Profile gasket?

vmckague · 12-05-2003, 04:29 AM

I have an 92 318I convertible [E30] with the m42 engine. Has anyone ever had to replace the profile gasket? I'm told that there is an 95 per cent fail rate on these gaskets and are very expensive to replace. I have read some posts on other sites but would like to here from someone on this group. My mech says I'm looking at about a 600.00 to 700.00 dollar labor charge to replace a 5.00 gasket. Anyone else have any horror stories to tell . thanks, Vernon

///m42 sport · 12-06-2003, 12:28 PM

depending on how many miles are on your car. if around 60 to 100k then I would probably change it. If more then assume that its already been done. Don't really know how much labor and cost is to replace though.

vmckague · 12-07-2003, 05:58 AM

Thanks for the reply. What I forgot to say in my first post is I do have a coolant leak but not sure if it is the prifile gasket. I have already had the water pump replaced but didn't help a thing. It's very hard to see where the coolant is coming from. The only place that I can see any coolant is on top of the AC compressor but how it is getting there is impossible to see. I bought the car with 92 thousand miles on it and now it has 98. It will loose about a cup of coolant every 100 miles but seems to slowly getting worse. I was just hoping someone had this problem and it wasn't the timeing chain cover profile gasket. It would really suck to spend that much money and still have the leak. On top of the money my wife would probably kill me. LOL Thanks , Vernon

bimmerdog · 12-07-2003, 12:07 PM

It sounds like its your profile gasket. Mine had the same symptoms and had it replaced at 65K miles. Its was a $500 job but keep in the mind that was $500 10 years ago. Unless you have a friend or know somebody, your gonna pay plenty.Its not the $5 gasket part itself but the fact that you have to remove the head & all the work getting to it I guess. When did you buy the car? How many miles were on the car when you bought it. Did check to see if gasket has already been replaced? The good news is the replacement gasket is a better gasket & not prone to failure.

vmckague · 12-10-2003, 05:49 PM

Well, POP! went the profile gasket Monday morning. Coolant everwhere. Have the engine torn down and am waiting on parts. The old gasket just more or less fell apart. I can't believe that BMW has known about this all along with the M42 engine and won't do anything about it except under warranty. I have read that their is a 95 to 97 per cent fail rate for these gaskets and almost all after warranty runs out. Well mine lasted longer than most and My son is getting me the parts though a dealer he works for at their cost. But the local shop, non BMW, still is getting 12.8 hours at a little over 50.00 dollars an hour.
Vernon
92 318IC

///m42 sport · 12-11-2003, 07:12 PM

you should have very little issues after this. I've got 222k miles right now and its still running strong.