SOLVED - Help. My X is running very rough after valve cover gasket replacement
 

I just finished replacing the valve cover gaskets and changing the spark plugs on my X and like the title say, It's running VERY rough (misfiring).

I used the recommended Bosch plugs, I was careful to plug all the sensors back in, and I put all the coil packs back in the order they came off in.

Any ideas on what I should check? I'm hoping it is something small that I missed and one of the experts here can help me with. I actually thought about changing the spark plugs back to see what happens, but I thought I'd check in here first.

Any help is much appreciated.

Lots of places to start. Make sure you reconnected all the hoses. Also re you throwing a check engine code yet? Who recommended bosch plugs? The consensus is that ngk is the preferred plug. A lot of post valve cover issues are related to a bad seal and a vacuum leak. Valve covers are not hard, but they can be tricky. You disconnected a lot of stuff to do the VC so make sure everything is where it should be including the grounds for the cool pack. Also make sure the o2 sensor wires didnt get crossed.

The good news is that if it hasn't, it will eventually throw a code and that should clue you in on the problem.

There are some codes, but I'm just learning to use INPA and I'm not sure if these are what I need or not, but I'll list a few in hopes that someone can help.

151 EV2 from cyl. 5
154 EV2 from cyl. 6
62 Misfire detection, sum error
51 Misfire detection Zyl. 5
53 Misfire detection Zyl. 8
54 Misfire detection Zyl. 6

To get these codes, I connected to the engine module, chose error memory, then chose read memory. If these are not the codes that I need, please let me know where to find them and I'll check it out. Thanks.

Those are good codes. I don't know the cylender order on the 62, but I bet those are all on the same bank. Start there.

Be sure the coils are seated properly. I found one on my E38 that wasn't snug. Usually they pop on with plenty of evidence, but its possible.

Sounds like the coils are not seated and / or a vacuum leak. Could be coils are SWITCHED if that's possible (wrong coil on wrong plug). Check the firing order and pull all coils and reseat to hear / feel a "snap" or "pop" and feel all small hoses for connections / cracks.

I was just out in the garage poking around before I go to work and I noticed that the throttle body is dirty(carbon buildup), and the butterfly valve is not closing all the way. I was wondering what is the best way to clean that?

Also,Thanks for the help so far.

Thanks, but it looks like they're talking about the 3.0i. I saw a few posts saying it is really easy to get off on the 4.4i, but I was wondering if I'll need to replace a gasket there or not. I'm at work and can't look at the vehicle and I haven't been able to find a good write up about it. If I need to replace it, I'd like to get one today to take home with me so I'm prepared.

OK, here's an update. I cleaned the throttle body, but that didn't help at all. I also cleaned the MAF Sensor because along the way one of the codes I saw said something about mass air, so I thought it couldn't hurt. It didn't help either.

The next thing I tried was to swap the ignition coils from cyls. 1-4 with the coils from cyls 5-8, since according to the codes I had, all my misfires were on cyls. 5,6,and 8. After switching the coils, I only had 2 misfire codes(cyls 5+6), instead of 7 codes like before, but it's still running really rough.

Does anyone have any more ideas on what I could try next to narrow things down? Thanks.

Also, as far as the coils being "seated" properly, I noticed that when I removed them, there was a small "pop" like everyone talks about, but when installing them they do not "snap" in place, they just sit on the plugs. There is a spring action there in the sense that if I push them all the way down and then let them go, they "spring" up about 1/4" or so until I put the nuts on and tighten them down. Does this sound normal for the coils?

Worse case you have to redo the job.. You may damage the gaskets when you was installing them .
With my experience on my friend 745li on of the fuel injector fot bad .

If you are certain it's NOT the coils, check the plugs again, then be sure the wires going to the coils are intact and not broken or heat damaged.

It's odd that it improved with the swap, albeit good. One may have not been seated right at least, but since you still have two cylinders misfiring, track it backwards. Perhaps you can score a couple coils from an auto recycler just to be sure its not a coupe bad coils.

Your coils are seating properly, the way you described it is exactly as they are intended to seat. :thumbup:

Just wanted to report back that I got it fixed. It turns out that when I put the wiring box with the fuel injector connectors back on, I didn't get it on all the way. I thought it clicked in and when I looked at it later, I would have sworn those connectors were all the way on there, but they weren't. I'll edit the title to reflect that the problem is solved and thanks for the help.