Valve cover leak

[meisser79]

Hi this is from a 2015 f15 35d
The dealership is wanting over $3000 for a new valve cover seal, do you guys who know think it is required from the pictures.

Thanks all

J

[P1]

I just had mine replaced, but I have an N55. Cost me about a grand less than what you're being quoted (in USD).

[XxBBVTMxX]

My 14 35d is fine. However, what I would do before I throw money at it is

1. Check the Torque on all the cylinder head cover bolts.

2. Ensure I have the proper amount of oil in the engine.

3. Clean the areas well.

4. Monitor the area to see if it starts getting dirty again.

If the area starts getting nasty again, then yeah.. could be your seal.

[meisser79]

Originally Posted by XxBBVTMxX

My 14 35d is fine. However, what I would do before I throw money at it is

1. Check the Torque on all the cylinder head cover bolts.

2. Ensure I have the proper amount of oil in the engine.

3. Clean the areas well.

4. Monitor the area to see if it starts getting dirty again.

If the area starts getting nasty again, then yeah.. could be your seal.

Thanks guys, I'm going to do both when I get it back.

[X5guyinRI]

If valve cover seal and valve cover gasket are the same, this might be something you could do yourself. Plenty of videos and posts on this topic. I did this on an older E53 after some brief self-training, in was fun and pretty fulfilling.

[Surgx5]

That sucks. Similar thing happened with my wife's '16 528i. They wanted $4k but it was covered under warranty fortunately.

[Swiftness~]

Typical stealership prices, recently my local dealer tried to charge me 1000$ to replace one motor mount. As for the valve cover gasket I had mine done not too long ago cost me 1000$ at a reputable indy and would've been another 600$ for a new valve cover but tech said it wasn't needed as it was in great shape.

[chris323i]

My diesel has started doing the same. Pretty common BMW issue across all engine platforms after 60k miles. Dealer quoted something similar but I'm sure you can get this done at a Euro independent for half the cost. I plan on replacing this whole valve cover which runs about $500-$600 on FCP. If you want to just replace the valve cover gasket, it'll run you about $30 but since these valve covers have CCVs and other emissions components built in I'd rather just go ahead and replace the whole cover and not worry about it warping, cracking, or failing for another 90K miles.
I have replaced an N55 valve cover in the past and it is time consuming since there are so many electrical cables, fuel lines, and vacuum lines that surround the cover but it can be done in your garage with plenty of patience. Personally, my only concern is removing the diesel injectors but I have seen a few videos online of the N47 having valve cover replacement performed and it does not look to be problematic to remove the diesel injectors or the fuel rail.
I wish FCP made a valve cover kit for our diesels but so far the only make the kits gassers (N55, N52, etc) so you will need to look up all related small items when you are ready to tackle the if you plan to go DIY.

[Hirakawa821]

Yes. You should replace the valve cover since BMW molds the part in nylon plastic. Not that durable but light and cheap to manufacture and they can design it all sorts of way.

Mine replacement and labor cost $1,400 but it’s a 2.0L N47 diesel with 100,000 KM.

Good luck.

[tigabalm]

Just had mine done at 125k. Reputable indy did it for $1,100 for an N55. Parts: ~560 / Labor: ~540.

Showed me the old gasket and was rock hard with a couple cracks.

[msd3075]

I know I'm repeating what others have said on here, but just had our valve cover replaced last week on our N55. It's a '14 xDrive35i with ~66K miles. The leak was dripping oil directly onto the exhaust, and we only noticed it at first because the cabin would fill with an oil smoke smell when stopped (would circulate the smoke in through the A/C but I guess would blow away when the vehicle was moving). Wasn't a huge leak, but was still leaking nonetheless.

With labor/parts/etc, it was just under $2,200 through a reputable independent shop. Didn't even think about bringing it to the dealer, but I'm assuming it's easily be $3K-$4K for the same work.

[Clifton]

Maybe it is the angle of the photos, but it almost appears like the oil is also inside the perimeter of the valve cover. Are you certain that the valve cover is actually leaking and that the oil is not from a bad/overshoot oil pour? The fill neck is very close to the oil crime scene.

One oil change I tried to be slick and do a quick bottle dump into the filler with no funnel and failed. Looked like a guy with Tourette's filled my oil.

[parthpatel1]

Originally Posted by tigabalm

Just had mine done at 125k. Reputable indy did it for $1,100 for an N55. Parts: ~560 / Labor: ~540.

Showed me the old gasket and was rock hard with a couple cracks.

Which Indy in the Seattle area?

[bmwx5er]

Originally Posted by tigabalm

Just had mine done at 125k. Reputable indy did it for $1,100 for an N55. Parts: ~560 / Labor: ~540.

Showed me the old gasket and was rock hard with a couple cracks.

$560 in parts for just the valve cover gasket sounds excessively high. Did you do other things as well, such as spark plug, coils, etc?

[dubs]

Originally Posted by bmwx5er

$560 in parts for just the valve cover gasket sounds excessively high. Did you do other things as well, such as spark plug, coils, etc?

Probably replaced the valve cover itself as well which is about 500$

[tigabalm]

Originally Posted by parthpatel1

Which Indy in the Seattle area?

Hey thanks for replying here, tried to reply to your PM, but said inbox was full. I went to Kim's Import Auto in Issaquah. Small basic shop (not much in the way of tuning/performance), but he's honest and has good prices.

Originally Posted by bmwx5er

$560 in parts for just the valve cover gasket sounds excessively high. Did you do other things as well, such as spark plug, coils, etc?

Originally Posted by dubs

Probably replaced the valve cover itself as well which is about 500$

Yep, was for the whole valve cover. The PCV valve cap was shot too, so figured I'd get a new cover rather than trying to piece together new gasket and valve cap.

[parthpatel1]

Originally Posted by tigabalm

Hey thanks for replying here, tried to reply to your PM, but said inbox was full. I went to Kim Import Auto in Issaquah. Small basic shop (not much in the way of tuning/performance), but is honest and has good prices.

Yep, was for the whole valve cover. The PCV valve cap was shot too, so figured I'd get a new cover rather than trying to piece together new gasket and valve cap.

Nice that's a good price! I'll have to check them out. Did you supply the parts?

[tigabalm]

Originally Posted by parthpatel1

Nice that's a good price! I'll have to check them out. Did you supply the parts?

Nope, he sourced everything.

[Steeem]

Hi there,

My 2014 xDrive35i with 77K miles is being worked on for the same Valve Cover replacement. Local BMW Indy shop ~$1,400 total ($800 labor $600 parts).

[tlow98]

Yep. Just did this on the N55. Took ~$100 for gaskets and the vent hose. My VC was in great shape at 88k miles. Was very flat with no cracks.

Prolly about a 6 hour job. Tedious due to all the cables, but not hard.

[mrrsharma@yahoo.com]

If you are going to replace it, it's a lot of work. All the injector come out and need to go in, in the right spot. New crush seals will also be needed there. It's about a 4-6 hour job if you are familiar, lots of cleaning as you go too. If you can get a good shop to do it for a 1000 doing it right it's worth it. You could mess up your injectors or get errors after a few hundred miles if you don't reinstall it right.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by mrrsharma@yahoo.com

If you are going to replace it, it's a lot of work. All the injector come out and need to go in, in the right spot. New crush seals will also be needed there. It's about a 4-6 hour job if you are familiar, lots of cleaning as you go too. If you can get a good shop to do it for a 1000 doing it right it's worth it. You could mess up your injectors or get errors after a few hundred miles if you don't reinstall it right.

Oof, didn’t know the diesel injectors need to come out. That would give me pause if it were my first rodeo.