<E34> Possible Head Gasket leak

["Richard A. Vaughn" <rav3@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

All,
    I have noticed, on my '92 535i (78k), what I call 'a lot of exhaust
vapor' coming from the tail pipe in the mornings. To me it appears
'excessive' but without you seeing it, it becomes a subjective
observation on my part.  It still appears to me to be more than what I
see on
my wife's '95 740i, my sons '90 325i & my '96 Z71 4x4. My first thoughts

are that I have a leaky head gasket. The problem is that I don't lose
any water in the cooling system, which I would expect if the head gasket

was leaking. The "steam" does go away after about 10-15 minutes of
'neighborhood' driving. However, I still have a lot of vapor after the 5
min. (3
miles) drive to work in the morning. When I pull into the parking lot
and let it idle for 10-15 sec., I see "a lot of steam or vapor". I tried

smelling  the exhaust & even tasting the vapor on my hand, to see if it
has the 'sweet taste', as mentioned by others on the digest, as being
the sign of antifreeze going through the exhaust. I can't determine if
it has the taste or smell of antifreeze. But keep in mind, I don't make
it a habit to taste this stuff, so I don't
know if I know what I'm looking for. The car seem to run find, with the
exception of what I am going to call 'hesitation' on mild to hard
acceleration. Doesn't feel like a miss, but more like a 'stepped'
acceleration, which I think may be a fuel problems. I solicit all the
suggestion and advice that you guys can give to this older novice shade
tree mechanic.

Let me add a post script here. I just replaced the plugs this morning,
inspecting the old one from each cylinder. All of them look pretty good,
but I did notice what appears to be rust at the end of the thread on the
one from the last cylinder, next to the firewall. Could I have a
'seepage' problem when the engine is cold, and as the engine heats up &
expands, seals the leak? If this thought is correct, could re-torque
possible correct this? And how would I go about that?

TIA, Richard V.  BMW CCA
'95 740i
'92 535i
'90 325i
'96 Z71

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