BMW E39 E46 M52tu M54 Valve Cover Gasket Replacement What Not To Do 

Today, I changed my valve cover gasket according to the video. Thank you for the great video.

This is just the video I needed after biying/fitting a new valve cover/gasket and not using enough gasket sealer. Thank you. Your videos have been always to the point and full of info.

Thanks for the great video. I used it, along with a few others, to replace the gasket on an e36 M3 with the S52.

Great stuff. Thanks for posting.

Hi Nathan , thanks for all your incredibly valuable tutorials !!! I just changed the VCG on an M62tu using your method , & a couple of tiny drops of silicon fell on the timing chain . A small bit of those drops, which I wasn’t able to remove , got into a couple of links . Do you think a very tiny bit of that stuff is enough to clog up the oil passages ?

Hey Nathan check out the Torque Test Channel recently made on inserts! They actually found out that from testing in similar cast iron material that the seemingly sketchy heli coil actually is much stronger in holding tensile strength and is more resistant to stretching than the time-sert!! Just from looking at the tools you would assume just like myself that the time-sert will have the better holding force compare to the heli coil but they found out that this is not the case. Less is more in this case. A helicoil/perma coil repair kit is usually a fraction of the cost of the helicoil and it performs better 🤷🏼‍♂️ But if you had to do it again wouldn’t you just wish you had just tapped out the bore and used the next size up bolt from the e46 m3? Like most of us guys run those bolts on turbo e36 engines. On my s52 I’ve drilled and tapped the threads to use the e46m3 arp head bolts which have a much thicker shank and are less prone to stretching! In your case this could have been the easier solution just using an oe 46 bolt no ?

I don't have that piece in my m54 engine what's the part number so this part can reduce leaking of oil to other side which is tilted ?

When you say "time certs" are you referring to Helicoil?

What sealer did you use ?

My new gasket looks taller and does't sit as flush as the old one . Is it normal?

Hey Nathan, so upon removing my valve cover, I found a lot of black oil gunk. It wasn't really on the camshafts but it was every where else. What do I do? Clean it? Leave it?

Just to make sure, some people say it’s 6pounds and another handful say 7 pounds of torque. I used 6 1/2 to be safe.

So the bolt in the back left of the cover is completely rounded out. It's to the the point to where the flower tool isn't even catching. Any ideas on how to get it out??????

Nate do you put sealer on the whole perimeter even if the valve cover and gasket are new?

I'm not sure if I caught that right in your video... Did you remove the plugs after doing the valve cover install or was it done another time and just edited into the end of this video? I didn't know if you could remove the valve cover without removing the plugs.

Good videos but your understanding of torque is incorrect. Adding extensions in line with the head of the torque wrench does not change the torque applied to the fastener. If you changed the length (like using a crowfoot) then the applied torque does change. Also, as you noted, for the low torque application like this you really should use a smaller torque wrench.

I just removed the bmw logo cover. I'm only at that stage but I'm already seeing oil in the pan and around the plugs. Any advice before I go any further?

How can you tell which engine you have? I have a 98 528i.

Do you think it's ok to remove the engine fan and run without it.? Some owners suggest its okay as long as the aux fan is working good. the reason for this is because the engine fan is prone to disintegrate with age taking out out the radiator. thanks!

did made videos of the bmw 7series?

Do not use thread inserts in the block, not reliable. If the threads are weak due to overheated condition, replace the whole engine. Save yourself some trouble as this is the official fix.