Leaking V/C Gasket and Misfires

[Lawaia]

Last week I noticed that the 540i was idling a bit rough, feels like a cylinder or two was misfiring (intermittent non-rhythmic thumping). According to the service history the Inspection II was completed in March of this year which should have included spark plugs. But being skeptical I wanted to check to see that the plugs was not fouled. Well after removing the cosmetic "BMW" cover I was shocked to see how much oil was in the plug wells. Some plugs were drowning in the stuff. Well I removed each BREMI, cleaned it out with electrical contact cleaner, soaked up all the oil and reassembled. The misfire is close to being gone but I know I've got to replace the V/C gaskets. How difficult is this job going to be? I have a decent set of tools and am fairly mechanical. Should I go for it and if so, what are some things I should look out for? Any "GOTCHAS" on this job? Anything else I should be changing while I got her opened up?
'97 540i/6 w/68k miles.
Thanks guys.
Randy

[Tyrone]

I will be replacing my valve cover gaskets soon as well. I would also recommend replacing the 22 rubber rings on the bolts. It's probably not necessary to replace the gaskets for the plastic covers, but I bought those anyway to keep with the gasket replacing mood. There really isn't much else to replace there, so you should be set. No real gotchas that I'm aware of either.

Hylomar HPF is what I'm going to use as gasket dressing, which is what my dealer uses. There are only a few places where it needs to be applied, which you can see in that last link. I'll try to do a photo writeup during the whole process.

http://www.permatex.com/auto/autouh.asp?automotive=yes&f_call=get_item&item_no=25249

http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e38/forum.php?postid=4306850&page=1
http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e31/forum.php?postid=4315577&page=1
http://www.e38.org/images/TIS/valve_cover_replacement.jpg

[DSPTurtle]

A photo writeup would be a beautiful addition to the DIY forum!!!

[Lawaia]

Thanks Tyrone! :thumbup: