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sevenforty 
Groupie
Joined: 01-November-2005
Location: Croydon
Status: Offline
Points: 48
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 Posted: 07-November-2005 at 13:18 |
have had a cheaper quote from BMW dealer of £2k (who said they wont do work with out testing to gaurentee its headgasket at no extra charge and they will try and keep price to minimum)and one from an indy for £2400 so ill stick with BMW, car is fully loaded with Alpina wheels and full BMW service history and ive just spent £500 getting past mot and £300 on 2 new tyres, with headgaskets fixed its worth an easy £5k + (saw a non fully loaded one with slightly more mileage and no sat nav and tv go for £5200) cant sell it as it is without saying its got headgasket problem and who will buy it then??? 
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740i
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Selephant
Groupie
Joined: 28-April-2005
Location: South Staffs
Status: Offline
Points: 98
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Posted: 07-November-2005 at 12:57 |
How much is your 740 worth ?
I'd get the dealer & indy to both do quotes. You may find the indy is far cheaper & if your car is only worth say £3k (rough guess), I wouldn't want to blow £2.5k at BMW getting the head gasket(s) fixed.
I've seen late 90's 735 & 740s go for £3-3.5k on ebay from dealers with warrenties, to put things in perspective.
Whick way do you jump ?
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sleeper
Really Senior Member II
Original and STILL best
Joined: 26-March-2004
Location: East Sussex/Kent border
Status: Offline
Points: 2098
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Posted: 07-November-2005 at 09:17 |
worrying more like!
a woman, pricing a mans job?!?
he he he!!!
Seriously though it may be 2, I don't know, but you'll be having 80% of the parts off to do one head so not much more for the pair.
I always get a written quote or at least estimate for a big job like that.
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sevenforty
Groupie
Joined: 01-November-2005
Location: Croydon
Status: Offline
Points: 48
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Posted: 07-November-2005 at 08:52 |
only 104k, so the headgasket shouldnt even have gone! but not a lot that can be done, why would i need a written quote, just incase they try to charge more?
cant work it out though cos when i phoned BMW for a quote they said it depends if both gaskets had gone, i spoke to a woman first and she said about £1000-£1200 for a new headgasket, then i spoke to a guy who said depends if both have gone but if its one gasket then surely it wouldnt matter, very confusing  ...........
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740i
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sleeper
Really Senior Member II
Original and STILL best
Joined: 26-March-2004
Location: East Sussex/Kent border
Status: Offline
Points: 2098
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Posted: 07-November-2005 at 08:47 |
Its probably a twin head monoblock type arrangement. This'll mean one gasket for the two heads.
If its single, both heads off I'm afraid.
If it comes down to £500 difference between a BMW job (& assoc. warranty) or an indy, on a £2500 job I'd go BMW. And get a written quote if you can!
How many miles on the '40 out of interest?
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sevenforty
Groupie
Joined: 01-November-2005
Location: Croydon
Status: Offline
Points: 48
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Posted: 07-November-2005 at 08:37 |
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just got back from garage, it is the headgasket, but they seem to think it only has one headgasket? i thought being a V8 it would have 2, very confusing as if its just the one it will surely be cheaper to replace, what now? do i take it to BMW still tomorrow and get there verdict, or just book it in to have headgasket replaced, but surely it its 2 ill need to know which one?? any ideas??
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740i
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sevenforty
Groupie
Joined: 01-November-2005
Location: Croydon
Status: Offline
Points: 48
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Posted: 04-November-2005 at 15:23 |
do you think so? i hope so, what would explain the "misfiring"/judders, its only happened twice could it be as Selephant said and the coolant overflowing and contacting the sparkplugs? its clear now the water isnt going into the engine so fingers crossed you are right  
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740i
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omega man
Groupie
Joined: 05-July-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 90
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Posted: 04-November-2005 at 12:25 |
as i said before, header tank CAP. good luck, the presure isent holding so will overflow from the header tank. cheap repair, sorry hiab, put the dust sheet back on the cargo. 
Edited by omega man
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sevenforty
Groupie
Joined: 01-November-2005
Location: Croydon
Status: Offline
Points: 48
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Posted: 04-November-2005 at 09:09 |
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Have now got the car booked in on monday with my local garage (who i trust) but IS it the head gasket, filled up with petrol today and when i came back to the car there was a puddle of water there, obviously from the coolant tank, could it just be a simple leak? would the headgasket cause this? have BMW just fitted the exspansion tank wrong when they replaced it last week? any ideas??? fingers crossed as i have had 2 quotes for over £2000 for head gaskets!!
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740i
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Selephant
Groupie
Joined: 28-April-2005
Location: South Staffs
Status: Offline
Points: 98
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Posted: 03-November-2005 at 13:01 |
 sevenforty wrote:
phoning 1 bmw sepcialist and they said they have never done a 740 before so wouldnt like to do it, said it should be a dealers job, just waiting on another bmw specialist to get back to me with price, does anyone know any trustworthy garages around london that will undertake this? |
Try "Beales Wheels", Under the Arches, Albert Square. 
Why not try one of these mobile mechanics? I don't see why you need a BMW specialist just to test for a blown HG.
Edited by Selephant
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sevenforty
Groupie
Joined: 01-November-2005
Location: Croydon
Status: Offline
Points: 48
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Posted: 03-November-2005 at 08:02 |
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phoning 1 bmw sepcialist and they said they have never done a 740 before so wouldnt like to do it, said it should be a dealers job, just waiting on another bmw specialist to get back to me with price, does anyone know any trustworthy garages around london that will undertake this?
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740i
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M3AG
Really Senior Member II
7 series & e36 m3 registrar! (Madness)
Joined: 17-October-2002
Location: Good Old Hertfordshire
Status: Offline
Points: 1644
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Posted: 03-November-2005 at 03:50 |
you are an evil man Hiab! 
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Hiabboy
Really Senior Member I
Joined: 05-February-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 325
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Posted: 03-November-2005 at 03:42 |
Sounds like its time to warm the cargo up !
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Profit is more reasonable than justice.
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omega man
Groupie
Joined: 05-July-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 90
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Posted: 02-November-2005 at 19:55 |
it could well be the presure cap on your header tank, good luck for next tuesday.
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sevenforty
Groupie
Joined: 01-November-2005
Location: Croydon
Status: Offline
Points: 48
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Posted: 02-November-2005 at 13:01 |
very thorough response thanks 
i have it booked into BMW next tuesday, they said they charge £109 per hour and they can do some sort of test which will take half an hour and they should be able to diagnose the fault and tell me what needs doing, hopefully its not the gaskets (stranger things have happened) or the very worse just one gasket as they say its £2.5k to replace both, is there any chance it could be something else and NOT a blown gasket, as i said the oil has no white deposits in and doesnt look wattery, and the engine runs still as smooth as ever, or could the gasket be split on the outer side causing the water to leak outside the engine?.....?
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740i
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Selephant
Groupie
Joined: 28-April-2005
Location: South Staffs
Status: Offline
Points: 98
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Posted: 02-November-2005 at 12:50 |
How about this for a therory:
On your old tank your rad cap may have been knackard or the overflow pipe could have been blocked. If either wern't working properly, then any excess pressure in the coolant caused by a headgasket leak may have caused the coolant tank to split as now it is about 8 years old may well have gone brittle with the constant thermal expansions / contractions over time.
I assume however if the expansion tank is new the above would have also have been changed. This would mean any excess pressure, would allow the coolant to escape via the overflow pipe unhindered.
If your drive it may not be obvious where the coolant has gone as it will be dumped along the road.
Furthuremore the misfiring you describe, may well be caused by coolant getting onto the sparkplugs when you thrash the engine.
On a hot engine this could well have evaporated/burnt off before you remove them to check.
Esentially what I am saying is your old tank may have partially masked some of the blown gasket symtoms.
Either way go to any garage (not nessecerryly a BMW specialist) & ask them to check for combustion products in the coolant & to pressure test the cylinders). This will tell you if & where your gasket(s) have gone. You can even buy the equipmet from a motor factor if your keen to DIY.
Am I good ? or full of it ?
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sevenforty
Groupie
Joined: 01-November-2005
Location: Croydon
Status: Offline
Points: 48
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Posted: 02-November-2005 at 08:24 |
cant seem to find any local bmw specialists, im gonna phone BMW where i took it last see what they say, they have charged me for a new exspansion tank when it wasnt even that in the first place!
anyone wanna buy it as it is
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740i
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Chas C
Really Senior Member II
Nothing new under the sun
Joined: 15-December-2004
Location: Aberdeenshire
Status: Offline
Points: 1620
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Posted: 02-November-2005 at 06:31 |
Jimbob wrote:
You need a Pressure test, not a blessing.
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Second thoughts, if it is the head gasket you could do with a blessing as well...
Hope it works out ok. Find out where your local independent BMW shop is and ask them for an opinion. The BMW dealer probably didn't check for any problems which were not associated to the symptoms you advised them of.
Edited by Chas C
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Jimbob
Bavarian-Board Contributor
Joined: 27-July-2005
Location: Live: West Sussex - Work: Islington
Status: Offline
Points: 190
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Posted: 02-November-2005 at 04:28 |
Not picking on Mark (he admits his spelling is bad!)
You need a Pressure test, not a blessing.
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And so says Jimbob.
1981 635csi 81k miles. Will be fixed, but not by me.
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sevenforty
Groupie
Joined: 01-November-2005
Location: Croydon
Status: Offline
Points: 48
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Posted: 01-November-2005 at 15:54 |
Thanks 
any idea how much im loking for replacement headgasket and a preacher test?
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740i
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740i 1998 blown head gasket???
