Head Gasket gone

[TheTera]

Hi guys, the head gasket has finally gone on my e30 325i sport, does anyone know a place that will sort it out for a reasonable price? I'm in the West London area

Engine was making some strange metallic rattling noises just before I parked it up, as soon as I pulled the clutch in the engine cut out and wouldnt restart, managed to get it going again for a few seconds but it cut out again and I'd flattened the battery trying to restart it

Any ideas as to possible damage? Would it be worth just getting the gasket replaced or is a new head a likely requirement? Rough ideas of costs would be pretty handy too

Cheers

[android]

Lots of stuff on head gaskets on the forum here. Try doing a search.

I'd say a garage will charge from Ԛ£500-Ԛ£600 to do the job. You should always change the cambelt at the same time, which might add another Ԛ£100. But the garage would just do what you've asked, nothing more.
If you are mechanically able, it's much better to do it yourself.

The problem is, when you split the engine, you see lots of things which 'could do with being done'. (I replaced all the hoses hidden under the inlet manifold, even though they looked OK for another 5 years, on the grounds that the access is so difficult, you don't want to be under there too often)

So you'd probably spend more doing it yourself, but you'd have a much better car at the end of it. It's a fairly straightforward job, with no special tools needed other than a good socket set and a breaker bar. The first time, because of , nervousness, tight and corroded nuts etc, it might take about 15-20 hours. I feel confident I could do a gasket change in about 4 hours now though.

[E30Mark]

Take the rocker cover off, sounds like you have broken a tappet.

Why do you think it's the head gasket, oil & water mixed etc? or just this noise??

[TheTera]

It's deffo the gasket, theres white lumps in the expansion tank, and its been losing a fair bit of water recently

The problem is the car only cost 800 quid, but I have recently put a new alternator and clutch in - its not in the best nick so not sure if its worth actually fixing, which is a shame because was so much fun to drive and looked good at the same time

Android you said it would take you only 4 hours or so, so surely a garage would charge 160-200 quid based on 4-5 hours labour?

I only want to spend enough to keep it going for a few months til I have enough to buy another car!

[Martinaston]

Try German Swedish & French on the Harrow road. They will know all the BM specialist's in the area, but then you pay BM "specialist" prices.
If its only the gasket you would probably get a better quote from any back street grease monkey

[TheTera]

Well that was the plan ;) the car is definitely not worth spending 600-800 quid fixing lol

[pacerpete]

Alas 9 out of 10 times on a 325, unless you had a coolant loss or overheating issue it will probably be the head cracked, the party is then over R.I.P.

[TheTera]

Both coolant loss AND overheating, altho i think that may have been due to the coolant loss lol

Also a crack developed in the plastic top of the radiator, probably due to increased pressure in the system? No ideas really as I ain't a mechanic

[Martinaston]

The only way to tell for sure is to take the head off
You could try taking the rocker cover off to see if you can spot any cracks in the head below the camshaft but then you have to know what your looking for.

[TheTera]

Fair enough, well I guess I could take it down the garage and get em to look at it, if its too costly I'll break it for spares, theres a mint recaro leather interior, mint mtech 1 bodykit etc

I would rather keep it tho, really undecided as part of me is saying get a cheap runabout, and keep the bimma on the drive til I have enough money to do her up properly, eg engine transplant and fixing the arches etc

If the problem was getting steadily worse (ie water loss followed by eventual failure, the water loss was happening for a few weeks) would that indicate more a blown gasket than a cracked head?