M52 head gasket fix advice/procedure help needed!

[Happyfatherof1]

Its a 1996 bmw 328i m52 it has a 144k on it in fair condition id say, needs some tlc is all was taken care of pretty well by previous owners is what it seems like, blew the head gasket not long after i got it....thats my luck but have everything torn down right now and need some advice/ procedures help on certain things as well as some advice on where to go for good replacement parts and hardware sizes any help is good and very appreciated , please and thank you!

[bmwdirtracer]

#1: Make sure to send the head to an excellent machine shop, for crack-testing and milling flat. Head gaskets do not die, without some fault with the head.

Most likely, there's a cooling system issue, which had caused the car to overheat in the past. BMW's should have their entire cooling systems replaced every ~8-years or 100k miles. (This isn't strictly accurate: thermostat and water pump should be done every 70k miles, radiator and hoses every ~120k miles.

Parts sources: FCP Euro is one of the best; lifetime warranty on everything, and they tell you where every part comes from. Pelican Parts is excellent. ECS Tuning has good prices, but you need to be familiar with the brands and fitments, because they're not so careful with pre-vetting their merchandise, and their tech assistance is pretty much useless.

Some of the best sources are genuine BMW dealerships, online. Nothing beats genuine parts. I use getbmwparts.com but several of the other regulars on this forum have great luck with other online dealerships, too.


For getting a visual picture of what you'll be looking for, along with part numbers for your shopping ease, go to realoem.com and enter the last 7 digits of your car's VIN number, then hit "browse parts"

We're here to help, when your questions get more specific.

[Happyfatherof1]

I had the head milled and pressure tested already checked for cracks ect now I'm on to putting in new valve stem seals, then gonna clean the head,cam trays,camshafts ect and put it all back together then I need to set the cams so the valves dont hit when i put the head on the block that i should be able to do but its the torqing down part i need advice on not sure what the procedure is for that? For the cams and the head when putting it back on the block

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As far as the cooling system goes....im sure its time to update or at least repalce to new oem parts which is on my list of "to do's" for this car lol but atm im worry about getting the head and stuff back onto the block and making sure all the plugs are going wjere they should thats another problem i have not sure where all of them go back could only remember so much and I forgot to lable them cause i need to just get everything off to get to the problem

[bmwdirtracer]

I'm hoping you know you need a BMW special tool set for locking cam / crank / vanos timing?

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/

The time to replace the cooling system (which likely caused the head gasket failure) is now, not later. If the head's off, now's the time to do timing chains and rails too, and tensioners

Anyway, factory instructions are in the link above.

[Happyfatherof1]

I did but I figured I could just set it to TDC using the marker and not use the lock pin and then set the came to TDC and put them on, is it 100% necessary to use that? I dont have much money to work with for parts as it is so if I could skip that and still get it done right by taking more time doing it a harder way im ok with that and I didnt mean later as in after ive been driving it for a bit, im definetly going to replace it before i start driving it or even turn it over for the first time since i took it apart for that matter but I meant I'm focused on getting the head and all that stuff back together correctly and getting all the new parts I can along the way to ensure it runs smoothly and when you say rails what do you mean?

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Thank you for the help by the way its much appreciated!!