Head Gasket failure

[Gouldie]

Hello!
About two weeks ago I did a roughly 2-hour motorway journey in the 'zed, the weather was really awful so didn't have a chance to stop when the oil and engine lights both came on around half an hour from my destination.
When I arrived I got out and I could already smell the problem, my oil cap had wriggled loose and was wide open with oil everywhere through the engine bay.
I cleaned up the oil as best I could and filled her back up but the oil level seemed to be going down and I was leaving oil everywhere I parked so I took her to a garage for a check over, assuming it was the rocker cover gasket which had been replaced about a month prior acting up but alas, it was confirmed; Head gasket failure.
The garage which confirmed it was the head gasket is totally sure that it is the issue but being a small place aren't able to do it and recommended a specialist.
I've rung round quite a few garages and the cheapest I have been quoted is "roughly" £1200 to replace the gasket with all the engine crack test bells and whistles
Which, being a student, I could only afford if I happened to pass go about 6 times
I have about £650 to my name so, basically, I was wondering if there is any way at all of doing this on a budget?; such as forgoing the crack test or a straight up engine swap
and if not, how best go about selling my beauty
She's a 2.0L 55 plate and as you can see from the amount of oil on my pavement is costing me £10 a week in cheap oil


Thanks in advance for the advice

 

[bz4kev]

Wow so sorry to hear your bad news op by the sounds of it you are pretty screwed I would say not having a crack test ect would be a bad move as it probably would be warped at the very least but just replacing gasket could spell disaster maybe a loan or bank of parents could help wish you luck op

 

[Ducklakeview]

As Kev said above, not worth cutting corners. It's a job that has to be done right. Unfortunately the book time to do the job is around 22.5hrs, and trust me, they do take that long. So being honest, if you've been quoted £1200 that is very cheap. The head gasket set alone is around £200 for the full kit, £40 for bolts and £100 to crack test and skim the head.

Mike

 

[Gouldie]

Thanks for the advice lads, looks like I am going to have to sell
the local dealership has said they'd give me £1400
she was £3300 in Feb with 70K miles

typical really, only just filled the tank

 

[raymond.harper]

If you ran the engine with the oil warning light on then there could be damage to the bearings so fixing the head may not be the best thing to do. Perhaps the cheaper quote garage could replace the engine with a secondhand unit. Should be plenty around

 

[ph001]

Yeh, running for 30 mins with possibly quite severe oil starvation has got to be bad news for just about every moving part in the engine. Sell the car or new engine are the only sensible options.

 

[kis]

Sad news! Might be a good opportunity for an engine upgrade OP? M54 engines should be readily available.

 

[Ducklakeview]

Didn't realise it was a 2.0, only skimmed the initial post. It will be a bit cheaper, but when you can buy a good used 2.0 engine for £500 and another £250 to fit it with a few new bits...

Mike

 

[MACK]

Id be scrapping that engine at least and starting again. The offer from the local dealer of £1,400 isn't too bad really if its a straight cash offer and you've told them whats happened to it. You could see what WBAC will give you if you can limp it there and it runs for 10 mins with no lights etc. Just dont mention it. Their monkeys are only trained to look for damage to the bodywork/wheels and wouldn't know a dodgy engine if it slapped them in the face.

One thing i was wondering was who replaced the rocker gasket? Were they the last people to touch the oil cap? If so did they fit it in correctly and are actually at fault for this situation? That said to be fair if I was the garage and knew you drove on for half an hour after the oil light came on there going to quite rightly point out your at fault for that. But if you haven't mentioned that you may have some comeback on them.

 

[Gouldie]

Engine warning and emissions light are both on pretty much constantly at the moment, pretty sure the cat needs replacing too, ha. I could get them turned off, fill it with oil then take it to WBAC and pray it doesn't wee oil everywhere, they value it at £2400
What are the legal issues with engine swaps for the same stock engine?
would I need to tell my insurance or whomever I sell the car to?

 

[kis]

I'd say give WBAC a go. Can always say, oh that's new!
No legal issues or insurance issues so far as I know?... you're replacing like for like!

 

[MACK]

I'd say give WBAC a go. Can always say, oh that's new!
No legal issues or insurance issues so far as I know?... you're replacing like for like!
[/quote

As kis says no legal issues or insurance issues with a like for like engine swap. Technically you should give the dvla the new engine number but I'll bet 99% of the time that doesn't happen either!
You could still fix it with a second hand engine although I'd be tempted to sell and put the money towards an i6 engined zed as they tend to much more reliable. Obviously insurance might be an issue but the difference between insuring a 2.0 and 2.2 is usually negligible

 

[PerryGunn]

Engine warning and emissions light are both on pretty much constantly at the moment, pretty sure the cat needs replacing too, ha. I could get them turned off, fill it with oil then take it to WBAC and pray it doesn't wee oil everywhere, they value it at £2400

If you're going to do that, I'd ask the mods to delete this thread...

 

[Nictrix]

I didn't realize that if the head gasket went you could lose that amount of oil, I always thought it was coolant you lost more than oil.

 

[firebobby]

Sorry to hear this mate but when the oil light comes on YOU STOP pretty dam quick and check levels :| ,
that's an expensive mistake and sounds like you have fooked the engine.
Where are you based

 

[cj10jeeper]

Sorry to hear this mate but when the oil light comes on YOU STOP pretty dam quick and check levels :| ,
that's an expensive mistake and sounds like you have fooked the engine.
Where are you based

Sadly a tough life lesson of not stopping when warning lights come on...
I hope you find a cheap motor to drop in and fix it

 

[Gouldie]

Thanks for all the advice guys
I'd really hate to sell so it looks like an engine swap is on the table
Where would be the best place to source a 2.0?
I'd love an engine upgrade but my insurance is already ridiculous

 

[Gouldie]

Sorry to hear this mate but when the oil light comes on YOU STOP pretty dam quick and check levels :| ,
that's an expensive mistake and sounds like you have fooked the engine.
Where are you based

Sadly a tough life lesson of not stopping when warning lights come on...
I hope you find a cheap motor to drop in and fix it

Very true, I didn't stop as it was when the snow was particularly bad and in the middle of the night
I'm based near Coventry

 

[cj10jeeper]

Thanks for all the advice guys
I'd really hate to sell so it looks like an engine swap is on the table
Where would be the best place to source a 2.0?
I'd love an engine upgrade but my insurance is already ridiculous

Start with Ebay where I can see a couple of engines for <£1k. Could pay monthly. Call specialist BMW breakers and see what they have

 

[MerBrook]

Could check out Maro bmw spares on ebay. Currently have a 2.0i engine in stock for a 2005 - 2006 car. Hope this is of help