[mrbarry]

A friend of mine has a 1999 523 E39 and the head gasket has gone this morning. He stopped before it over heated but guess who has to replace it! Is it straight forward or a nightmare job on these engines? I have not seen the car yet so am going in blind..

Any other jobs worth doing as I am on belts/chains and tentioners etc will be done!

 

[Slacker-ray]

If you have done a beemer 6 pot before then its pretty straight forward..............any idea why the gasket failed?

watch out for stripped head bolt threads on the block...........its also good practice to change the Thermostat and water pump as well.

and obviously the usual..............skim etc but do get a pressure test done, the 6 cylinders are prone to cracking the head.

 

[mrbarry]

No idea why it went, need to get the head off to see further into the problem. Will check the block and head for true and skim if not, no need to pressure test if the gasket is clearly failed and the head looks in good order. I have done dozens of HGs but not a BMW 6 pot, infact the only BMW I have done is an E30 4 pot years ago.

I specialise in Toyotas but work on all sorts if they belong to friends and family, hense the quick question to see if there are common pit falls beyond the norm with this engine

Thanks for the reply

 

[Slacker-ray]

No idea why it went, need to get the head off to see further into the problem. Will check the block and head for true and skim if not, no need to pressure test if the gasket is clearly failed and the head looks in good order. I have done dozens of HGs but not a BMW 6 pot, infact the only BMW I have done is an E30 4 pot years ago.

I specialise in Toyotas but work on all sorts if they belong to friends and family, hense the quick question to see if there are common pit falls beyond the norm with this engine

Thanks for the reply

I would get the head pressure tested anyway.........they are prone to cracking internally.

 

[mrbarry]

In that case its worth it, glad I posted now. I will be starting it sunday, geting machining done Monday and putting it back on the road. I will be sure to post results!

 

[TEFAL]

1999 will be twin Vanos, you should use the special tool to time the vanos up correctly or you could have problems