I've got a 1990 325i with 255K on it. Ever since shortly after I bought it, I've had issues with overheating at idle. After replacing the entire cooling system, I had no improvement. One day while driving home, the car suddenly took a turn for the worse -- I had to keep it above 5K rpms to prevent it from overheating very rapidly.
Out of other options, I changed the head gasket. When I removed it, I found a leak between cylinder 2 or 3 (forget which) and a coolant passage. Had the head pressure tested and shaved .007." Installed the gasket, torqued the bolts, etc. After that, it ran like shit. Exhaust smelled strongly of gas, very rough surging idle, and stalled out if left to idle for more than a minute or so. Also, there was an oil leak that left oil puddling on the top of the front exhaust manifold. I ruled out vacuum leaks with a can of starter fluid. The engine also had piss-poor compression (all between 145-155 immediately before I started the job) that was not consistent between cylinders.
I figured I just screwed it up, never having done anything this complicated before. So, I finally got a chance to redo it. I did everything twice as carefully, and had no problems along the way. I started the car and it had the same set of issues. Trying to diagnose it, I again didn't see signs of vacuum leaks, and didn't bother checking the compression. A mechanic that I sometimes go to for advice said there was an outside chance that the block was cracked.
This seems like one of the few remaining possibilities, if not the only one left. Anyone ever had this happen before? Anything else to check before I invest in a new block/motor?
If I do need a new block, what sort of options do I have? I'm thinking it's between a new i block, a M50 swap, or a super-eta block. From what I'm reading, the M50 swap is going to take more time, experience, and money than I've got. I'm also seeing a lot of stuff saying that the 2.7i combination is too expensive for the money -- however, these all seem to be opinions from people going from e->i, not vice versa -- is it worthwhile to get the super-eta block if I already have the rest of the i stuff?
Out of other options, I changed the head gasket. When I removed it, I found a leak between cylinder 2 or 3 (forget which) and a coolant passage. Had the head pressure tested and shaved .007." Installed the gasket, torqued the bolts, etc. After that, it ran like shit. Exhaust smelled strongly of gas, very rough surging idle, and stalled out if left to idle for more than a minute or so. Also, there was an oil leak that left oil puddling on the top of the front exhaust manifold. I ruled out vacuum leaks with a can of starter fluid. The engine also had piss-poor compression (all between 145-155 immediately before I started the job) that was not consistent between cylinders.
I figured I just screwed it up, never having done anything this complicated before. So, I finally got a chance to redo it. I did everything twice as carefully, and had no problems along the way. I started the car and it had the same set of issues. Trying to diagnose it, I again didn't see signs of vacuum leaks, and didn't bother checking the compression. A mechanic that I sometimes go to for advice said there was an outside chance that the block was cracked.
This seems like one of the few remaining possibilities, if not the only one left. Anyone ever had this happen before? Anything else to check before I invest in a new block/motor?
If I do need a new block, what sort of options do I have? I'm thinking it's between a new i block, a M50 swap, or a super-eta block. From what I'm reading, the M50 swap is going to take more time, experience, and money than I've got. I'm also seeing a lot of stuff saying that the 2.7i combination is too expensive for the money -- however, these all seem to be opinions from people going from e->i, not vice versa -- is it worthwhile to get the super-eta block if I already have the rest of the i stuff?
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