M44 head - rebuild/used/reman advice

[fmorelli]

Hi all, I have a 250 casting M44 head from my son's 1998 318ti. The car overheated several times. I am considering my options and looking for advice:

Rebuild - I'm in the Washington DC area. Any advice on machine shops that I should bring it to? 170k mile head needs complete rebuild and #3 spark plug hole fixed.
Reman - Is there a reputable business I could just buy a replacement 250 head ready-to-go?
Buy Used - my guess is most of these 250 heads are tired, but maybe a solid used head is a possibility?


Thanks for any input you all may share!

Filippo

[ElmoPerkins]

I just went through this with my m42. Mine had a cracked coolant passage. I was lucky and sourced a used one with no visual cracks and all threads where in good condition. It’s was mostly disassembled so finished removing everything and sent it off to a local machine shop and have it glass bead blasted, cleaned and checked over for issues. Head was flat and guides where good. It maybe a gamble going used, but as long as the engine ran with no problems prior to removal, it should be ok. I went ahead and replaced valve guide seals and lapped the valves during reassembly myself to save money. Hope this example helps.