M40 Head gasket blown

Sun Mar 09, 2014 10:38 pm

As title states the M40 Head Gasket has went pop. I was curious to see what would be a better alternative, swap it for fix it. I think I already know the answer but don't want to jump to any comclusions as of yet

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Mon Mar 10, 2014 7:23 am

If the head is warped then have it skimmed a bit, fit new gasket and torque down correctly using new head bolts.

If the the area in the aluminium where the camshaft runs has severe scoring then this can be fixed but rather try get a new head.

I had this happen to me about 8 years ago...had head skimmed, replaced gasket and head bolts and has been fine ever since.

Best solution is to drop a M42 engine into it.

Mon Mar 10, 2014 7:47 am

There isn't much point repairing an M40 - you can only run it for so long until the cams wear down, and then you're facing a serious repair bill just to keep an asthmatic 8v four-pot on the road.

As Bill says, this is the perfect time to drop an M42 (or M44) into the engine bay.

Mon Mar 10, 2014 9:21 am

Thanks guys, I was always willing to swap it for an M42. ;) I can find loads on E36 engines but not so many e30s, is there really a huge difference between the two? I've heard the engine loom is different but will It still plug and play like an e30 one?

Mon Mar 10, 2014 2:14 pm

All your questions are answered here:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... Swap_-_M42