Blown head gasket

michaelanthony

The (head) gasket(s) blew on my 316i(E36). I've been quoted E1200 to repair it. Is this a lot? Will the car go as well after as it did before?

Interceptor

Sounds about right. Factor €120-€200 for bits, €600 for skimming and valve grinding (if necessary) and two days labour to get it in and out. Provided the cause of the gasket going is checked out too it should be fine. Its worth getting it serviced and changing the water pump at this point too.

This must be the week for BMW head gaskets - thats the third I've heard of since yesterday morning...

'c

Nelo86

Yes, that is a rip off. You would buy an entire second hand engine for that.

The price for repairing an engine after the head gasket has gone does depend on some factors, i.e. how long the engine was going before you realised the head gasket was gone etc. But somewhere in the region of €400-€600 should see you right on BMW parts but it depends on what else you want to renew and replace while doing this

prospect

And the panzer-brigade would have us believe this only happens to Rovers :rolleyes:

michaelanthony

The mechanic just rang and revised his quote down to 1000. He said that this will include a water pump and oil and oil filter change aswell. The car has got 80000 miles . Is it unusual or not for the gasket to go at this mileage.

Interceptor

Nelo86 wrote:

Yes, that is a rip off. You would buy an entire second hand engine for that.

but you will have to pay another €600 to get it fitted and still not know if it is a good engine or not. Best to fix your own - ring around for prices but until the head is off it is impossible to know whether it needs skimming. I have seen so many duff engines from breakers I am very cautious to recommend that route. The one benefit of the 316 is that it is easy to get at/fit what with all the space under the bonnet.

Now now prospect, its bad enough that they have to drive them without people slagging them about how unreliable they are...

'c

Nelo86

Ok, I don't want to advertise but to prove a point I could get the work done to this guys car for considerably less than he is being quoted. The €1200 would get you an engine and get it fitted also. But he may as well get the existing one repaired as long as he has not driven on it too long with the head gasket gone.

Although he is free to spend/waste his money how he wishes

Interceptor

michaelanthony wrote:

The mechanic just rang and revised his quote down to 1000. He said that this will include a water pump and oil and oil filter change aswell. The car has got 80000 miles . Is it unusual or not for the gasket to go at this mileage.

Sounds like a good deal - find out what sort of warranty he gives for this job. Or you could take Nelo up on his offer. It is not unusual for these to go at this mileage or even lower.

'c

IrishRover

A friend of mine in th UK recently got his cylinder head skimmed, valves lapped in and pressure tested a lot cheaper than 600 euro. Can't remember the exact price, but it was less than £100.

Interceptor

IrishRover wrote:

A friend of mine in th UK recently got his cylinder head skimmed, valves lapped in and pressure tested a lot cheaper than 600 euro. Can't remember the exact price, but it was less than £100.

Thats a bargain - ring Engine Spares in Lanesboro and ask what they charge for skimming etc on one of these. They are the cheapest I know and trust. You're not in Kansas anymore Toto - this country is not motorist friendly.

'c

maidhc

Head gasket really shouldnt go at 80k. Mind you I seen them go earlier on some cars, but by and large they should see 150 - 200k.

A main dealer doesnt sound like the way to go on this. There should be a sticky of good independent garages around the country (from my experience they cost 1/2 as much and do a vastly superior job)

Mac 3

Sorry to hear about your car trouble, 80 K on a Beamer is nothing, head gasket is common enough on Beamers, a lot to do with keeping an eye on the water pump which can give hassle. There was a plastic impellor on the earlier E36 and sometimes this melted and the water pump would give up. The design was changed some time back and they used a metal component instead. It's always coming up on buying guides that when looking at a BM, pay special attention to the cooling system. BTW, dont talk to me about those damned Rover engines, my last car was onto it's third K-series before I moved it. You'd want to be keeping a spare under the bed for when the engine does go...

stratos

Many people will disagree with me on this, but years of driving marques I couldn't really afford made me learn a few things.
I hear people talking silly money for repairs, timing belts services, head gaskets.
If like me your driving older expensive types of cars, find a good back street mechanic better still find a good back garden mechanic.
I once had a gasket changed on a bimmer for 150 euro's by a guy who had the car for two weeks, and when I called out one day the head was on the ground in his front garden ! It didn't fail again.
He did work when he had some time and sent the skimming work to a local engineer shop.
These people are everywhere, they have your car for too long and it can be trial and error to find a good one.
but once you find a good one you really begin to see the way car fixers with a sign over the door are ripping you off.
A lot of these people are car enthusiasts, they will find and fix things your main dealer wouldn't even know existed, before it gets serious.

SouperComputer

Mac 3 wrote:

Sorry to hear about your car trouble, 80 K on a Beamer is nothing, head gasket is common enough on Beamers, a lot to do with keeping an eye on the water pump which can give hassle. There was a plastic impellor on the earlier E36 and sometimes this melted and the water pump would give up. The design was changed some time back and they used a metal component instead. It's always coming up on buying guides that when looking at a BM, pay special attention to the cooling system.

Nail

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>Head

Ive read about the plastic impeller alright.

Judging from what the OP said, the water pump has failed and as a result the headgasket has busted. Happend to me with a Nissan Sunny.

Ratchet

Interceptor wrote:

Sounds about right. ........ €600 for skimming and valve grinding (if necessary) .............
'c

no it doesn't , got head skimmed , valve seats grinded , valve guides replaced for 240yoyo at Howard Engineering (dublin)

great engineering shop

MercMad

I think ytou may actually find that the viscous fan coupling fails and that the cooling fan is largely innoperative. This is why they heat up !

Anyway you should be able to get out of it for less than €1000 !

Just get the basic head skim, about €100, parts should be the same and about 1.5 day's labour !

Mac 3

Sorry, forgot to mention about the viscous coupling which can go out to lunch as well. That and the water pump are the 2 usual suspects. They're good cars, not perfect, but once you know someone who knows how to service them well, they wont break the bank. I'm on my first Beamer and love it still as much as the day I got it. I wouldn't consider anything else. Ticks all the boxes for me...