2010 30i Z4 Gasket Cover Leaking Oil

[airmarc]

Greetings all,

I have a 2010 30i Z4 which I just took to the dealer for a routine oil change and they found the Cylinder Head Cover gasket leaking. I have about 42,000 miles on it. They told me that its a pretty common issue after awhile and all their cars do this. I was also told to get it replaced before it becomes a bigger problem (leaking on to muffler, etc) They quoted me $900 to replace. Sound high???

[paris1]

Sounds high to me, but then I'm not sure exactly what's involved in changing one. I presume you're talking about the valve cover gasket? Find a good independent shop near you and get them to look at it and give you a price. You're out of warranty, so there's no reason to stay with the dealer for this kind of thing.

[nicknaz]

You could check realoem for the part cost, use $80 labor rate to back into the hours of labor and check it against an OEM shop manual (I buy one for every out of warranty car I've owned for just this purpose!)

[rking117]

sounds high to me too. I would say it should be around 300 not more. the valve cover gasket is very near the top of he stake in the engine bay so getting to it should only take an hour. replacing it should take 20 minutes or so depending on how long it will take to clean up the surfaces and then another hour to put it back together. I am sure there may be some padding that a shop would put in there like SA time, paper work, shop materials etc. but generally 900 is too high.

I have my car in the shop as we speak because I have had to put in two quarts of oil in between oil changes this time which is unheard of on my car. I have never had to top it off more than once ever. I also suspect that my VCG is perished but I have yet to get a confirmation of this from the dealer. Ill let you know once it is completed.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by rking117

sounds high to me too. I would say it should be around 300 not more.

I checked my paper work for when my Z435's valve cover gasket got replaced, and my version has $0 due to warranty, so I'm going off memory here, but I thought the SA's version was $450-$500 for this repair

Still not $900 obviously, but there seems to be a bit of work to get at the gasket ?

[paris1]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

I checked my paper work for when my Z435's valve cover gasket got replaced, and my version has $0 due to warranty, so I'm going off memory here, but I thought the SA's version was $450-$500 for this repair

Out of curiosity, what's involved in this that makes it so expensive. I don't get under the hood much and my wife has the car at work right now or I would sneak a peak at it. However I've changed more than my share of cam/valve cover gaskets in my day and it's usually a fairly simple procedure. After all, the cover is right on top of the engine!

[nicknaz]

I have no clue. My GUESS is that there is a bunch of stuff to take apart and reassemble to get at the gasket

I have changed valve cover gaskets on old b series engine hondas as well and agree it was an easy job on those cars. But then again, the 95 GSR of our youth is a far less complex machine than these Z4

As an aside, I checked on realoem and the valve cover gasket itself looks to a $29.77 part, so I guess it's time for OP to ask some pointed questions about the labor required to get things up to that $ figure

[Lurcher]

Form what I gather over on some other boards, it's not just the gasket on the 3.0l that goes bad, it's the complete cover that likely needs replacing. This is due to the integrated PVC system and the inability to clean this out.

May be a big reason for that size bill. And I would love to see $80 hr labor rates again....

[rking117]

Originally Posted by Lurcher

Form what I gather over on some other boards, it's not just the gasket on the 3.0l that goes bad, it's the complete cover that likely needs replacing. This is due to the integrated PVC system and the inability to clean this out.

May be a big reason for that size bill. And I would love to see $80 hr labor rates again....

That would make sense.

[nicknaz]

I thought the cover was $290, so it is still an oversized bill

[Lambobimmer]

I recently found a crack in my valve cover so I had to replace it. It takes about an hour to remove and replace your valve cover if you are slow and the cover with the gasket is about $385 from ECS Tuning.

[jitenmazee]

The best way to identify the leak is to take off the plastic cover with the BMW badge on it and look around the engine for oil.

[bbbuzzy]

If that is the N52 motor, the screws are single use only. Check this out on an e90 board for endless details. I had an '06 330i that needed this done a few years back. Turner Motorsport did it for around $600.

[tranquility]

Bumping this - I'm out of warranty and dealer discovered oil filter housing gasket/o-ring prb...need to replace/perform the following:
BM11-42-8-637-820 gasket
BM11-42-8-637-821 gasket
BM11-61-7-547-242 set of profile gasket
BM82-14-1-467-704 coolant

Total pre-tax cost is CAD882 or USD624. What are my options and wwyd? TIA.

PS I'm at 147,000kms / 91,000miles.

[tranquility]

^I'm trying to figure out what is the worst-case scenario if I don't do this right away?

[Lurcher]

Worse case, PVC systems gets clogged, oil goes into intake (via IC/turbos) deposits on valves.

Not a "do it right away" thing, but i would not be driving a lot till I got it done....

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by Lurcher

Worse case, PVC systems gets clogged, oil goes into intake (via IC/turbos) deposits on valves.

Not a "do it right away" thing, but i would not be driving a lot till I got it done....

What's the cost damage if those happen? I assume that they clean everything out b4 replacing the parts? Thx.

[Lurcher]

PVC built into the valve cover - so that gets replaced regardless. Depending on the mechanic - they may clean up parts of your intake - but typically there is still oil in your intercooler that will eventually end up in your turbo.

Deposits on the valves will happen regardless, requiring a walnut blast eventually. Spark plugs should get changes as well - as this is a maintenance item especially if running more than stock boost (miss-fires a known issue).

So basically a pay me now, or pay me a little more later scenario. Typical BMW :-)

[mac-z4]

I have a 2011 3.0i with 12k miles. Looks like I'm getting a small oil leak from the valve cover. Couple of dumb questions: 1) As a first attempt to fix, does it make sense to just try and tighten the valve cover screws? 2) What is the size and type of the hex screws? A bit disappointing that you have oil leaks at 12K miles.

[paris1]

Originally Posted by mac-z4

I have a 2011 3.0i with 12k miles. Looks like I'm getting a small oil leak from the valve cover. Couple of dumb questions: 1) As a first attempt to fix, does it make sense to just try and tighten the valve cover screws? 2) What is the size and type of the hex screws? A bit disappointing that you have oil leaks at 12K miles.

12k/5years!

[airmarc]

Originally Posted by mac-z4

I have a 2011 3.0i with 12k miles. Looks like I'm getting a small oil leak from the valve cover. Couple of dumb questions: 1) As a first attempt to fix, does it make sense to just try and tighten the valve cover screws? 2) What is the size and type of the hex screws? A bit disappointing that you have oil leaks at 12K miles.

First, you really have a 5 year old car with only 12,000 miles??? WOW! Second, Its likely leaking oil due to the cover gasket degrading, which is likely after 5 years. Fix it now, or it will cause many other problems and really escalate the issue to other areas in the engine. Its very common in these cars actually. Take care of it early....

[Vetracr]

I just purchased a 2010 mint 3.0 6 speed with 8800 miles on the odometer. Just started working on updating age related items, bled the brake fluid and changed the coolant. Its on jack stands now getting Koni FSD shocks and Ground Control camber plates. Its a process and I've just started.