The dreaded milkshake.

Originally Posted by everchini

I would strongly love to afford a BMW Technician, well with these signs what else could it be? There's oil and coolant mixing somehow, what are the other possibilities?

Other possibilities? How bout a Cracked block. Lets hope its not that. Just so you know, your expansion tank probably blew up because combustion gases were escaping into your cooling system thereby pressurizing it. This problem has been around a while on your ride. When engines overheat they usually do it unevenly, some parts ofyour engine may have got far hotter than others. Coolant temp gauges dont tell you the full story.

What virtually every discussion of overheating points to is warped head. I'd say better than 95% that's what you have. When you get the head off you'll probably have clear signs that the gasket has been compromised. If you do not get this sign in this way, imagine what the cost to diagnose the alternative might have been.

Originally Posted by everchini

I would strongly love to afford a BMW Technician, well with these signs what else could it be? There's oil and coolant mixing somehow, what are the other possibilities?

Here are some links that will w=help you get an idea whats involved with such job.

Few tips: Head bolts are NOT reusable. You must buy new bolts. If you break the secondary chain tensioner it;ll cost you about $200 for a part that looks like its worth a penny.

http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/s/view.pl?1/04/35/37

http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/s/view.pl?1/04/35/70

http://ezflatscreen.com/carpages/m52headremoval.php

And search TIS in general for info that you need.

http://tis.spaghetticoder.org


A compression test only costs about $100 (may be more depending where you live) and an hour of a qualified BMW technician costs about $90, it doesnt have to be the delaership, just find an indy BMW shop.

The investment you make in determining the problem will make your life much easier down the road. Imagine if you replace the headgasket but your head is actually warped, or if the problem was due to something as simple as a 10 dollar part.

Get the car professionally diagnosed.

Originally Posted by Blocked Out

Here are some links that will w=help you get an idea whats involved with such job.

Few tips: Head bolts are NOT reusable. You must buy new bolts. If you break the secondary chain tensioner it;ll cost you about $200 for a part that looks like its worth a penny.

http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/s/view.pl?1/04/35/37

http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/s/view.pl?1/04/35/70

http://ezflatscreen.com/carpages/m52headremoval.php

And search TIS in general for info that you need.

http://tis.spaghetticoder.org


A compression test only costs about $100 (may be more depending where you live) and an hour of a qualified BMW technician costs about $90, it doesnt have to be the delaership, just find an indy BMW shop.

The investment you make in determining the problem will make your life much easier down the road. Imagine if you replace the headgasket but your head is actually warped, or if the problem was due to something as simple as a 10 dollar part.

Get the car professionally diagnosed.

When I did a compression test on the car I was working on, it almost look OK on the bad cylinder, seemed to make "decent" compression... which was a bit misleading. That said, it doesnt hurt doing one anyway.

if he is going to do his own head gaskets, why not do his own compression test, its about as easy as changing a spark plug. Testers are pretty cheap, about 40 bucks at autozone.

I think a leak-down test would show the problem more clearly since it measures compression loss and help identify where the leak may be. Thats something worth getting at a bmw shop since it requires a few more tools and an air compressor if you dont have one.

Either way I agree with Blocked Out, needs proper diagnosing.