M56 Valve Cover Retrofit - X5 Specific

[nick325xit 5spd]

OK, I was asked to put my commentary on this in its own thread, rather than buried in the "what did you do..." thread.

I'm not attempting to make this a comprehensive DIY, rather you get my notes on the process.

In short, this is a pretty easy retrofit on the X5. Perhaps the most annoying part of the retrofit in an E46 or E39 is the coil harness. You have to modify an MS45 harness, or find one of the very few MS43 pencil coil harnesses that shipped. For the X5? Odds are that you already have a pencil coil harness, and if not, well, I show that they came in at 10/02 (model year 2003), so you can find them pretty easily. Edit: Note that the X5 does not have the clips for bolting it to the cover. The regular E46 harness clips can be used with some modification, or the M56 clips transplant over. I have a scrap E46 M54 harness that I've been harvesting wire and connectors out of for at least a decade, so I got them there.

Why do this?

1) No more warped valve covers. The aluminum valve covers are unlikely to warp and leak.
2) Much higher quality valve cover gasket.
3) Rebuildable PCV in the valve cover. It isn't going to freeze, and you don't have to contort yourself trying to get at the factory unit under the valve cover.
4) Some folks like the way the beauty cover looks. I'm kind of neutral on it, but it definitely looks more like the modern covers.

Annoyances:
I don't love the oil cap location, but it's workable. For any oil change, you have the duct cover off anyway, and there's plenty of access for top ups.

Installation Notes:
For the moment, I have abandoned the old PCV system in place. Eventually, I'll get around to replacing the intake manifold gaskets and various hoses and I'll pull it all out then. Just chop the valve cover to PCV connector off, pull the hose off the dipstick tube and leave it.

I have currently used this hose to hook the air distribution rail to the valve cover: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...se-11617504535

It's working fine, but I don't like all the vacuum caps. (One on the hose, one at the rear of the rail.)

You will need a 3/8 to 10mm vacuum cap for the dipstick tube. Plan on warming and expanding the cap before you try to shove it on. Also, throw a towel over the intake boot if you don't want to scrap your arm on the plastic brackets at the back. I like these a lot better than the shitty caps you get at the parts store: https://www.amazon.com/HPS-Temperatu...083QJNZDZ?th=1

Conclusion:
Well, I no longer have a big vacuum leak or oil draining down the side of my engine from a busted PCV. So that's a win. I took the X5 on a 300 mile round trip this weekend and everything worked great.