[bstockbhappy]

Both of the 10mm deep wall sockets I have have some sort of spacer in them about halfway up. Is there a recommended brand of deep wall that will let me get to the ground studs?

[Donutz]

I had to buy a full set just to get a 10mm thin enough to fit. I bought mine locally at Princess Auto, which I believe is similar to Harbor Freight. If you have a few different stores around I would suggest taking your 10mm with you and compare it to what is available. This is what I ended up doing.

[frankowen]

Originally Posted by skatz1922

Having similar issue. Were you able to figure out the cause of that leak? I changed the VCG thinking this was causing the leak but I guess not.

Having the same issue after changing VCG TWICE!! Where else could this oil be coming from? It's really small leak, but eventually a drop ends up on the manifold, and you get the nasty oil-puff. Filter housing is clean, so is the oil filler cap. Can find no obvious trail of oil. Just this accumulation on the heat shield. Anyone figure it out?

[Ihave1]

Is it pooling up in the heat shield and then dripping from there? You could have a cracked valve cover. Can you take some photos?

[BavDude]

Originally Posted by frankowen

Having the same issue after changing VCG TWICE!! Where else could this oil be coming from? It's really small leak, but eventually a drop ends up on the manifold, and you get the nasty oil-puff. Filter housing is clean, so is the oil filler cap. Can find no obvious trail of oil. Just this accumulation on the heat shield. Anyone figure it out?

IMHO I would always replace the entire valve cover, not just the gasket. The valve cover replacement kit comes with the gasket and new bolts, all 28 of them, so you don't have to fret whether or not to replace them as well.

The plastic valve cover is prone to warping and subject to cracking, so that could be the culprit of a leak that a new gasket could not fix. It seems a bit of fools gold to spend half a day doing major surgery on the top end of your magic machine to cheap out by just doing the $40 gasket.

[iBoost335STi]

Just did the gasket replacement and I have oil now leaking from the oil filter cap. I cleaned the breather channels as per the DIY instructions. It wasn't leaking before, What might be causing this?

[FamilyManTrackSedan]

Originally Posted by iBoost335STi

Just did the gasket replacement and I have oil now leaking from the oil filter cap. I cleaned the breather channels as per the DIY instructions. It wasn't leaking before, What might be causing this?

You mean the oil filler cap? You probably just cross threaded the wings/tabs on the cap.

[iBoost335STi]

Originally Posted by FamilyManTrackSedan

You mean the oil filler cap? You probably just cross threaded the wings/tabs on the cap.

It's coming from filter cap (not filler cap on top of the valve cover) which is rated for high pressure. Also have some smoke coming from down by the turbos/exhaust (had some before doing the gasket) oil was slowly dripping on the hot exhaust. Not sure if the smoke is residual or if there is still a leak. Either way, not sure how oil could be leaking from the oil filter cap.

[iBoost335STi]

Update: Changed oil filter and O rings; leak stopped. Going to drive and check for leaks in the valve cover gasket. Over all great DIY write up. Thank you!

[maaaaackle]

Gonna dive into this project this weekend.

Wish me luck.

[Maniac0908]

Originally Posted by maaaaackle

Gonna dive into this project this weekend.

Wish me luck.

Its not that bad man. You got this. Bungee cords help a lot. Gets all those wires out the way.

[Jamhuck]

There's a great DIY guide from ECS tuning here:
https://bd8ba3c866c8cbc330ab-7b26c6f...eplacement.pdf

[Built My Way]

Originally Posted by Jamhuck

There's a great DIY guide from ECS tuning here:
https://bd8ba3c866c8cbc330ab-7b26c6f...eplacement.pdf

I found this DIY the other day. I had to do the valve cover gasket and replace a thermostat hose as well. I'll be trying everything out tomorrow. Fingers are crossed.

Update: I tested everything out. No more coolant leak. Was getting a burnt oil smell and puffs of white smoke at first but seems to have stopped after three outings. Also, I noticed corrosion on both main negative and positive lead connectors (the block adjacent to the coolant reservoir): With the negative lead removed from the battery, undo the nuts that secure the main leads, clean and apply rust inhibitor such as Copper Coat. Your battery will thank you.

[walkmeister]

As most on this blog know, Aluminum bolts are for use in the Magnesium blocks. The cylinder heads are made of Aluminum on these engines and just as the spark plug bodies that screw into the cylinder heads are made of Steel, so are the valve cover bolts that screw into the same Aluminum cylinder head.

I keep reading comments about how the valve cover bolts "must be Aluminum" and it appears that there is confusion regarding the fact that the head and the block are of different metals, and that the Aluminum cylinder head will use Steel bolts to hold the valve cover to that head, just as the spark plug shells are also Steel. The valve cover bolts do NOT extend into the Magnesium block.

If you ever have a question, hold a bolt next to a magnet. Aluminum is not attracted to magnets.

[335xi2007]

Dealership said I didn't tighten the ignition coil grounds enough after I replaced my VCG - and this lead to my DME going bad. Anyone ever heard of this?

"The damage is not necessarily immediate, but is caused by the rapid arcing and voltage spikes caused but the ignition coils."

PS. I already spent $2185 because they replaced the camshaft bearing ledge and a vanos unit. (error 2aa4 & 3100) it didn't fix the problem, codes still there, and they still have the car. Now they're saying it's a faulty DME. Can loose ignition ground coils cause this type of problem?

[Sprinting]

I just finished changing my vcg. The deep socket was a huge problem for me. I don't have access to a metal drill press.

The oriley brand powertorque was the only brand that work for me via the method described in the diy.

I had no success with: sears craftsman deep socket, lowes kobalt deep socket, advance auto gearwrench deep socket and harbour frieght Pittsburgh deep socket. All of the sockets were 3/8 drives and were not flush all the way up to to the top, so the stud would get jammed just shy of the ground bolt.

Other issues I had were:
1. putting the cover back on. I just took out the bolts and had to give it a little push.
2. The battery terminal will spark if you make contact with it while unbolting something grounded. Just be careful.
3. The clips on the fuel rail will probably break when you remove them
4. Be very careful unplugging the cables going to the fuel injectors

Hope this helps

[asquared]

Anybody ever have a collection of oil around the spark plugs? I'm having that problem so I'm assuming it's the VCG which I will tackle next week. Some plugs are worse than others as far as the amount of oil leaking there.

[Sprinting]

Originally Posted by asquared

Anybody ever have a collection of oil around the spark plugs? I'm having that problem so I'm assuming it's the VCG which I will tackle next week. Some plugs are worse than others as far as the amount of oil leaking there.

If the oil was on the top of the spark plug, it's probably the valve cover gasket. That's why I changed mine

[Donutz]

Both myself and my brother in law had pooling around the plugs; in both cases the valve covers were cracked, both in the same spot.

[FamilyManTrackSedan]

Originally Posted by 335xi2007

Dealership said I didn't tighten the ignition coil grounds enough after I replaced my VCG - and this lead to my DME going bad. Anyone ever heard of this?

"The damage is not necessarily immediate, but is caused by the rapid arcing and voltage spikes caused but the ignition coils."

PS. I already spent $2185 because they replaced the camshaft bearing ledge and a vanos unit. (error 2aa4 & 3100) it didn't fix the problem, codes still there, and they still have the car. Now they're saying it's a faulty DME. Can loose ignition ground coils cause this type of problem?

My BS meter is rapidly arcing and spiking.

[dapz325]

Originally Posted by allan

After replacing the cracked valve cover (compl set) I have the following phenomenon - see below pictures -
After every drive I can see oil accumulating on the heat shield/tray on top of the turbos. I checked the Valve Cover / Gasket. All is dry.
Now I realized that the oil "bubbles" out of the fold of the heat shield/tray. The shield is bolted on only. Where the heck is the oil coming from ??? Any idea?

Picture 1:
.
Picture 2:
.

Heat shield - pos. 3 - part # 13717649693
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...75&hg=11&fg=45

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

[dapz325]

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