any gasket silicone sealant should work fine

 

All the DIYs I've read suggest using a high temp gasket sealant.
I think you should be fine

 

What you have should be fine, just use it sparingly. FWIW, Drei Bond is German for Three Bond, a popular adhesive/sealant company. I used to use Yamaha's Yamabond sealants, but they were replaced with Three Bond equivalents. Honestly, they look and work like the Yamabond stuff that I wouldn't be surprised if it was Three Bond in a Yamaha tube all along.

 

same her. I used the high temo sealant. It should be fine. Make sure the 15 nuts are all tight.

 

I completed the valve cover change today. What a PITA! My gasket was so brittle and the valve seals around spark plugs stuck to the block and I had to break them in pieces with a small screwdriver to the them off. No wonder this thing leaked! I ended up using small amout of silicone but it did not look like BMW put anything in the factory. Anyways; thanks for all the help.

 

I recently replaced mine and used the exact same gasket maker you did. Worked like a charm. Mine wasn't as birttle as yours, but it had been leaking a while and cleaning the gunk off the heatsheild was the PITA of my install. Glad that everything worked out fine for you.

 

Compare to other cars. It's pretty straight forward and easy.

I've worked on other cars that requires removing the intake manifold, which you then have to remove the fuel and emission connection, and then there's coolant piping. All that just to lift out the valve covers. Then hopefully when you put back the gasket, the cam plugs didn't slip off otherwise you have to do it again. Of course you wouldn't find out until after running the engine.

 

yeah...not really a pita...its actually pretty easy

 

I did mine a month ago, I did apply a bit of silicone to the half moon areas. My gasket did the same, stuck to the block around the plugs. Glad I changed it... no leaks and no smoke since then! Was a little intimidating DIY first time around... I could do it in a breeze now!

 

I agree that the job is not difficult but it should be mentioned that in some cases the gasket will be very dry and will not come off clean and it will take additional time to get it out off the valve cover and in my case the spark plug gaskets stuck to the block and had to be dealt with very carefully so no debri end up in the engine.

 

+1 on the not difficult thing... but then again... ive changed a head gasket on my e46... so my levels of difficulty may be different from yours. haha.

 

Although the job isn't hard, there are too many things involved. I forgot to put gasket sealant in the rear half moons, and not sure if I will have leaks. But I am not going to open up the cover again until 20k miles time when I am due for replacing the spark plugs for inspection 2.

 

Not to thread jack but I was confused as well when trying to find the sealant. All I could find initially was gasket maker (Permatex.) I finally found Permatex sealant at Pep Boys. Can anyone chime in on the difference between Permatex sealant and Permatex gasket maker? Thanks.

 

Valve cover gasket is my first DIY. I used permatex sealant because I already installed the valve cover gasket so i dont have use for permatex gasket.

 

Did my valve gasket cover just a minute ago...how much sealant did you use? I just put some on the half moon areas and the ends is that enough? I have not tightened yet.

 

How did you manage to remove the valve cover??

I'm also in the same boat, already removed all the nuts and things but the darn cover seems to be stuck with super glue and there is not enough space to pry it at different points...

HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO REMOVE THE VALVE COVER??

 

You have to be man enough to tell that valve cover who's daddy, and pry or yank the hell out of it. The engine metal is soft. You have to be careful not to do too much damage.

 

You have to be man enough to tell that valve cover who's daddy, and pry or yank the hell out of it.

lmao i actually sometimes use that technique before too! haha! just gotta get down and mental! insane in the membrane! haha

 

This double vanos repair procedure will guide you through the valve cover gaskets repair.
http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/vanos_procedure.htm

 

good stuff

 

As for the sealants, most chain store brands are actually the same as Permatex if you are having trouble finding Permatex brand sealants. In my area there are a lot of CarQuest shops and on the back of Carquest brand sealant it has the Permatex logo. So flip the tube over before you buy it and save a buck or two. It's just like buying applesauce. :thumbsup: