[E9Slow]

Originally Posted by cybermgm23

You're valve cover itself may also be cracked. I recently took my 2011 328i to the dealer for an oil change (76K mi) and they told me that the VCG had failed and the VC itself was cracked. They also replaced the oil pan gasket and the OFHG as well. All under extended warranty. It seems that BMW gaskets don't hold up long and the VC is made of hardened plastic....on a $47K vehicle no less.....

Yeah that's my larger concern for sure, that's not really in the budget right now after all I've spent so far on other things, but if it has to be done... I'm definitely going to go over it thoroughly, I hope the cracks will be obvious so I don't accidentally miss them and end up having to do the job twice...

I don't know who thought it would be brilliant to change to a hard plastic valve cover setup (as I see older models and some still have the metal/aluminum ones sometimes). My biggest frustration is how well known and common this issue is, but it's only taken care of under warranty. That's the biggest downside to this car, buying it from a private dealer with their minimal warranty (which has long since expired) even with my relatively low miles for an '07 (83k). So basically, unless it becomes a recall, I'm SOL. However for what we paid for this car, I suppose we can't really complain; we basically stole it (dealer was a friend).