[Joebie]

Hey guys I just did the valve cover gasket, valvetronic motor gasket, and eccentric shaft sensor gasket on my 2011 N52 and I wanted to share a few things I learned along the way.

1 - Take your time. This has to be one of the most frustrating procedures I've ever done to a car. It's not hard but damn is it annoying.

2 - Be careful with the vent tube on the back of the cover to not break it. Get a flashlight and understand how the thing works before you go blindly tugging and pulling at it.

3 - The little metal sheathes in the spark plug holes are a total pain to get out, and very easy to bend up. I used snap ring pliers. Some people leave these in and take them out with the valve cover. If I had to do it again I would loosen the valve cover, then pull up on the valve cover to pop them all loose from the head, and then pull them out easily with the snap ring pliers.

4 - You will need a 1/4 drive E8 socket to get the valvetronic motor out. 3/8 drive tools don't fit. Be sure to use the 4mm allen at the back of the motor to remove it properly.

5 - I truly don't understand how people get the valve cover back onto the head without creating extra clearance in some way. I personally found (my brother gave me the advice) that loosening the transmission mounts and jacking up the transmission a few inches pivots the entire motor forward and down around the engine mounts giving that extra inch or so you need. It's just two nuts and a jack, I really think it's worth doing so you can be extra sure the VCG didnt roll or get pinched. I couldn't even get the valve cover back in on mine at first, then i jacked the transmission and got the cover in first try. Also it gives the valve cover bolts more room to be tightened.



Anyways, those are my tips. Hopefully someone doing this job in the future can benefit from this. I did my gasket over the course of two days just so I didn't lose my patience. I tore it down one night then finished it up the next morning. Total time maybe 4 hours or so taking my time with everything. Not hard at all just VERY frustrating at times.

If anyone else has their own tips please share!

[El Cheapo Loco]

Regarding #5, you can gain about an inch of space by loosening one bolt and lifting the bottom windshield cover. That one inch of extra space is absolutely necessary to ensure a frustration-free VC drop in. There's a youtube video that show how to do this. It's much easier than going under the car and lifting the transmission.

[Joebie]

Originally Posted by El Cheapo Loco

Regarding #5, you can gain about an inch of space by loosening one bolt and lifting the bottom windshield cover. That one inch of extra space is absolutely necessary to ensure a frustration-free VC drop in. There's a youtube video that show how to do this. It's much easier than going under the car and lifting the transmission.

Can you find the youtube video? I'd be interested for next time I have to do this job. Transmission was easy enough but this sounds way easier!

[El Cheapo Loco]

Around 12 minutes in.

[SKI-R]

Old thread, invaluable however - #5 saved me from going insane, thanks

[Mike K]

Found this helpful thread recently while researching the e9x valve cover replacement.

Should the valve cover bolts all be replaced as part of this job? I know aluminum fasteners typically should be replaced. I'm hunting down a "new to me" 328i RWD 2009-2012 e91 and trying to figure out repair costs and procedures in advance.

I had an awesome e30 years back and have that itch again!

[Joebie]

Originally Posted by Mike K

Found this helpful thread recently while researching the e9x valve cover replacement.

Should the valve cover bolts all be replaced as part of this job? I know aluminum fasteners typically should be replaced. I'm hunting down a "new to me" 328i RWD 2009-2012 e91 and trying to figure out repair costs and procedures in advance.

I had an awesome e30 years back and have that itch again!

I think it depends on the year of your car. earlier models had aluminum bolts that should be replaced, later models had steel bolts that can be reused. Not sure when the change happened.