M119 salve cover gasket

[Gates01264]

Hi, I’m going to replace the valve cover gasket’s on my 1998 R129 SL500, the valve covers have just been vapour blasted and ceramic coated, and I have purchased new copper washers and gaskets from Mercedes’, and everything is spotlessly clean.
I want to know if it’s best to fit the rubber valve cover gaskets Dry OR should I put a very small amount of lubricant on them to help them seat properly? I.e. silicone grease or PTFE etc.
I’m planing to torque the valve cover to 8NM or 9NM.
Many thanks in advance, Chris.

 

[Stegel]

I have replaced the gaskets on both my 129s - one to cure a leak, the other when I changed the oiler tubes to aluminium following a plastic one failing - and both times I fitted them dry with no ensuing leaks. I recall needing a couple of goes, as the gaskets can slip off as you manoeuvre the cover into place, but you can feel around the covers to make sure they’re seated exactly. I can’t remember the exact tightening torque, but it was pretty low; probably unnecessary but I sneaked up to the figure by going around and progressively tightening each bolt to a lower value before the final figure.

ETA - the torque value is indeed 9nm.