ciudin

Bad News. A Head bolt cracked while taking it out. First one. If any of you felt like a earthquake yesterday, it was my brain exploding and cursing.

To everyone who wants to take the head off, Make sure you loose the head bolts BEFORE you take everything else apart. This way you know the magnitude of the damages that have to be fixed.

Howitzer

This is why I leave brain surgery to brain surgeons and not my local dentist.

Take it to the dealer. Cut corners with $ and it ends up costing you more.

ciudin

Taking the car to the dealer is a big NO NO unless you have warranty. Otherwise you pay for their huge building. I worked for a dealer in europe before i move to USA. And it's pathetic how they laugh at you when they perform dealer recommended maintenance that BMW never recommended. US is much worse in this sense.
But it was worth the try.

A dealer would've broken that bolt anyway and make me pay for a new block. Unscrewing a bolt from the head can be dangerous even if it it performed buy a mechanic that specializes in unscrewing bolts ONLY and has a 50 years experience in unscrewing those head bolt.

BlaSTiWi

Awesome project GL!

pukka

Not dangerous at all if you remember that you are dealing with aluminum alloy (vice iron and steel) and keep in mind that it would be much easier to work on the bolts if the engine was on a stand instead of in the car.

What exactly are you having the machine shop do with the used head you purchased prior to removing the one on the car? If you haven't thought of it already, you may want to consider using new valve springs, rocker arms, and connecting rods.

Also, you mentioned in your previous post that you inspected the camshaft when you removed the valve cover - are you sure of this? I'm asking because the camshaft sits completely within the block and can't be seen from the top of the cylinder head.

Good luck with the project!!

1600

Yes, indeed. Removing the engine first and putting it on a stand was the way to go.
Sorry for all your grief in this project.

ciudin

"I'm asking because the camshaft sits completely within the block and can't be seen from the top of the cylinder head."

Sorry that's the crankshaft you are talking about. You can see the camshafts if you remove the valve cover. You can also inspect them if you remove those covers that hold them on the head (sorry, don't know the english word for that). But you have to remove one at a time and put it back before you remove the next one. This way you don't bend the camshafts or don't have to remove them completely.

On the head that I bought prior to this project:
The machine shop has to check the head and change the seals on the valves. I'd like to have it completely refurbished and probably sell it since I have no need for it anymore. It was from a low miles m54b30 engine and will probably sell easy. But I need to make sure it's in good condition and be able to get warranty from the machine shop

I agree that working on an engine is much easier if you have it on a stand. But at the same time, working on an aluminum block that was overheated is a risk that we just have to take. I bought the car knowing that i will have to swap the engine. But decided to give it a try. You never know.

ciudin

It is still a good deal.
Even with the engine swap costs. No grief except for the scars on the hands

I just need to make my mind if i want to keep this 530i or the Z4 now. There are so many cons and pros for both cars.

pukka

Never mind - I forgot these engines have double VANOS

phelix

Carefully check the condition of the threads in the block for the head bolts - they're known to be a weak spot. You might wish to temporarily install the head with the old gasket to ensure you can get sufficient torque on the bolts before using the new head gasket. Common advice on the ali blocked BMW engines is to loosen each head bolt in turn and attempt to retorque it before removing the head - that way you know which, if any, threads are weak/stripped. Good luck with the project.