Valve cover gasket not seating
 

Hello all. 05 4.4i. I'm having trouble getting the passenger side valve cover gasket to seat properly. I've searched and followed all the tips and tricks. It will piss oil, not just a little leak. It comes from the bottom middle of the valve cover. It's an Elring gasket from FCP Are they known to be problematic? Should I have just ordered the genuine BMW gasket? Any other tips? Should I be bottoming the nuts out or going to a torque value?
Thanks for any help, looking to get this thing running!

Valve cover gasket not seating
 

Bottom middle can mean between 4 and 8 things. Describe a little better like bank one, fore, aft Intake, exhaust side.

PS: 1/3 of the forum has passenger side on the RIGHT/Starboard so not the best description of a side.

The fuel filler is on the right side of the car, the side doesn't change when you look towards the back of the car eg. your left is the right side of car when you are looking back at the car.

That sounds like the gasket isn't in place properly. I had that after i replaced them but it was on the part above the coils. Went on a trip and during the trip filled the coil area with oil until it overflowed.... Getting the gasket to sit right when installing it is a bit tricky.

Thanks. Right side. U.S. spec passenger side.

Thanks. It seems to be. Did you just reinstall and it fixed it? Did you use any gasket maker (RTV) etc? The Bentley manual says to coat in glycerine...

Valve cover gasket not seating
 

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Installation note:
Screw connections (1, 2, 3 and 4) of cylinder head cover are different.
Renew screw connections (3).
Move cylinder head cover with gasket to installation position.
Starting with screw connection (4) from the front, fasten the cylinder head cover.

Tighten screw connections (1, 2 and 3) in diagonal sequence from inside to outside.

Torque 10 N·m on 6mm screws.

If you didn't use a torque wrench to tighten the bolts I would do so to see if the bolts are over torqued. Over torquing a valve cover bolt or bolts can cause leaks. If the bolts are over torqued, very easy to do, the gasket should be replaced with a new one. If the gasket needs to be replaced I suggest an OEM or OE gasket.

Thanks. Pretty positive I'm over torqued. I bottomed out the nuts onto the studs. Rubber washers fully compressed. Some threads stated to bottom out the nuts...good news is it gets easier each time i do it!

Less is more. It's important to tighten just right or you will bend or buckle something also pay attention to the order