Valve Cover Pics - BMW Z4

[Scout1]

2003 Z4 with the 3L (M54) motor. Low miles at 44k but started weeping a little oil on the exhaust manifold from the valve cover so it was time to replace the valve cover gasket! Not a tough job with very easy access as you can see on this car. I'm the second owner and the original owner took it in yearly for dealer oil changes but he sold it to me with 15k miles so he wasn't putting many miles on between changes. I do 4k changes which is works out to be about 1 year. Clean as a whistle! Current fill is Pennzoil Euro 5w/40 but I've had GC 0w30 in there most of the time.

 

[aquariuscsm]

That's clean!

 

[RooflessVW]

Very nice!

 

[PimTac]

That’s about as clean as you can get. Those are really nice motors.

 

[Nick1994]

Looks great

Is that something written on the camshaft?

 

[Dino01]

Lies...


This engine has never been started before and must be a new crate motor

 

[demarpaint]

It doesn't get much better than that!

 

[ARB1977]

Boring, lol.

 

[ZZman]

Looks very nice

 

[Scout1]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Looks great

Is that something written on the camshaft?


Yeah, I noticed that too. I have no idea what it means, must have been assembled that way... Maybe somebody knows?

 

[Scout1]

Originally Posted By: JEL01
Lies...


This engine has never been started before and must be a new crate motor


Ha ha... yeah, it kinda looks that way doesn't it? I see pics of these motors where people go the full 10k or more miles between oil changes and that at least creates a lot of varnish. Short changes like this car has had really makes it sparkle inside. I doubt it makes too much difference on longevity but hey, at $2 per qt. for full synthetic at the annual Autozone sale, why not?

 

[mx5miata]

that's a beauty. wow real clean looks like it just rolled off the assembly line.

 

[Audios]

Great engines as long as they dont overheat. Had one in with 337k on it the other day, 2000 323i.

 

[Scout1]

Originally Posted By: Audios
Great engines as long as they dont overheat. Had one in with 337k on it the other day, 2000 323i.


Nice! Any advice on preventing overheating? Like I said, this one has really low miles but I've dumped the antifreeze twice due to age. No problems so far with the cooling system but I've heard others say it's a weak spot. Any preventive maintenance I should be considering on that?

 

[Linctex]

Modern oils are amazing!

 

[simple_gifts]

Quote:

It doesn't get much better than that!


Except when you don't have to change the VCG after 44K. j/k.

Guys/Gals it looks clean, but it is 44K not 244K. That is
Thanks to the OP for taking the time to snap some shots.

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: Scout1
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Is that something written on the camshaft?


Yeah, I noticed that too. I have no idea what it means, must have been assembled that way... Maybe somebody knows?


It's rubber stamped yellow epoxy paint.

MOST likely it's the batch/lot number of the cores, prior to machining.

 

[Scout1]

Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Quote:

It doesn't get much better than that!


Except when you don't have to change the VCG after 44K. j/k.



Only 44k but also 15 years! I think these gaskets are more of an age/heat kind of thing before they start leaking. Not sure why but the leaky VCG is sort of a standard BMW thing from what I've heard. My gasket wasn't hardened too bad but certainly not as flexible as the new FelPro I used...

 

[Dave1027]

Here's my M54 on Mobil 1 0w40

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Looks nice and clean