My girlfriend has a 1995 325i with the 6 cylinder. The valve cover gasket is leaking and the shop she has it at right now wants to charge her $250 to replace it and is telling her it's 'urgent'. I called the dealership and they say it's not urgent, which is what I thoght. Anyway, has anyone here ever replace the valve cover gasket on one of these? If so, how hard is it to do? Any special tools?
O/T BMW question
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It's no big deal. 'bout the same as any other cover gasket. I've done the one on my 325i in an hour or so.
The only urgency is that oil *could* drip onto the exhaust, causing an engine fire. Unlikely, but possible. $250 is a bit much. I would charge $60 plus the gasket for it if it were in my shop.
The only urgency is that oil *could* drip onto the exhaust, causing an engine fire. Unlikely, but possible. $250 is a bit much. I would charge $60 plus the gasket for it if it were in my shop.
Yeah, the dealship wanted $450 and they said the same thing you did, that the only danger could be the dripping. Now, this thing apparenly is a 3 piece gasket and there are also gaskets for each spark plug as they go through the cover. Does this sound right?
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You should be able to pull the plugs before pulling the cover and not hurt the plug gaskets.
Also, I don't know if the BMW's are like the newer Hondas, but there is noe torque value for the valve covers. The bolts simply bottom out.
Heres a suggestion, take about $30 of the $300 or so you are saving doing it yourself and get a manual for it. Chilton, Haynes, anything should help. Then, down the road, if something else happens, it is a good chance for you to look like a hero.
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Also, I don't know if the BMW's are like the newer Hondas, but there is noe torque value for the valve covers. The bolts simply bottom out.
Heres a suggestion, take about $30 of the $300 or so you are saving doing it yourself and get a manual for it. Chilton, Haynes, anything should help. Then, down the road, if something else happens, it is a good chance for you to look like a hero.
Thanks for the help guys! I already told her that she needs to buy me the haynes manual. I just saved her another $450 by doing her front brakes (again) this last sunday morning. Did the rears not too long ago. While I'm doing the valve cover I'm also replacing the thermostat housing since it's been leaking. And she has the nerve to tell ME I should get rid of my Jeep and get a "real" car. In the last 5 months she has spent close to $2500 on her wittle beamer, or as I like to call it, her nazi box.
DO NOT GET THE HAYNES MANUAL FOR THE BMW. Get the Bentley manual instead (amazon.com has it, or go to www.mesaperformance.com). The Haynes is worthless. The Bentley is about $45, but it is sooooooooo much better.
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I second peteyg, get Bentley manual - you can get it at dealer ($$), Mesa (as peteyg pointed out), or eBay.
Valve cover gasket is really easy job - if you did it on the Jeep you can do it in the BMW. Also, after replacing thermostat housing make sure that you get all the air bubbles out (I think that 95 325i should have a "valve" on the top of the thermostat housing, but I might be wrong). Gaskets you can get at the dealer ($$$) or numerous websites such as bimmerworld.com (James is very helpful), etc...
HTH,
Igor
84 CJ7
86 325
Valve cover gasket is really easy job - if you did it on the Jeep you can do it in the BMW. Also, after replacing thermostat housing make sure that you get all the air bubbles out (I think that 95 325i should have a "valve" on the top of the thermostat housing, but I might be wrong). Gaskets you can get at the dealer ($$$) or numerous websites such as bimmerworld.com (James is very helpful), etc...
HTH,
Igor
84 CJ7
86 325
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