E86 Grey vs Black Engine Cover

[Davemtkd]

Hi lads,

Newbie question. When did the N52 3.0L engines go from the grey (magnesium?) engine covers to the black plastic covers?

And did all the Z4 3.0si cars have the black plastic?

Mines an October 2006 build, E86 3.0si and has the black plastic cover.

Cheers

 

[Smartbear]

Hi lads,

Newbie question. When did the N52 3.0L engines go from the grey (magnesium?) engine covers to the black plastic covers?

And did all the Z4 3.0si cars have the black plastic?

Mines an October 2006 build, E86 3.0si and has the black plastic cover.

Cheers

My 06 3.0si had the metal cam cover, there were some small internal changes as well.
Rib

 

[Zedebee]

And did all the Z4 3.0si cars have the black plastic?

E86s are all 3.0Si and the earlier ones (from 2006) had the grey cover, so no.

Search for N52B30K on this forum for details of the differences.

 

[Mr Tidy]

I'm pretty sure the change took place in September 2006. My 1st Coupe was built in October 2006 and had the black cover, but my 2nd one was built in August 2006 and had the grey cover.

FWIW in terms of how they drove I didn't notice any difference.

Anyway here's link to an earlier thread on this topic:- https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=105709

 

[Brouse]

If I recall, Black cover has plastic rocker cover with integrated CCV unit whereas Silver is magnesium with CCV unit sitting under intake manifold?

 

[Smartbear]

If I recall, Black cover has plastic rocker cover with integrated CCV unit whereas Silver is magnesium with CCV unit sitting under intake manifold?

There’s engine differences as well, the black cover engine has narrower valve stems.
Rob

 

[Mr Tidy]

Yes, there is a link to a detailed list of the differences on "bimmerfest" on the 4th page of the thread in the link in my previous post.

 

[ph001]

If I recall, Black cover has plastic rocker cover with integrated CCV unit whereas Silver is magnesium with CCV unit sitting under intake manifold?

There’s engine differences as well, the black cover engine has narrower valve stems.
Rob

Thicker actually (6mm rather than 5mm), but I’ll let you off on this occasion :wink:

 

[E86]

When did the N52 3.0L engines go from the grey (magnesium?) engine covers to the black plastic covers?

Mines an October 2006 build, E86 3.0si and has the black plastic cover.

The N52K was introduced around September 2006, so yours will be a fairly early one

 

[Smartbear]

If I recall, Black cover has plastic rocker cover with integrated CCV unit whereas Silver is magnesium with CCV unit sitting under intake manifold?

There’s engine differences as well, the black cover engine has narrower valve stems.
Rob

Thicker actually (6mm rather than 5mm), but I’ll let you off on this occasion :wink:

I meant the black plastic engine cover that sits on top of the cam cover of course (later engine)
I accept your apology
Rob

 

[Davemtkd]

Cheers lads

 

[bg1]

No Black Top fan boy ever mentions that the N52K is 'COST SAVING'.

 

[ph001]

No Black Top fan boy ever mentions that the N52K is 'COST SAVING'.

I think there will certainly be aspects of that, particularly with the use of plastic for the cam cover rather than magnesium, but that's not to say plastic is the inferior material in that application!

• Cylinder head cover
• Lighter Camshafts (hydroformed)
• Revised stronger conrods
• Stem diameter of exhaust valves increased to 6 mm instead of 5 mm
• Torsional vibration damper revisions
• Crankcase ventilation valve now integrated into cam-cover
• New digital hot-film air mass meter (HFM)
• New Throttle valve (EGAS8)
• Faster DME (tri-core MSV80)
• New 2nd gen electric water pump (still fail though!)

The lighter camshafts, stronger conrods and faster ECU can only be a good thing, and there must have been a sensible reason for increasing the valve stem diameter. But I think you are unlikely to notice any difference between the two in practice.

 

[Smartbear]

Are you sure about the valve stem diameter increasing? I thought they went the other way with the premise of increased engine efficiency :?
Rob