A must do 4 V8 owners

[GJPinAU]

To cut a long story short:
If you have a V8 then your plastic engine cover will be held on by a system of (very expensive) rubber mounted posts and nuts to fasten the cover down.
After having my new posts destroyed by a break-down service guy (bit heavy handed!) I thought I'd just leave the cover off.
Spoke to my indy about this and he (Rob, at Bee Ems) had said it was a pity they weren't fastened the same as the E39 system. This led to some investigation, comparing his E38 740's (similar to E39) cover with mine.
...and guess what!
(you need the posts from the E38 cover - thanks to Sydney Rough-Diamond)

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/6879/0001272do7.th.jpg (http://img265.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0001272do7.jpg) http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/7937/0001274gz1.th.jpg (http://img265.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0001274gz1.jpg) http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/9550/0001273iw2.th.jpg (http://img444.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0001273iw2.jpg)

To fasten the cover now, I just push down on the top of the syringe style fasteners and to release, just push the button on top of each one.

Cost to me was about AU$100 plus the experience of fitting it myself.
Believe me, this is the easiest thing I've ever had to do on this car.

cheers,
Greg

[Macv]

Holy crap, I had this idea but didn't think it would work.

Do I just order the e39 clips?

[GJPinAU]

Holy crap, I had this idea but didn't think it would work.

Do I just order the e39 clips?
That's it.
Get a copy from OEM for both set ups to compare.
I used a (we call them) hack saw blade to cut the buckets from the cover and found the "C" clips fit perfect.

[bimmerd00d]

nice find! I dont believe the cover is the same, so dont think you can grab the cover itself from a junkyard and fit it. It's different towards the firewall where the e39 has the microfilters.

[GJPinAU]

nice find! I dont believe the cover is the same, so dont think you can grab the cover itself from a junkyard and fit it. It's different towards the firewall where the e39 has the microfilters.
I used the original cover, just drilled out the holes to fit with a small grinding wheel and cut the underneath off with a saw blade.
The positioning of the holes in the cover(s) are the same on each, but the actual covers are different on each model (E34, E39 and E38).
I'm really happy with this as my original cover was broken on one mount and gluing didn't seem to work too well.

[compmore]

good to know one of mine is broken rob had my car tuesday/wednesday this week

geoff

[Elekta]

how much is a new cover? I think it would put lipstick on the engine compartment beautifully, that with the snap on feature would be a nice upgrade if not to pricey. Is it under a $100? $200?

[Boom n Zoom]

That is brilliant Greg!

I have one of the cover posts broken off so now I can get these parts and carry out a refit.

You don't have the Part number by any chance do you?

[genphreak]

Nice one... talk about INNOVATION Stations.
I''m surprised this wasn't done years ago. Best write it up with diagrams and part numbers Greg... or someone else will and claim your credit! :) Nick

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

Nice find. Have one of the plastic cover tabs broken, and 3 missing mounting brackets.

[GJPinAU]

how much is a new cover? I think it would put lipstick on the engine compartment beautifully, that with the snap on feature would be a nice upgrade if not to pricey. Is it under a $100? $200?
The cost of a new cover is AU$1200. The original posts were around $70 (a pair or each?) and you've got 4 of them, always thought it was a bloody rip-off!

I really think this should have been a re-call by BMW, as it is a far superior set up, and a cheap fix.

[GJPinAU]

Nice one... talk about INNOVATION Stations.
I''m surprised this wasn't done years ago. Best write it up with diagrams and part numbers Greg... or someone else will and claim your credit! :) Nick
I've thrown the wrappers away!
Here's reference from RealOEM:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=DN62&mospid=47548&btnr=11_1592&hg=11&fg=55

The only difference is the brackets that mount to the engine aren't joined together, each one is separate (see my pics on first post).

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

Ok, just to drag this up again, I got the parts from the dealer today. Problem is I asked for the brackets from an E39 540 and got two brackets as per the ETK shot,and not 4 individual parts. This pair of brackets won't fit correctly as they are different hights and raise the cover an inch or so higher.
Looking at the ETK again, I searched under a late E38 740 and found the 4 posts listed for this model. So I'm guessing this is what you need.
Pity, because the clips work well and the whole cover just unclips in no time at all.

[GJPinAU]

Ok, just to drag this up again, I got the parts from the dealer today. Problem is I asked for the brackets from an E39 540 and got two brackets as per the ETK shot,and not 4 individual parts. This pair of brackets won't fit correctly as they are different hights and raise the cover an inch or so higher.
Looking at the ETK again, I searched under a late E38 740 and found the 4 posts listed for this model. So I'm guessing this is what you need.
Pity, because the clips work well and the whole cover just unclips in no time at all.
Damn, didn't know that!:(
My indy got the parts for me and I had to fit them.

Can you take them back and swap for the 740 posts?

I might edit original post to highlight the 740 parts.
thanks,
Greg

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

Damn, didn't know that!:(
My indy got the parts for me and I had to fit them.

Can you take them back and swap for the 740 posts?

I might edit original post to highlight the 740 parts.
thanks,
Greg

Is there a chance you could measure the hight of the brackets on yours so I could cut mine to fit ? It's no big problem,and will rescue my broken engine cover which had a boken mounting point and 4 broken posts. This conversion covers the broken hole and comes off in no time.

[GJPinAU]

Is there a chance you could measure the hight of the brackets on yours so I could cut mine to fit ? It's no big problem,and will rescue my broken engine cover which had a boken mounting point and 4 broken posts. This conversion covers the broken hole and comes off in no time.
They are 78mm high.
How are you going to cut them?

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

They are 78mm high.
How are you going to cut them?

It shouldn't be too hard to remove the metal that links the two and then cut down the barcket to be 78mm. They will bolt in place as is,but are all too high and they are also angled slightly.Thanks for taking the time to check for me. :)

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

Just as an update, I needed to order some other parts from the local dealer, so ordered the correct single post brackets as they were cheap. £2.56 for each post and £2.09 for each plunger type lock.
I used the online ETK to to find the correct postion for each post, but numbers 4 and 5 are shown in the wrong postions. After a swap, the cover dropped in place perfect, and the new system saved me from buying another as one of the countersunk holes in the cover was broken,and these have to be removed to use the new system.
Here's a couple of pics of the broken cover and how I cut all four holes. Note that the reinforced ribbing around each hole has two raised parts a few mm higher left. The C clip on the new lock sits tight up against this and is what holds it firmly in place - do not cut flush !

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/bmgm3/100_1759.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/bmgm3/100_1766.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/bmgm3/100_1764.jpg

[yaofeng]

I have to drag this up again as I was mad as hell yesterday breaking all four brand new 540 engine cover supports I bought a month ago trying to remove the cover.

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/393930

Let me understand the solution for these inferior parts is to get #2 through #6 in the following link and modify the engine cover?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=GF83&mospid=47528&btnr=11_2282&hg=11&fg=55

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

I have to drag this up again as I was mad as hell yesterday breaking all four brand new 540 engine cover supports I bought a month ago trying to remove the cover.

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/393930

Let me understand the solution for these inferior parts is to get #2 through #6 in the following link and modify the engine cover?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=GF83&mospid=47528&btnr=11_2282&hg=11&fg=55

Yep.But don't go mad when opening up the existing holes. Look at the back of the cover and see what I did with mine. You need to leave some 'meat' on there for the C-clip to hold the new plungers in place. get it wrong and your cover will be scrap.