Maybe a cam box leak or maybe not on N54? Advice sought…

B21

B21

Elite
 Scottish Borders
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Decided to put new plugs in…various irrelevant issues..

On pulling the plugs 2 and 3 had what appeared to be engine oil on the outsides…

A peek around the cam box / cylinder head showed a few small areas of oil..they looked pretty clean..

Question..

Can I assume this oil is misdirected from someone topping off the oil or is it possible / probable that the cambox is leaking on the inside edges rather than the more common outside edges?

I’m not sure how much of a seal there is from the spark plug area ‘inside the cambox’ to the cylinder head outside ..

Thoughts?IMG_0856.jpegIMG_0857.jpegIMG_0858.jpegIMG_0859.jpeg
 
B21 said:
Can I assume this oil is misdirected from someone topping off the oil ...
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YES.

B21 said:
... is it possible / probable that the cambox is leaking on the inside edges
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YES. :D

Had the 2nd option. The inner "glasses" were damaged on my N52B30.

Screenshot_20251129_110022_Firefox_cpr.jpg

A new set of gaskets was required to stop the oil drain.
 
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If they are anything like the M54 ones then you could find they are more akin to hard plastic now, rather than rubber. So block all the oilways before you try to remove them as they can shatter into small pieces and ping off in all directions.
 
So…I cleaned up very very carefully the spilt oil..I left it static a few days..no sign of a leak..fitted plugs n coils and ran it on idle for an hour..no leaks I could see after a cool down and a day later..

So buttoned it up .i do have a Rein brand new cover but will see what happens after the first NC500 run in March
 
B21 said:
So…I cleaned up very very carefully the spilt oil..I left it static a few days..no sign of a leak..fitted plugs n coils and ran it on idle for an hour..no leaks I could see after a cool down and a day later..

So buttoned it up .i do have a Rein brand new cover but will see what happens after the first NC500 run in March
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Hi B21, you say you have a new Rein cam cover, what made you choose a Rein over a Elring or Febi ? And where did you purchase it from if you don't mind me asking, Cheers
 
Jollyjoiner said:
Hi B21, you say you have a new Rein cam cover, what made you choose a Rein over a Elring or Febi ? And where did you purchase it from if you don't mind me asking, Cheers
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Allegedly the best superior to OE..Bimmerworld
 
B21 said:
See it’s out of stock …fwiw I’d avoid the alloy versions ..lots of problems ..imho
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Well my thoughts are either the Elring or Febi one seeing as no one seems to know for certain who the original manufacturer of them was.
My gasket was changed a year ago but seemed to be weeping again after just 6months, my indy garage say they now never just quote for gasket alone but for the complete cover kit now because of failures a few months down the line. They only quote new from main dealers and same labour hours as when they just did the gasket which is 3 hours, meaning over £600. Looks like I'll be tackling it this time when I do it in the new year.
 
Jollyjoiner said:
Well my thoughts are either the Elring or Febi one seeing as no one seems to know for certain who the original manufacturer of them was.
My gasket was changed a year ago but seemed to be weeping again after just 6months, my indy garage say they now never just quote for gasket alone but for the complete cover kit now because of failures a few months down the line. They only quote new from main dealers and same labour hours as when they just did the gasket which is 3 hours, meaning over £600. Looks like I'll be tackling it this time when I do it in the new year.
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Certainly on the N20 it’s very common to have the cam box crack either before or after a gasket replacement…

Febi isn’t a tier 1 supplier ..but..they do have access sometimes to tier 1 products..their n20 cam chain kit was the bmw one with the bmw logos dremeled off..

Elring I suspect was a supplier..
 
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