Thank you mmercury. And you included some lovely pictures.
I guess my question is basically a "best head gasket" choice question. BTW searching the forum has turned up less info than i might have though. I've mostly noticed Victor Reinz gaskets available. And on some other forums, opinion on VR gaskets seems mixed. Goetze and Elring seem well liked, but scarce in the market.
Addition:
Using realoem and bmwfans and some googling the part numbers 11129065648 or 11129065649 look current, but seem to be unavailable. While part 11129065638 is marked "ENDED" but turns out to be available. Where manufacturer is identified, it brings up a VR part.
Now the particular gasket I've been offered (for some reason can't attach this small photo) is a premium Elring model with steel rings (also called cutting rings I think) a type preferred on the higher compression tii engines I believe. So is this also a good/preferred design for a higher compression euro m30? (This item Elring 248.835 does seem to be listed for broad group of M30 engines)
Good question about how old the stock is. I'll see if can find out...
Paul