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| Fuel
Injected or Carbureted Head (Spanish Cast Bare Head) |
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| Head cracking problems on pre 1980, 6 cylinder BMW's
are fairly common and most likely to occur in the years using thermal
reactors.
In 1981, BMW came out with an upgraded head that rarely cracks. Since
the 80's, Metric Mechanic has been using a Spanish cast head that is
a reproduction of this later style head. While this head has a casting
that looks slightly rougher than the factory head, it does have, in
our opinion, the same quality at a much more reasonable cost. They are
made by AMC, a company that makes after market reproduction heads for
many european cars. Full quality at 2/3 the price.
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"Big Six" Carbureted Head
- Bare |
"Big Six" Fuel Injected Head - Bare |
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| Turbo
745i Head (Spanish Cast Bare Head) |
| The factory 745i head has an open combustion chamber and
uses 10mm exhaust studs. Although this head is the superior late style
design, it's still prone to cracking - typically on the 3rd and/or 4th
cylinders. Because of it's high cost - it's tempting to repair the head
(weld it up) but the head is generally fatigued and further cracking will
almost certainly occur later on at adjacent cylinders, especially 2 and
5. We feel that the better solution is to replace the head with a new
cost effective (about 1/2 the cost of a factory head) Spanish cast 745i
turbo head. Also, these are readily available - no long wait! |
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745 Turbo Head - Bare |
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| "Baby
Six" Head - ETA & Early 320/323i (Spanish Cast Bare Head) |
These heads crack at the edge of the cam valley on the
intake side of the number 5 cam bearing journal - there is no way to
weld or repair them. We suggest these owners consider replacement with
a Spanish cast head at 2/3 the cost. |
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"Baby Six" Head - Bare |
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