Nice work!..Good technique....these cars do take a head gasket pretty well - particularly the E53 which can simply sit on its wheels the whole time. I have done 10-12 head gaskets on M54's and have not had one fail yet.

I also occasionally rent out time-sert kit 1090, but would rather not ship my kit to Canada. I'll pass any Canadian inquiry to you.

A couple of minor suggestions.

I trust my machinist like a brother, but if I took off 11 thousandths of an inch, I definitely would have used the thicker gasket..from a good manufacturer. The M54 gasket comes in two non-custom thicknesses..0.70mm & 1.00mm...The difference of 0.30mm is approx 12 thousandths, so it gets you back to stock.. I also generally don't use the head gaskets from the gasket "sets" as they are often made in China.


Also, I would not have banged on the exhaust manifold...too much risk of cracking the manifold, damaging cats, etc. The way to remove those studs is to heat them glowing red with Acetylene, and then hit them ONCE with the 5 lb hammer...Replace with stainless hardware.

I liked the ratcheting Tap handle - which I also use on the installation tool, the alum oil filter housing cap with fittings (who makes/sells that?), and the use of new lifters. All good stuff...

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'03 530i - manual swapped - 425k miles
'06 325Cic auto 115k
'05 X5 3.0 auto 158k
'99 E39 528i 5-speed 130k