2005 Z4 pics attached, need new rocker cover gasket?

Hi Guys,

Bit of smoke from under the bonnet after leaving the car for a couple of days without driving. Quickly burns off, but smells like oil while it does. I've taken some pics of an oily looking region on the engine, is this indicative of needing a new gasket or something else? Whats a reasonable price for work and parts seeing as I'm not really skilled in this area whatsoever and don't want to break it!

Thanks guys!

A good Indy shop should be in the 300-400 range depending on where you live.

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Great thanks. Anybody know if that is the most likely cause of the oil?

Originally Posted by invmonkey

Great thanks. Anybody know if that is the most likely cause of the oil?

You mean other than leaking past the profile (valve cover) gasket?

I was just wondering if the valve cover was the most likely culprit or if there were other potential sources of the problem

Hey, My 2004 Z4 did the same thing. It was the valve cover gasket. Got one off of the net and replaced it myself. The old one was a mess ! It fell apart in my hands. Good luck !

Originally Posted by invmonkey

I was just wondering if the valve cover was the most likely culprit or if there were other potential sources of the problem

Sorry, from the title of your thread and the responses, it sounded like you already knew about this well-known leak. I have this same minor leak on my M54 and need to replace the profile gasket at the next opportunity.

As an aside, in the old days when we had to adjust the valves periodically on almost every car, which required removing the valve covers, we were routinely replacing the valve cover gasket(s) so everyone had experience doing this "repair" (and I still get this experience with my 1972 911). We've gotten spoiled about this source of oil leaks.

When you replace the valve cover gaskit you also have 15 rubber grommets that are under the valve cover gasket bolts that should also be replaced. There are also 2 more gaskits that surround the spark plug holes that also need to be replaced. You see these 2 when the valve cover is removed. If you purchase a quality gaskit kit these will all come together. I purchased mine out of the motors section on ebay, got a great price on it and it was a quality gaskit kit. Later.

Really appreciate the advice.

I have been really busy at work so instead of doing it myself I took it to a local garage to sort it out. They're known to be quite reliable, however I'm starting to think this may have been a mistake. They replaced the cover gasket, but a few weeks later and I am finding the same problem happening again.

Is there anything else that can cause these symptoms or am I looking at a case of them not really carrying out the work correctly?

Thanks again