E89 Z4 - N52 valve cover replacement - DIY?

A

ajguk

Member
Hi

I've got a 30i E89 with about 85K on the clock. I've had it about 4 years and tbh it's been a cracking car, no major issues touch wood so far! It's not my daily and sees less than 2000 miles a year in my ownership.

Lately however I've noticed a slight burning smell, and today had some smoke coming through the vents when parked up. I had a look under the bonnet and I'm 99% sure I've got a slight leak in my valve cover gasket. I can see a misting of oil on there and that's where the smoke is coming from. After doing a bit of research it seems like a DIY-able job. I've done brakes and suspension parts before but not necessarily something this critical. I'm usually up for doing things myself where I can, so I'm just weighing up whether it's worth doing this myself. Two questions then I guess, assuming the gasket is the issue.

1. What's the typical cost for getting this done at an independent - taking into account that I should probably have the valve cover replaced as well as the gasket
2. How difficult is the job for a competent DIY-er?

I've had some £££ expenses lately with various woes (vet bills, boiler, probably something else I've blocked out :( ) and wouldn't mind not forking out another grand or so on what is essentially my weekend toy. Any opinions or suggestions welcome. Last thing I want is to bail halfway through the job and have to get it flatbedded to my local mechanic!

Thanks all
 
Normally the e-motor's gasket suffers on the N52 and oil may drip on the exhaust system.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=LM32-EUR-03-2009-E89-BMW-Z4_23i&diagId=11_3736

Part 07 has to be renewed, that should be all.
20230205_212921.jpg

Only in very rare cases the cover has to be replaced.
 
Ok, thanks. Fingers crossed - I’ll have a look tomorrow and see if I can pinpoint where it’s coming from. But for that price it would seem rude not to just change that and see how it goes once warmed up… :)
 
ajguk said:
Ok, thanks. Fingers crossed - I’ll have a look tomorrow and see if I can pinpoint where it’s coming from. But for that price it would seem rude not to just change that and see how it goes once warmed up… :)
Click to expand...
Yeah.
But if you remove the cover, you'll see oil in the sinks below the actuator, that can swap over the manifold.
 
As above, had mine replaced when I had my valve cover gasket replaced as I had smoke coming from the rear drivers side edge. On doing a search I found this was a common issue apparently.

Alas I can't remember how much it cost me, but there are plenty of videos and info on-line to walk you through the job :thumbsup:
 
Huge thanks everyone - fitted the gasket this afternoon. Bit of swearing was required to get the bottom bolt out for the actuator but once that was out it was straightforward. I've had a good blast in it at temperature and no more smoke so hopefully that continues. There was plenty of oil around the top of the engine that had clearly come from the gasket - cleaned up what I could and put everything back together....

I briefly forgot to take the actuator out of service mode but remembered before I started her up, anyway all looking good so thanks once again for the tip!
 
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