Valve Cover Gasket Installation?????
 

I was just wondering if anyone has a video on a valve cover gasket replacement/installation for a 2001 X5 4.4. If there is a video it can save a lot of time and money for the DIYers.

Thanks in advance

I don't believe there is a video, but there is a DIY with detailed pictures. I'm sure a search will pull up what you want.

Hi milesz ,
did you read the diy on e38 .org
we can help with anything not clearly understood if you need more explanation .
are you replacing both cover gaskets , the battery cable on the X5 left cover is placed different to the e38 diy .
there is a service manual available from www.bentley publishers.com , this is very useful along with the diy posts
Valve Cover Gasket Replacement Procedure (long) (No 56k!) this is the diy showing how to remove the clips for the wiring box on the M62 engine . this is on a 740i but very similar to X5 .
http://bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/valve...valvecover.htm this is from e39 tips .

Yes and thanks for the site info. But as you know, descriptions are good, descriptions and pictures are better and videos are the best.

I searched on youtube and found a video for a X5 3.0 valve cover gasket replacement. In the video the guy talked and explained "how to" while he was removing parts. I know that will be sooo helpful for the 4.4 DIYer.

after removing all the bolts , my cover was stuck solid .
1 hour soft hitting a piece of softwood with a rubber mallet to unstick it .

the right side VC is VERY difficult to replace due to the hoses in the rear corner.

Ditto on the driver side valve cover being PITA to put back on
 

I had to keep my hand under the vc and re-adjust the gasket when it tries to fall off. All while trying to navigate the cover past hoses etc.

There are lots of good write-ups already. So I'll just add two techniques that saved me hours of work.

1. Use a tiny amount of Gasket Tack on the inner surface between the VC gasket and the VC, just in the corners and other areas, apply enough to retain the gaskets while trying install the VC. Guarantee the gaskets will not fall out.

The gaskets will get very slipper after you liberally apply glycerin (I used Fleet Liquid Glycerin suppositories:D; got it from Walgreen’s in the laxative section)--Gasket Tack helps keep them from fall out of place.

2. I was so demoralized when I first tried to remove the old gaskets from the VC without this simple tool. The gaskets were stuck to the VC like solid pieces of granite. Took me at least an hour of trying (got only about 3 inches off--I felt so defeated) before I had a discovery learning moment. I used this crooked L shaped pick like a lever to pry out the gaskets. Its diameter fits perfectly into the grove of VC, and it easily remove the gaskets. Took only minutes to remove all the gaskets (and gained back my self-confidence).

Last thing, about the clips on the fuel injectors. I used a Craftsman 9” long right angle pick; it’s super thin, but has strong metal sharp point that easily fits into the metal clips of the injector connectors. I’ve read all sorts of horror stories about how difficult they are to remove. I did not have any problem at all, and it only took about 10 minutes on each side. I attributed my positive experience to this little tool.

Enjoy your therapeutic project.

Oh, how I wished you had made a video of the entire process. I have the Bentley Service Manual but its not that clear to me. Please, the next time you preform this and similar repairs, please shoot a video and post it for all to learn.

Thank in advance

I'm knee-deep in my valve cover replacement project on my '03 4.4i. I must say, this project is an absolute beast. In all my years of working on cars, this is probably the most difficult thing I've ever run across.

That being said, I managed to get the passenger side done, without having to remove those wretched fuel injector clips. I managed to wrestle the cover off before I learned the clips even existed. One look at the clips, and I told myself that if I could get the valve cover off without removing the clips, I should be able to get it back on. Sure enough, with the help of a bunch of string to firmly attach the gasket to the valve cover while wrestling it back in place, I was able to get it done. I'll post some pictures later on my method.

As for the drivers side, holy crap! There's practically zero clearance past all the coolant hoses. After about two hours of intense struggling, I was finally able to yank the thing out of there. It's a miracle I didn't break it, or damage the mating surface. Or that I didn't even lose a single washer! But now, it's obvious that there's no way I'll be able to get the valve cover back in place with the new gasket without removing the square plastic tunnel that houses the wiring for the coils (I forget the official name of it) which is secured with those damn clips. So, if I don't want to tow the car to a mechanic to finish the job, I'm going to have to get those clips out. One person said they had success with a 9" long Craftsman right angle pick. Any other tips? I've tried removing the clips using a shorter pick but they just stare back at me, mocking me.

And an even bigger question - assuming I can get the clips off, and that I can consequently free up enough room to get the valve cover back on, how on earth do I get the clips back on? There's maybe a 1/2" slit between the head and the plastic channel to work; obviously it's possible, because other people have done it, but how exactly? Thanks.

I ned to do mine as well soon, saw oil in the spark-plug well last month.

So I saw "killcrap" suggestion to use WD40/spray-lube on the clips then pry the electric box gently, the clips should pop-out by itself; no tools etc require. Just wonder if anyone try this?

The WD40 idea sounds too good to be true. Those clips are really tight; I don't see how spraying WD40 on them can help get them loose, but I am willing to try anything. I'm off work today and tomorrow, so I hope I can get this figured out in this timeframe. Wish me luck...

I believe "killcrap" is either former BMW tech or still is so I tend to trust him (though I agree it seems to be TGTBT after seeing those clips), but I believe someone at e38.org forums suggests the same thing.

Also to re-install someone says just have the clips in close position and press the elctric box back in until those clips re-snap (all automobile electric connectors work like that).

In any rate I'll try this first cause I can't imagine any pick tool can remove the clips closest to firewall on my 02 4.4i. (it's blocked from view completely)

Thanks for the clarification on how to re-install the connectors. I was kind of hoping this was the case; that at least is one load off my mind.

I spent a fair amount of time stabbing at the clips with a 90 degree snap-on pick, and couldn't get any of them to budge. Someone suggested tying a longer pick; not sure how this will help, but I'm willing to try anything to avoid the indignity of having the car towed to a shop to finish this job.

Some people have commented that this job is easy. Those folks have my undying awe and respect. When the write-up says things like "The TIS is wrong - very wrong," "Prepare to do battle," and "Hide the children, and queue up the pirate language," that to me says, "Look out - this is going to be brutal." And so far, it has been.

OK, I tried the WD40 trick. No luck whatsoever. I have no idea how this is supposed to help, as these clips have an iron grip on the connectors for the box. I think the key to this job, and what separates those who say it's easy (oh, shut up :D) and the rest of us, is the type of tool you have available. It seems that you need just the right shape tip on your pick to be able to maneuver in the tiny available space and grab onto the clip. I'm heading out to some stores to find something that I hope will work better then the pick I have in my tool box.

Maybe you should try Triflow instead of WD40 (my bad for not quoting exactly), like post #10 on this thread says:D
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...uccessful.html

Thanks for trying though, well let us know what tools you end up with.

OK, I read through the attached link, and specifically killcrap's method with the triflow. I don't know - that sounds pretty risky. It seems like there's a pretty good chance of breaking something using the method he describes. It's probably OK for someone with a lot of experience with this sort of thing, but for those of us on our first go-around, I think I'll stick to the pick method for now. I just bought a new set of picks, so I'm ready to try again. Wish me luck...

Aaaaaarrrrgggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

This has never happened to me before, but I'm just about ready to give up and tow the car to a mechanic. Those damn clips won't release their death grip on the fuel injector connectors. I went to three stores looking for a pick that might work, and I ended up with a set of Craftsman 9-3/4" picks, but the space is so tight that I can't turn any of them in such a way as to get a sure grip on the clip. In fact, I'm not really sure if what I'm tugging on is the clip, or the plastic connector. I'm trying to grab it from the bottom, as there's a bit more room below the clip than above it, but as I said, I can't really tell if I'm grabbing the clip at all.

And I tried spraying tri-flow on the clips, and prying up on the wiring box, but this is REALLY scary. It just seems like the risk of breaking one of the connectors, or worse, the box, is really high with this method. And then the world would surely come to a swift, violent, and bloody end.

Could somebody who has done this before please chime in with some suggestions as to how to grab these clips so I can pull them off, and specifically what type of tool actually works? Of course, the problem is that this is very difficult to convey in a post. Anybody in the south Austin, Texas area out there who could swing by and point out the error of my ways? I'll pay for your gas...

Sorry, I'm pretty sleep-deprived (I'm on day 3 of this nightmare of a project, with no end in sight). Thanks!

Hope this helps
 

I remove the electric box top then unclip (not the metal clips) the connectors from the inside of the electrical box.

The electrical box cover will come off with a little effort. I used a screw driver to help unhook the fasteners.

Let me see if I can post a pick of inside the of the electrical box. It should show how the connectors can be un hooked.


This will give you more wiggle room to attack the metal clips.


Good Luck.

http://www.xoutpost.com/members/luke...etal-clips.jpg

http://www.xoutpost.com/members/luke...-fuel-rail.jpg

Luke,

Funny you should mention that, as I've already removed the top of the wiring box. I did this to make a little more room to allow me to pull the valve cover, which I was able to do (barely). I knew I would have to undo the clips to remove to wiring box if I'm to have a prayer of getting the valve cover back on. But I didn't think that unclipping the electrical connectors inside the wiring box would improve my access to the metal clips. I'll give that a try; I'm definitely up for anything at this point to avoid the indignity of towing the car to a mechanic, head bowed in shame. Thanks so much for the suggestion.

Well, after walking away from the project and clearing my head for a little while, I saw that I could gain access to the clips from some other angles than I was approaching them initially, and I managed to get the front three loose! The one closest to the firewall - not a chance! So, I doused it in tri-flow, gave it a little tug, and it came free! So, my three-day-long struggle is almost over, as the rest of the jof has gone relatively smoothly so far. I'll do a detailed write-up of my experience with this very challenging job, so maybe it can help someone in the future.

One glitch - I lost one of the clips. It went flying as I yanked it loose, and it's vanished. It's not in the cam area, so I don't think it's in a dangerous spot, but it has definitely disappeared. Unfortunately, it's apparently no longer available as a separate part, but my local dealer is trying to locate one. Film at 11...

I'm getting PTSD reading this thread. hopefully the car will burn to the ground before I have to do this (or valley pan) again.

Good job there multibeemer.:thumbup:

A couple of folks at e38.org even never installed those clips back on, there are 2 screws holding the electrical box, I guess. Not I am suggesting to go without but those guys been running their 740i fine for a couple of years now; in case the dealer can't locate the clips for ya.

HPIA4v2,

You kind of answered my question, which is, what if the BMW dealer can't locate a spare clip? Given that the box would be held in place with three clips with a very tenacious hold on the box, it seems to me that leaving one off would be very low risk. Any thoughts/opinions on this? My only other opition would be trying to fabricate a duplicate on my own.

The moral - be very careful when removing these clips. Not only are they in a very difficult spot to access, there are lots of nooks and crannies for them to fall into once you get them loose, and they're NLA!

Another question. On the passenger side, after I had finished installing the new gasket (without having to removed the dreaded wire box - I'll explain how in another thread), I realized I had forgotten to coat the new gasket with glycerin like the instructions say. How big of an issue do you guys think this is? I imagine the problem this might cause is that the gaskets could be very difficult to remove in the future. Now that I've done the job, I think I could re-do the passenger side in 2-3 hours, so it isn't a big deal if I end up having to do that, especially since I don't have to deal with the wretched clips on that side. My question is, how urgent is it to go back in there and coat the passenger side gaskets with glycerin? Or is it not a big enough deal to worry about? Thanks.

How long approcimately a project like this takes?

I'm going to start a new thread detailing my experience, but between researching the job, getting stuck trying to remove the clips, driving around to find just the right type of pick, and actually being hunched over the engine doing physical work, I'd say I have at least 12 hours of work into it so far, and I'm not yet finished. But like any difficult project, if I had it to do over, I bet I could knock it out in 1/4 the time.

As far as my question of the criticality of the glycerin, I replaced the valve cover gasket on my daughter's 04 325i back in July, without coating the gasket with anything (the youtube video didn't mention anything about it). Since this job was about 1/100,000,000,000,000,000th as complicated as the job on the X5 V8 (you guys with sixes have no idea how good you have it...), I think I'll yank the valve cover off this car and see how the gasket is faring without the glycerin. If it's already stuck pretty tight, I'll do the X5 passenger side over and add the glycerin sooner rather than later. If is comes of easily and is still nice and supple, I'll wait till I've recovered from the X5 job, after all the physical and emotional scars have healed...

Becuase it's probably more inconvenient to have someone stand over them while doing this job, and w/ the already suggested www.e38 .org, you should be able to figure it out, or else maybe this job is beyond your skill level. You're making this harder than it has to be...just start taking things apart, it's quite an easy job in relation to other regular maintenance items.

Whoa :yikes::yikes::yikes:

I'd be interested to hear what you consider a difficult job :D

I'm guessing it's been about a year now, but I did a full 6spd conversion on my 740iL and sold my automatic transmission to a customer who's auto had failed....roughly 8hrs later (removal of mine, removal of his, installation of his) and he was back on the road again. About 4 years before that I swapped the engine out in my 7 as well. Just yesterday I did another VC change on a customers car, took about an hour or so. VC's are pretty straight forward though, you're going to hate life when you have to do the valley pan gasket ;) It does get easier w/ experience though :) Honestly, once you're in there and taking things apart while looking at the pics on www.e38.org, you'll be able to make it work...have faith!

I did mine, what a huge PITA. Took me about 10 hours with me cursing the whole time.

Its funny how cussin equates to progress...

Your VC sounds like a b!tch. The VC on the straight 6 is a breeze for the most part. Now the CCV without removing the fuel rail or intake manifold.... I feel your pain. That was a 12hr 2-day job that made me hate life and swore never to do it again.

Sent from my SPH-M900 using Tapatalk

Like anything else, how much trouble you have with this job depends totally on your experience level. m5james, you sound like a very experienced mechanic, for whom a job like this really is, or should be, relatively straightforward. For the rest of us, tackling it for the first time, it can be a real nightmare. It took me maybe five hours of actual wrenching, but when you add in all the time I spent researching, shopping for just the right set of picks, trying to locate a replacement clip after I lost one of them (forget about it; they're no longer available, unless you want to scrounge through junkyards looking for one), the job took me a total of at least fifteen hours :yikes: But if I had it to do over again, I bet I could do it start to finish in three to four.

The other big factor is knowing the key tricks. I just read on the E38 forum that somebody figured out that you don't have to mess with the clips at all! He claims that all you have to do is remove the four bolts holding down the fuel rail, and that when you lift the rail out, the injectors come out with it, with the wiring box attached! Knowing this would have literally saved me close to ten hours of agony.

But in the end, it's kind of like women after they have a baby - they forget all about the pain, and manage to remember the whole ordeal as a positive experience. I know I feel great about saving $500 by doing this job myself. Now, bring on that ZF transmission overhaul! :rofl:

Yeah, when I was doing the tranny swap, I also did the VC's inside of like 4hrs...removed, cleaned, painted black w/ off the shelf engine paint and slapped back together. I've followed other peoples write-ups before, but for me, it just comes down to getting into it and learning as I go sometimes....having upbeat music playing while I go also helps :)

I know this is a pretty old thread, but given the trouble I'm having I wanted to put as many feelers out there as I can.

I just finished the passenger side V/C gasket replacement and got as far as removing the coils and unbolting the driver side cover when I realized that there is a large conduit keeping the V/C from moving. I've learned that this is the alternator cable and that after disconnecting the positive charging lug on the firewall you have to disconnect the cable at the alternator. This is supposed to free up enough slack in the cable to allow the V/C to be removed.

My issue is that while trying to sort out what the conduit was, I traced it to a T near the frame rail. Indeed on arm went forward to the alternator. However, it feels like there is a third arm on the T (hence a T and not an L) that runs down towards the bottom of the engine. Also at the T, the cable seems to be clamped to the frame rail along with a vacuum line (which in my case runs along side the cable over the V/C but doesn't seem to be connected to anything).

Is this going to prevent me from removing the V/C after disconnecting the line at the alternator? Am I just insane and there is no mysterious T? Did I spend too many hours in the sun working on the passenger side today?

Thanks!