Is it a HEAD GASKET problem????needs some help!!!

[danubo49]

I have a 318i 1997 model bimmer, lately there was a problem of acceleration and a rough idling, followed by a check engine lighting up. Scan it with my Peake tool and found out a misfire in cylinder #1. Found out there was waterin that cylinder, spark plug was submerged, that explains the problem.
Cleaned and dried it up, and it was running beautifully again. The other three cylinder were dry, no nothing at all. Check it up every 3-4 days for about 2 weeks, then suddenly came the same problem, this time it is worst, because cylinders 1 and 2 were filled with water almost halfway. I don,t know if it was consequential, but both incident happened after aheavy downpour( car is parked in the driveway). The water Got from the cylinder is clear with no trace of oil, smells like "burnt". Pumped out the oil, there is no evidence of water in it( although it is still warm, will have a look again when it has cooled off- see if water will separate if it is present)The consistency though seems to be thinner(not very sure).The coolant seems to be ok, that is no trace of oil either. The exhaust fumes is alright( no white fumes exhaust), Could this be an early sign of a head gasket leak??? Please let me know from anybody out there, who has the same experience and also from the experts. Need your help. Thanks

[smooth1]

I had the same problem in my 97 318i this past week. Water had somehow gotten into the #1 cylinder spark plug hole. It was clear fluid with no smell. Coolant is blue and oil is brown so I knew it was water. I had severe hesitation and figured to check the plugs first. Turned out just #1 was filled up 1/2 way with water after pulling the plug boot. I came to the conclusion that water is leaking under the hood somewhere and collecting in the lowest part of the valve cover-where the spark plugs are located on 318's. How water is getting past the spark plug boots and into the plug hole is beyond me but I am sure this is where the water came from. Try using silicon to form thin gaskets around any plastic parts that are on top of the valve cover where the spark plugs are, the tray and all. More or less waterproofing the area. This should solve your problem it seems to have solved mine.
If not and it turns out to be something else be sure to post to help out someone else.

[danubo49]

Thanks, will try to locate any posssible source of external leak, been driving the car for about 100 miles now since i cleaned it up, check this morning and there was no water. I have a very inconclusive loss of coolant. I wiil have to wait for a little while before deciding to remove my cylinder head. Will do a leak down test, anybody who can share their experience doing this test, will be my first time. thanks