Greetings everyone! Noob BMW owner here

[Skyline Driver 5]

the headbolts and headgasket kit are both from Vector. I didnt think they didnt need replacing so i bought them. i actually bought the car from an older english man that sold it to me running with overheating problems. his daughter got in the car and revved the piss out of it from what he told me. then white smoke started emancipating from the exhaust. he replaced the radiator and waterpump and since that was obviously not the problem it continued to overheat and thats when he had it taken to a shop to get checked out and sure enough they told him it was a head gasket issue. at that time he decided to post it on cl and i was the first person to come take a look at the car 30 minutes after he made the post and i was also the first person to purchase the car. i drove it from his house to a gas station down the road and the temps started to increase along with white smoke so from there i parked it and had it towed to my house where it sits in my lovely garage. i want this car to run so bad i will do whatever i need to get it running even if it means pulling a motor from LKQ on a hot and sunny saturday

[kirbykirb]

Bwahahaha, good luck LKQ in tampa hardly has any M50's.

Do you have 1500-2k saved up and ready to waste on your car?
How many miles does it have?
Hell, how old are you? (please don't say 18 or older)

Heres is what is going to happpen: you're going to try to fix it and down the line you're going to give up and list it online on CL for whatever pennies you can get: you will lose money. What I recomond to do is to have it towed to a mechanic and let him finish it up.

If the car has over 150K heh, it'dbe nearing a rebuild. Is it an automatic?

[Skyline Driver 5]

your probably going to lol out loud this time. the car has around 150k, its an auto, and i go from paycheck to paycheck. the only place id be interested in taking it to is an experienced euro place off bearss and nebraska but their labor is $108 and they quoted me a 12 hour job so yeah you do the math. I dont think it will need an immediate rebuld at the moment aside from what im hoping to get accomplished and perhaps its not that critical right now but down the line as i put miles on it im going to have to give it some attention and tlc while my wallet gets squeezed and i can see that is inevitable. rtabs etc plus all of the bmw'isms' that you mentioned on page 2.. ohh ya. but regardless it is what it is and shes all i got. after just having this car in my possession i cant imagine settling for a crx or something now. ouch that would affect my self esteem lol. im 23 this month

[kirbykirb]

Bwhahahahahahahaah, your'e 23 and you're fucking around with an old E36? Dude just ditch it and buy something better.
And $108 an hour labor is overpriced, find a real mechanic shop. I had a shop swap out a transmission on an E36 and I only paid $250, providing all parts plus Pizza.

It's not a 12 hour job, it's more like 4-6 hour depending on skill.

Sell the damn thing and get over it.

How much did you buy it for?

Even if you fix the engine, it's still 150K+ and has been abused since it overheatd.
Transmission is an automatic and will fail within 20K due to lifetime fluid fisaco.

It's a lemon, you bought a lemom. Wow.

[Skyline Driver 5]

i didnt think i bought a lemon at the time i thought i bought a gem. I paid $1200 on the spot for it. i was so happy and excited and i still sorta am. the thing about getting something different is i still have this car so why not fix it, enjoy it for a little, then sell it. i just really want to fix it though!!!

[kirbykirb]

Damn $1200, at the auction old E36's hardly go over $900 in running condition except M3's/Ti's.

and 150K, yeah that was destined for the junkyard.

[Skyline Driver 5]

heh didnt know these things

[bam2002]

1200 isnt bad for a E36.. I have a E34 with 217K miles on the same engine.
It has had the head rebuilt, due to the prev owner overheated it.

Any car that is a grand, you will need to do some work to it.

[Skyline Driver 5]

its not bad right! and yeah the cheaper the car is the more work youll end up doing and the more money youll spend on it. i cant wait to get it running. ive removed the vanos cover. can anyone point me in the next direction. as of right now the manuals are confusing me

[Skyline Driver 5]

well i got the head off and i found a crack in one of the passages, not sure whether its an oil or coolant passage but the crack reaches up through the hole up to about 1/2 inch and then i cant see it anymore. hps cylinder heads told me i might as well look for a new head. what a bummer

[Skyline Driver 5]

Shes alive! got her running today! But theres a problem, all the water i put in the radiator is gone, and theres white smoke coming from the exhaust. I really hope the head gasket didnt blow again. I put seafoam and a fuel injector cleaner in the gas tank (which has old gas in it that sat for almost 10 months) and i dont know what seems to be the problem. There was milky condensation on the oil cap as well but apparently this is normal for these cars. i dont know :

[kirbykirb]

Or it could be that you got another bad cylinder head or did not install it right.
milky condensation is not normal for this car, thats sign of coolant and oil mixing.

You're going to go do it again.

[Skyline Driver 5]

its actually running really good right now i just need a few things so it can run great. ill have a shop do a compression and leak test so i can be sure if its good or not

[Adkins12]

5 spd rwd coupe, in the middle of m3 conversion, $2900 call or text 813-382-9464

[Ls_[eg]hatch]

get ready to maintain. lol