Shortly after I bought my first BMW 325I, a 1988 with 285K km on it, the timing belt broke and now it's in the shop with an estimated repair bill of about $2000. This is a sweet old car with hardly a scratch on it and almost no rust. It sounded good and ran perfectly until the breakdown. The mechanic told me he has to send the head out to be resurfaced and tested for cracks before he puts it all back together, and if any problems are found, the cost could escalate higher.
I don't know if it's worth doing this repair. Apart from having to hassle the dealer for some reimbursement, I wonder if the car can be successfully refurbished after such a disaster, and whether it's worth the expense. Any advice or related experience would be appreciated.
Thanks for any replies!

The dealer has nothing to do with it, the belt has a regular replacement interval. I have repaired many of these engines with no complaints after repair but it will need valves, and i would suggest replacing the belt tensioner and water pump while you are there in the front. Afterwards replace that belt and tensioner every 40,000 if you want to keep the car. that car will still bring a good price even at its age so it is worth fixing.

2,000? lol thats about the price these cars are worth...lol you are MUCH better off just buying an m50 engine...and doing a swap...or just buying a brand new rebuild m20 engine you can find one for easily under 1,000 most m20 engines go for 500 ..LOL 2,000? what a joke tell that mechanic to shove that 2 grand up his anus and either get a bently, buy and m20 or m50 and do it your self...or sell the damn car and buy another one that has maintenance records that show the timing belt has been replaced recently....the previous owner obviously knew nothing about these cars because if he did that timing belt would have never broke

2,000? lol thats about the price these cars are worth...lol you are MUCH better off just buying an m50 engine...and doing a swap...or just buying a brand new rebuild m20 engine you can find one for easily under 1,000 most m20 engines go for 500 ..LOL 2,000? what a joke tell that mechanic to shove that 2 grand up his anus and either get a bently, buy and m20 or m50 and do it your self...or sell the damn car and buy another one that has maintenance records that show the timing belt has been replaced recently....the previous owner obviously knew nothing about these cars because if he did that timing belt would have never broke
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JUST HAD TO CUT IN AND SAY I AGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT...HOWEVER, THE WORK REQUIRED ON THIS VEHICLE IS EXPENSIVE..YOUR MECHANIC IS GOING OVERBOARD...
THE REPLACEMENT ENGINE IS THE BEST BET SINCE YOU SEEM TO BE FOND OF YOUR VEHICLE AND MORE THAN LIKELY WANT TO KEEP IT..