M20 Owners-Have you heard of this?

[E34-520iSE]

Hi all! I was looking at an E34 on Ebay (UK) and saw this written in the listing (item no 4584506961). Has this happened to anyone here? Should I be worried?

There is a common fault with M20 engines in an E34 BMW with a one-piece exhaust manifold, and it this:

When they get hot and cool quickly the manifold tries to twist and creates an internal crack in the head between journals 5 & 6. This crack cannot be tested for. Any BMW specialist should be able to confirm this for you if they want to!! But it cost me £180 to get this information because it came with a cylinder head.



Cheers,

Shaun

[Torque]

Interesting. I've never heard of this before, so I'm pretty sure that's a single case thing ... I mean if my foglight fell out, and I said it's a common thing, would you be worried ?

My motto is "I'll fix it when it breaks", and now I really do need to fix the $@$%^& overheating. :( The cooling system on my car is like once-a-year thing to do.

[uscharalph]

Hi all! I was looking at an E34 on Ebay (UK) and saw this written in the listing (item no 4584506961). Has this happened to anyone here? Should I be worried?

There is a common fault with M20 engines in an E34 BMW with a one-piece exhaust manifold, and it this:

When they get hot and cool quickly the manifold tries to twist and creates an internal crack in the head between journals 5 & 6. This crack cannot be tested for. Any BMW specialist should be able to confirm this for you if they want to!! But it cost me £180 to get this information because it came with a cylinder head.



Cheers,

Shaun
I don't beleive it's happened to my M20. Still going strong approaching 230,000 miles.

[E34-520iSE]

When I read "common fault" I thought - "I've never heard of it." That's why I posted this - to see if anyone had this problem!

Hey Torque you'd better get that o/heating fixed or you too might get a cylinder head crack :(
Cheers,

Shaun

[uscharalph]

Interesting. I've never heard of this before, so I'm pretty sure that's a single case thing ... I mean if my foglight fell out, and I said it's a common thing, would you be worried ?

My motto is "I'll fix it when it breaks", and now I really do need to fix the $@$%^& overheating. :( The cooling system on my car is like once-a-year thing to do.
Really a once-a-year thing? I replaced everything in my cooling system at the same time (Radiator, hoses, water pump, belts, thermostat) for under $450.00 in parts. The cooling system is not a problem any more. I hope mine isn't an once-a-year deal.

[Torque]

Really a once-a-year thing? I replaced everything in my cooling system at the same time (Radiator, hoses, water pump, belts, thermostat) for under $450.00 in parts. The cooling system is not a problem any more. I hope mine isn't an once-a-year deal.Well last year I went through the whole ordeal of radiator, thermostat, fan clutch ... now it's overheating again.

Yeah, I'll get it fixed, it just overheated once today. Right when I got a big big bonus check from work. The beauty of owning a e34. :D

[E34-520iSE]

Looks like I've opened up a contentious issue here! Two years ago, I had some overheating problems. It was cured after replacing the rad, water pump, all hoses, heater valves, themostat, and BLEEDING THE SYSTEM THOROUGHLY - essential!

Cheers,

Shaun

[uscharalph]

Looks like I've opened up a contentious issue here! Two years ago, I had some overheating problems. It was cured after replacing the rad, water pump, all hoses, heater valves, themostat, and BLEEDING THE SYSTEM THOROUGHLY - essential!

Cheers,

Shaun
You've got that right Shaun. BLEED, BLEED, BLEED!!

[E34-520iSE]

You've got that right Shaun. BLEED, BLEED, BLEED!!
Have a look at my post here, otherwise known as the "Shaun poisons himself method!";)

http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?p=105944#post105944

Cheers,

Shaun

[Alan_525i]

"Common" in the automotive world often means "there is a documented history of this occuring". Not necessarily that it happens a lot. That said, my head has a similar crack but at the 2-3 journals. I would imagine this is possible for the same reasons. And they are right, you can't test for it because often the crack is sooo small that on a cold head the head will still hold pressure, mine sure did.

[Torque]

Update of my off-topic issue:

I fixed my overheating problem. Turns out one of my hoses had a tiny tiny leak under the clamp and was sucking air in through it.

:)