MitchBMW

Woke up the other morning to oil droppings on the floor of my garage... I didn't have a low oil warning light though. But I took it to my indy shop and got a call saying my Valve Cover Gaskets need to be changed!! How bad is this? I'm going to have him change my plugs as well, and roughly we are talking $1300. Good, or bad?

BTW.. I have a 05 545.. with 106K miles on it.

Thanks in advance.

Jim165

Neither good nor bad, just normal for the 545s, especially at that mileage. Do a search on oil leak and you'll see what I mean..

turboawd

i think there is a seal by the alternator bracket that is a common leak. have your mechanic check that also.

MitchBMW

Thanks guys...

toyota2bmw

The valve cover gaskets shouldn't be leaking that bad enough where you see it on the floor. The alternator gasket, however, can become a serious leak once it starts. Here are things to look for

Upper timing chain cover (both left and right banks)
Alternator bracket gasket (Behind the alternator bracket and must lift the engine to replace)
Valve cover gaskets (Not easy to do as the valve covers are NOT easy to remove)
Vanos O-Rings (Two on each bank and they are just rubber seals)

I've DIY'd all of these with the help of a couple very skilled members here. The biggest PITA is the bracket gasket. Kinda wish you were in SoCal. PM member HealthServices for advice. He's the MAN.

MitchBMW

Thank you Sir!!! Trust me.. I wish I were in SoCal also :-)

pjinca

+1000 on what Toyota2BMW said, I helped him with the bracket gasket, it wasn't fun, but at least we still had fun.

Margal

I am going to fix all these oil leaks but was wondering if I have to replace the engine mounts also once the engine is lifted? As I see they are hydraulic and not cheep. Do they get bad? I do not feel any shake of engine at this time.

leese8080

Alternator bracket gasket - is this specific for the N62 engine or I assume all other engines have this rubber gasket?

BimmerFan52

Specific to N62B44 engine (545i). It covers the hole left when BMW removed the oil cooler. Same engine on 745i used the oil cooler but they left it off the 545i. Lack of space, cost, who knows? But it was a criminally stupid thing to do because it ends up leaking on every 545i eventually.