DIY - Replacement of Valve covers - Pic Heavy

[Vedubin01]

I thought I would attempt to do a simple DIY on replacement of valve covers using a used set or your own if you are attempting this on your own. I have seen some information that is incorrect in regards to the installation and figured I would help those trying or attempting this yourself.

As a background note:

I have been offering refinished covers for some time now. I do this as a side hustle to help make a few extra bucks to be able to fund my personal car for maintenance and upgrades. I had learned how to powder coat years ago and use a friends local shop to provide this service. This is by no means a business or my job at all. I basically enjoy the work and pass on the service to fellow members looking for professionally powder coated covers.

My personal car is a 2013 E92 M3. It currently has roughly 50K miles on it as it stands today. I wanted to do a set of covers for myself but my car really did not need a set when I picked it up just over a year and a half ago. But I had noticed on the side with the air intake it was showing some weeping and the covers were starting to bubble so I felt it was time to do it myself.

I chose the color that I ended up doing my BBK about a year ago. Just thought it would look a bit better if it matched but honestly it was a bit more work PCing them vs the standard Wrinkle Red, Black Etc. But Im always up for a challenge.

I purchased everything from FCP Euro due to their lifetime warrantee. You really cant beat that at all. I replaced every bolt and seal as BMW recommends this. This goes with the Oil Separator bolts, Cam Sensor bolts, and the Valve Cover Bolts.



Ill provide a list of parts at the bottom.

So lets get to it:

First you want to remove your airbox, your cabin filter housing, as well as your strut bars and plenum. We disconnected the fuel line coming up from the rear and going into the fuel rail. This made things much simpler. On the other side we did the same and loosened up the coolant reservoir so we would be able to remove the cover on that side.



Go ahead and remove the injector harness as well as the cam sensor clips. Just disconnecting everything that is in the way to remove the covers with out binding up on anything.



Use a socket to remove the bolts along the valve cover. There is quite a few of them and you might need a swivel to reach them all. Once all of them are lose go a head and pull up on the covers. This was not that difficult for us but I have read that many use a zip tie method to get it to come up. The issue is the Spark Plug tubes are pretty seated and it will give you a bit of a time to get it to come up free.

This is what it looks like once out and free.







This is a good time to replace the timing chain seal as well. It has 4 bolts in the front of the cover and removes pretty easily.

This image is why I went ahead and replaced mine. This shows you the weeping of the covers. No leaks were found around the timing cover but because we were there we went ahead and did it anyway. An inexpensive part to replace and simple while everything was out of its way anyway.



Now this is where some people start to mess up. And its no real fault of their own but hopefully this will help. When BMW coated these covers they used a 2 part epoxy paint. This paint was sprayed over the covers to fill in the casting and pits that the casted covers had. This is that nasty bubbly grey color you see on the covers. Inside they half assed it and just half hardly sprayed the inside. But what this did was to again fill the pits that are found in Magnesium Casted covers. When you refinish these you are removing that filling and the pitting is exposed. This can cause issues down the line with leaking as oil is able to get around the seals.

As I did my research on this I found that many people were using Drei Bond from BMW to fill in these pits under the seal to create a better bonding surface. I know people will say it goes against that they know but this is the best method of making sure your covers do not leak in the future. You can always go the route of new covers but that's about $1400 from the dealer and you will be dealing with the bubbles and horrible look after a few years of driving.

[Vedubin01]

Part 2:

So after getting your gasket installed into your cover go ahead and press the new Spark Plug Tubes into the cover. Nothing special just push. Now go ahead and fit the cover back over the head and start adding the new bolts with the grommets. This is where I have seen some wrong numbers. TQ numbers for these bolts are 6NM not 10NM as I have seen in many threads. You do not want to over torque these at all. Also start from the middle and work your way to the ends when torqueing the bolts. This way you don't run the risk of an improperly seated cover and would expose you to possible leaks down the line.

[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/CHLgvKT/214625089-1...943086-n-1.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/Zg4dH7M/111.jpg[/IMG]



Once secure this is s a good time to replace your spark plugs. This has a Torque figure of 23 inch lbs.

[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/cygSFV0/213878163-1...02687299-n.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/WtNyWxv/208892551-1...512904-n-1.jpg[/IMG]


Once you got everything all tightened up you are then ready to start connecting everything back up.

[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/cYb4kXM/209397733-1...602938-n-1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/CnXPGCt/213351676-1...49928256-n.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/PhTdYv1/215618545-1...14739043-n.jpg[/IMG]

This was a good time to also replace the fuel breather that sits toward the back under the plenum.

[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/hfdhgh3/212249696-1...66645743-n.jpg[/IMG]

Then you would repeat this same process on the other side. The only difficult thing was working with the coolant reservoir as it seemed it was always in the way.

The total job took about 4 hours and was pretty straight forward. Looks a 1000x better and will be much more durable than the stock finish and will last years to come.

[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/fMjNFsK/214011285-1...00534644-n.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/yy0HbKM/213670896-1...16302383-n.jpg[/IMG]


Hope this helps someone out there that is looking to do this job. It is not difficult at all but it is costly when you add up all the parts to do this job.

Ill come back and provide a parts list as best as I can later.

1 Drei Bond 07589062376
1 Engine Valve Cover Gasket BMW-11127838271
1 Engine Valve Cover Gasket BMW-11127838272
8 Spark Plug Tube BMW-11127835170
24 Valve Cover Bolt 11127841217, 11127835169
2 valve cover bolts 11127841218
4 Cam Sensor seal 13627796699
4 Cam Sensor bolt 11417526315
2 each Crank Case Vent Seal 11157838369 11157838370
2 Engine Timing Cover Gasket BMW-11127838162
2 oil separator seal BMW-11157838369


I think this is complete - if anyone sees something missing tag me and Ill update the list

Thank you.

[Dpc2u]

Well done sir!

[Redd]

Thanks for the great writeup! This is exactly what I will do for my next round of valve covers, which I suspect may be sooner than I like.

[JBird..]

Awesome write up. I'm going to be doing this job in August and will absolutely be referencing this post -- thank you!

[rsav]

Thanks for the write up! Did you apply Drei Bond along the entire perimeter and would you recommend doing so on new valve covers as a precaution?

[Vedubin01]

Originally Posted by rsav

Thanks for the write up! Did you apply Drei Bond along the entire perimeter and would you recommend doing so on new valve covers as a precaution?

I did apply Drei Bond though the entire perimeter but did not where the bolt holes were. Just up to each one of them. As for using it for new ones I don't think you really have to. The factory 2 part epoxy does a good job in filling the pits. From my limited knowledge (refinishing about 12-15 sets so far) I see the gasket gets dry and brittle. Its quite crunchy when you remove it from the cover. I would say that is what is failing most of the time these covers tend to leak from factory.

[Redd]

Vedubin, after a complete sandblast, do you also powdercoat the inside of the valve cover? Or do you leave that as bare magnesium?

[Vedubin01]

Originally Posted by Redd

Vedubin, after a complete sandblast, do you also powdercoat the inside of the valve cover? Or do you leave that as bare magnesium?

Don't sand blasting them. Media blast or soda blast it. I do not coat the inside as I do not want the stuff pealing or bubbling underneath and passing though the head. The oil will coat it well and it will outlast the car itself.

This was sent to me by a recent customer. These were his valve covers a local shop attempted to do.


Quote from my IG:

A customer of mine sent me pictures of his valve covers that were being done at a local powder coater. The guy sand blasted a hole right through the cover itself. Not only that he then attempted to try to fill the hole with powder coating. Not every powder coater is equal and never sand blast magnesium!

[Redd]

Damn. Thanks for the heads up!

[Vedubin01]

Originally Posted by Redd

Damn. Thanks for the heads up!

Even with media or soda you have to be very careful. It takes about 2x as long to do it. A lot of places will not even attempt magnesium for the issues like this, slower baking process and issues relating to adhesion of powder coating to the covers.

[testdriver]

Thanks so much for the write up.

(for odd some reason, I cannot see any pic you have attached here.... anyone hv the same issue?)

[Cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by testdriver

Thanks so much for the write up.

(for odd some reason, I cannot see any pic you have attached here.... anyone hv the same issue?)

Looks like the images were hosted on Google and are no longer available.

[Vedubin01]

Originally Posted by Cyberdemon

Looks like the images were hosted on Google and are no longer available.

Sorry guys… when I get back home I'll find a better hosting site that will not drop images like what's happened here. Anyone have a better hosting site for images? Give me a few days

[PYE46M3]

post the photos as attachments. that way they will never be lost

[Redd]

Originally Posted by Vedubin01

Sorry guys… when I get back home I'll find a better hosting site that will not drop images like what's happened here. Anyone have a better hosting site for images? Give me a few days

I use ImgBB. Free.

[NeverL8]

Interested in this as well, after seeing some leakage

[Savage_M3]

Looking forward to the pictures! Appreciate you putting this together!

[Vedubin01]

ok guys sorry for the long delay. I think I got it back up. If you see anything let me know. Thank you again and hope this helps those that are looking to do this.

[gh0stE92M3]

Is the list of parts complete or is there more that needs to be added? Also is it possible to put quantity of for each item you purchased? Thanks for the write up, being quoted so much to do this job. Looks straight forward and maybe just do it myself.

[Vedubin01]

Originally Posted by gh0stE92M3

Is the list of parts complete or is there more that needs to be added? Also is it possible to put quantity of for each item you purchased? Thanks for the write up, being quoted so much to do this job. Looks straight forward and maybe just do it myself.

I put the numbers next to the part numbers listed above. Always verify but I want to say its complete. IF not let me know and Ill update the list.

[Helmsman]

Great thread, thanks OP!

Believe there is a small error on the list;

22 Valve Cover Bolt 11127841217 - should be 24?
4 valve cover bolts 11127841218 - should be 2?