What else to replace with headgasket?

[UberWagen]

My car's gobbling coolant, and what's left in the resevoir is oil and smells like gas. Yay! And I had plans next week for spring break too... Anyway, I plan to get the victor-reinz (easy, I've had good luck with their other headgaskets) headgasket kit, new bolts, new coolant flange for the back of the head, the coolant flange that comes out of the block, I've already replaced my thermostat, not 6 months ago, Water pump (with metal impeller), valve stem seals, all appropriate o rings, a gallon of bmw coolant(to add to my 1/2 gallon I still have) and an oil cap. Also plan on getting it resurfaced, pressure tested, and possibly get the valves lapped.

I've done my share of head gaskets, everything from Ford 4.6/5.4's to VW 16V's. And frankly, after working in a dealership, I don't trust other people with my car. Thought that might be necessary before one of the senior ti guys gets on here and is like "Whoa dude, this is hard, not for the average DIYer, you should just take it to bmw".

Anything I'm leaving out that you would replace?

[jca]

Why not the coolant hoses underneath the intake manifold? You will need a special tool to hold the cams in place during the operation (I don't remember its name). I'm not a mechanic so I got my gasket replaced with the above mentioned work, plus a new timing chain at my indie garage for $3,200. The local dealership wanted $4k to do the gasket alone. Hope you get it done cheaper. John

[UberWagen]

You're right, I completely forgot about the hose. That will be another day I suppose, already ordered parts. I'm not going to replace my timing chain. Foolish to do so unless it's actually broken. I can definitely do it cheaper myself. Ordered all parts for around $275. You don't necessarily have to have the tools either. As long as you leave the car in neutral (so it doesn't move the engine), set it TDC, Zip Tie/Mechanics wire the timing chain to the sprockets, you don't have much to worry about.

[UberWagen]

If anybody would want me to try and take pictures for a DIY let me know.

[spidertri]

There are CAD drawings of the cam blocks and flywheel pin floating around this site somewhere. If you can't find them let me know and I can email them to you.

Definitely do all the coolant hoses and get any other gaskets you'll have to take off. Go for the oe bmw coolant pipes, aftermarket versions are molded incorrectly.

If you really wanted it to be fresh you could pull off the lower timing cover and do the crank seal, timing cover gaskets, and timing chain guide rails.

[baum318ti]

I'd also do all of the vacum lines that I could find under the intakes. I've done the head gasket on an M42, and it's not too bad.

[Romak]

Here's the drawings:

http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=11334

[Monolith]

Change out the oil filter housing gasket while everything's apart. Good time to replace the knock sensors if you've had any problems in the past with them.

[chzman]

i have the head off my '97 M44 now for servicing. I'm doing a turbo install on it. has 120k miles. Should i just go ahead and put new timing chain for general purpose or not necessary?

[jca]

Originally Posted by chzman

i have the head off my '97 M44 now for servicing. I'm doing a turbo install on it. has 120k miles. Should i just go ahead and put new timing chain for general purpose or not necessary?

My mechanic would say yes.

[chzman]

Originally Posted by jca

My mechanic would say yes.

thank you. I've searched and found nothing on a High Energy or Turbo application Timing Chain, so I purchased an OEM today.

[spidertri]

Metric Mechanic sells a single row timing chain.