ongoing coolant trouble

["Phillip Detering" <beamer325i@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

    Hello again, a few weeks ago I noticed the coolant overflow tank on my 
'86 325e was full of white bubbly foam. The general concensus was that the 
head gasket could be blown causing pressure to leak into the coolant system. 
I changed the oil and it was clean as could be with no trace of water in 
itand the engine had not lost any power. I asked around town and finally 
took it in to get a tune at a place that would flush the coolant system, the 
guy there said the white bubbles could be some kind of stop leak or similar 
additive that the previous owner had put in the car.
    Last week I started work with the census bureau delivering questionaires 
to rural residents of the county. I put 600 miles on my car last week and 
nothing seemed at all out of whack but today on my lunch break I was sitting 
in the parking lot of the Waterville post office eating lunch when I heard a 
loud boom and white steam flooded out from under the hood. I quickly turned 
the car off and popped the hood to find the head radiator hose (a very thick 
1.25" molded rubber tube) had blown into three different pieces. After the 
initial panic I started wondering if the headgasket had be blown all this 
time and I hadn't noticed anything, or if the tube was just old and worn. 
Being a small town the local NAPA store didn't have the replacement tube, 
but I rigged an old piece of fire hose in its place for the 30 minute drive 
down the hill. The car drove fine staying within normal temperature 
perameters after I finally got the clamps tight enough. I made it home and 
got the right part put on.
     My biggest worry now is whats gonna stop this from happening tomorrow 
and could this be a sign of some really serious problem?

Thanks for reading my runon story and thanks for all the helpful insight 
provided on this digest.
Phillip Detering 1986 325e
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