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      11-24-2010, 10:44 AM   #1
sinbad522
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Red face Help - Coolant leak into the cylinder

My 2004 Z4 had a coolant leak problem last winter. It was happened all in a sudden at a cold winter night, when I drove it for just a few minutes. First I noticed a lost of power. The car could only reach 40 mph when accelerating. Then thick white smoke came out from the exaust. I pulled it over immediately. Then the engine shuts down on its own. It seems to me that it had a blown head gasket, possibly caused by overheating. The mechanic said that I will need to replace the whole engine, because the performance engine is made of aluminum alloy instead of stainless steel and the overheating will cause permonent deformation which is not fixable. I was able to look into the engine, it seems that 2 (adjacent) out of 6 cylinders are contaminated. The car had only 80k miles. I really have no idea about how this can be fixed. An engine rebuilt just sounds too much! Did any body expriencened the same problem? Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

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      11-24-2010, 11:27 AM   #2
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The engine will need to be replaced only if the engine was overheated for a long period of time, and seeing how our dme's would likely cut power well before any long term damages can occur, I think its unlikely. once you pull the head you'll be able to take measurements and go from there. n52 longblocks are readily available either way
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      11-24-2010, 12:22 PM   #3
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yeah i would stress it....plus i would look at an s54 swap :-)
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      11-24-2010, 01:42 PM   #4
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Did your coolant temp gauge peg? And where was it when you noticed the loss of power? I've never really trusted it on my 3.0i.
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      01-31-2011, 01:58 PM   #5
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Thanks a lot for the information. We are going to open the head soon. Could you please let me know what we need to measure after open up the engine in order to determine wether we need to replace it or not?
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      01-31-2011, 02:02 PM   #6
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I was not paying attention to the temperature gauge. I was driving on a local rod and noticed that the car stays at 40 mph when I was trying to accelerate. I pulled it over after seeing thick white smoke from exaust.
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      01-31-2011, 02:17 PM   #7
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if its a head gasket then it means it either got warped or has cracks. Could be small cracks invisible to the eye or could be big cracks. If not addressed early, it can mean catastrophic damage. Ask me how I know? My Jeep just went through the same deal, blown head gasket, cracked cylinder heads...
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      01-31-2011, 02:57 PM   #8
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You can get a junked M54B25 for $3-4k depending on the condition and mileage. I'd also look into seeing what it would take to get a M54B30 in there, as they are readily available as well.
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      02-02-2011, 10:42 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shakib View Post
if its a head gasket then it means it either got warped or has cracks. Could be small cracks invisible to the eye or could be big cracks. If not addressed early, it can mean catastrophic damage. Ask me how I know? My Jeep just went through the same deal, blown head gasket, cracked cylinder heads...
That's exactly what the mechanic told me. He has never seen a BMW engine that has had water mixed with oil can work. Like you said, it may have caused small invisible cracks in the head. Sounds like there is no hope to no to replace it...
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      02-19-2011, 06:35 PM   #10
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We were able to take the engine apart and checked the cylinder head at the machine shop. It showed a 4 mil warpage and is warp more on the back of the head. Not sure how the block is.
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