SH!* blown head gasket!! question..

so it happend to me i blew it!! i was thinking though instead of sending the cylinder head to the machine shop why not buy a new 1? i found 1 on ebay for cheap would it be a good idea to replace it with this?? ive seen other heads go for like 2k!! any 1 have some wisdom to share? good idea or bad? ahhhh damnit

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E...s#ht_770wt_958

Curious how you knew your head was blown? I have a problem where oil is pouring out of the passenger side of the engine - haven't investigated closely yet. Could it be a head gasket/bad head?

it could be a bad head check your spark plugs for oil. Also search on the forum theres plenty of info about that on here

The previous owner had someone inspect the car for overheating. They must have pulled the valve cover off since the valve cover gasket was folded over on itself leaving a huge gap allowing oil to pour out. Easy fix.

That head should work but is your M3 a 95 or 96 on model?
Typically 96 on heads end in 400 not the number on the ad.
If you want to use that head you will have to populate it with your valves, valve springs, and seats.
All doable but if you have to transfer your valves, springs anyway why not pull your head and allow a shop to check for level meaning no more than 0.010 over the length of the head and pressure test the head too for cracks.
If your head is level enough and does need decking than all you need to do is make sure the roughness average (RA) is 50 or less and you should be good to go.
There are shops out there that can do the work without even taking the cams out. Check around and see because shops vary. I would think in the Oakland area you should have a lot of good shops to choose from.
If you do buy the head and yours turns out to be OK you can always resell it.
Are you planning to do the work yourself or have a shop pull the head and reinstall it?

i have a 1998 m3 90k miles on her. Im not going to get that cylinder head, I'm going to send the 1 i have in to get checked i dont thinks to bad. I dont have the time to do the work so im going to have to send it over to the doctor so he can do it 4 me. thanks for the input fellas



-Vega-

I heard it's not TOO hard to fix a blown head gasket if you have access to a life and the correct tools. If the head gasket is cheap then i'd just say go for that because that'd be easier but it's pretty much all up to you.

Any update from the OP?

The reason I ask is I'm researching the results for this thread:
- What advice should we provide when a newbie asks for help with a blown E39 engine?