[WrenchesOnJunk]

Hello - it's time to consult the community again, but first, an update on what's been done to this car since my last post:

Replaced the PS reservoir and flushed the system, pretty much took care of the whine that was clearly from the pump. Front tires, spark plugs, MTF drain and fill, another valve cover gasket with new bolts, camshaft adjuster gasket, eccentric shaft sensor gasket, new style round oil filler cap, both driveshaft flex joints, diff mount bushings, Xenon bulbs, M3 control arms, and inner and outer tie rods. It does appear that almost every part I’ve replaced so far, was original to the car! Currently, I'm at 212XXXmi, and just over $5,400 into the car including purchase price and all maintenance costs. It's been great overall; tons of fun, and I'm getting over 30mpg on the highway, which is awesome. Except:

The dang valve cover gasket is still leaking onto the exhaust At first, I thought it might've been residual oil burning off, but since then, I've been keeping a close eye on the VC, and it looks to be coming from along the passenger's side of the engine. I followed proper processes, cleaned the surfaces very thoroughly, torqued the bolts with a torque wrench, and did my best to add the additional 90 degrees without the proper tool. None of the bolts snapped, and they all feel snug. I'm no professional mechanic, but I've done tons of my own repairs with general success, and also did the OFHG and oil pan gasket on this car; both of those have held up well. This VCG just has me stumped.

At under $100, I'm thinking of throwing one last VCG at it, but I'm also considering swapping the VC with a tested good used one (another ~$150 on eBay). I'm thinking of possibly removing the wipers/more of the cowl, to make reinstall easier, but it's hard for me to imagine that the flat gasket, which was in-place before I put the VC back, could have been pinched/moved. Maybe throw some kind of sealant on both sides of the gasket? If so, what would be the best type for this? Otherwise, if anyone has any advice they can throw my way, I’d really appreciate it.

[Jros]

i am not a purist, i would just use black RTV on both gasket sides...

I guess your cover is somewhat warped

[Spence90]

I've seen some people fit an aftermarket aluminium one with no fitment issues not sure how much they cost though.

[lowrydr310]

Since you've already replaced the gasket and it's still leaking, I'd look for a new cover if you're going to do it again. I convinced myself the next time I need to do a VCG replacement on my 330 I'm converting it to the plastic one with integrated oil separator, so consider that option too.

Last time I did my VGC just about 3 years ago, I applied a very thin layer of black RTV to both sides of the gasket. I just inspected my engine for leaks this past weekend and the valve cover gasket is still holding up great!

[WrenchesOnJunk]

Thanks all, for the advice. I have a replacement used VC on the way, but it’s looking like it won’t arrive until next week.

What would cause one of these magnesium VCs to warp? When I did the first replacement, at least 2 of the bolts had snapped off, and others weren’t totally tight. I’m thinking if the PO was driving it in that condition for long enough, it could have caused some inconsistency in the mating surfaces. Just seems odd as I don’t see a ton of people having this type of issue. I’ll probably throw a thin layer of black RTV along with the new VC and see how things go. This thing’s had oil leaking onto the exhaust since I bought it, and I’m officially not fixing anything else till I get this taken care of. Fingers crossed!

[WrenchesOnJunk]

Update on the E90: I went ahead and installed the replacement used VC along with a new gasket and some Permatex The Right Stuff (silver), and seemed like the residual oil was burning off and about to go away.

Fast forward about 600mi or so and I’m getting huge puffs of smoke in the vents and out the hood again, which makes me want to light the whole car on fire. I do have a bit of a rough idle on cold starts, and the occasional P2626 (O2 Sensor issue, could be due to oil contamination at the plug as it is intermittent) and P0456 code (Very small evap leak), but other than that, it seems to run and drive perfect. It’s not obvious where the leak would be coming from, except that it’s dripping on the exhaust near the middle of the engine.

Is there anything else I should check before I end up just taking this turd to a BMW shop to have them check it out? I don’t notice a lot of pressure/blow by when I take the oil cap off, but wondering if it could be something along the lines of a PCV issue? I’m probably only having to add oil every 4K miles or so.

Thanks again for any advice!

[Jros]

Check your valvetronic motor gasket for leaks, especially the lower side. Oil can drip down from there, pool around sparkplug tubes 3 and 4, and finally leak on your headers when you least expect it

I did that gasket so many times it is no more funny