[stuartbrown.e90]

So I have recently noticed that my 2009 335 has started to leak excessive amounts of oil all around the valve cover. This is no surprise because the car now has a little over 110k on it and to my knowledge the valve cover has never been replaced. It used to just leak a little oil so I have been putting it off but it is now to the point where you can see a little oil pooling around the cover and can smell it burning through the AC vents inside.
I had the local shop give me a quote from it and it was around 1400$ which is outrageous. I would really rather not pay over 4 times the parts cost in labor so I figured I’ll just do it myself since it’s not an impossible job.
However, I have heard mixed reviews from different people I know about whether I should upgrade to an aluminum valve cover or just stick with getting a new plastic oem one. I know that all the plastic ones eventually warp over time and the gaskets crack, so I am leaning towards an aluminum. Only thing keeping me from doing that is that I have heard that the aluminum ones can warp just as bad as the plastic and they are 150$ more expensive.
Just wanted to know yalls thoughts and see if anyone has any experience/luck with either one or has any opinions.
Thanks

[whyzee125]

Get a new plastic one. The aluminum ones look cool but are pricy, many can't run the engine cover, they resonate noise worse and a lot of them don't seal with the gasket as well.

THe new one's 15+ years old and probably still fine. That's a decent lifespan given that you'll not likely have the car in another 15 years.

[Rob@RB]

To date surprisingly I've heard nothing bad about those dirt cheap OE aluminum replacements, that you can find on Ebay and the like for about $150 which is quite the deal. Just need to disassemble, debur if needed, and ensure is cleaned out. I'd def not go with one of those $700+ aftermarket non-OE style units that have no solid PCV provisions, and have a long history of issues (sealing, porosity, lack of ventilation system support, etc).

Or just get the OE BMW Plastic replacement, they do quite well and last a very long time.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by Rob@RB

Or just get the OE BMW Plastic replacement, they do quite well and last a very long time.

How do the cheap aftermarket covers compare to genuine BMW? Elring (German brand, made in China) is half the price of genuine BMW (made in Austria.)

I usually trust the OE brands, but I have a defective coolant reservoir in dealing with, plastic sized incorrectly, so I'm leaning towards just paying for the genuine valve cover.

[whyzee125]

Originally Posted by lowrydr310

How do the cheap aftermarket covers compare to genuine BMW? Elring (German brand, made in China) is half the price of genuine BMW (made in Austria.)

I usually trust the OE brands, but I have a defective coolant reservoir in dealing with, plastic sized incorrectly, so I'm leaning towards just paying for the genuine valve cover.

The aftermarket ones have proven to be just fine. I almost never run OE or aftermarket plastic parts, I only go Genuine BMW. Rads, cooling hoses, gaskets, alwas go genuine.


Enough reviews convinced me to go with the Uro valve cover off RockAuto and it's been perfect. I ran a genuine gasket just for good measure but it was like $150 and looked identical to the Genuine BMW I took off.

[sparkyte]

Elring one is fine. I had it for 2 years already with zero leaks.