BMW E46 M54 3 series Common Oil and Valve Cover Gasket VCG Issue

If you are like me and don't tend to drive you car daily or leave it parked for long periods of time and one day you notice large puddles of oil under the car or you smell something burning thru the vents whiles accelerating on a cold engine accompanied by a brief white wispy smoke emanating from under the hood at the rear end of the engine bay then it is most likely that your Valve Cover Gasket (VCG) seals are worn out and leaking oil along the side of the engine cover.
The BMW Dealership and most shady shops will charge you A LOT of money to do this. It is basically a $30 - $50 part for the seals and the DIY takes about 1 hr for the average joe with a torque-wrench & ratchet kit. And what is extremely fun about this DIY is that you can change your spark plugs at the same time and you get to see the underside of the valve cover to see the condition that your oil has had on the moving parts under the cover. If it looks like someone puked chunks of burnt Brownies in there that is BAD. If it looks like everything sprayed in gold carmel paint that is good. BAD can be cleaned so don't worry. Go to gerenal forum section or the DIY section at e46fanatics and SEARCH of Vavle COver Gasket - or search VCG to see pictures of the BAD and the GOOD.

Also another source of the Oil Leaking can be the CCV -clutch control valve or Oil Pressure Valve. Failure of this would be accompanied by a series of things such as loud howling from the engine bay, a lot of thick white smoke pouring out the engine bay and out the tail pipes, massive amounts of oil under the car, heavy engine vibrations at idle, possible the Red/Yellow Check Oil, SES or CEL warning lamps coming on. This s also a relatively cheap - quick fix. With parts all costing under $200 at the dealership or cheaper elsewhere and the actual DIY labour time to do this is around 2 - 4 hours for the average guy on a warm summer day. Doing this also allows you change the VCG, spark plug and gives you the access to clean out the ICV, MAF and service the DISA if needed.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• BMW
• E46
• M54
• 330i
• 330ci
• 328i
• 325ci
• 328ci
• 323i
• 323ci
• 320i
• 318i
• VCG
• Oil
• Leak
• Leaking
• Valve
• Cover
• Gasket
• Pressure
• Howling
• ICV
• Disa
• MAF
• CEL
• SES
• Yellow
• Red
• Lamp
• Seals
• White
• Smoke

[fleiva30]

why is common on e46..im doing mine right now!

[olaf2046]

@fleiva30 The rubber seals age over time and crack during the cold seasons. Remember that most of these cars are now 13 to 6 years old at present

[olaf2046]

@fleiva30 I think it is common on all cars but stands out on the M54 engine because the engine is issue free for the most part so when this gasket gets old and leaks oil then people begin to pop their hoods for the first time. Otherwise the engines last a long time.

[skylabx2000]

Head gasket

[olaf2046]

@skylabx2000 why do you say that?

[djtijs1]

Fix that shit.

[oxOsicknessOxo]

@skylabx2000 It's not the head gasket, it's the valve cover gasket, I changed mine when I replaced my double vanos, and I recently had to replace it again. It was a pretty cold day about -25 C and it started to smell burned diesel from the vent and when I popped up the hood I saw oil right on one corner of the VCG and it smelled like a 2 stroke engine (smell like burned oil)

[1BMWdrvr1]

Thanks for the post and idea to run a/c on recirc., oil usually burns off when the motor warms up. Just had oil changed and dealer advised it was starting to leak along with oil filter housing, wish I would have done both then but it wasn't stinky and I'm such a cheap bastard. Still hits 100 between ramps and rides like a dream. I'll run the heater on recirc. for a bit then do a bit of maintenance for a summer road trip. Maybe my last one, you can't take it with you!

[skaven2100]

I have a small leak in mine getting fixed this week, the smoke comes through the vents after driving a short time which is not nice, I stop this happening by leaving the ac on recirculate. My mechinic will fit for about £50 labour plus £62 for the bmw gasket which i'm well chuffed about. Should have fixed it ages ago really!

[Finkell]

Same thing is happening to me, thanks for the video - makes getting it fixed easier.....

[Finkell]

Same thing is happening to me, thanks for the video - makes getting it fixed easier.....

[fleiva30]

@olaf2046 good to know..thanks!