E30 Zone

hi all

The fear my head gasket is on its way out on my sport. There is mayo on the oil filler cap and on the dip stick.

Is this a tough job to do?

I know my way round e30s currently doing a m30 conversion. but never done anything on the e36?

Do i buy a genuine gasket set, or other ones just as good.

Is there anything else i should do whilst i have it in bits.

Ill be skiming the head at work but also not un sure about this neither.

Any input appreciated.

not the easiest job in the world and every m50/52 iv done has never run right after, even bmw have the same troubles with these engines mate

or nor what do i do.

Any tips on the job.

also what do you mean dont run right what exactly happens and any idea why.

even tho the head is alu its still a heavy unit with the cams and everything, be mindfull of the vanos set up and dont forget its chain driven and that alone is a nightmare

A lot of specialists won't touch an alloy block M52 if its been cooked as they're likely to be scrap - some will only fit a new engine.

darkchild what do you mean cooked?
Is it a case of a new engine then?

Has it been overheated and gone up in a pile of steam (like mine! )? Cook an alloy block engine and its unfixable junk. The delights of using alloy I'm afraid.

If its not warped to buggery, I'd only use genuine BMW gaskets. I once used a pattern one on a E36 316i and had a couple of oil leaks. A genuine one sorted it.

nor it hasnt gone completly. Its just the oil and water are mixing, mayo on the cap and dip stick.

Im still using the car and hoping it will hold out for a month or so till i get my m30 project on the road.

blitz877 wrote: its chain driven and that alone is a nightmare

Not a nightmare at all, very simple and gives much more precise valve timing than a rubber belt!

Just make sure you use new BMW headbolts and follow the instructions for them. Clean the threaded holes in the block out with WD40 or similar and compressed air, take it steady when pulling down, if you pull one of those threads out its goodnight Vienna

Aah, the joys of alloy block wrongness. Is it mixing oil and water everywhere or just in the oil? Lots of short trips will do this, a good long trip normally burns off the condensation in the oil.
If it is a h/g, forget DIY. You'll need the vanos locking tool for a start, forget doing it without one. What year is the car? Has it had a steel liner block fitted? The head bolts are angle tightened on these and it's common to pull a thread out of the block which means the engine is scrap.
If it was a 323i or 320i M52, you would have just dropped an iron block engine in.

its p reg so 96 i think.
Its only mixing in the oil. But water level has also dropped.
Not sure about the steel liner.

Plan a 150 mile trip at the weekend so this may burn it off?

96 is Nikasil era. Get a torch and look down at the passenger side of the engine block between the starter motor and sump at the back by the bellhousing. If you see a rusty steel plate with a bolt, it's steel liner (exchange block). If it just has a cam lobe shaped casting lug, it's Nikasil. That's not a problem as such.

If it looks like this its Nikasil. Like Andy says, on a steel liner block this will be a steel plate.

checked it out and i have a nikasil block. Does this effect the head gasket job.

No, but it could mean you have a better chance of it not being the headgasket, when the warranty replacement blocks were done the cylinder heads just had a quick rub over with some wet/dry, so IMO its possible some bent heads went onto new blocks.

so how do i find out what exactly is wrong?

Had another look at the cap today and has some mayo stuff and under and all over the cap there is like a rusty coloured thick residue. What is this?

Take the cam cover off and look properly, how many miles do you do in the car? Are you topping up the coolant regularly?

I prefer the Nikasil blocks believe it or not as they are far less prone to head gasket problems. Once the head gasket goes on a steel liner engine it's scrap. What I'd do is take the car for a good long run and give it some grief. Then change the oil and filter and see what occurs. If it's got brown sludge someone has been a bit thrifty with oil changes.

Also replacing the engine cyclone breather could cure the problem, i would do that first then i would do what Andboy says, change oil and filter first and give it a proper long run and see how things go from there. No point in doing head work if not needed.

had a look at taking the rocker cover off today even thats complecated 2 plastic then your faced with 6 switch things and a load of bolts nothing like the m20 and m30 im used to

i only really do short trips and havent filled needed to fill coolant up since i got it 10 months ago, it was about half full today so topped it up.

It had full service history when i got so i would thought all changes would have been done.

i will do what you say and see what happens thanks for the advice.

whats the engine cyclone breather?