Can black valve cover applications be determined by casting number?

Can black valve cover applications be determined by casting number?
I have three black valve covers I might want to sell. I did not realize there are differences(?) other than left and right.

262.254.9 1.1 RECHTS (right)
262.253.1 1.5 LINKS (left)
262.254.1 1.5 RECHTS (right)

I thought it might be an an abbreviated part number. If so, they are not listed in my catalogs nor can I find them in an on line fiche.

As you've found out, those are not part numbers...they're mold numbers used by BMW to control the manufacturer. Supposedly, the black covers were used for a specific period of time or for certain models, but that's problematic (I think) because I'm pretty sure, a dealer might swap covers if a customer wanted a bike and the covers if they were on another bike.

Check this page - http://www.omnilex.com/public/bmw78/ - for brochures for the 1978 to 1980 period. That will give you some idea of what models might have had them during that time.

Is there only one size of the black valve covers? I guess my orig post should have two questions. If all black covers are interchangeable left to left and right to right, that will go a long ways in helping me determine what I will do. I am less concerned about what they will fit if there was only one size.

I checked the part numbers for a stock 1978 /7...the covers are 11121263761 and -762. For the a '78 R100RS, the part numbers are 11121262248 and -250. For the RS, the fiche lists "SW" which means schwarz or black. If you go to RealOEM and put in these part numbers and find the part number application, you'll see which bikes supposedly came with them.

AFAIK, they are all interchangeable...maybe not when you get to the later models like Mystic or R100R with the peanut covers...maybe they still are...

All the valve covers from 1970-1995, i.e. all 247 Airhead engines are interchangeable.

Most of the time black signifies an R100 engine (as opposed to R80, R75, R60, R65, R45, etc.). I think the R100/7 of '77 and '78 had silver valve covers as the exception, and of course the "peanut" covers made a comeback on some late R100R bikes. I can recall no instances where black covers were factory fitted to smaller engines.

The ribbed covers come in left and right versions, the peanut versions don't. Lefts will fit on right and vice versa, but the ribs won't be parallel to road and bike will look, to put it mildly, "funny."

Thanks for reference to RealOEM. I had used before and forgot about it. Believe it or not , I've needed no PN info in about 3 yrs.
Seems like the -761 &-762 are aluminum, and the -248 & -250 are black. I browsed across many models and pns and colors were consistent.
Also got a list of "used on" using the cross reference for -248 & -250.

For future reference, do you know if there exists a reference that shows something akin to FoMoCo's O.S.I. (Obsolete, Superceded, Interchange) catalogs??

I ordered a black valve cover and removed the coating to use on my /7 - which has the same style cover but is bare aluminum. The coating was fairly difficult to remove; I ended up soaking the cover in zip lock bags partially filled with concentrated sulfuric acid (using the appropriate safety gear). The end result was a left valve cover identical in appearance to my original (which was labeled as a right cover), but without any scratches.

For what its worth, I have a three page brochure from 1981 and it show the R80 G/S and R65 with silver covers and the rest of the bikes with black. It even shows the CS with wire wheels!

Yes, the wonderful USA dealers wouldn't take the wire wheels.

fotofreak said:

For future reference, do you know if there exists a reference that shows something akin to FoMoCo's O.S.I. (Obsolete, Superceded, Interchange) catalogs??

Click to expand...

It's all "in line" in BMW's system.

BMW basically never changes a part number unless it's been replaced with a better, improved version. This is easiest to see currently on handlebar switches, some of the recent versions having proved problematic. And on the RTs, the aluminum rear wheel carrier has been replaced by a steel one (with a new part number). This stuff isn't listed separately anywhere, just shown on the main page with an "ended" indication.

As for "interchange," when you look at the fiche for say, a 2012 R1200RT, the drain plug crush washers are the same part numbers you'll see and have always seen on Airhead fiche.

When I was young and my Dad ran a GMC dealership, I quickly learned it was basically impossible to find a part number for a carburetor that was an exact replacement for the carb ex factory on a customer's vehicle. It's NOT this way in the BMW system and it's more productive not to expect the same USA crap from BMW as they are much better. That is, it's probably an insult to ask if BMW does something like Ford does it (I imagine, i.e. no Ford experience).

As for the ribbed valve covers in question, there are 4, i.e. black-painted left and right, and unfinished left and right. As simple as it gets.