BMW 320i f30 from 2013 - possible oil leak on valve head gasket

[xewinga]

Dear friends I purchased a BMW 320i f30 from 2013 whith 60k km on it. all services done in the BMW rep here in macau. by now I already changed all the tires the break fluid, the entire rear suspension, the front abs sensors, and now I have a smell of burnt oil inside the car every so often. Not allways but sometimes it does. Its not very strong or noticable. But its there. the smell goes away when you drive for a while.

Can you please see the pictures here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p87p2d6cgluvp0l/IMG_3308.JPEG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xkosv3i77e...3309.JPEG?dl=0

Please help

Thanks

[dworthy]

Welcome to the Forum!

I cannot open the photo's, for some reason my browser blocks it as it's not secure.

Anywho, at your age I would think that the valve cover gasket is leaking. For a head gasket to leak, you would have had to do some damage to the motor like overheating, over reving, ect.

[xewinga]

Welcome to the Forum!

I cannot open the photo's, for some reason my browser blocks it as it's not secure.

Anywho, at your age I would think that the valve cover gasket is leaking. For a head gasket to leak, you would have had to do some damage to the motor like overheating, over reving, ect.

Hi can you try these
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0rq8sv03ms...3308.JPEG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p5wgko630l...3309.JPEG?dl=0

[328 Power 04]

That's a valve cover gasket leak that is very common.
Reseal (potentially just the gasket, sometimes it requires the valve cover too), clean up, and enjoy driving it.

[bmwdirtracer]

Yep...valve cover is leaking. I have to recommend that you replace the entire valvecover, not just the gasket, as these plastic covers tend to crack and warp. Pro BMW shops generally won't replace just the gasket for this reason. You'll also want to replace the high pressure fuel pump gasket, the valvetronic seal, and perhaps the vacuum pump seal. The new valve cover probably comes with all except the valvetronic seal.

[xewinga]

holly crap. thanks alot guys. I'll go ahead and replace everything then. I prefer to do it right this time.

[323i E30]

+1 on the leaky valve cover gasket.
Personally I would only replace the valve cover gasket and the other while-we're-in-there gaskets.
From a do it right perspective I can imagine replacing the cover itself too, but that thing is relatively expensive compared to a couple of gaskets.

[bmwdirtracer]

You might be right on this, if the owner is doing it himself. List is about $75 for the gaskets, and ~$440 for the valve cover including gaskets.

That said, a shop can't do just the gaskets, because if it leaks when they're done, it's a five hour job to go back and do it again. And, of course, the customer is really pissed off, because he just paid ~ $775. for a gasket change, and the car's still leaking, and now he's told he's going to have to pay another ~$470 for the valvecover....and somebody's going to lose their shirt on the labor charge too. (If it were my shop, I'd have already told the customer that doing just the gaskets is a huge risk, and if it leaks when we're done, it's on him.)

But absolutely, if someone is doing it himself, and is willing to take the risk he'll have to do it twice, he will save $400.

(About the time you're fighting to see and remove the vacuum pump from the rear of the engine, you'll be wondering if you really ever want to do this job again.)

[BimmerBreaker]

When I was doing those sorts of jobs, on the newer engines (anything N52 era or newer) I would warn the customer that it is common to require a new valve cover and that I would inspect it once it was off, if it was straight, I would just put it back together with the original valve cover. If there was any question at all, I would tell them I recommended a new valve cover and if they refused I would tell them I couldn't warranty the work and if it has to come off again they will pay labor cost twice. On models with the integrated CCV, if the car had any issues related possibly to a CCV system like excessive smoking, I would also advise replacing the valve cover to try to remediate that issue.

So my vote is order all the gaskets and stuff from a source with a friendly return policy, inspect the cover thoroughly when it's removed, then determine if you need a new cover once its off. If you can't have any downtime on the car waiting for a new cover, you could order a new cover upfront and return it if you don't need it...