Buyer's Remorse??

[rgg1955]

I've been driving a 1985 528e for the last ten years. A couple months ago I bought a 1997 528i with only 78,000 miles on it. I now have an oil leak at the head gasket. Can anyone give me a rough idea how much I'm looking at for repair and what all will be involved?

Thanks.

 

[Big Daddy]

Are you sure it is the head gasket and not the valve cover gasket? Does the car over heat? A valve cover gasket failure is fairly common and not expensive.

 

[rgg1955]

The car overheated when I got it, but that was just a matter of replacing the thermostat. Now it sometimes smells hot (if that makes any sense) but the temp gauge stays right on dead center.

 

[Big Daddy]

When you say it overheated, by how much? I would do a leak down test on the cylinders and see if it is a head gasket. Do you have in oil in your water or water in your oil? Is there a frothy brown muck on the inside of your oil filler cap?

 

[rgg1955]

Thanks for getting back to me. I don't have water in the oil, or vice-versa, and I haven't seen frothy brown guck around oil filler cap. When I just had oil changed, the mechanic said he traced the leak, eliminated the cylinder heads, and said it was coming from the head gasket.

I see you live in the Seattle area, as do I. Are you able to recommend someone in Seattle to take a look at it and give me a fair assessment and quote?

rgg (muttering to himself)

 

[Big Daddy]

There are several places in the Seattle area;

Car Tender

Auburn Foreign Car (Most likely least expensive, ask for Jerry)

Strickly BMW (Most likely the most expensive)