911 please help

[94bmw540i]

I am in the middle of replacing 540i spark plugs (8). As soon as I opened it up I saw a lot of oil and all the spark plugs after taking them out were wet with oil. I have platinum 4 spark plugs and not sure should I go ahead and install it or install old ones after cleaning. Has anyone changed a valve cover gasket if so how much damage I am looking at and time that I need to put in it.

Thanks for your help

[winfred]

oil at the plugs means it's time for new valve cover gaskets. personally i am not a fan of bosch platnum plugs because of the tiny surface mount center electrode is prone to fowling, the bosch F7LDCR or ngk BKR6EK work great and last 30-40k miles

[94bmw540i]

Thanks for the response on my query earlier. I am in kind of a fix right now- its getting late and I am not sure with the oil that I saw when I opened up the spark plugs:
a. Should I go ahead replace them (spark plugs) with new ones that I have?
b. Should the old spark plugs be OK for now till I get around (I will be driving minimally) to getting the valve cover gasket replaced.

I would really appreciate a quick response on this.
Thanks.

[632 Regal]

your platinum plugs suck! period. you should be prepared to change the gasket and clean all the wire leads, electrolisis does finny stuff after a time.

[94bmw540i]

So are you saying that I should not drive the car till I get the gasket and the lead wire's replaced, correct?

If yes, then can you let me know the effort/ money involved in changing the valve cover gasket.

I appreciate your help on this.
Thanks.

[winfred]

you can drive on it for a short while but the rubber boots on the bottom of the coils will eventually turn to goo and need to be replaced. the gaskets take about 15-20 minutes more a side to do then just swapping the plugs, i can't remember the price of the gaskets but there not much, id wait to do the plugs when you do the gaskets so you don't do most of the same work twice

[tim s]

when i replaced my valve cover gaskets we had to install 2 heli coils because they over tightened them.
tim s.

[winfred]

i just did a 94 318 that who ever did the profile gasket had no clue what so ever, i put 17 coils in that head, thank god he didn't get into the lower timming cover, i think i used up about all the 6mm heli coils in a 10 mile radious around the shop

when i replaced my valve cover gaskets we had to install 2 heli coils because they over tightened them.
tim s.

[94bmw540i]

I took the car today as that the only one I have and had no time to fix except weekend. The dealer said that the cyl head & wall are losing it and hence the oil enters above the cover. Additionally, he added that this could have happened because of Nikasil issue. My car has 129K miles and I guess I have to say good bye. I am still hoping to give it a shot and replace gasket and plug at my convenience and see if it makes a difference. The engine is real shaky and I am afraid to drive it for several city miles ata stretch. I am going to read up more on Nikasil, meanwhile if someone has any suggestin for me please pass them along.

Thanks

[632 Regal]

I think either you have no clue as to what he told you or a more likely scenereo id the dealer is out to Fu$$k you.

Nikasil is a compression issue not an "oil around the plug" issue.

your engine is skakey cause you have a *miss* which is either a coil, a boot, or a plug. A less likly thing could be an injector.

Nikasil is a bad thing if it's bad, thats it. Plenty of people on here have them and they run on, me for one. The metalurgy involved gets real deep and its too spooky once you know you have a Nikasil block thats why it took me 6 months to check it, then I had a hard time . Time passes and as it runs flawlessly it's just a memory.

After I bought the car I went to cure the miss, thats when I read about Nikasil, anyways replaced the plugs, injectors AND coils...NO fix! Eventualy I bought the plug boots and the whole miss is completley gone! Was a waste of money on the coils and injectors but still a LOT less than a short block.