E39 suspected head gasket problem

[JMTC]

Hi I have a 528 which I have owned from new, now reaching its 10th birthday, it only has 130,000 miles being now relegated to second car. It has a slight smell of anti freeze after driving it and just the smallest trace of scum under the oil filler cap when I checked. However water level fine and no movement of temperature gauge.

Is this an early warning sign of head gasket problems? Hope not as love the car and shame to get rid of it as it is of no commercial value. Any advice welcomed

[darkhorse737]

it's not set in stone... but yes... trace of moisture in your oil cap can be diagnosed to be a cylinder head gasket going bad.

if you use detergent oil/s then yes, it's also possible that u can get traces of scum(as u say) in your oil cap.

Other indications will help to confirm cylinder head gasket problems. as in rough/uneven idling; loss of coolant; overheating; in conjuction with the scum that you see.

If you are not experiencing any of the above, it could just be contaminated oil.

:-)

[JMTC]

Thanks, thinking about it I did change the oil recently and flushed first so perhaps this is just a consequence of the flush - guess the best thing is to keep a check on the coolant, car still idling like only a BMW can!