Oil Leak Madness m54

[328iFun]

Hey all,

I picked up a 325xiT awhile back, got it a for a steal, its running and driving. But for the life of me I can't pinpoint a pretty substantial upper-engine oil leak.

I've replaced the valve cover and gasket twice. First time, my mistake, I used a cheaper gasket - I still noticed a leak so I replaced it again. Grommets, still to me felt pretty cheap, so I'm not sure at this point.

Oil seems to puddling on top of the valve cover near the plugs and sometimes a puddle is seen on the top of the window washer reservoir. It's definitely getting on the exhaust manifold because at times smoke bellow out from underneath the car and while stopped.

I've read the valve cover can warp, never had this problem with my m52 - replaced several VCG's / covers with little issue.

Its driving me crazy, thoughts?

[e34Driver]

Sounds like your spark plug seals are bad.

[crazy4trains]

Brand of VCG used?

[effduration]

Cracked or warped gasket - put it on a piece of glass
spark plug hole seals
you definitely need new grommets - AND we have seen aftermarket grommets that aren't as thick as OEM

[328iFun]

Apologies all,

I suspected such, I guess I will go with OEM parts this time and see what happens.

Thanks again Bimmer-Folk