I need to change a cracked valve cover on my 3.0si. OEM one is of course pretty expensive, I was wondering if anybody has experience with brand aftermarket ones. All I seem to find is people hating on cheap chinese knockoffs, but no input on brands like Vaico, Febi, Elring - they should be decent, right?
N52 aftermarket valve cover - VAICO, Elring etc.
- Thread starter GTwice
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I’d be interested in any reports of ‘quality’ suppliers alternatives too..my cam cover has a broken part on it for the engine cover..
Seems like it’s only a matter of time before the original cracks/distorts anyway..
Seems like it’s only a matter of time before the original cracks/distorts anyway..
Hi there GTwice. I've heard of Vaico components and believe they are of reasonable quality but haven't purchased or fitted any so couldn't vouch for them. However, I have used Elring gaskets previously and currently have many Febi Bilstein components on my Z4 and regard both brands very highly, particularly Febi Bilstein. Also, I believe some FB parts are covered by a 3 year guarantee 
Thanks patriot66, I'm very familiar with all those brands and I have used them on many DIY jobs and have always been happy. The reason I'm asking is because all I can find anywhere is that anything other than OEM valve cover is crap (even though OEM isn't much better), but it seems people only ever tried the cheap chinese ones - I could be wrong, but I remember a few years ago there was no alternative to cheap ebay stuff, did Febi, Elring and Vaico only release those parts recently?patriot66 said:Hi there GTwice. I've heard of Vaico components and believe they are of reasonable quality but haven't purchased or fitted any so couldn't vouch for them. However, I have used Elring gaskets previously and currently have many Febi Bilstein components on my Z4 and regard both brands very highly, particularly Febi Bilstein. Also, I believe some FB parts are covered by a 3 year guarantee
Do you mean OE, i.e. BMW? OEM is often confused for OE as a term.GTwice said:
I think Elring is the OEM
the only issue i had was that the rocker cover came with all the gaskets and aluminium bolts, i ended up using febi gaskets (i purchased separately) , used the aluminium bolts provided with the rocker cover (So now sill have a brand new set of victor reinz bolts, maybe come in handy one day).GTwice said: