Oil Sweating From S52 Head Gasket-Would You Run It???

[BMW&PorscheDude]

I was planning to drop this S52 engine into my 328i. The engine only has 60K miles and it is already sweating oil from the head gasket. Is this a big deal? Is this common for these engines to be doing this with such low miles? Is this a sign of worse things to come? My mechanic recommends replacing it while the engine is out of the car, but I'd like to put it off. Of course the labor would be less now than later, but this M3 conversion is quickly becomming a classic case of one thing leading to another.

What would you do? Would You Run It???

See picture.

Thanks!

[cheddafob]

are there any other known problems with the engine?? a leaking head gasket is hardly a big deal. Maybe its the original gasket and just needs to be replaced - its prob around 20-30$ in parts and an easy DIY

[Bassmaster]

Picture is so big you cant see anything....but I would replace the gasket while the motor is out...much easier now.

[BMW&PorscheDude]

I had to crop the pic and shrink it down to get a size < 150kb

I am going to have a leakdown test performed before I make any final decisions. I believe that it is going to come out all right. The motor is from a crashed car and the valve cover got cracked in the rear, so I have to replace that. Also the rear coil pack got smashed too. Also the clutch is fried and the flywheel has some hot spots, but I was thinking of taking this opportunity to go with a UUC stage II clutch kit and lwt flywheel. Aside from that, the motor is in good shape. I was going to have new exhaust manifold gaskets installed while it is out. Is it a good idea to replace the exhaust bolts and nuts too?

Anyway, I know that the head gasket is not expensive, but I'm having a shop perform the labor. How much should that cost in labor / hours for a shop?

Thanks again.

-Paul

[BMW&PorscheDude]

Here's another pic...

[cheddafob]

thats what my valve cover looked like before i replaced the gasket....no leaks now. I would guess they would charge 1.0 to 1.5 hrs plus atleast $50 in retail parts so maybe 150-200.

[CABimmer]

A head gasket kit with new head bolts, all other stuff is around $350. labor is 10-12 hours This is a $1500 job. Ask me how I know.

[WhiteM32]

I bet its the valve cover gasket, not the headgasket, I replaced mine twice on my S52,
Rich

[rustamabd]

That doesn't look too bad. Your head gasket will work fine for a while. And no its not $50, more like $300 in parts (you'll need new head bolts, flange gaskets, etc etc) and is definately >2 hr of labor.

[BMW&PorscheDude]

As far as head gasket replacement cost, that is what I was figuring... $1000 - $1500, which was my main concern and the point of my question.

Valve cover... you are absolutely right! It was leaking. Maybe this is just running down from up top. Wow, it may not be as bad as I thougt. I might just change the valve cover gasket and run it!

Schweeeeeeeeeet! :redspot

Thanks again!

[themadhatter]

I've seen esimates of $800 with a multi-layer headgasket....your estimate seems way off.

-Ron

[BMW&PorscheDude]

There should definitely be a discount for the engine being out of the car. It is sitting on an engine stand right now. On Saturday, we were checking it out and talking about the things that should be done, and then that came up. There are a couple of other things that the engine needs before I can run it in my 328i, so I'm just being cautious. I will definitely get an estimate. I've asked them to run a leakdown test before anything else. If results are good, I'll ask them about an estimate on the headgasket.

They also recommend installing new exhaust manifold gaskets, and clutch. The flywheel has some hot spots on it, so I'm taking the opportunity to install a UUC stage II lwt flywheel and clutch kit. :alright

What about the Oil Pump Nut that I've read about? Is it worth taking the oil pan off and checking/re-torqueing it?

[Imperialduckm3]

HOLY RESIZE BATMAN :eek: Dude, pic too big. But you just need to replace the valve gasket (I think). Zoom out and I should be able to help you some more...

[cheddafob]

yeah for some reason i read "head gasket" as "valve cover gasket this whole time up until now....i couldnt really tell from the pics