Ok so here's the deal. I need to know what kind of a problem a valve gasket oil leak is, on a 2000 328 BMW. How much will it cost to fix? Is it bad to keep driving the car. Guy says the valve gasket is leaking oil. Also Brakes will be needed in about 6 months.. What will I be looking at? Thanks in advance!

 

I wouldnt drive it far. Get it replaced.

Heres a DIY: http://www.bmw330ci.net/maintenance/valve.php
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...e+cover+gasket


Independent shop shouldnt be more than $200..is my guess.

 

It depends how bad the leak is. Some will be a drop or two a day while others can be a quart or two a day. It's a very easy DIY project, and I wouldn't be too worried about driving it unless it was leaking a lot of oil. My car had a leak that amounted to very little oil over 4,000 miles however it was enough to cause the smell of smoke when stopped with the windows up or down.

 

A valve cover gasket is easy on this car. Just did one on my sister's 97 328i about a month ago. There are several DIYs on the web that I looked at in case there was some type of trick to doing it but it's pretty straightforward. It took me longer to get the hard, brittle gasket off the valve cover than it took me to do the job in the first place. Here's the link I looked at before I started on it.

http://www.dvatp.com/bmw/diy/valve_cover_gasket/

 

^ this.

Always go to e46fantatics .com first for this information. Great source.