How much should I expect to pay to replace the Intake Manifold Gaskets on my '91 850i? I have seen others say that this is a DIY job, but I am not that mechanically incliined, and I would hate to screw something up.

Thanks

about 274.00 each x 4 Gault bmw ask for Charlie at the 850 hotline

Thanks for the quick reply.

Does that include labor? If not, what am I looking at there?

Parts only, labor depends if you have some one who knows what they are doing and you trust. I am not an expert on the time I had valve cover gaskets and intake flanges and the entire cooling sytem replaced when we did mine as well as numerous other items.
Good Luck

nope. that is just for the gasket.
one can reseal a used gasket (one that isn't cracked )
but it's not a job that's easily done.
have a little bit of a read here to see what i an talking about.
http://bmwe32.masscom.net/sean750/V12_rough_idle/V12_QuickRoughIdleFix.htm
i can hook you up with a good (but used) set of gaskets for 200,- if you want to go that route

the time involved?
it took me at least 8 hours the first time i did it.
the second time 4 hours. but by the second time i had already
all the little gremlins along the way fixed.
i took it all of the second time because i thought i had a leak, but that wasn't the case.
wasted some time to find out my gaskets were rock solid.

If they are not cracked or to dry you might be able to reuse just mark them before you take them out so they go back in same postion. I would get new depending on miles on the clock. I just dropped about $6000.00 in parts and a couple thousand on labor but my guy is excellent 25 years working on BMW,s. I have 63,000 on the clock but my car is almost 19 years old.

If you have no record of these ever being replaced, your car is 18 years old, and if mileage is higher then 80K, not worth trying to save or use the old gaskets, don't skimp, you will regret it later.

my gaskets are from 97 man. date

If you have no record of these ever being replaced, your car is 18 years old, and if mileage is higher then 80K, not worth trying to save or use the old gaskets, don't skimp, you will regret it later.


Well said. I use this same approach with most things on my cars. It's the safest bet and surely the most appeasing when it comes to worrying about older cars.

Cheers :beer :beer :beer

Here you can get them for $109 a piece. http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product.aspx?sid=bs2qs0eidzt1a055ldreqb45&makeid=800003@BMW&modelid=1013106@850I&year=1991&cid=20@Engine%20Parts,%20Seals%20%26%20Gaskets&gid=5424@Intake%20Manifold%20Gasket
With the money you save while you're changing the intake gaskets, replace all your coolant sensors, breathers, grommets in your valve covers, remove the valve covers check your banjo bolts, make sure your head bolts arent snapped, replace your fuel lines(with genuin bmw hoses or upgrade to stainless). If you haven't wrenched on a 8 before this job will take you most of the day..maybe 2. Just so you know when disconnecting electrical plugs that have a metal tab on the end all you have to do is push it down to disconnect them, don't try to remove the metal clip(just for example like the clip that on a fuel injector). Happy wrenching!

I paid $272 each for 2 and $274 each for the other 2 from Gault. Autohaus seems to have better prices sometimes. what is the deal are the parts oem or lesser quality.

no they sometimes sell parts closer to the wholesale price

I paid $272 each for 2 and $274 each for the other 2 from Gault. Autohaus seems to have better prices sometimes. what is the deal are the parts oem or lesser quality.

Dealers sell based on one of the dealer pricing schemes and are limited by the actual cost that they pay BMWNA for the part.

Frequently you can find the exact same part in the aftermarket for less money from a retailer who sources it from a wholesaler importing it directly. For instance, I can buy the intake gaskets from a wholesaler for $100 each (that's gone up in the past few months, they used to be $70-80/ea). The dealers pay $105/$100 each, dealer retail is $188/$191, but as you found out, because of matrix pricing, they can pretty much charge whatever they want for the part.

In terms of quality, to my knowledge no company makes copies of V12 intake gaskets, so for such a specialized part, you can be certain that you're getting the same thing that the dealer would have.