316I Petrol 1.8. Head Gasket Kit Or Buy New Engine?

[Bmw316Wez]

Ok so I bought a BM 316i 1.8 Petrol from an auction.

Was going through water quickly and was bubbly when taking water cap off (apparently exhaust gases in water = head gasket)

Yesterday I was driving and the temperature gauge went right up, the heaters blew cold and engine was smoking...

Apparently head gasket is nackered and it is the same price to buy a second hand engine as a second hand head gasket??

What would you do??

PS could I just buy a bigger 2nd hand engine? And what would my options be?

Thanks lads :)

[johnboy55]

go for the 2nd hand option , you will have all sorts of problems apart from the head gasket ie, cyl liner damage,corrossion due to no anti freeze to name a few.try to keep replacement engine as close to your year/model/size as possible as you will be swaping parts,wireing,ecu etc it all boils down to time, money,know how.or cut yor losses and sell it