jpspohn
02-05-2008, 02:56 PM
1989 BMW 3251 E-30 4-door. Running fine but oil in coolant. Beige colored sludge appearing in coolant reservoir. However, no coolant in oil. Suspected head gasket. Did a compression test and #5 cylinder was low. Pulled head. Gasket showed no sign of leakage. Had head pressure tested. Tested fine. No cracks and not warped. A straight edge on the block showed no deformation either. Had the valves ground and reseated and new oil seals put in. Prior to all this, I had begun to have over-heating problems. I had to keep adding coolant, too, every 50 or 100 miles. I got a new cap for the expansion tank. No change. I couldn’t find any leaks. I asked a mechanic and he said something about possible exhaust gases doing something or other which I didn’t understand. Another mechanic said that if it had become severely overheated, the head might have temporarily lifted enough to allow some oil into the water jacket. I’m at a loss. Anyone have any ideas?