harrybrown9 Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 Hey! Noticed the cam cover on my E39 525i was leaking on one side, so I contacted my BMW specialist to book in a new gasket to be fitted. They've told me I need a new cover? The cost to replace the cam cover is £548.84 inc vat. Your vehicle has a plastic cam cover so we replace the complete thing due to it normally warping and causing the leak rather than the gasket on its own. We will of course confirm where the oil leak is coming from beforehand. Is this correct/the best method? I'd rather not spend £500+ if I don't need to! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Anthony Regents Park Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 I've never had to replace one myself. A new gasket set and the bolts torqued correctly should do it. A very thin bead of Dirko sealer in the cover's gasket channel is belt and braces. There are plenty of new aftermarket cam covers on Ebay for £80 and I've not heard anything adverse about them. 2003 Tourings may have the E60 type push fit coils as opposed to the bolt down ones. Not tempted to do it yourself? Pretty easy tbh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4aceman Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 (edited) Don't replace the cover, really no need unless the car is very high mileage and on it's 2nd or 3rd gasket. Even then I'd just chance given the price of a new cover. Most important things are to replace the rubber grommets under the nuts and tighten properly. No torque wrench is needed, the clamping force on the VC is given by the rubber grommet, not the tightness of the nuts. Just turn them until you feel the nut bottom out and that's it. Many people overtighten and damage threads 6 hours ago, Sir Anthony Regents Park said: I've never had to replace one myself. A new gasket set and the bolts torqued correctly should do it. A very thin bead of Dirko sealer in the cover's gasket channel is belt and braces. There are plenty of new aftermarket cam covers on Ebay for £80 and I've not heard anything adverse about them. 2003 Tourings may have the E60 type push fit coils as opposed to the bolt down ones. Not tempted to do it yourself? Pretty easy tbh. It's a pretty easy job to diy. And if you're in there already a VANOS rebuild isn't much more work... Edited February 20, 2023 by 4aceman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PZero Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 Until the cover is off, I wouldn't say that it can be decided whether it needs replacement or not. Had a leak from mine which I noticed not long after having bought the car, ordered gasket and took it off to replace. Only then did it become apparent that the cover was cracked at the bolt hole adjacent to where the leak was coming from, presumably over-torqued by a previous owner / mechanic. This couldn't be seen when cover was in place as not cracked on the top (which would have been hidden by washer anyway), and unable to get angle to look at it properly in engine bay. New cover was about £350 from BMW themselves, came with all required gaskets. Only other thing suggested would be some high temperature RTV gasket sealant for the corners around the VANOS. If you have a torque wrench, somewhere to do the job and a a couple of hours hours, it's not a difficult DIY. Did mine in early 2019, four years and 20k miles later, not a drip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan-uk Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 If you need a cover I bought one of these. Has been fine. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174552359118?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=pfWVgpugSlK&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=UzVyTQnsQ3W&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrybrown9 Posted February 21, 2023 Author Share Posted February 21, 2023 Thanks everyone. I'll take it to the garage as planned and see what they find. I've been using them for a while, so trust them to be honest. This is the 2nd time the rocker cover has leaked (from previous repairs elsewhere), so I want to get it sorted for good! I'll report back on their findings! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick E Posted March 18, 2023 Share Posted March 18, 2023 Late reply to this.. I had the same issue, and replacing the cover fixed it straight away. Hairline cracks weep a surprising amount of oil when they're up to temperature. Did you sort it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrybrown9 Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 On 18/03/2023 at 08:10, Nick E said: Late reply to this.. I had the same issue, and replacing the cover fixed it straight away. Hairline cracks weep a surprising amount of oil when they're up to temperature. Did you sort it? Yep - got the cover replaced in the end. Cost about £500 in total. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busterbvi Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 (edited) A bit late to this thread but for future reference, anyone looking to replace the valve cover on the M52 engine, dont waste money on OEM or used. Go for one of these £70 covers on ebay, the quality is excellent and the gaskets that come with it are fine. I fitted one 3 years ago and had no problems at all. Highly recommended. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403064859195?fits=Car+Make%3ABMW|Cars+Type%3A525i|Plat_Gen%3AE39&hash=item5dd889aa3b:g:E2EAAOSwqItkCDz1&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8DWhNrysDW4vKEPrpaA6LPUrbMMSEFXhaPOMNAzOgK2Eb2x59rityTp67Ba2sfbMQvXRiOSOU49zJrRd774ngegEEC%2BRo%2BVaMDg5%2F%2F3Q4fU1J8%2BYWeQBxMGH3ZJosUY11YjKLDK70lsHb%2FCpYWBX%2Be6L6Eiciah7om8%2BH%2BneNbaNCfIszFtuvGznT6c9D2UXtJmmY2kQp%2BqNpSiki4sxzo990vKpFQ%2F8Xuq%2FkC0wjILRrZkT1G6iZKWD5ik%2FL7d1%2B%2BlVmERsm78UCV393TGS18XWFgm%2FAVB37VJOZzdYDgroPASG1ZCPzyRmMh5eS1zHVg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR7CIt4n5YQ Edited April 28, 2023 by Busterbvi 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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