Oil Leaks 850

I think that you have to take the intakes off on an 850. So you are getting an IM gasket change at the same time.

Make sure he guarantees the IM gaskets against leaking if he plans to reuse the old ones.

Perhaps an experienced (on this engine) mechanic could do the work in about 1.5 hrs to strip and 1.5hrs to replace. Someone not having done this before (on this engine) may take twice as long or more. There are a lot of parts to remove, particularly the inlet manifolds.

As Terry mentions, the seals on the inlet manifolds will require careful checking before replacing. I think a new set is very costly, but usually the old ones can be refitted with a non-hardening silicone sealer to guard against possible leaks.

I also had the same problem i had paid 800 euro for labor time and another 600 for all the gaskets . gaskets are very expensive . i think 600 us dollar is cheap because the bmw mechanic took for my almost one week to replace the gaskets .

I think the expensive gaskets are those for the inlet manifolds. The valve-cover gaskets are relatively cheap. That is why you should check the condition of the IM gaskets to see if they can be re-used. However, any leaks in these will mean poor engine running. Usually, they are re-usable with additional applied sealant to the mating surfaces.

If you are not going to replace the IM gaskets--have the mechanic mark top and location of the old IM gaskets. That way the angular set that they have taken will be accounted for and he won't be trying to twist old rubber into a new shape.