E91 Straight Six Bearding

[JakeT]

Unreal beard work there, Dave. I would fire the parts cannon and stick an oil cooler on it. Unless it's overheated the head should be in tact. Have a sniffer test done too.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/part?id=UV52-EUR-...

Either way, great looking thing. I did think £5k was on the low side for a Facelift model with a big spec.

[stevesuk]

Sir_Dave said:

As a best scenario, the oil filter housing gasket is leaking oil into the coolant channels - at worse, the head gasket has gone.

I've had this problem recently on my N52 325i - shortly after the oil filter housing gasket had been replaced. Just a small bit of creamy gunk on the tip of the float in the header tank.

I cleaned it up about a month ago, and the problem hasn't returned.

It's always worrying when you see evidence of oil where it's not supposed to be, but head gasket failure is probably the worst case scenario - is it a common problem on BMWs?

Looks like a nice car anyway - same interior style/colour as ours, only we have sports seats.

[JakeT]

Provided you don't overheat them, they've very reliable. I've had high mileage BMW sixes with no issues. My dad has had his (petrol) X5 from new, and it's on over 240,000 miles now. No coolant issues.

If it is the HG on this one, it's probably it got hot when the Electric water pump failed and compromised the head/gasket. Heads on BMW sixes will flip you the bird if you overheat them and they'll crack almost immediately. They're better than they used to be. M20s and M50s were much more known for it. new stuff with ali heads and blocks tend to be better.

[stevesuk]

JakeT said:

If it is the HG on this one, it's probably it got hot when the Electric water pump failed and compromised the head/gasket.

Yeah, we had the electric water pump fail on ours about 18 months ago - and it did get hot, but not to the point of overheating I think (the wife was driving it, and stopped as soon as the warning light came on).

Anyway - assuming its worth the paper its written on, one of the photos suggests it may have come with an AA warranty. Get it checked by your indie, and if the head gasket is faulty, get the trader to fix it?

[Sn1ckers]

Not the news I’d hoped for I have to say!

The car is very clean and has an immaculate mot history and fsh so I thought I was on to a winner. There’s no sign of a head gasket problem at the moment but I’ll get my local garage to investigate. I suspect I will be purchasing their 12 month AA warranty just in case! (Though I may well use this to get a deal on the £395 they want to charge )

[gizlaroc]

Sn1ckers said:

Not the news I’d hoped for I have to say!

The car is very clean and has an immaculate mot history and fsh so I thought I was on to a winner. There’s no sign of a head gasket problem at the moment but I’ll get my local garage to investigate. I suspect I will be purchasing their 12 month AA warranty just in case! (Though I may well use this to get a deal on the £395 they want to charge )

No, don't start taking it elsewhere or taking out warranties.

Print that advert out before it disappears, making sure the reg number can be seen.

Then call the dealer and say you have been pointed to this, and all you are asking is .....
if he knows about that?
If so, what was it and has it been sorted?
If not, should you get your guy to look at it or does he want to?


Be firm but polite, say obviously after seeing that you are concerned, but maybe worrying about nothing.

[JakeT]

gizlaroc said:

Sn1ckers said:

Not the news I’d hoped for I have to say!

The car is very clean and has an immaculate mot history and fsh so I thought I was on to a winner. There’s no sign of a head gasket problem at the moment but I’ll get my local garage to investigate. I suspect I will be purchasing their 12 month AA warranty just in case! (Though I may well use this to get a deal on the £395 they want to charge )

No, don't start taking it elsewhere or taking out warranties.

Print that advert out before it disappears, making sure the reg number can be seen.

Then call the dealer and say you have been pointed to this, and all you are asking is .....
if he knows about that?
If so, what was it and has it been sorted?
If not, should you get your guy to look at it or does he want to?


Be firm but polite, say obviously after seeing that you are concerned, but maybe worrying about nothing.

Good advice, all round. If the warranty company gets wind this was an issue present at time of sale, they'll wash their hands of it and tell you it's the dealers' responsibility. For all we know they've fixed the issue, and then sold it on. Hopefully that's the case, as retailing a car with a HG issue is pretty silly for a used car dealer.

[Sn1ckers]

gizlaroc said:

No, don't start taking it elsewhere or taking out warranties.

Print that advert out before it disappears, making sure the reg number can be seen.

Then call the dealer and say you have been pointed to this, and all you are asking is .....
if he knows about that?
If so, what was it and has it been sorted?
If not, should you get your guy to look at it or does he want to?


Be firm but polite, say obviously after seeing that you are concerned, but maybe worrying about nothing.

This is pretty much what I’ve done. Having thought about it I decided to call the dealer and discuss the issue with them. The car is now booked in to an AA Warranty approved garage for investigation at their expense. I’ve made it clear that the car needs proper investigation and repair if/as necessary and that I do not expect to be out of pocket. I let you know how I get on!

[squareflops]

ferrisbueller said:

I think they're Sachs # 311 405 and 6

Just to update - Re my 07' e92 330i M Sport these part numbers are correct for the front damper units when cross checking with VIN, cheers ferris

Edited by squareflops on Thursday 20th June 07:18

[Sir_Dave]

JakeT said:

Unreal beard work there, Dave.

Benefit of starting my own business? I can now spend all day reading about e9*'s and browsing for them on a multitude of websites

Negative of starting my own business - i've now ended up with 3 of them again!!


Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr


@Sn1ckers - hope you get it sorted out ok! If you bought it from a dealer, SOGA will cover any issues for the first 6 months, irrespective of warranty

Edited by jeremyc on Thursday 20th June 14:46

[ferrisbueller]

squareflops said:

ferrisbueller said:

I think they're Sachs # 311 405 and 6

Just to update - Re my 07' e92 330i M Sport these part numbers are correct for the front damper units when cross checking with VIN, cheers ferris

Edited by squareflops on Thursday 20th June 07:18

Glad you got sorted. Did you swap out the top mounts, bump stops etc?

[squareflops]

ferrisbueller said:

Glad you got sorted. Did you swap out the top mounts, bump stops etc?

Hmm, hadn't thought of that, bump stops could be a good shout. The car is up for sale so I want it to be right however I'd rather not replace items as if I were keeping the car forever. I do recall seeing the bump stops in a sorry state though, I'll get those ordered also, good spot ferris.

[gizlaroc]

Top mounts can cause a lose feeling up front, I would get a pair, even 3rd party ones, as silly to do the rest and not do them.

[squareflops]

I think I'll just give the car away The car does wander slightly at .. higher speeds I noticed recently.

Does anyone (ferris!) have the part numbers by chance, cheers guys; much appreciated.

[13aines]

Noticed yesterday the nearside front damper on my 335i is leaking oil and there's an audible squeak from that corner

Would you replace both dampers at the same time? Seems worthwhile given the relatively low cost to change the springs at the same time too?

Time for some TLC I think, been missing the offside washer and cover for months, and has been losing screenwash rapidly and has needed new lower arm bushes since I bought the car. May as well get the bumper off and rectify it all while i've got the front wheels off...

[gizlaroc]

squareflops said:

I think I'll just give the car away The car does wander slightly at .. higher speeds I noticed recently.

Does anyone (ferris!) have the part numbers by chance, cheers guys; much appreciated.

The top mounts can be had for under £30 a pair on ECP.

Struts on ECP are around £120 a pair. so £150 all in.

If you're doing dampers you may as well do top mounts.

[squareflops]

gizlaroc said:

The top mounts can be had for under £30 a pair on ECP.

From what I see the top mounts specified on ECP with reg no entered all state "Suspension for vehicles without M-technics, Suspension for vehicles without sports suspension" which makes me think they're for non MSport models? Good to check the part number before ordering

[gizlaroc]

There is only one part for the 330i E92 on the BMW parts catalogue, they will be fine.


https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=WB52...




People have used them from the E46 M3 on the E92 and all sorts.

[helix402]

Don’t forget the three nuts to secure each damper to the car body at the top and the central damper nut to the top mount. (You can get away the three but the central one is more vital to change).

Also pray the damper body isn’t seized into the hub.

[g3org3y]

Some bills coming in on the 330i unfortunately.

I was aware of the oil filter housing leak. Took it to the local BMW Specialist and they've given it a check over. Unfortunately looks like the car also has the rather labour intensive sump pan gasket leak as well (needs subframe dropping). (I did think the oil level was dropping more than I would expect, so that makes sense).

Since it's going to be in there for a bit, I've requested them to change the (annoyingly expensive electric) waterpump (car on original pump and 122k miles). Better to do it now than it failing when driving up to Scotland.

Looks like to have all that done will be around a grand. Oh well, I factored this into my purchase and hopefully once it's all done, it won't need doing again.