just a few questions ....

i replaced the valve cover gaskets on my s500 last week and i noticed that i have a serious oil leak from the passanger side cover(with the new gasket, wasn't leaking before). it seems to come from the front of the engine towards the timing cover/above the distributor cap area. i checked the area and it seems to be seated properly but there's definitely oil comming out of there as the whole bottom cross member on the passenger side is soaked in oil and i'm getting 4-5 small oil puddles on the ground when the car is sitting. I traced the leak all the way up to the valve cover gasket area.

there's also a little bit of smoke when the engine gets hot.

i ordered another valve cover gasket from the dealer and i'm planning to install tomorow, beeing more careful to clean the mating surface of the head and cover(skipped this step) and torque the bolts with a torque wrench vs. by hand like i did this time around.

does anyone have any good pointers on doing this job right?(i.e use RTV sealant somewhere, torque in a specific sequence,etc)

i see that the torque spec is 9 Nm but i'm having a hard time believing that will be enough to provide a good seal.