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  #1  
Old 05-14-2020, 08:09 PM
arb arb is offline
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2007 X5 4.8i timing cover gaskets

My x5 is around 127k miles and has had a leaking valley pan for the last 1-2 years. Finally got some time to tackle the valley pan and the coolant pipe (wasn't actually leaking in my car yet) last week. My valve steam seals have been leaking for a few years but I didn't have the energy to do that Job this time around after my last experience...

I did my valve cover gaskets and timing gaskets + oil cooler oring 5 years/40k miles ago (around 85k miles) . At the time I did them, I couldn't help but notice that the valve cover gaskets actually seemed fine and all of my leaking was from the timing cover gaskets. A few months later my alternator failed, regulator died, i suspect due to being oil filled from the leaking timing cover gaskets, put a new regulator on it and it's back in service. I suspect my timing cover gaskets were leaking for 2-3 years or 20k miles which is how the alternator bit the bullet.

So, in my experience, the timing cover gaskets seem to only last around 4-5 years and 40-50k miles, but my valve cover gaskets were ok at 85k miles. The thought of doing valve cover gaskets every 4 years is almost enough to want to get rid of the X5.

When I did the valve cover/timing cover gasket/etc job, it turned out to be much bigger than I expected as I fought for over a day to get the drivers side valve cover back on (in the end I think i found a post on here stating the little red inserts put on at the factory for alignment should be removed before reinstalling, which I had not done and i think is why it took so long). It was such a bad experience I was glad I wouldn't need to do it for at least another 7 years. Then recently, the dreaded timing covers were leaking, but my valve covers looked fine. I really couldn't stand the thought of doing the valley pan, water pipe and the vcg's/timing covers all together (let alone the valve stem seals) so I thought I'll just do the valley pan/water pipe and get another 2 years out of this thing with leaking timing covers like last time...

Then I remembered I'd seen one or two posts on the web saying the timing cover gaskets can be replaced on their own but a ton of posts saying this couldn't be done without damaging things.

So, after I finished the valley pan and pipe, i decided to give it a shot to just replace the timing cover gaskets. It was easy and turned out fine, only took about 2 hours per side since i had things in the front end on cooling/fan/etc already dismantled for the other work.

I took some photos along the way to post here to show it's easily done. I made one mistake along the way and stripped the hole in the alternator for the pulley by trying to torque the pulley without a torque wrench and by feel. Usually this goes ok, not this time, luckily i had my old alternator with the new regulator waiting in the wings and will fix this alternator with an M10-1.25 helicoil.
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  #2  
Old 09-10-2021, 09:31 PM
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Hi arb, Thanks for this post!
I am doing the valve cover and timing cover gasket job on my 2009 E70 4.8i
quick question - when you did the timing cover gasket, did you have to apply any sealant? I wonder if the frequent timing cover leak can be some how delayed by applying some kind of sealant. I could be wrong, but just a thought ?

Also you were mentioning in your post above about a trouble installing the driver side valve cover. What red insert you were supposed to remove ? Thanks for any information you can provide!
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Old 09-10-2021, 09:58 PM
arb arb is offline
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Hey there! I haven't used any gasket sealant where the 2 gaskets meet and in my case it woudln't help as the leak wasn't coming from where the 2 gaskets met, the leak was coming out of the gasket on the straight stretches. Some additional silicon rubber gasket on install may help there, but I'm not sure, only time will tell.

In terms of the piece I was referring to, it's similar to what's seen in this threads first picture:
https://5series.net/forums/e60-discu...et-n62-149915/

I've read those should be removed when installing back the valve cover.
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Old 09-11-2021, 10:35 AM
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Thanks arb!

I am going to go with just the dry gasket. If it leaks again before the vcg, now I know the timing cover gasket can be done without removing the valve cover!
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