Pulled head to replace head gasket.....Doh!

[325e '87]

I have had three VR head gaskets leak on me. I installed them on 3 different cars. It was always oil near cylinder one. But as FF said, I wouldn't be surprised if they leaked coolant too.

What surface prep did you do to the head and the block?

So, I have an oil weep at cylinder 1, runs down the block and drips off the a/c compressor mount bracket. The original owner of the car had an overheat and the repair log shows new head gasket.

I’m betting the shop used the VR gasket. Would a warped head allow for a slight oil leak or would it commonly be oil/water mix? My leak is minimal and I plan on driving the car for a few months as it is. I’m looking at tons of threads to develop an idea for what I want to do.

My most comforting plan is to just give bimmerheads a call and order up a new head assembly with a 272 Cam and a markD chip. Is this the best thing to do? Car is minty but has 207,000 miles on it.

I would also enjoy taking the car down to forcedfirebird, which I’d love to meet him and follow his advice. Problem is, I’d like to do the work myself and he appears to be busy doing cool stuff, not tweaking a stock sedan.

Decisions.....

[ForcedFirebird]

The m20 doesn't mix oil/coolant typically when a gasket is blown. The oil return holes run down the outside of the cylinder walls. Usually if you have coolant in the oil, it's because the cam valley cracked. I've seen so many of them leaking and not run like that for years. Just annoying to leave oill everywhere you go.

Come on down!