Replacement of valve cover gasket on a M52TU

[Scany]

I will replace my valve cover gasket this weekend. I got the Bentley manual, but was wondering if anyone has any hands on experience and tips to give. Appriciate it.

I got oil seeping out onto the exhaust, stinking up the car, and leaking oil!

I guess I could have gone to he DIY meet tomorrow, but I didn't see it soon enough, and got a good garage.

[slantsixm3]

Yeah, I have a couple of tips.
If the cover is leaking, you should pull the coils and clean the plug wells. Sometimes *lots* of oil can end up down there. Blue towels are your friend.
Use them and some brake clean or similar to clean the valve cover contact surfaces, they should not be too bad.
Place the plug o-rings carefully with a very light coat of oil so they won't be dry. I didn't use any sealer on anything and had no problems, but it's all gotta be clean and smooth.
Also, on the valve cover- cover (is that a part name?), there are small rubber bumpers that fall out easily. I glued them in place with RTV (black is best) and will have no more hassle from them.
The cover will slide out forward after the bolts are out, but you gotta get it just right. At least on an E36.

Really an easy job. Enjoy.

[Scany]

Thanks for the advice! Appreciate it.

[Scany]

So last night I got it done. The old gasket was hard as solid plastic at some places. And I didn't have a torque wrench going down to 10Nm, but I think I kinda know how little 10Nm really is.

The cover though, was covered with this film of burnt oil. And it seems like I got something going on with the double VANOS unit since that too was covered with burnt oil film and it shows symptoms of common VANOS trouble. What could lead to this burnt oil in my valve cover? My oilfilter and oil test at Blackstone Labs show nothing wrong with the oil.

Also before diconnecting the battery I read fault codes: Secondary Air Flow Low on cylinder #1-6. What might this mean? Secondary air, is that exhaust? vacum in valve cover?

[bmwracr]

Secondary air flow is an emissions thing. You have an airpump that kicks on at certain times and mixes with the gases in the exhaust. The oxygen sensor picks this up and tells the control unit. If the oxygen sensor doesn't see the proper amount of O2 then it will set the light.

Dan

[Scany]

Secondary air flow is an emissions thing. You have an airpump that kicks on at certain times and mixes with the gases in the exhaust. The oxygen sensor picks this up and tells the control unit. If the oxygen sensor doesn't see the proper amount of O2 then it will set the light.

Dan

So could this be the issue I'm experiencing with the idling fluctuation some while the engine is cold? What I thought was a faulty gasket in the VANOS unit.

thanks!