Steam coming out of exhaust is classic sign of cylinder head gasket leak or in this case, a cracked cylinder head. Very expensive to repair or replace.
Cracked mine doing donuts in the snow this last winter. Haven't removed the cylinder head yet but the valve head doesnt look bad. I lost a fuck ton of coolant on the initial issue. Caught the firewall on fire as well from where it was sagging onto the hot exhaust. Very unfortunate. Probably will just dirby the m52 at this point im not sure if its worth even trying to salvage. Although i dont know how bad the crack itself is. I do know it wont overheat in idle though. Only tries to overheat when i get it out and get on it. Chassis has rust so i wasnt that pressed. What do you think i cracked?
Sounds like a cracked cylinder head to me. I bought an aftermarket one for $1700 and paid a shop about $2300 in labor to install it. Might not be worth it on your rusty car. Likely cheaper ways to get 'er fixed but might take some work on your part. A good diagnosis might be in order first though.
@MartyMitchell92660 im gonna compression test it and run the scanner on it. If its toast, im gonna just completely part it out. Cams from the m52 are still really pretty, has a cooling overhaul from ecs tuning, the whole 9 yards with that belts. Therm, housing pulley, water pump. I flipped the car and the a pillars buckled. So i decided i was gonna just have fun in it and i should have done a gasket job. She just hit 170k. Got some frenched depo headlights on it if interested! Lol yellow high beam and yellow low beams the rare ones.
@@MartyMitchell92660 The suckiest part about the whole situation is.I just bought a whole front and suspension kit from f c p euro. I kind of want to keep all the stuff and just buy another one.But the market for them is outrageous right now.I don't know what part of America you live in.But it's getting ridiculous for just base models
It was on cold engine or hot one ? I have similar isue but i dont have catalitic converter, i also dont see any boiling in colant reservoir, fluid is clean ,no problem with it. Friend of mine have bmw with different engine, also without cat and it also gives some steam.
@@MartyMitchell92660 I understand but i think my coolant is also leaking somewhere, it steams less than this one and i dont see any increse or change in oil. I bought car from a guy who did whole overhaul of this engine and had invoice for it. Hard to tell. I should buy 530d :D they are buletproof besides my target for power is around 300-350hp so i would do this with 530d also
Turned out to be a crack near the number 3 cylinder. Replaced the cylinder head with this www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E34-E36-Engine-Cylinder-Head-AMC-11-12-1-748-069-NEW/362013649289?epid=1637154057&hash=item5449b1e989:g:DpcAAOSwe51Z6HqS&vxp=mtr Runs good now.
