Head bolts

Post Mon Jan 20, 2020 6:21 pm

Hey guys,

So whilst doing my valves the other month, I noticed my 325i has the original hex head bolts. A few people on the Facebook group freaked out at it, and I was wondering how much of an emergency/essential is it? I gather it’s a wise move to do it, but surely there are thousands and thousands of E30’s out there with the originals still. Do they snap often?

Keen to hear everyone’s thoughts
Cheers

Post Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:33 pm

The legend is that BMW used three suppliers of hex bolts at the same time, and the potentially defective bolts only came from one of these suppliers.
The chances are that at least one of your head bolts is one of these.
Not changing them is a bit like running with a ten year old cam belt - you'll probably get away with it, but possibly won't.

Post Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:01 pm

Brianmoooore wrote: ↑
Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:33 pm
The legend is that BMW used three suppliers of hex bolts at the same time, and the potentially defective bolts only came from one of these suppliers.
The chances are that at least one of your head bolts is one of these.
Not changing them is a bit like running with a ten year old cam belt - you'll probably get away with it, but possibly won't.

Very interesting.. will it at all compromise the integrity of my head gasket changing them? I know it needs to be one at a time, but I’ve heard coolant starts leaking when you loosen it

Post Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:22 pm

If the head gasket fails after changing the bolts, then the head gasket was close to failure anyway.

Post Tue Jan 21, 2020 7:21 pm

Brianmoooore wrote: ↑
Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:22 pm
If the head gasket fails after changing the bolts, then the head gasket was close to failure anyway.

Scary