After a few isolated occurrences of problems with defect cylinder head gaskets on BMW Z8 vehicles with high mileage, there seems to be a problem in general with dirt and debris in the radiators of all BMW Z8 and ALPINA Roadster V8 vehicles.

The temperature display on the instrument panel works quite sluggish, once the indicator lamp lights up, it’s often already to late! Damage to the head gasket is the consequence. Unfortunately an oil-temperature display is not build into the Z8.

It is highly recommended that the radiators of our vehicles should be checked for dirt and debris during regular BMW maintenance inspections!

Checking the radiators is NOT part of the maintenance service done by BMW. I highly recommend to perform this inspection yourself or to have it checked during maintenance inspections.

Over the past few weeks several Club Member Z8s had been inspected by BMW-dealerships, and the most extreme case found was an ALPINA Roadster V8, with a mileage of 18000 km, with a completely dirty radiator which would not let any air through whatsoever.