[Pauloxxi]

Does B48 Valve Cover Gasket also leaks like on N20 and N52 engines?
Three BMWs passed my and my wife hands. Two E90 and one F30.
All of them had oil leak on valve cover gasket. One of the E90 beyond that had leak on oil pan and leak on the oil filter manifold.
What a crappy engineering work on these cars.
My wife F30 with N20 engine had oil leak at 36,000 and just above 5 years of usage (they fixed under warranty).
So... I would like to see if our members are aware of any improvement for B48 or if we are dealing with the same quality level?
Thanks

[Pauloxxi]

Seems great... no replies at all. B48 engine seems to be a great replacement for N20.

[yupetc]

B48 engines are fairly new and without 3 more years, we won't know. But I can tell you that it doesn't matter how they make these gaskets, they will come down to start leaking simply because of heat and oxidation which will eventually make the gaskets very brittle and prone to cracking. It bums me out that in order to change the valvecover gasket, you'll need quite some sets of special tools to get this work done. The injectors must come out with those special tools and the cam VVT actuators will need a special size spanner, though spanner wrench will do if you can get the angles worked out. And on top of that, once your injectors do come out, you'll need to install new teflon seal going back in, guess what, those seals need special tools, too. Luckily I have them all.

[Pauloxxi]

Based on your comments, apparently B48 valve cover gaskets require more labor to replace than N20. Am I right?

[Solidjake]

All gaskets leak. It will eventually need to be replaced

[Pauloxxi]

Originally Posted by Solidjake

All gaskets leak. It will eventually need to be replaced

Yes. I agree. Nothing last forever... However, should not leak at 36,000 miles on a 5 years old car... Luckily they fixed for free... but it is still a bad feeling for an expensive car. They have options for better materials, but likely they choose cheaper grades and leave us in this situation. I work in automotive and I know the pressure to reduce cost.