M88 vs S38 valve cover gaskets

Specific conversations and info for the BMW E28 M5 and M535i.
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alabbasi
Posts: 172
Joined: Aug 18, 2013 9:07 PM

M88 vs S38 valve cover gaskets

Post by alabbasi »

All

Realoem shows two valve cover gaskets for my car:

11 Gasket Asbestos Free 1 11121312172 $39.97 Cat=Yes
11 Gasket Asbestos Free 1 11121317689 $42.97 Cat=No

My car has a cat, but I'm not sure if it was installed during the federalization process. Are these P# interchangable?

My car is an 85 BMW M635CSI VIN ends with 105718
Rich Euro M5
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Location: Klein, Texas

Post by Rich Euro M5 »

If you have an M88/3 engine you want the Cat=No parts.
john r.
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Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM

Post by john r. »

Like Rich said, unless it has been converted to dual timing chain like US, 689 is what you want.
Don' forget three of 11 12 1 312 173 (for spark plug holes).
wkohler
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Post by wkohler »

As far as I know the dual chain conversions still use the original timing covers and valve covers. The clearances are just much lower, right?
Da_Hose
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Post by Da_Hose »

Hey, alabbasi. When I bought my top end rebuild kit (S38), I ended up with a valve cover gasket that was just a few mm too short. My suspicion is that it is an M88 gasket. It's yours for cost of shipping, if I can find it in my piles-o-stuff.

Jose
Rich Euro M5
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Joined: Mar 10, 2006 6:20 AM
Location: Klein, Texas

Post by Rich Euro M5 »

wkohler wrote:As far as I know the dual chain conversions still use the original timing covers and valve covers. The clearances are just much lower, right?
Correct. The cambox and valve cover are not swapped out as prt of the conversion. Some machine work must be done in the timing chain path to provide clearance for the dual row chain.
alabbasi
Posts: 172
Joined: Aug 18, 2013 9:07 PM

Post by alabbasi »

Da_Hose wrote:Hey, alabbasi. When I bought my top end rebuild kit (S38), I ended up with a valve cover gasket that was just a few mm too short. My suspicion is that it is an M88 gasket. It's yours for cost of shipping, if I can find it in my piles-o-stuff.

Jose
Jose,

Thank you for your kind offer, if you can find it, I'll be happy to buy it.

Thanks

Al
winfred
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Post by winfred »

the vc gasket that came with my s38 head set fit on my m88/3 so i kept the m88/3 one i ordered for next valve adjustment, maybe its not same but it wasn't too different to use in my case, can't remember seeing any differences
e24mpwr
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Re:

Post by e24mpwr »

wkohler wrote: Aug 23, 2013 1:57 PM As far as I know the dual chain conversions still use the original timing covers and valve covers. The clearances are just much lower, right?
I'm getting ready to do my valve covers, and was told by the guy who did the conversion to use the M635 gasket.

For future visitors the Reinz looks pretty low-quality. At least it's a different material construction that looks thinner and not the same materials.
Image

The Elring plug hole gasket (left) looks close to identical to the BMW OE parts.
Image

I had to get the valve cover gaskets shipped from Germany. I got one extra, which I regret now. Will probably go back in the near future and get several more.
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