1997 B10 V8

skyetripper · Post by **skyetripper** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 3:59 pm

Afternoon all. I'm off to look at another B10 tomorrow and my only query centres around it being a very early e39, pre-vanos??

Anyway - I'm aware that the main problem with the early v8's is head gaskets, but is there anything specific I should check and is there any way of checking whether gaskets have been done unless there are receipts?

I know my way around e39's but not had much to do with the v8's (I did have an M5 for a while, but only things that went wrong with that were clutch and brakes)

From the cars I've owned (and those I've looked at recently) it seems to me that the earliest cars were actually probably better built than the later ones, or at least the body seems less prone to 'bubbling up'

From the description of the one I'm looking at, it's very clean, but I will need to add my regular 1500 miles a month. I know the fuel cost will be horrendous but I can live with that if it is reliable enough.

Cheers in advance

E24man · Post by **E24man** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 5:42 pm

skyetripper · Post by **skyetripper** » Tue Feb 09, 2016 6:27 pm

Cheers for that E24man - I had managed to find similar info by searching the forum, but this definitely helps confirm it - all the gasket pictures on ebay / google are for the metal types with the 'ears'. So with the engine cover removed I should be able to find the riveted ears or B46 stamp.

Could be the deal breaker!!