Bad luck always comes in 3's - s54 HGF
Discussion
Spoken to a lot of people over the past couple of days.
It really is becoming an issue. I'm worried that a lot of people won't bother to get it done and there will be fewer cars about. There are a lot of people wanting to get into an m3, seeing them on eBay and diving in and not knowing to look for the rear subframe or being aware of the HG.
It's another one of the "when" not "if" scenarios.
I'm based in London and it's gonna save me over £1k if I take it to Reddish. The specialist it's at now want £2.8k.
It really is becoming an issue. I'm worried that a lot of people won't bother to get it done and there will be fewer cars about. There are a lot of people wanting to get into an m3, seeing them on eBay and diving in and not knowing to look for the rear subframe or being aware of the HG.
It's another one of the "when" not "if" scenarios.
I'm based in London and it's gonna save me over £1k if I take it to Reddish. The specialist it's at now want £2.8k.
pidsy said:
Spoken to a lot of people over the past couple of days.
It really is becoming an issue. I'm worried that a lot of people won't bother to get it done and there will be fewer cars about. There are a lot of people wanting to get into an m3, seeing them on eBay and diving in and not knowing to look for the rear subframe or being aware of the HG.
It's another one of the "when" not "if" scenarios.
I'm based in London and it's gonna save me over £1k if I take it to Reddish. The specialist it's at now want £2.8k.
Did you get the dreaded 'marbles in a can' pinking noise?It really is becoming an issue. I'm worried that a lot of people won't bother to get it done and there will be fewer cars about. There are a lot of people wanting to get into an m3, seeing them on eBay and diving in and not knowing to look for the rear subframe or being aware of the HG.
It's another one of the "when" not "if" scenarios.
I'm based in London and it's gonna save me over £1k if I take it to Reddish. The specialist it's at now want £2.8k.
Yep totally agree mate, these are one of those cars when you have to go in with your eyes open and kmow what to look for.
Geoerge at TS is good but expensive. Hes always got CSLs in there, have you seen his own race car? Amazing!
I unwittingly bought an M3 with a borked HG and cracked subframe (RACP) a couple of years ago.
At least I made sure I got one under 10 years old so the subframe repair was done under 'goodwill', although the cost of ancillary replacement parts done at the same time still added up to a few quid. The car drives superbly now but then it should do given the TLC it's had lately!
The problem with HGF on these cars is that it's not necessarily as noticeable as you might expect; mine pulled strongly through the rev range and had no oil cap 'mayo', the only symptom was a faint pinking under load at 2-3.5k rpm (especially when going uphill).
If you're thinking of buying a car at 90k miles plus, try and get a leak down test first or budget £1k+ for a possible repair at some point (they have been known to go at 50k miles though according to the well respected specialist that repaired mine).
Great cars when firing on all cylinders though!
At least I made sure I got one under 10 years old so the subframe repair was done under 'goodwill', although the cost of ancillary replacement parts done at the same time still added up to a few quid. The car drives superbly now but then it should do given the TLC it's had lately!
The problem with HGF on these cars is that it's not necessarily as noticeable as you might expect; mine pulled strongly through the rev range and had no oil cap 'mayo', the only symptom was a faint pinking under load at 2-3.5k rpm (especially when going uphill).
If you're thinking of buying a car at 90k miles plus, try and get a leak down test first or budget £1k+ for a possible repair at some point (they have been known to go at 50k miles though according to the well respected specialist that repaired mine).
Great cars when firing on all cylinders though!
SPORTSTER said:
pidsy said:
Spoken to a lot of people over the past couple of days.
It really is becoming an issue. I'm worried that a lot of people won't bother to get it done and there will be fewer cars about. There are a lot of people wanting to get into an m3, seeing them on eBay and diving in and not knowing to look for the rear subframe or being aware of the HG.
It's another one of the "when" not "if" scenarios.
I'm based in London and it's gonna save me over £1k if I take it to Reddish. The specialist it's at now want £2.8k.
Did you get the dreaded 'marbles in a can' pinking noise?It really is becoming an issue. I'm worried that a lot of people won't bother to get it done and there will be fewer cars about. There are a lot of people wanting to get into an m3, seeing them on eBay and diving in and not knowing to look for the rear subframe or being aware of the HG.
It's another one of the "when" not "if" scenarios.
I'm based in London and it's gonna save me over £1k if I take it to Reddish. The specialist it's at now want £2.8k.
Yep totally agree mate, these are one of those cars when you have to go in with your eyes open and kmow what to look for.
Geoerge at TS is good but expensive. Hes always got CSLs in there, have you seen his own race car? Amazing!
- marbles in can noise under load
- slight miss on start up
- low on power - i had wondered why it seemed sluggish - i thought id just got used to it.
still havent had the leak down test done - hoping its done today. a compression test is useless for HG testing anyway.
yeah, George is expensive but he certainly knows his stuff. the e46 race car is being completely stripped back to its shell now ready for the next season. the e9x car is under the stairs awaiting work. they are crazy busy at the moment so im greatful that he is fitting me in. just a shame he cant compete with the cost from Reddish to fix - i could do without driving to Bristol and leaving the car there for a week.
Wideblue said:
I unwittingly bought an M3 with a borked HG and cracked subframe (RACP) a couple of years ago.
At least I made sure I got one under 10 years old so the subframe repair was done under 'goodwill', although the cost of ancillary replacement parts done at the same time still added up to a few quid. The car drives superbly now but then it should do given the TLC it's had lately!
The problem with HGF on these cars is that it's not necessarily as noticeable as you might expect; mine pulled strongly through the rev range and had no oil cap 'mayo', the only symptom was a faint pinking under load at 2-3.5k rpm (especially when going uphill).
If you're thinking of buying a car at 90k miles plus, try and get a leak down test first or budget £1k+ for a possible repair at some point (they have been known to go at 50k miles though according to the well respected specialist that repaired mine).
Great cars when firing on all cylinders though!
as you said - its really not as noticeable on these as it is on other cars. mine didnt have any error codes, no mayo, no real issues. nothing i noticed until they were pointed out to me by someone who knows what hes talking about.i would imagine there are a lot of these cars out there for sale with the early symptoms!At least I made sure I got one under 10 years old so the subframe repair was done under 'goodwill', although the cost of ancillary replacement parts done at the same time still added up to a few quid. The car drives superbly now but then it should do given the TLC it's had lately!
The problem with HGF on these cars is that it's not necessarily as noticeable as you might expect; mine pulled strongly through the rev range and had no oil cap 'mayo', the only symptom was a faint pinking under load at 2-3.5k rpm (especially when going uphill).
If you're thinking of buying a car at 90k miles plus, try and get a leak down test first or budget £1k+ for a possible repair at some point (they have been known to go at 50k miles though according to the well respected specialist that repaired mine).
Great cars when firing on all cylinders though!
Output Flange said:
Did you try booking in with Martyn @ Scotts Performance in Dartford? They seem to be doing little else than S54 head gaskets and boot floors at the moment!
i'll give him a call. its closer than Bristol.
edit:
called them. they are cheapest so far £1100.
do they have a website? i cant find one on them. id like to have a look before i commit to a company ive never heard of before.
Edited by pidsy on Thursday 18th February 12:54
Don't think they have a website, but are pretty active on Facebook.
I can give you a personal reference: they look after my race car, M5 and 530d, and always do a top job on them all.
They've always got E46s in when I go down there. I think they've got a lot of referral work through M3Cutters, so you may get more feedback there.
I can give you a personal reference: they look after my race car, M5 and 530d, and always do a top job on them all.
They've always got E46s in when I go down there. I think they've got a lot of referral work through M3Cutters, so you may get more feedback there.
mine went after 2 years ownershipp 88k light pinking to gradual marbles sound at 2.5/3k , i ended up doing it myself on the drive , not as bad some may think, but theres alot of detailed pictures in my build thread if any one tries it them selfs, my gasket went between 5 and 6 uprated 3 layer metal gasket from the states went on, mine didnt feel low on power couldnt really hear the pinking over the gutted backbox but idle started missing badly after a while .
Went down today and had a chat with the guys at TS - much haggling and ultimately, the car is staying there.
It was going to be a pain getting it down to Bristol.
The dartford garage sounded promising but I'm happier with it being where it is. I trust George hugely.
Should have it back the week after next.
I'll keep this thread updated - I've said I want to be involved in seeing what actually goes on, so I'll put up pics of damage relative to what the cylinders should be.
Huge thank you to all those who have given advice. I did think it was going to be a proper nightmare but now I've seen its more common than I thought (they've got 2 m3's and a CSL in atm with HGF).
Looking forward to the car driving the way it should. I should be quite surprised - so I've been told.
It was going to be a pain getting it down to Bristol.
The dartford garage sounded promising but I'm happier with it being where it is. I trust George hugely.
Should have it back the week after next.
I'll keep this thread updated - I've said I want to be involved in seeing what actually goes on, so I'll put up pics of damage relative to what the cylinders should be.
Huge thank you to all those who have given advice. I did think it was going to be a proper nightmare but now I've seen its more common than I thought (they've got 2 m3's and a CSL in atm with HGF).
Looking forward to the car driving the way it should. I should be quite surprised - so I've been told.
Yeah its usually 1-2 and 5-6 that go, as its so close to the edge
The car will drive fresh afterwards, take it easy for the first 100 miles to keep the heat cycles consistent.
As these cars get older,HG will become more comnmon.
Are you still going to sell the car afterwards?
The car will drive fresh afterwards, take it easy for the first 100 miles to keep the heat cycles consistent.
As these cars get older,HG will become more comnmon.
Are you still going to sell the car afterwards?
Edited by SPORTSTER on Friday 19th February 17:18
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