325i touring engine problems

Post Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:45 pm

Hi. I have recently purchased a 325i touring with an m20 engine. Soon after buying i found that oil was getting into the coolant. Replaced the head gasket and ran car for several weeks. Now i still have oil in the coolant but i also now have water in the oil. Has anybody had this problem?. Any help/info would be much appreciated.
The engine has good compression despite having 177K miles on the clock. The car is also an automatic.

Post Wed Apr 20, 2005 10:18 pm

When the gasket was replaced did the head get pressure/crack tested and did it get re-surfaced or skimmed.

What caused the head gasket to go in the first place, I changed a head gasket on a Rover Cabriolet this afternoon and the owner looked really upset when I said he needed to buy a radiator as the old one was shot.

Post Thu Apr 21, 2005 7:55 am

My car is going the same way, but after asking around on here and at my local BMW service bay, i understand that the head gasket rarely goes on these engines - it's nearly always the head cracking. It's a weak-spot of these engines apparently.

I'm about to take the head off my engine, but i'm not going to mess about - a new head is going on.

Post Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:12 pm

Andy_magic wrote:When the gasket was replaced did the head get pressure/crack tested and did it get re-surfaced or skimmed.

What caused the head gasket to go in the first place, I changed a head gasket on a Rover Cabriolet this afternoon and the owner looked really upset when I said he needed to buy a radiator as the old one was shot.

I removed head as i was unable to find any other reason for my problems. Pressure checked radiator/auto gearbox cooler etc and all was ok. When i had the head off i checked for warpage but i did not pressure test or crack check. I also did not skim the head.

Post Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:19 pm

I'd get the head crack tested this time to ensure all is well, a good quality gasket set is a must as with any engine.

Post Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:24 pm

Head is probably cracked at the bottom of one of the cam bearings. If you take the cam cover off, and watch, with the engine running and the water up to temperature, you can usualy see beads of water oozing out from under the camshaft

Post Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:08 pm

Top tip

Post Fri Apr 29, 2005 9:38 pm

Thanks for the tip. Carried out the checks that were advised. No oil bubbling out when engine was running but after engine was stopped the water seeped out of the cam bearing between cylinders 4&5. Have now sourced replacement head to fit.