Oil Leak / Oil Residue On Top of Valve Cover Gasket - Any Guesses?

[shane82388]

Recently there has been an intermittent smell of burning oil coming from my girlfriends e90 and the other day I was swapping out all the coils in the 2007 328i and tried to look around for where it could be coming from. I suspected a leaking valve cover gasket but It was kind of interesting to see that there was a coating of oil ON TOP of the valve cover and not really a whole lot of of signs that it was seeping from the gasket seam itself. There was oil in the recesses around the coils, but none in the actual coils or spark plugs themselves. (blue arrow)

Where would you suggest I focus on first? Could it be a oil cap leaking? Or what I'm suspecting more so - that sensor that goes in to the valve cover? I guess it could still be from something else but I just dont see how the oil and stuff can leak "upwards". It's seemingly going from the top and leaking down in the coil holes areas and then off the edge of the valve cover down on the to headers and burning up, creating the smell.

Any ideas?
Thanks


Here are some photos after i wiped it down, but you can still see where the oil was coating the top of the cover and dripping down.

IMG_2261.jpg

[Old525i]

The seal around the sensor is replaceable. If you are careful, you may not need to remove the valve cover to replace it.

[White94RX]

Be VERY careful. That sensor is super expensive. You also need to replace the large, football shaped gasket that seals the valvetronic motor to the valve cover

[TonyAngel]

If/when you replace the seal for the eccentric shaft sensor, look down into the socket and see if it's full of oil. If it is, you're gonna need to replace it or, at the least, have a scan run to see if it kicks back an ess fault. If you replace the gasket for the valvetronic motor, be sure to read up on its proper removal and installation. It is under spring tension and could literally shoot out of the hole. You really don't want to break that.

[Bmwlovermd]

Time to change valve cover gasket and sensor cover too
do it asap if you make it later u might have another problem because the oil goes into spark plug and ignition coil
and leaking around engine everywhere )

btw what s your car miles now ?