[marvar]

Hey guys I'm reaching out to ask people who know a lot about the engine and I am thinking of upgrading to a aluminum cover since I heard the plastic ones are terrible and get messed up over time, i changed the gasket recently and I think the diaphragm is messed up because I am getting codes p052b (camshaft timing over retarded on bank b) and p054b (same thing but other bank a) and a vacuum leak Please reach out if you know which are good valve covers ( I know the good gasket is the elring)

[StradaRedlands]

The aluminum valve covers from Amazon or eBay have some negative feedback for not being cleaned out properly after manufacture. There are reports of of millings and pieces of aluminum left in them. They may have tightened up the mfg process since then, but the damage to their reputation has been done. While a cool concept, the general consensus is to avoid them.

I've never really heard the genuine BMW or quality aftermarket ones being considered terrible. That honor goes again to cheap Amazon/Ali/ebay ones. Elring is considered the go-to aftermarket replacement. Rock Auto currently has them for $162 and they should last 80-100k miles.

Good luck with the project, it's not that bad of a job.

[marvar]

Gotcha stradaredlands i will definitely look into that and the elring valve cover thank you so much 🙏

[mainbearing]

Yes, after looking at the aftermarket aluminum replacements on Amazon and eBay I decided to just use a plastic replacement off Rockauto. There are many brands such as Elring, Rein, etc. I used Uro with a new Mahle oil filler cap (the round one is the updated one, I had the square but was new at the time).

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

Yes, after looking at the aftermarket aluminum replacements on Amazon and eBay I decided to just use a plastic replacement off Rockauto. There are many brands such as Elring, Rein, etc. I used Uro with a new Mahle oil filler cap (the round one is the updated one, I had the square but was new at the time).

Those aluminum ones sound great in theory, but too many stories about problems with them. Good call sticking with plastic-fantastic, hopefully the Uro one works great for you!