Pictures under valve cover 176k BMW M52

[Connorb]

I replaced my leaking valve cover gasket today and thought I would share some pictures. The car is a BMW 328i (M52 engine) with 176k miles. This car had close to 10k mile OCIs for the first 150k by the previous owner. I was pretty impressed with how clean everything looked...

 

[The Critic]

What model yr M52?

 

[buster]

1996? Conventional oil? Really clean.

 

[Connorb]

Yes, 1996. Oil brand/type for the first 150k is unknown. The only records I have are the service book stamps with OCIs in the 10k range.

I bought the car around 150k and used M1 10W-30 until 170k. I am on my first fill of M1 10W-40 HM right now.

 

[duaneb9729]

it looks like new!

 

[davestlouis]

Does the M52 have that VANOS setup? I watched a tech replace the seals in a VANOS recently, the owner swore it idled much better afterward and felt like it ran stronger.

 

[shortyb]

Exactly how mine looked when I did my V/C gasket. Less than half that milage, but OCIs were 15K. Previous owner used the BMW oil and I have used GC since 45K.

 

[Johnny]

Most impressive. The Mobil 1 0W-40 would also be a good oil for this application.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Looks great, looks just like what my engine looked like when I pulled the valve cover. Nice and clean

 

[Connorb]

Originally Posted By: davestlouis
Does the M52 have that VANOS setup? I watched a tech replace the seals in a VANOS recently, the owner swore it idled much better afterward and felt like it ran stronger.

Yes, it has single VANOS. I think the newer BMWs (99 and up?) with the M52TU have problems with the seals.

 

[wavinwayne]

Very nice. Thanks for posting the pics.

I'll be replacing the VC gasket on my '00 GTI 1.8T sometime this year, and I'll be sure to post pics.

 

[Touring5]

Looks outstanding.

When I did a VC gasket replacemtn on my M52TU a couple of months ago, I was glad to see little evidence of sludge (third owner of this car). However, mine had quite a bit of yellowish varnish in there - yours seems free of either.

After a ARX treatment a year or so ago, I'm running LC20 in my current fill to (hopefully) clean the varnish. I don't know how realistic it is, but I'd like to see mine end up like yours.

 

[sprintman]

2,100kms into clean on E46 325CI (M52??) with Group III. Oil is dirtier than the 8,000kms old M1 0W40 that was drained. Runs much better too.

 

[98dakarM3]

The M52 is quite a motor! In both performance and stamina. Your looks like it has lots of life left.

 

[Connorb]

Originally Posted By: Touring5
Looks outstanding.

When I did a VC gasket replacemtn on my M52TU a couple of months ago, I was glad to see little evidence of sludge (third owner of this car). However, mine had quite a bit of yellowish varnish in there - yours seems free of either.

After a ARX treatment a year or so ago, I'm running LC20 in my current fill to (hopefully) clean the varnish. I don't know how realistic it is, but I'd like to see mine end up like yours.


Just curious, how many miles are on your car and do you know what the OCIs were for the life of the car?

 

[Touring5]

Mine's a '99 528iT with 95K miles. I suspect that both previous owners followed the service lights for OCI.

When I bought the car, the previous owner did supply some service records - both his, and the original owner's. Two OC's were shown as being done by the local BMW dealership. However, when I first took possession of the car, I noticed that the oil was pretty black (even though there were 2 lights on the dash) and there was some red crud on the filler cap and dipstick. I've learned that the red stuff is fairly common, but did the ARX just to be safe. I did find some black particles in the filter during the ARX treatment, but nothing like sludge. When I had the valve cover off I noticed some minor buildup around the front of the engine atop the vanos unit - presumably because of little oil flow in that area.

I've run nothing but GC since finishing the ARX rinse phase, and my stash should last for about another 18 months.

 

[ARB1977]

Nice pictures. Clean engine and clean engine compartment.

 

[Connorb]

Touring5: I always have the red crud on the filler cap and around the oil fill hole, just not the dipstick. Was the red buildup removed with the ARX treatment? Did you notice any change in the way the engine runs after the ARX?

 

[Craig in Canada]

The red crud seems to be a direct result of the use of BMW 5W30. I believe it's a particular additive that Castrol uses in some of the lineup so it could happen from some other Castrol products too.

My dad's 540 used 5W30 for most of its life and had/has red crud. First we used LC20 in GC, then ARX in Rotella-T, now GC with maint dose of ARX. Most of the evidence of the red crud is gone after these two treatments. His HLA clatter and rod knock is also gone

 

[Touring5]

Originally Posted By: Connorb
Touring5: I always have the red crud on the filler cap and around the oil fill hole, just not the dipstick. Was the red buildup removed with the ARX treatment? Did you notice any change in the way the engine runs after the ARX?


The ARX cleaned all the buildup off of the plastic end of the dipstick. It had no effect on the cap or filler area. I read once that the red crud was due to lack of oil flow in the filler and cap area (because of the baffle) - likely from the BMW oil. I suspect that is the reason for seeing a small amount of crud toward the front end of the vanos unit (little oil flow) on my engine. I've seen several other pictures on Bimmerfest and other sites that showed similar varnish to what my car has, so I'm not overly concerned about it.

I didn't notice any change in engine performancd after the ARX treatment. That, combined with not finding any sludge in the filters, reassured me that the previous owners hadn't neglected the car too much.