[9krpmrx8]

IIRC those pics were just pulled from another thread and edited to use as an example.

[Bufalo]

I know this idea may live in the area between "hare-brained" and "idiotic," but give me a second here -

My wife's N55 X3 has just about 52k miles on it, it's two years old. I've done the OOFHG replacement on my old N52 X3 and on my N52 E90, but I'm straight terrified of the job on our N55 from the horror stories. Right now there is zero leakage around the gasket.

Would it be in any way sensible to put a bead of high temp gasket stuff around where the housing and the block mate up just to seal in any oil when the stock gasket inevitably fails? Nothing would be getting into the oil channels, and it'd keep the leaky stuff from getting all over the belt-drive. Looking to just prevent any future problem with an overly-simplistic band aid.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by Bufalo

Would it be in any way sensible to put a bead of high temp gasket stuff around where the housing and the block mate up just to seal in any oil when the stock gasket inevitably fails?

No.

Just use the gasket. The new gasket directly from BMW is apparently sourced from Japan and allegedly lasts much longer. I didn't know this until after I replaced mine with an Elring-Klinger brand, made in Germany and apparently the supplier of the original BMW part before they switched to a Japanese manufacturer.

[smass]

Originally Posted by Bufalo

I know this idea may live in the area between "hare-brained" and "idiotic," but give me a second here -

My wife's N55 X3 has just about 52k miles on it, it's two years old. I've done the OOFHG replacement on my old N52 X3 and on my N52 E90, but I'm straight terrified of the job on our N55 from the horror stories. Right now there is zero leakage around the gasket.

Would it be in any way sensible to put a bead of high temp gasket stuff around where the housing and the block mate up just to seal in any oil when the stock gasket inevitably fails? Nothing would be getting into the oil channels, and it'd keep the leaky stuff from getting all over the belt-drive. Looking to just prevent any future problem with an overly-simplistic band aid.

The gasket is not just the outer edge. Inner parts of the gasket separate oil from coolant. Some failures allow oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil.

BMW has not determined what causes the engine failures post gasket change. Hopefully they will release a bulletin in the next year or so with new procedures. Rumors suggest this may involve priming the oiling system before the first restart.

[Bufalo]

Yeah, i've had these apart, I know there is more than just a perimeter gasket. There is already a directive out there to do an oil system priming before starting the engine whenever this stuff is apart.