S65 - How Bad Is My Timing/Valve Cover Leak

Dealers have informed me that my timing/valve cover is leaking - I've known about this for the last year or so although I only put like 3000km on the car a year.

Curious about how bad this is - there are no oil leaks on the floor and no driveability issues. Does this seem like I could get away with driving it for quite a bit longer before replacing the covers?

Have you been monitoring the oil level on the dash? How does the belly pan look? Mine is similar and drips oil out of the drain plug opening. Looks bad and messy, but oil level never changes so it's not a fast leak.

I've been nursing it for two years now and haven't worried about it too much. Plan to do gaskets soon though.

Clean the area and check back. That area is where any spills while filling end up.

Shops like to nit pick and call that a leak when it might not be, they need to properly check the sides below the cover.

Oil is usually also spilled when opening the oil filter housing if care isn't taken to catch it. That is often mistaken as a oil filter housing gasket.

I always recommend cleaning the area and checking back to make sure there is an actual leak.

Agree with posters above. It could also just be the oil filler cap gasket. I would say even if it is a decent leak from multiple places you could nurse that for years, assuming you keep things topped off occasionally. I would plan to get aluminum valve covers eventually and address all the sundry up there, but you have plenty of time.

Thank you all for the advice. I haven't noticed any abnormal oil consumption issues but will clean the area up and observe.

My theory is that keeping the cover clean from oil helps to keep the paint from bubbling.

Dealers will say the darndest things to seek work. I don’t see that picture as weeping as much as just a messy neglected motor. Give it a cleaning and look again in 200-300 miles. Pull your air box out and look at the other side as it’s probably never seen a cleaning and it will give you a better glimpse into actuality. The slightest presence of oil will collect dirt and build up. Back in 2013 when my car was at 25k miles I would always get buildup in these areas. Now that I’m at 282,XXX it is obvious my valve covers are due. I picked up NRW covers with silicone gaskets. I’ll be putting them in soon and I can gurantee I will have some buildup in 500 miles because oil attracts dirt.

First off yours look fine. In a nutshell valve covers/gaskets are a pretty benign maintenance item and should be the lowest priority. You can drive years with a slow leak and be fine, topping off if necessary. I only swapped my gaskets when my warranty covered it, and the MG covers weren’t warped.

To continue this thread, a shop suggesting just replacing the gaskets for now. From what I've been reading online, that seems like a temporary fix and the valve covers should be replaced at the same time. Any thoughts on that and whether I should stick to the original BMW covers?

revaholic wrote

To continue this thread, a shop suggesting just replacing the gaskets for now. From what I've been reading online, that seems like a temporary fix and the valve covers should be replaced at the same time. Any thoughts on that and whether I should stick to the original BMW covers?

Replace the valve covers at the same time the gaskets are replaced. Do NOT reuse the old OEM porous cast magnesium valve covers. Otherwise about 4K miles after doing new gaskets the old covers will still leak, because oil is migrating through the cast magnesium and causes the outer OEM cover paint to bubble and then leak. Hoping this explanation is enough.

DrFerry wrote

Replace the valve covers at the same time the gaskets are replaced. Do NOT reuse the old OEM porous cast magnesium valve covers. Otherwise about 4K miles after doing new gaskets the old covers will still leak, because oil is migrating through the cast magnesium and causes the outer OEM cover paint to bubble and then leak. Hoping this explanation is enough.

Thanks, yes that's totally clear. I guess the decision is whether going with aftermarket or BMW valve covers..

revaholic wrote

Thanks, yes that's totally clear. I guess the decision is whether going with aftermarket or BMW valve covers..

Replacing with OEM doesn’t solve the problem. Replacing with NRW or MLT valve covers does.