So in addition to blowing my head gasket in 3 different cylinders, I also have a crack in the head at an exhaust valve seat. Looks like nothing to me, but the machine shop says otherwise. Only 28K miles on this 2006 S52 engine, albeit at 10psi or so.

SO, do I ship the head off to have it repaired for $675 + freight?

Replace the head with a new one from BMW at shop cost of $1751?

Buy a remanufactured one online which has never been welded, but could potentially be 20 years old with 500K miles on it?

The only concern with having my head repaired is the fact that it failed already, and the new welded area will not be as strong as it was from the factory to begin with, but is that worth the $1000 premium to buy a new head from BMW??

Looking to pull the trigger tomorrow so thoughts?

Hey, as far as i know, all the bmw m5x heads are the same (m50, m52, s50, s52). This means you can get a cherry used head at a fraction of the cost because its not a "m" part. make sure its after 1992 as the non-vanos varient wont work out. I bought a nice used head for $300. (non-vanos m50 but still!)

Buy a used head, Get it checked out Save 1000+ dollars :)

So in addition to blowing my head gasket in 3 different cylinders, I also have a crack in the head at an exhaust valve seat. Looks like nothing to me, but the machine shop says otherwise. Only 28K miles on this 2006 S52 engine, albeit at 10psi or so.

SO, do I ship the head off to have it repaired for $675 + freight?

Replace the head with a new one from BMW at shop cost of $1751?

Buy a remanufactured one online which has never been welded, but could potentially be 20 years old with 500K miles on it?

The only concern with having my head repaired is the fact that it failed already, and the new welded area will not be as strong as it was from the factory to begin with, but is that worth the $1000 premium to buy a new head from BMW??

Looking to pull the trigger tomorrow so thoughts?

A properly welded crack will be the strongest part of the head, believe it or not... the only catch is finding the right place to repair it.

You can either get a used M5x head that has been pressure checked, or you can get a reman one from VAC. ~900 bucks. It is superior to the stock head, according to them.


As a side note... I will have a setup almost identical to yours... how much HP does your car make? Pulley combo?

A properly welded crack will be the strongest part of the head, believe it or not... the only catch is finding the right place to repair it.

You can either get a used M5x head that has been pressure checked, or you can get a reman one from VAC. ~900 bucks. It is superior to the stock head, according to them.


As a side note... I will have a setup almost identical to yours... how much HP does your car make? Pulley combo?

Never dynoed it with this setup as it never ran great with the AA tune and I was afraid something bad would happen on the dyno, and it turns out I was probably right...:rolleyes

Anybody dealt with any of these guys?
[/URL]

[URL="http://www.adccylinderheads.com/site/792044/page/45029"] (http://www.aluminumheads.com/index-2.html)

http://www.aluminumcylinderhead.com/

ahttp://www.aluminumheads.com/index-2.html

bhttp://www.adccylinderheads.com/site/792044/page/45029

BMP Design has a head on ebay. Head, seals, and valves. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E36-E34-M50-Cylinder-Head-323-328-525-528-M3-MZ3_W0QQitemZ230239363664QQihZ013QQcategoryZ33617Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Go with Bmp design, or send it to Vacmotors on exchange for 1 of there heads. Good Luck either way..

Throw some JB Weld on it and call it a day. :D


Seriously, I'd replace it. I just got a VAC Stage 1 head with my MLS gasket replacement. Quite happy with it I must say.


Why not give your car some new life...

https://store.nexternal.com/vacmotors/images/VAC-S1PCH-M10-M.JPG

"VAC's Stage 1 Performance Cylinder Heads are our best seller out of all the Reconditioned Cylinder Head options we offer. They offer more performance for at only a slightly higher price. Best of all, our Stage 1 heads are still Stock class legal."

Stage One Cylinder Heads feature the following:

Full Radius Valve Job using Serdi Equipment
New Valve Guides
Reconditioned or New Valves
Balanced and Blueprinted Valves
Balanced Springs
Resurfaced Face
Unshrouding of Valves
Flow Bench Tested
VAC High Performance or BMW Motorsport Valve Springs Recommended
Core Charge Required

http://store.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=vacmotors&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=132320582&Count2=49461007&CategoryID=1&Target=products.asp

I ordered a VAC reman head today so I can try to get to the root of the problem. The crack should not have been due to the software, need to check out my fuel system as I think I have been running very lean. I am putting in an AFR gauge as well to get to the bottom of this before I go to a modded head or ditch my AA software. Nick G says AA ruined my ECU and I would have to find a new one before I could even get his software...

I ordered a VAC reman head today so I can try to get to the root of the problem. The crack should not have been due to the software, need to check out my fuel system as I think I have been running very lean. I am putting in an AFR gauge as well to get to the bottom of this before I go to a modded head or ditch my AA software. Nick G says AA ruined my ECU and I would have to find a new one before I could even get his software...

I would appreciate it if you didn't misquote me and say I said something to you, when we've never even spoken. Thanks :rolleyes

I would appreciate it if you didn't misquote me and say I said something to you, when we've never even spoken. Thanks :rolleyes

CORRECTION: I emailed ICS about purchasing hthe ICS/NickG tune and my current troubles as they said that they were in on the development of the software. Dave at ICS told me that I would have to buy a new ECU before I could get the Nick G tune because AA deviated from the industry standard and soldered a board for a removable chip on my ECU, rendering it useless if I ditch the AA tune.

I don't see much of a difference there, and it could be seen as my mistake for grouping comments from the two deveolpers into one, however from seeing it on the forums I think of the software as the NickG software, and I was talking to the developer of the software, but not actually NickG himself. So in the fact of whom I was speaking with, I was mistaken. However the other facts of the matter remain unchanged. Cheers!

I was in your shoes last year with the same dilema. Ultimately I bought a new BMW casting and rebuilt the head. VAC wouldn't give me anything on a core exchange with my damaged head and my sources for a new BMW casting were more affordable. But as mentioned above there are several BMW motors you can get heads from that work on this car. The proper welder is a problem, I checked it out and nobody wanted to do it.

By the way I have had no problems since I have had my new tune (Nick G) and I track the car.

CORRECTION: I emailed ICS about purchasing hthe ICS/NickG tune and my current troubles as they said that they were in on the development of the software. Dave at ICS told me that I would have to buy a new ECU before I could get the Nick G tune because AA deviated from the industry standard and soldered a board for a removable chip on my ECU, rendering it useless if I ditch the AA tune.

I don't see much of a difference there, and it could be seen as my mistake for grouping comments from the two deveolpers into one, however from seeing it on the forums I think of the software as the NickG software, and I was talking to the developer of the software, but not actually NickG himself. So in the fact of whom I was speaking with, I was mistaken. However the other facts of the matter remain unchanged. Cheers!

The 'Developer of the software' is the one who Wrote the software, and unless things have changed an awful lot, Nick is the Developer of the software, and ICS is a Marketer and Servicer of the software. Saying that 'Nick told you xyz' would be like my visiting an independant and questioning them about buying a product they sell, and having them tell me thus and such about that product. And then, my coming here and saying the product owner told me xyz. See the diff? You can imagine how the product owner might take umbrage at that... right?

Incidentally, this is nothing new about the AA sockets making the future ecu upgrades by anybody else a little difficult.

Some tuners 'flash' the ECM and others install a socket with the tune..removeable within the socket holder....

I think it makes no difference..either way..but I personally prefer the 'socket" way..since if I were to need a revision or upgrade for my car for more power, I can keep my ECM in my car, and wait for the new chip to arrive...And..still have my old tune as a "backup", should the new tune not works as well..for example..

On most tunes... AA flashes( all of their C30/C38 kits), and others they install chips( custom centri stuff..that Karl does with me))..But AA CAN do it either way..accomodating someone who already has a chipholder and others who do not...

IIRC, sockets are in violation of OBD2 standards aren't they? So a flash would be the proper way to stay OBD2 legal... **I think**

IIRC, sockets are in violation of OBD2 standards aren't they? So a flash would be the proper way to stay OBD2 legal... **I think**

I may be wrong, but believe that doing anything that might affect emissions -- including tuning or otherwise altering the OBDII parameters -- is illegal. Doesn't matter whether done with a new chip or by flash re-programming.


Neil