WARNING Faulty 2 Litre engine cylinder head gaskets

[Bellerophon]

This sounds like the gaskets which can be obtained from the German BMW
club, they are of good quality, however, on their 328 engines they do not have
a small hole near the rear of the block as the later Bristol engines do. I
have one of these gaskets in my engine which I modified first by putting in
the hole, and am pleased to say that I have had no problem for several
years of running with it.
It is becoming more difficult to source good parts for our engines so one
has to take the best which is available even if it requires a little
modification, after all we need to keep the cars on the road.
My regards,
Bellerophon

[Eric Brumenil]

Originally Posted by Bellerophon

This sounds like the gaskets which can be obtained from the German BMW
club, they are of good quality, however, on their 328 engines they do not have
a small hole near the rear of the block as the later Bristol engines do.
Bellerophon

Bellerophon ,
It's very interesting to know that the BMW has not this hole
As far as I remember something in German was written on the packaging . I still have it .
This can mean this manufacturer is selling BMW cylinder head gaskets ?

If it's that case , don't you think it is their responsability to controll the compatibility with the BMW parts .
They are supposed to have the knowledge .
When I order parts I always inform the seller about the model , chassis & engine number .
The part manager who sold me those gasket has a serious experience and did not know his gasket had a hole missing .

This is on this basis that one year later I have been told that I am the only one in the world to complaint .
Is it normal that I need to go to the Court to get replacement parts ?
This gasket cost more than £160 + P&P

This is not an appropriate answer
When a manufacturer is informed about a problem I think it should to all its best
1. to quantify how many of faulty parts had been sold or installed by its service
2. to inform their client about the problem
3. to remedy

BMW , Ferrari , Rolls-Royce , Toyota , Mercedes......... recall cars for less important problem

Nobody is perfect but when you know a problem solve it asap

This is not so easy to punch a hole in such type of gasket .
The steel layer is very strong and the location of the hole is very close to the combustion chamber strapping
There is a real risk to destroy the gasket and I think you immediately loose your primary guarantee

[Bellerophon]

If you know what you are doing it is quite easy to put a hole in the gasket
without destroying it!
The easy way is to mark the position carefully and put in a small hole with
a drill, check that this lines up with the block or head and them use a
small hand tool such as a Dremil with a small grinding wheel and enlarge the
hole until you have a perfect match. If you are not exactly in line it is
possible to pull the hole into line with this method, however, a punch
unless it is very sharp is not the best thing to use.

If you have a problem there is always someone on here who has had the
problem before or knows how to fix it, so all you have to do is ask, and
hopefully you will receive an answer.
My regards,
Bellerophon