO valve cover fit nicely, I didn’t have an inspection Mirror like I should have to make sure I didn’t crimp the gasket in the top left very tight over there but all seems ok. Ran it today to operating temp than for another 45 mins on highway to fry burn any oil residue off and check for leaks.

Until I realized how nasty it is underneath.. gonna take some time to really clean it up.. my pan could even be seeping a little who knows some build up around transmission but car runs like a screamer.

Changed the PCV on the URO cover with a FTP after market one and replaced the vent hose.

Glad I didn’t buy genuine. My original cover 130k miles isn’t even cracked the gasket was cooked tho. So hard could snap in my fingers

My install seems to have gone well also. FYI the reason for me replacing the valve cover was not because I suspected it was leaking oil but because I was going to be plugging the PCV vent holes underneath the valve cover for the RB PCV install I figured I should replace the valve cover while I had it off as I’m also coming up on 130k (I also did a walnut blasting along with everything but that’s unrelated). I followed a tightening pattern that I found on another diy thread which basically started on the outer edges and followed a star pattern, but have since learned thats incorrect and you should actually start on the inside and work your way out. I was also nervous about the gasket being seated properly as I didn’t use any sort of mirror either but nonetheless I have been monitoring for leaks I’m not finding any. Now for the puzzling part- the old valve cover was not cracked and the gasket actually seemed to be in good shape, looked to me like it wasn’t leaking at all, yet when I got underneath the car the underbelly was covered in oil and it looked fresh. This leads me to think the oil pan gasket is leaking so I took the splash guards off, put cardboard under the car and ran it for 30 mins, didnt catch a drop. So I left the car sitting overnight with cardboard underneath and still didn’t catch anything. So I am a bit confused on whether the oil leak is fixed or not, need to do more investigating there.

On an unrelated note, while I was performing all this work I also figured it was a good time to replace my spark plugs. Even though they’re only a year old with less than 10k on them I figured throwing some fresh ones in was a good idea. Now when I pulled the plugs #1 and #2 were wet and smelled like fuel. So my injectors must be leaking right?? This boggles my mind because I replaced all 6 injectors with brand new index 12s from ECS tuning roughly 2 years ago, and I haven’t heard of anybody having issues with index 12 injectors leaking. So now I am really confused.

On a positive note aside from a very slightly rough idle at cold start the car is running well and the walnut blasting made a huge improvement on throttle response.

[Pavlo335]

Originally Posted by pacmanchriz

Generally speaking, when replacing the valve cover do you also need to replace all (or any) ignition coils/spark plugs?

Anyone have DIY instructions on the PCV upgrade that I keep seeing when doing the Valve Cover.

No you don’t need to replace the ignition coils or the plugs but it is a good idea if you don’t know how old they are. Turbocharged motors are not easy on the plugs and coils and if you’re running a tune they tend to get worn out pretty quickly.

Theres plenty of DIY threads on PCV upgrades depending on which one you choose to go with. I installed the RB external PCV on mine and Rob has plenty of links posted on his website where he sells the kit which provide DIY instructions and plenty of useful information.

[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by Pavlo335

My install seems to have gone well also. FYI the reason for me replacing the valve cover was not because I suspected it was leaking oil but because I was going to be plugging the PCV vent holes underneath the valve cover for the RB PCV install I figured I should replace the valve cover while I had it off as I’m also coming up on 130k (I also did a walnut blasting along with everything but that’s unrelated). I followed a tightening pattern that I found on another diy thread which basically started on the outer edges and followed a star pattern, but have since learned thats incorrect and you should actually start on the inside and work your way out. I was also nervous about the gasket being seated properly as I didn’t use any sort of mirror either but nonetheless I have been monitoring for leaks I’m not finding any. Now for the puzzling part- the old valve cover was not cracked and the gasket actually seemed to be in good shape, looked to me like it wasn’t leaking at all, yet when I got underneath the car the underbelly was covered in oil and it looked fresh. This leads me to think the oil pan gasket is leaking so I took the splash guards off, put cardboard under the car and ran it for 30 mins, didnt catch a drop. So I left the car sitting overnight with cardboard underneath and still didn’t catch anything. So I am a bit confused on whether the oil leak is fixed or not, need to do more investigating there.

On an unrelated note, while I was performing all this work I also figured it was a good time to replace my spark plugs. Even though they’re only a year old with less than 10k on them I figured throwing some fresh ones in was a good idea. Now when I pulled the plugs #1 and #2 were wet and smelled like fuel. So my injectors must be leaking right?? This boggles my mind because I replaced all 6 injectors with brand new index 12s from ECS tuning roughly 2 years ago, and I haven’t heard of anybody having issues with index 12 injectors leaking. So now I am really confused.

On a positive note aside from a very slightly rough idle at cold start the car is running well and the walnut blasting made a huge improvement on throttle response.

Unfortunately even index 12 injectors can fail. These injectors are one of those things that haunt n54's.

[Kenneykickin]

Originally Posted by Pavlo335

My install seems to have gone well also. FYI the reason for me replacing the valve cover was not because I suspected it was leaking oil but because I was going to be plugging the PCV vent holes underneath the valve cover for the RB PCV install I figured I should replace the valve cover while I had it off as I’m also coming up on 130k (I also did a walnut blasting along with everything but that’s unrelated). I followed a tightening pattern that I found on another diy thread which basically started on the outer edges and followed a star pattern, but have since learned thats incorrect and you should actually start on the inside and work your way out. I was also nervous about the gasket being seated properly as I didn’t use any sort of mirror either but nonetheless I have been monitoring for leaks I’m not finding any. Now for the puzzling part- the old valve cover was not cracked and the gasket actually seemed to be in good shape, looked to me like it wasn’t leaking at all, yet when I got underneath the car the underbelly was covered in oil and it looked fresh. This leads me to think the oil pan gasket is leaking so I took the splash guards off, put cardboard under the car and ran it for 30 mins, didnt catch a drop. So I left the car sitting overnight with cardboard underneath and still didn’t catch anything. So I am a bit confused on whether the oil leak is fixed or not, need to do more investigating there.

On an unrelated note, while I was performing all this work I also figured it was a good time to replace my spark plugs. Even though they’re only a year old with less than 10k on them I figured throwing some fresh ones in was a good idea. Now when I pulled the plugs #1 and #2 were wet and smelled like fuel. So my injectors must be leaking right?? This boggles my mind because I replaced all 6 injectors with brand new index 12s from ECS tuning roughly 2 years ago, and I haven’t heard of anybody having issues with index 12 injectors leaking. So now I am really confused.

On a positive note aside from a very slightly rough idle at cold start the car is running well and the walnut blasting made a huge improvement on throttle response.

That’s great news on the cover, hope it doesn’t leak. Please keep us informed on youre car. Seems to be sinilier issues to mine. I do slightly have a rough cold start very minimal and after 30 seconds or so it levels out or after a restart.

Possibly could be leaking injectors.. I’m almost thinking that could be my cold start issue as well.. I have 3 index 12 and 3 index 5.

Also, keep us updated on that potential oil pan leak. I also could be experiencing same thing… I had to completely scrub my under pans and other parts of engine as they were caked. Ofhg also leaking, got that park in mail along with new pulleys and serp belt as their all original.

Cheers.

[Kenneykickin]

I also started to put all 4 bolts on 4 corners than worked from the middle ( ground post ) outwards in a cross cross hand tight than went around and torqued so we’ll see.. I do see a slight puddle where metal catch can is could be old oil idk I got clean it and keep an eye on it

[Pavlo335]

Originally Posted by Kenneykickin

That’s great news on the cover, hope it doesn’t leak. Please keep us informed on youre car. Seems to be sinilier issues to mine. I do slightly have a rough cold start very minimal and after 30 seconds or so it levels out or after a restart.

Possibly could be leaking injectors.. I’m almost thinking that could be my cold start issue as well.. I have 3 index 12 and 3 index 5.

Also, keep us updated on that potential oil pan leak. I also could be experiencing same thing… I had to completely scrub my under pans and other parts of engine as they were caked. Ofhg also leaking, got that park in mail along with new pulleys and serp belt as their all original.

Cheers.

Yup I have the same symptom. Slight hiccup on cold starts that smooths out after about 30 seconds of idling. I would suggest pulling your spark plugs to see if any are wet or smell like fuel. I really hope you don’t have to replace any injectors as their price is astronomical right now, but if that is the case please dont make my same mistake and be sure to get them from FCP with the lifetime warranty. I got mine from ECS roughly 2 years ago and I just called to find out about the warranty and they told me that I’m 2 months outside of the warranty period and they won’t do anything to help me.

I also had the typical ofhg leak but I got that taken care of with a new belt and pulleys by my local indy about a year ago. Good luck with that job I hope it all goes smoothly for you. I will keep updating on the potential oil pan leak. Can I ask what you’re using to scrub the underbelly of the car with? I got under my car over the weekend and wiped the heavy stuff down with some shop towels but I was exhausted and fed up with dirt and oily crap falling in my face so I gave up and called it a day lol. I need to get back under there this weekend and really give it a good cleaning so I can pinpoint the source of the oil.

Also you mentioned you had some oil underneath your catch can, I just checked on the catch cans that I installed last week with the new PCV and I found the low side catch can was already leaking oil from the plug on the bottom of the can. I pulled the plug out, out some thread tape on it and snugged it back up so no more leaks there. I was surprised at how much oil I had caught in just a week of driving.

I appreciate all the input and am glad to hear I’m not alone in my struggles lol. Will keep updating on the status of the car as I find more out.

[Kenneykickin]

Originally Posted by Pavlo335

Yup I have the same symptom. Slight hiccup on cold starts that smooths out after about 30 seconds of idling. I would suggest pulling your spark plugs to see if any are wet or smell like fuel. I really hope you don’t have to replace any injectors as their price is astronomical right now, but if that is the case please dont make my same mistake and be sure to get them from FCP with the lifetime warranty. I got mine from ECS roughly 2 years ago and I just called to find out about the warranty and they told me that I’m 2 months outside of the warranty period and they won’t do anything to help me.

I also had the typical ofhg leak but I got that taken care of with a new belt and pulleys by my local indy about a year ago. Good luck with that job I hope it all goes smoothly for you. I will keep updating on the potential oil pan leak. Can I ask what you’re using to scrub the underbelly of the car with? I got under my car over the weekend and wiped the heavy stuff down with some shop towels but I was exhausted and fed up with dirt and oily crap falling in my face so I gave up and called it a day lol. I need to get back under there this weekend and really give it a good cleaning so I can pinpoint the source of the oil.

Also you mentioned you had some oil underneath your catch can, I just checked on the catch cans that I installed last week with the new PCV and I found the low side catch can was already leaking oil from the plug on the bottom of the can. I pulled the plug out, out some thread tape on it and snugged it back up so no more leaks there. I was surprised at how much oil I had caught in just a week of driving.

I appreciate all the input and am glad to hear I’m not alone in my struggles lol. Will keep updating on the status of the car as I find more out.

Lol.. I feel that brother. As bad as it sounds i feel a little peace knowing we’re having similar issues and prob (100,000) other folks as well at one point in time during their N54 adventures.

Ugh, I'm feeling a little stressed out lol I know have come to the conclusion my transmission has a very slight leak as I noticed a couple small drops in driveway where I had it parked. (Belly pan is still off) car is an 09 with 135k miles on it. I’ve owned it since 55k and have never done a tranny service.. I know.. I know.. not sure if it’s been done before that.. doubtful but maybe.. so im hoping the leak will fix after replacing the pan with new bolts and fluid??

Also, im still seeing a very small puddle on the heat shield under the boost solenoids by valve cover.. not sure where it’s coming from.. I’ve looked and looked used inspection Mirror etc can’t seem to pin point it.. may have to re do vcg and just buy a new genuine gasket and re install with the URO cover I just bought.. no big deal it wasn’t too bad I just want these leaks gone! Unless my ofhg leak is somehow getting on it…? Idk doubtful.

Than the possible oil pan gasket leak.. I don’t know forsure.. but somethings obviously leaking still after cleaning a lot of it up. Frustrating. This is a job I probably won’t be able to do myself either.. not quite sure where the leak is coming from either still trying figure all that out but yeah.. so now I’m going to order a transmission kit and change the pan and oil and hopefully stop that leak…
Ofhg kit and pulleys with belt are already on its way.


I’m going to try and get some photos and post here

[Kenneykickin]

Valve cover leak still

[Kenneykickin]

First photo is the transmission fluid dripping and idk where it’s leaking from?

The rest are just photos from underneath car. Around pan etc. anyone pin point a leak?

[Kenneykickin]

02 sensor caked.. prov from valve cover leak or ofhg.

[Pavlo335]

Originally Posted by Kenneykickin

02 sensor caked.. prov from valve cover leak or ofhg.

Geez man that really sucks. I wonder what could have gone wrong thats causing your vcg to leak still. I would not want to have to pull that thing off again lol. My car is manual so the it looks a bit different from underneath, hard to tell exactly what I’m looking at in some of the photos, but if it’s any consolation the underbelly of your car looks MUCH cleaner than mine. I have oil basically everywhere and its picked up so much dirt it is truly disgusting under there.

I’d say the ofhg is the most important leak to fix first since that usually causes oil to get thrown all around the engine bay. Theres a good chance the majority of the oil you’re finding is from the ofhg and the oil pan is fine. If you’re able to eliminate the ofhg and vcg leaks and you’re still finding fresh oil than you can safely say it’s the oil pan, but for your sake I hope that’s not the case. As for the transmission leak I wish I could offer some insight but I know basically nothing about the auto trans on these cars.

My car has been sitting for 2 days now with cardboard underneath and its picked up few drops of oil in two spots, but will be impossible to tell where its coming from though until I find the time to get under there and do a deep clean. I’m gonna try to find some time this weekend to get under there and clean it up. If I get the chance I’ll take some pics and post them up here. I’m still having difficulty coming to terms with the fact that I need to get 2 new injectors to replace the leaking ones that I already replaced 2 years ago. The price for index 12s is astronomical right now. $550 for a single injector from FCP. I probably could have reused 2 of the older index injectors that I originally replaced but my dumbass threw the old ones out. I didn’t anticipate having any issues with the brand new index 12s. I’m at 126k right now I’ve only owned the car since 90k and have already spent a small fortune on maintenance.

[pacmanchriz]

Originally Posted by Kenneykickin

02 sensor caked.. prov from valve cover leak or ofhg.

Would you have just gotten a bmw genuine valve cover and gasket if you had known?? I'm torn between URO or BMW valve cover.

[Kenneykickin]

Yeah, I need to figure out how to see if the mechtronic seal in the transmission is leaking or if I can just get away with the pan and fluid change. Either way it’s about $250-300 for parts so not terrible and it defintely needs done even if it wasn’t leaking. Another crappy job tho on youre back in the garage on jack stands, lol.

Also, need a new battery. Lol got see what that’s going to run than getting it coded. Original battery from when bought from dealer in 2015 they replaced it right before selling it. Little over 7 years old. Parked outside last 2 years with moderate winters. So not bad

[Kenneykickin]

Yeah, I would try and source some online maybe eBay ones I see for around $150 maybe worth a shot.. the rebuild index 12s or find a junkyard with some older ones in it. I’m running index 12 on bank 1 abs index 5 on bank 2. Dealer before I bought car must have decided to only change out 1 bank instead of both.

[Kenneykickin]

Originally Posted by pacmanchriz

Would you have just gotten a bmw genuine valve cover and gasket if you had known?? I'm torn between URO or BMW valve cover.

No, I don’t see any problems in the URO cover I was acually surprised on the quality. The URO gasket did feel slightly loose tucking it into cover so I used very small amount of RTV ultra black to hold it in place on corners etc.

My original plan was to buy the URO cover and than buy a genuine gasket and use that instead of the URO gasket that comes with. BUT if you see in previous comments a person said the material is still the same, it was the OFHG that was changed to the better quality material that’s made in Japan now.

So I decided to stick with the URO supplied gasket. If I have to re do it.. yes I’ll order a genuine gasket and reuse URO cover I just bought if it doesn’t crack on take off, lol.


You CAN not go wrong with URO cover IMO, I went with the one on rock auto. Fcp and ECS have them as well for a little more $$.

You can never go wrong with a genuine valve cover though if you want pony up the $

[pacmanchriz]

Originally Posted by Kenneykickin

No, I don’t see any problems in the URO cover I was acually surprised on the quality. The URO gasket did feel slightly loose tucking it into cover so I used very small amount of RTV ultra black to hold it in place on corners etc.

My original plan was to buy the URO cover and than buy a genuine gasket and use that instead of the URO gasket that comes with. BUT if you see in previous comments a person said the material is still the same, it was the OFHG that was changed to the better quality material that’s made in Japan now.

So I decided to stick with the URO supplied gasket. If I have to re do it.. yes I’ll order a genuine gasket and reuse URO cover I just bought if it doesn’t crack on take off, lol.


You CAN not go wrong with URO cover IMO, I went with the one on rock auto. Fcp and ECS have them as well for a little more $$.

You can never go wrong with a genuine valve cover though if you want pony up the $

I'm thinking of doing what you did. URO with BMW gasket. For the oil filler cap and gasket, did you replace that as well or just transferred? How about the PCV valve did you replace/upgrade that?

[Kenneykickin]

Originally Posted by pacmanchriz

I'm thinking of doing what you did. URO with BMW gasket. For the oil filler cap and gasket, did you replace that as well or just transferred? How about the PCV valve did you replace/upgrade that?

Yes I just transferred oil cap to new cover.

Upgraded PCV to FTP one. Worked well.