E36 M3 Head gasket, how bad? attn GPS and other bimmerheads

So today I confirmed that my head gasket is most likely toast. Those of you who have read my build thread ( https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/1998-bmw-m3/106157/page1/ ) know that the car overheated when I was in California in June visiting my family, I had the cooling system replaced, and everything appeared to be fine. Drove it home from California to Colorado last month and all appeared fine.

Until this weekend when I started it up there was definitely white smoke in the exhaust and the smell of coolant. Shut it down before it got up to temp and opened the radiator cap. Pressure already, this told me compression was finding a way to pressurize my cooling system, great.

Now for the questions for you guys part. So what are the chances the head is warped? How bad is a head gasket on a BMW inline 6? As far as gasket brand, is Victor Reinz a good option? Or do I need to pay extra for OEM?

Well, you may not like the mechanic in a bottle stuff, but if the engine is high miles and you just want to get a few more years out of it, then I would drop 60 bucks on this.

Really. I used it during a chump race on an m50 (non m BMW 6 motor). The leak was fixed and held for the next 17 hrs at full throttle and redline (true 24 hr race).

THEN, we loaned the car to another team, who raced it without fail a full weekend, and then bought it from us (full knowledge of the devil) and last i heard, raced at least one more weekend with no cooling or head gasket problems.

I was thoroughly impressed with the stuff.

Also, I had success in the past with Victor head gaskets on an e30.

The dual overhead cams in the e36s will require either a special tool to hold the cam while you loosen, or a trustworthy friend. I believe the cams are hollow and can break if they are not removed appropriately. I have never done an e36 head gasket though, you might not need to separate the cams from the head.

I made the "tool" out of piece of 3/4" aluminum and a hacksaw when I did the 318is. Pretty simple job.

In reply to rcutclif:

I have heard about their tendency to break if not removed in some particular way, except the particular way is not too clear on the internet. I think the safest bet is 1/4 turn at a time and just go really slow.

Grtechguy, do you have a pic of the tool you made?

Jarod wrote: In reply to rcutclif: I have heard about their tendency to break if not removed in some particular way, except the particular way is not too clear on the internet. I think the safest bet is 1/4 turn at a time and just go really slow. Grtechguy, do you have a pic of the tool you made?

You have to hold one of the lobes straight down. This means valve spring pressure is really high on that one lobe, but there is no pressure on the rest. Then you can unbolt everything except the 4 bolts surrounding the lobe you are holding straight down. Then loosen those 4 1/4 turn at a time like you said.

The cam will not want to stay in that position, so the tool basically clamps the cam and holds it. If you have a helper, that is what they would do too.

Victor Reinz is fine. If you get the head decked (you should) get the thicker gasket.

The job really isnt too difficult, just take your time. The special cam tool helps but isnt strictly necessary. The cams have blocks on the back, if memory serves correct at TDC the tops of the blocks are parallel so a straight edge can be used to line them up. Use this advice at your own risk. Remove the nuts 1/4 turn at a time and you'll be fine.

The only special tool I had to purchase was a socket to remove the head bolts. Ebay has it.

The shop that decks the head should be able to find any cracks. IS the S52 an aluminum block? If so that could be suspect as well. My experience was on an M50 and those blocks are granite.

I tried some stuff recommended to us on a customers x5. Basically put it in cold and start it and let it idle for half an hour.

Fixed it rite up. Told customer that now was a great time to trade it in

I will get the name and post it up I was impressed. It seemed to work as advertised.

In reply to spandak:

I plan on having the head checked and decked if necessary, I ordered a head gasket kit already, but mainly so I didn't have to order every gasket by itself. If the head does end up getting decked I will order a thicker gasket to compensate. I hope to start the project this weekend, but going light. Next week is finals so I am trying to get ahead this weekend.

rcutclif, I did read about the lobes straight down thing, but I also heard the s52 cams (M3 engine) have slightly different timing so there is no spot with all the pressure on one lobe, just spot where mostly on one with slight pressure on others.

Update.

I have the car mostly back together, the cams were easier than I thought. However, since the car has been down for over 6 months now I decided I wanted some outside help to speed things up. I called up a traveling mechanic or whatever you want to call them, and he had some bad news.

He informed me that it looked as if someone had used stop leak on the engine and that if I put it back together it was almost guaranteed that the stop leak build up had clogged all the water passages and the car would overheat again. Now granted there is a bit of build up in the cooling houses, but I did not think it was particularly bad for an almost 20 year old car of unknown history. I figure a good flush would take care of most of it, and anything left over would be insignificant.

TLDR: Has anyone heard of a cooling system so clogged from stop leak that is is destined to fail?

And is anyone near Colorado Springs that would be willing to help? I will provide bear, pizza, money, or whatever else, I just want my car back on the road.

That's highly unlikely, you only see that sort of thing happen when somebody put like 10 tubes of alumaseal in it. Flush the block, radiator and heater cores both ways with a garden hose and fill it up.

Jarod wrote: And is anyone near Colorado Springs that would be willing to help? I will provide bear, pizza, money, or whatever else, I just want my car back on the road.

Beer, not bear. Not sure how to get a bear.

Thanks BrokenYugo, I think the dude may have been smoking crack.

Had that exact issue on a 307 olds. New waterpump, 2 sets of headgaskets, new radiator and fans. Didnt help a bit. Ended up selling it too a friend who had the block cleaned at a machine shop and they knocked a E36 M3load of stopleak crud out of the water jackets.

Since that car ive pretty much hated all forms of stopleak.

In reply to dropstep:

From what I remember looking in the block passages it didn't seem to bad, but your story scares the hell out of me.