Hi,

I'm went to my garage to have an engine transplant on my 545i 2004. I have 2 scored cylinder and one is pretty bad. On cylinder 6, my spark need to be changed every 2 weeks ...

I would like to know what preventive maintenance would you do since the ''new'' engine will be out and easy to work on. The ''new'' engine has 130 000 kM on it.

I have a newish water pump that I will transfer (1year old), I also ask them to change the front cover gasket since these need to be change around 150 000kM. I had it done on the ''old'' engine and the labor was a bit expensive. The garage quote me around 2h for that if I only did that went the engine was out but since I'm going to ask them to transfer a couple of accessories, the labor will be spread among transferring the accessories.

I also had both upper timing cover gasket change on the old engine, would it be worth it to get them done also ? I'm going to chat with them about all the preventive maintenance that would be worth to be done before putting the new engine in but I want to have an idea of what you guys recommend.

Thanks !

 

What do you know about the history of the "new" engine?

If you have no service records (and I wouldn't expect you would with a used long block) then I would agree that changing out common failure items that are infinitely easier when the engine is out make sense, such as the timing cover gaskets, water pipe and alternator bracket gasket. Make sure your mechanic doesn't charge "standard rates". Get your quote up front. For instance, with the timing cover gaskets and water pump off the water pipe is much easier to swap out.