BMW E36 Forum

Hi Everyone,
I an '97 E36 M3 and seemingly can't a . Last , decided not to shut down after I turned the key to OFF position and then the key would not move again. BMW dealership quoted a $700 repair, but since I just started working after a long unemployment, my mechanic was able to come up with a work-around and I am using a screw-driver to start/shut-down the car.
Then yesterday, driving the car home, I stopped for gas, only to notice the steam/smoke coming out of the engine bay. I looked under the car to find a huge pool of coolant. Drove the car slowly back home and had it towed to an auto-shop this morning. The mechanic says that there is a hole in the timing cover and estimates around 12 hour of labor + parts (> $1K) and says that the repair might not be worthwhile based on the age of the car. He is thinking that he might use some putty/silicone to plug the hole as a work-around (cost = $200), but can't guarantee that it will work. But a BMW service guy thinks that a hole in timing case would cause the oil to leak and not the coolant. The expansion case is also not cracked.
I really love the car despite the recent car troubles and would rather keep the car. Could someone advise me what the real problem might be and would it take to do the job myself? This would be my first foray into fixing cars (apart from having replaced an alternator in a Geo Prizm). What tools would I need? What parts should I have handy - the car has slightly less than 70K miles?
Thanks.

I don't know what your experience is with cars but if you'v only ever done 1 small job on a car i'd suggest you leave it to a mechanic.
I remember reading a story on the net about someone who took "giving the engine a good flush" a bit to literally and he opened the sump then the oil filler cap and stuck a hose in it and rinsed the engine with water, for good measures he thought he would attach the hose to the oil filler hole and try start the car with the water pouring through the engine. He was shocked when he posted on the forum and people laughed at him when he asked why his car wouldn't start now. I can see where he was coming from, he just took it to literally!

Thanks for the response. MY experience with fixing cars is minimal, but I really want to take a shot at doing it. I understand that it will possibly take me 3 times the time that it would a mechanic to do it, but I really don't have a lot of options. I did take a look at the car today and could see the hole fairly clearly. And I do understand how to keep track of things, follow directions and how not to make a fool of myself. I am going to talk to BMW service folks and see what they think.

Going back to the original question, it would depend on where the hole is, there is a fine line between distance of the oil and the coolant when it comes to the hole, just depends where the hole is! Consider yourself lucky that it is the coolant and not the oil!
How far did you drive the car with no coolant? Its really really not advisable even for short distances! Your gonna run into huge problems if the car was running at higher temperatures than its ment to when you drove it home.
I suppose if you want to get into working on cars, there is no better way than jumping into the deep end!!!
Although working on the M3 at the front of the engine is gonna be a royal b***h!!! Its a tight spot!
Some pics of the damage would be very helpful and will get you alot more information on how to repair it.

My home is about 3 miles from the gas-station and it leaked a whole bunch of coolant after I got home in my driveway as well - so, I don't know how much damage I caused, although it started this morning without a problem when the mechanic tried to show me something. I did take some pics on my cell, but they don't show the hole clearly - will head back tomorrow with a better camera and upload the pics. That is exactly what a friend said as well - there is not much room to work in the front of the car.

Finally got the bad from the today - they see an from one of the heads. The $750 for taking the head off and then determining whether the head is warped ($350 to get it machined) or new head gasket is needed. The service manager said that they can't give an accurate estimate before taking the head off, but gave a max estimate of $3700 (25 hours of labor + parts). So, I am thinking that I will have to do this project on my own. Any opinions/comments/helpful advice would be appreciated, especially regarding how painful it is to take the engine head off and what tools are required?

Yea youl need a fair few tools, locking pins for the crankshaft (put the head back on with the crank in the wrong position and you ruin the engine again) pry bars for the cams and valve lifters just to name a few.
I'd suggest you buy the Haynes AND Bentley guide to the M3, this is gonna be 1 heck of a b*****d of a job to do and you are just best off tackling it head on. Seeing as your not very experienced i'd suggest you note and catalog every piece you remove including washers, bolts and nuts. At the end of removing everything you should be able to account for it and you will want to put the exact same number of items in. Not a single bolt or washer more or else less.
There is small things that if you don't know to do it can severely mess up your engine, thightening the rocker cover back on needs to be done in a patten with the bolts, you dont just thighten one side and then the other.

All i can say is, do plenty of research on this. Don't forget that lots of places will take your engine off you, after you removed it, and they will give you a pretty big discount on a refurb'd engine. It may not cost you anymore than £500 if you drop your own engine and put the new one in!!!

Thanks again. I talked to some machine shops locally and I was told that I don't need to take the camshaft out for them to on the engine head if necessary. So, I am hoping to leave the cam-shaft in place. I will be ordering the Bentley manual as well nda pick up the Haynes as advised too. I wasn't even thinking of the option to get a refurb engine - will explore it further in the next coming weeks. And I will take pictures before removing anything and catalog it as recommended. Right now, I am trying to recruit friends to help me with the project
While the engine is apart, is there anything else that I should look at for wear-and-tear and might need to be replaced? Also, if the culprit is the head gasket and not the engine head, do all the parts in the head gasket need replacing?
Also, would you have any advise for the key not turning clock-wise so that I don't have to use a screw-driver to start the car and get busted by a local cop for trying to steal my car.