Head gasket fail? 330i

[siwebster]

Bugger.

Went to top up oil this morning and found gunky yellow emulsion on the bottom of the oil filler cap. I could see it inside the top of the rocker cover too. Pulled the dipstick out and there were traces there too, so checked the coolant - it's down by about half a litre.

All spells HG failure doesn't it? Or could it be something else - oil breather?

Does anyone know difficult replacing a HG is? I've undertaken quite a lot of maintenance and repairs so, including restorations and kit car builds, but never done a head gasket. I've had a quick search but can't find any advice particular to my make & model - 2001 330i.

What sort of costs can I expect if I get a garage to do it?

Where is the best place to by parts from should I decide to do it myself? - my usual source of parts (Euro Car Parts) doesn't seem to list a head gasket.

Any help/advice/ideas gratefully received!

Cheers

Si

Edited to add - I can get it from Euro Car Parts, it's £63. I didn't look very carefully...

Edited by siwebster on Tuesday 1st February 17:55

Edited by siwebster on Tuesday 1st February 18:05

[CypherP]

I don't know anything about head gasket changing and how easy it is, but I'm wondering whether, should you decide to change it yourself, you can get one from GSF or not?

ETA - Just checked and looks like you can. I am assuming yours is an E46, although if it isn't then you might want to re-check.

[E30M3SE]

Check the coolant for hydrocarbons using a block tester, if it is positive it is the HG, or worse.

It could just be condensation if you are gdoing lots of short trips and the car is not getting up to sufficient temp to burn it all off, coolant loss could be the pressure cap or heater valve or slight weep from a hose.