Triumphrat

05-06-2007, 03:42 AM

First, just wanted to say hi to everyone. This is my first post in here.

I picked up a '99 955i yesterday with 2100 miles on it. The bike was immaculate and I rode it 5.5 hours back home. However, it began spewing oil all over the place at a gash station (well, just a steady drip)...and was pretty low by the time I reached home.

Today, I pulled eeeverything off (fairings, gas tank, air box/sensors) because the oil was only leaking from the cam cover of the far left cylinder. I had noticed a loose bolt.

Turns out, the bolt wasn't loose, but sitting about 1cm higher than the otherones. At that point, I had to remove the cam cover to figure out why. So i took out the coils for the spark plugs, and removed the cover.

There are two retainer pieces on each cam and both of the bolts that hold the retainer in place had broken off. Thus, allowing the retainer to push itself up, moving the bolt up, and allowing oil to pour out.

I consider myself very lucky. I don't believe any damage was done to the engine.

My question: where on earth can i find replacement bolts, and what is the right name for the retainer piece?

DEcosse · 05-06-2007, 06:00 AM

welcome!
Does this help?
Check here
Not sufre exactly what part you mean - If not on that fiche, check the cylinder head one

doodledog · 05-06-2007, 07:29 AM

The halr round rubbers don't seem to have a name in the manual, it does however say you should use silicon sealant on the cover gaskets on assembly, the bolts are tightened to 10Nm and the tightening order is also important

1 6 4

3 5 2

Hope this helps

05-06-2007, 09:51 AM

Thanks for the link. I looked at that last night before I posted. The piece that I'm talking about is not actually pictured. The only thing close is 5 and 6, but the difference is significant enough to make me think it's not the right thing. This piece holds the cam to the block. The piece is fine, but the bolts broke off allowing it to move up.

I'll call a dealer and see if they know anything. I'll keep you posted.

doodledog · 05-06-2007, 02:01 PM

Still cannot picture the bit your on about, is it on here,

clicky

05-06-2007, 04:19 PM

Yes, the part was in that picture. The bolts labeled number 2 are the ones that broke off. The piece itself actually looks fine (no uneven wear, etc.)

It seems like it's going to be really tricky drilling that out. Does anyone know how tight those bolts are in that area of the machine? I'm not much of a mechanic.

-Joel

05-07-2007, 12:19 AM

I've had four people take a look at it and we are all mystified as to how they would've broken off. Aside from them being too tight, do you think this could be indicative of a bigger problem?

They are pretty far down there. I'm not going to attempt extraction myself. I'm going to take it to a machine shop tomorrow and see what they think. They're not corroded or anything, so it should be an easy job for someone who has done that sort of thing before.

Thanks for the torque spec. I removed two of the other ones earlier and they came off without much of a problem. It definitely seemed like they were within a normal torque range.

Replacing them all is a good idea though. I'll have some photos tomorrow so you can see what I'm talking about.

doodledog · 05-07-2007, 10:42 AM

Good move Joel, get a proffesional to remove them mess it up and you will need a new head, do not know what would have caused them to snap as it would need really extreme pressure from the valves pushing up to cause the cam shaft to be forced up into the caps and if that had happened the camshaft would be Knackered, along with the valves etc possibly happen if the cam chain had snapped at some time, which you would really know about. Whatever it was, new cap bolts will hopefully be all you will need, torqe is 10Nm.