After finding oil inside one of the spark plugs well, and valve covers gaskets were already sweating I decided to to go ahead and replace the gaskets.
- Got valve cover gasket left and right side, 6 x gaskets for the coil wells, 4 x camshaft solenoids gasket, 4 x O-rings for the PCV (2 of each type) after that I found out that I needed to remove intake manifold so I got 6 x Intake manifold gasket and 1 x Throttle body gasket.
While doing the job also found oil leak from Vacuum pump, thus 2 x O-ring for Vacuum pump, found Secondary air pump damaged went ahead and purchased a new one from design 911 (not original)

Starting the job, you have to remove cowl panel, wiper assembly, strut brace and firewall, to do so remove wipers (use a puller) and then proceed to remove cowl panel. there are multiple videos for this so I will not go into details of it. To note that all plugs on strut (air suspension must be disconnected be careful not to damage the sockets)
Now to remove valve cover (starting with left side):
- Remove coil pack plugs and move it aside
- Remove the 2 sockets on shock tower and then remove their bracket
- Remove the bolt holding the wiring loom for the coil pack. (used 8mm spinning ratchet/wrench)
- Remove the wiring loom bolt on the cover eyebolt
- Remove the bracket holding the coolant pipe on the back side of the engine
- Disconnect battery and remove the B+ cable - now you will have sufficient clearance to take the cover off. I tried without disconnecting B+ cable it wasn't possible.
- Remove coolant line bracket connected on the side of the valve cover.
- Remove PCV one bolt and disconnect the lines
- Remove High pressure fuel pump by first disconnecting the fuel pipe from both sides, and remove 2 bracket bolts, then you can remove 2x bolts holding the high pressure pump, push it down and rotate. (there is an insert below the high pressure fuel pump, once you remove the valve cover remove it and keep it aside, don't forget to re-install.
- Remove camshaft solenoids by unscrewing two bolts.
- Remove ignition coils
- Remove all valve cover bolts, the most difficult ones are 2 near the strut tower, for those bolts I used a 1/4 extension and 1/4 U-joint with one hand squeezed guiding the Torx head and holding it while other hand operating the ratchet. You have to take extra care not to slip the torx head and round the bolt head, you will definitely have bruised hands while doing this job.
(in workshop manual they recommend a tool that can be installed in place of top engine support that can push/pull the engine sideway which I didn't have and not sure how much it would help)
After removing all bolts you have to carefully pry the cover (from near the camshaft solenoids area) while pulling it off, once valve cover removed, cover your engine to protect it from dust going in and clean properly all areas before re-installing.
A proper torque sequence must be followed as well as all aluminum bolts must be replaced.
RTV gasket maker must be used for 2cm in the area where timing cover meets the the engine block (I have purchased the Porsche one).
For the right side, intake manifold must be removed to reach to fuel line. To remove it you need to remove the throttle body and 8 bolts holding intake manifold in place, after that you can reach to the fuel line nut.
Secondary air pump removed as well for better accessibility, where I found it damaged, which was obvious due to rattling noise while removing it.
After removal, Intake manifold was cleaned, gaskets replaced, intake valves cleaned with CRC (gunk was built up but nothing very excessive), used a pick and vacuum cleaner most of the gunk removed. And throttle body cleaned.

As a tip, always squeeze towel between engine block and body to avoid losing the bolts in tight areas.

Left side prep

High pressure fuel pump

RTV

Secondary air pump


Vacuum pump new O-rings

2x Steel bolt replaced on right side due to fear of the bolt head getting damaged during removal to avoid future issues.

Throttle body cleaned with CRC

Everything getting a proper clean

Coolant pipes to be disconnected both sides for cowl panel removal


New gasket

Camshaft solenoid gasket

Coil plug well gasket

After assembly

















1/4 U-joint


Spinning ratchet/wrench

 

Very good diy

 

Thank you!

 

thanks for the very comprehensive write-up! kudos, my friend.

 

Thank you, I tried to post it as soon as I finished the job to highlight the important tips. Definitely I didn't write every step but should have covered enough to help whoever will try to attempt this job.