89' 325i: Head gasket gone?? Help would be appreciated

[Nicademus]

Ok so I just bought this 4door 1989 325i (you may have read about my purchasing experience). I bought the car knowing it had a bad headgasket or cracked head. The PO wasn't sure what to call it. I've had it for about a week and my brother and I decided to try starting it.

The battery was dead and there was no coolent in the engine (or at least exremelely low). We filled up the coolent all the way and then hooked up some jumper cables to the battery and waited. Turned the key and it started right up and sounded/ran great. Let it idle for a bit and then took it for a quick cruise around the block. It sure ran and shifted nice, better than my 325e actually. So anyways I parked it and kept it running for a minute. We noticed these things:

- coolent had dropped a bit
- temp was about a half a mm to the right of dead center
- exhaust smells a bit like coolent
- cd player and all lights work ;) irrevelant but nice
- the oil looks good
- the coolent looks good

Diagnoses ??? What do you guys think?

Also is there a DIY on replacing the head gasket? I couldn't find anything. I own the Bentley manual which I'll be looking through after I post this.

If anyone (Gregslow318i perhaps) would be willing to come take a look at this with me it would be greatly appreciated. I could give you some money, beer, misc. stuff I have for sale, or whatever. Having someone to help with work is always nice, but at the very least someone to lend there brain for a bit would be great. :mrgreen:

[Knockenwelle]

Smelling coolant in the exhaust is a dead giveaway for HG issues. It's got a leak between water and a cylinder. Any plugs wet/look funny? Coolant and oil don't necessarily have to mix with a bad HG, but they might soon... Get on it and replace that gasket! And check the head deck for warp/bow/twist and have repaired (decked) as needed, otherwise you're wasting your time.

[Nicademus]

Smelling coolant in the exhaust is a dead giveaway for HG issues. It's got a leak between water and a cylinder. Any plugs wet/look funny? Coolant and oil don't necessarily have to mix with a bad HG, but they might soon... Get on it and replace that gasket! And check the head deck for warp/bow/twist and have repaired (decked) as needed, otherwise you're wasting your time.

Yeah I know the head gasket is bad but I just wanted opinions, you know? I appreciate the help.

Is it worth it to have the head repaired or is it cost effective to just buy a new one?

[lennon]

its worth it to get it fixed if its not ruined

[Nicademus]

Are there any threads on here with pictures documenting any of this? I search a bunch yesterday but came up pretty much empty handed.