Head Gasket & Time-Sert DIY - M54 3.0L

[Canadian_E53]

Hi everyone,


I just finished doing the head gasket replacement in my wife's e53. I ended up needing to do the time-sert job while I was in there. Finally have the whole engine back together and she's running great again! I forgot how fun this thing was to drive. The machine shop ended up taking 11thou off the bottom of the cylinder head and the block only had 1thou clearance in middle. I used the normal thickness head gasket.


I made a youtube video of the entire process to help those that want to DIY their repair:
[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99YgqmWv3sc&t=600s[YOUTUBE]


Cheers
Tyler

[Effduration]

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...