Cost for shop to replace S50 HG

[funcrew]

It looks like the head gasket is shot on my S50. I need to find a shop in LV to fix that, so 2 questions:

1. What kind of typical cost would I be looking at for parts & labor?

2. Is there any way to tell if the head is cracked prior to removal from the engine?

edit: Car still runs well and cool, and has not overheated in the 3 months I have been daily driving it. Suddenly started putting coolant into the oil after I accidentally ran it a quart short for 2 days.

Thanks

[e30s52]

expect atleast 1000 most likey. just do it your self and save alot of money for some nice parts.

[brandon11130]

howbout instead of paying a shop to do that pesky headgasket, i pay you 1000 and take the motor off your hands

[Farbin Kaiber]

I'd charge 1600-2400 or so. Figure 8-10 labor hours, with markup 400.00 in machine shop, 400.00+ in parts, at 100/hr comes to 1800.00 + all the other unexpected lil bits. Here is to hoping you didn't crack the head @ the valve in the combustion chamber.

[FredK]

Yeah, unfortunately, an HG is a fairly involved job, and it would probably actually take close to 8 hours.

[funcrew]

I'd charge 1600-2400 or so. Figure 8-10 labor hours, with markup 400.00 in machine shop, 400.00+ in parts, at 100/hr comes to 1800.00 + all the other unexpected lil bits. Here is to hoping you didn't crack the head @ the valve in the combustion chamber.

expect atleast 1000 most likey. just do it your self and save alot of money for some nice parts.

That's powerful motivation to do it myself, and luckily I have a bone-stock E30 with an M20 that runs just fine, so no time pressure to get the S50 repaired.

Is the machine work just to bring the seating surface of the head back to flat? What are the odds it's warped?

Now I have to assess my ability/desire or not to do the HG myself. I have a nice garage & good tools. Would need to get a cheap cherry picker from Harbor Freight - I can't lean over fenders and pick up heavy stuff. Are the instructions in Bentley adequate, or are there guru-level subtleties I need to be aware of?

[funcrew]

howbout instead of paying a shop to do that pesky headgasket, i pay you 1000 and take the motor off your hands

Interesting possibility. Stock S50, 72K, did not overheat when the HG gave out.
Is $1K a fair price for that?

[FredK]

Nah, the Bentley manual for E36s is adequate for an HG replacement.

The machine shop should check the head for cracks and to see if the head needs to be resurfaced. At the same time you'll probably want to get the head jet washed to clean it up. Most likely because it did not overheat there are no cracks, but you ought to make sure because an HG set is like $300 and is not the kind of thing you want to do again.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Nah, the Bentley manual for E36s is adequate for an HG replacement.

The machine shop should check the head for cracks and to see if the head needs to be resurfaced. At the same time you'll probably want to get the head jet washed to clean it up. Most likely because it did not overheat there are no cracks, but you ought to make sure because an HG set is like $300 and is not the kind of thing you want to do again.

x2. Just drop the pulled head at the trustworthy machine shop and let them have at it. They will hot tank, and maybe electro-flux the head to check for hairline cracks. Then they will put a straightedge on the mating surface and inspect for a warp. anything over 5+ thousandths and I'd suggest at least a pass on the surfacer to prevent future separation down the line on that gasket.

[ANDRÜ]

Do it yourself

[SpecM]

Do it yourself

really, do it. Really good experiance, and bragging rights.

[Jean]

If you have a Bentley all the needed tools you should be able to pull it yourself and put it back once it's checked out. I've pulled the manifold/head components twice now on m50/m52 and have never done anything like it before. I would get some plastic zip bags to keep the bolts/nuts in the right order for re-installation and maybe even lable connections when you remove them. The part I hated the most is all the lines around the TB/manifold you need to clear to pull the manifold out of the way, give yourself enough time to do that if you are doing this the first time.

[Van Westervelt]

Do it yourself, otherwise the bill will be 1800-2500.

Have the retainers been adressed in this motor?

[e30s52]

when you get that head off have it ported.

[e30serg]

Get this set:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cam-Alignment-Engine-Vanos-Tools-4-for-BMW-Repair_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ43998QQihZ007QQitemZ170253053359QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Pretty much all the specialty tools you need. And unless you absolutely trust the shop, remove the cams yourself and give them only the head for pressure checking. Some shops (most?) won't replace the cams if they break them while removing. I used the pelican parts instructions. Get a helper to hold the cam in place!

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-Camshaft-Removal/E36-camshaft-removal.htm