Expert: John Kingery - 3/28/2009

Question
hi. US, bought used.  Do not have access to vehicle at the moment so no VIN.
Currently has 125K miles.   A BMW mechanic says it has two leaks: head
gasket, and a crank case seal (forget the specifics).  1) what do you
recommend as a good repair guide, besides this site.  Chilton, Haynes?  2)
Also, BMW of course wants about $3K for their surgeons to operate.  I'm sure
I can fix the head gasket, but not so sure about the seal.  I'm assuming the
latter takes special tools, skills. Right?  Thanks.

Answer
The only manual to get is the Bentley.  Period.  It's well worth the extra $$.  The others won't take you to the details you'll need for these.

Both jobs will take special tools.  They're available on-line.

Get the manual, and walk though the process.  Good luck!  I've done head gaskets on a '97 740, by using Bentley.  It's doable.