325i Head Gasket

[Golgade]

Hello,
I normally haunt the E34 board, but I have this friend from work that has no car know how at all. She said she was driving her 92 325i and it started to overheat and of course she continued to drive it. She took it to a mechanic and he said the motor was "melted" and needed a completely new motor. Is that even possible? I am going to go look at it in a few days and pray that it only needs a new head and head gasket, but what else can go wrong during a over heat. Just thought I would know what to expect when I see it.
Thanks
Dan Lafley
Pretending to have a Ruined 92 325i

[Bruno]

I had the exact same problem on my M50 525i, the owner problem kept drivign and the cylinder head cracked.

The M50 heads are pretty frigile and tend to crack arfter overheated. So my guess is maybe a headgasket, but probably a cracked head.

Pulling the head is easy, shouldn't take more than 3H00 because you don't have vanos.
Putting the head back will take a little bit longer...

No matter what, get the head rebuilt and checked for cracks. A used M50 vanos or non vanos (you can use both) will run around 300- 400 US. If you buy a vanos head, just get the non vanos cams into the vanos head and drop the vanos all together.

Also get a new water pump and thermostat, new headbolts and headgasket set.
Driving a car that overheated cannot be good for the engine really.