Hi all, brand new here. I have a new to me 2014 c300 sport 4matic. The front of the engine is covered in oil originating from the valve cover face plates that house the cam sensor magnets. Those are definitely leaking and I've ordered new o rings for those. Not sure if the covers themselves are leaking. Just went in and de-gunked for better leak forensics. I've seen an official training video from MB stating that the 7 bolts that hold the face plates on are aluminum and single use. Can anyone verify this? If so, what is the part number for these bolts?

Also- has anyone had to reseal the faceplates at 45-55k miles on their m276? I know leaking from the sensor magnets is common on both m272s and 76s and other engines.

Bolts are N000000006365 (or use equivalent aluminium M6x1-16mm long flange bolts). should be 8 on each bank.

Regarding the torque, 5 Nm is perfect for the application. You can look up engineering handbooks and will say aluminium bolt into alloy part is around that maximum range for that sized thread.

One thing I discovered while doing mine is, instead of razor blades...I used Magic Eraser. It's a foam pad thats slightly abrasive, but spray the area with cleaner, and then use the pad. It really works alot better than anything...I've bought brakleen/oops/engine degreaser/loctite sf 7063/permatex in the past few days trying to find the easiest and mess free method...magic eraser did the trick without gouging the metal. That or my finger nail, but that starts to hurt after a while...

Also, its 8 aluminum bolts to each side, i reused mine but becareful not to over torque...i hear they snap easy. i used a hand wrench and just tightening till yield by feel.

Thanks for advice with the sealant!

Thanks for the thread pitch and size, sounds like an easier and cheaper route to go should decide to replace them!

Good idea on the magic eraser! I was thinking plastic brillo pad but all the same!

Good to hear from someone who has done it! I cleaned the passenger side head cover area and associated drip down all the way on to the alternator believe it or not. Things been leaking for a while... If I catch it coming from the o ring on the cam magnets, I'm not even going to bother removing the cam plates.

Thanks again gents. Good to hear feedback on an engine that isn't that well documented on the internet yet.

Any reason why we can't replace the alloy bolts with steel or stainless ? Obviously not going to over-tighten them, but it's pretty normal to use steel bolts into aluminium, it happens everywhere !