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Car Forum / BMW Cars / June 2005How do I detect Nikasil problem?
I have a '99 323i convertible, which I thought was clear of the problem, however on start up with the drivers door open, it runs a little rough and shakes the door slightly, which I thought was a test. Am I looking hard for a problem that isn't there ? is there a list of engine numbers vulnerable ? Tony >I have a '99 323i convertible, which I thought was clear of the problem, > however on start up with the drivers door open, it runs a little rough and [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Tony Wasn't this only an issue with the 3 and 4L V8's up to about 1997 or so?? >I have a '99 323i convertible, which I thought was clear of the problem, > however on start up with the drivers door open, it runs a little rough and > shakes the door slightly, which I thought was a test. Am I looking hard > for > a problem that isn't there ? is there a list of engine numbers vulnerable > ? AFAIK, only early-90's engines were a problem, and even then only in the UK - all US 6-cyl engines were iron or had liners. If you're in UK, check with Burns' site; I'm sure he has some info somewhere there: http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/ Floyd >>I have a '99 323i convertible, which I thought was clear of the problem, >> however on start up with the drivers door open, it runs a little rough and [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Floyd Not entirely accurate. The issue impacted the US spec v8s - I know, I'm a former owner of a '94 740i. If I recall, by 1997, the issue went away. Phil > On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 10:30:25 -0700, "fbloogyudsr"> wrote: >>>I have a '99 323i convertible, which I thought was clear of the problem, [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > The issue impacted the US spec v8s - I know, I'm a former owner of a > '94 740i. Yes, I certainly know that; but the subject is a 2.3L I6, not V8s. Sorry about not being clear. The "bad" V8 engines were '93,4,5, btw. Floyd >> On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 10:30:25 -0700, "fbloogyudsr"> wrote: >>>>I have a '99 323i convertible, which I thought was clear of the problem, [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > Yes, I certainly know that; but the subject is a 2.3L I6, not V8s. > Sorry about not being clear. The "bad" V8 engines were '93,4,5, btw. What is the current understanding of the problem. That is if a Nikasil engine checks out with good compression and you plan on using decent gas, is there a real problem anymore? Some of the v8-engined E34s are startying to look mighty tempting, especially 540i6's and 530it's.  SignatureIgnasi. '90 325is (using SPAM trap e-mail address) > What is the current understanding of the problem. That is if a Nikasil > engine checks out with good compression and you plan on using decent > gas, is there a real problem anymore? Can you be sure you won't get a batch of high sulphur petrol again? Is there legislation in place banning it? Signature*All generalizations are false. Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. >> What is the current understanding of the problem. That is if a Nikasil >> engine checks out with good compression and you plan on using decent >> gas, is there a real problem anymore? > > Can you be sure you won't get a batch of high sulphur petrol again? Is > there legislation in place banning it? It looks like there is here in California... SignatureIgnasi. '90 325is (using SPAM trap e-mail address) > "fbloogyudsr" <fbloogyudsr@nwlink.com> writes: >>> The issue impacted the US spec v8s - I know, I'm a former owner of a [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > engine checks out with good compression and you plan on using decent > gas, is there a real problem anymore? Well, if you search the thread: "740iL Engine Block Problems - the Fix!" you will find Brett Anderson having his say on the subject: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=xHVV1.735%24z_.138879 3%40newsread.com!newshog.newsread.com&rnum=12&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dbrett%2Banderso n%2Bnikasil%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3DxHVV1.735%2524z _.1388793%2540newsread.com!newshog.newsread.com%26rnum%3D12 > Some of the v8-engined E34s are startying to look mighty tempting, > especially 540i6's and 530it's. Yeah, the prices are really respectable. And I see many with "new engine at xxxxx miles"! Personally, my wife and I haven't looked at them because they just seem too "heavy". Our '91 525i/M50/5spd still thrills, even at 140K miles! Floyd > Well, if you search the thread: "740iL Engine Block Problems - the Fix!" > you will find Brett Anderson having his say on the subject: > http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=xHVV1.735%24z_.138879 3%40newsread.com!newshog.newsread.com&rnum=12&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dbrett%2Banderso n%2Bnikasil%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3DxHVV1.735%2524z _.1388793%2540newsread.com!newshog.newsread.com%26rnum%3D12 I see that that thread is from '98. IMHO, I would never buy a 530i/540i E34 unless it had a new block. Plenty of them around. Floyd > > Some of the v8-engined E34s are startying to look mighty tempting, > > especially 540i6's and 530it's. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Floyd Sweet as that ride is, if you've ever taken an E34 540 out for a romp, it's *extremely* intoxicating. -Russ. > > > Some of the v8-engined E34s are startying to look mighty tempting, > > > especially 540i6's and 530it's. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Sweet as that ride is, if you've ever taken an E34 540 out for a romp, it's > *extremely* intoxicating. Yes it is. I was coming home from work late (~midnight) the night before last and the 4 lane interstate heading north out of Boston was desolate. The 540iA was singing along very comfortably at 100mph. Not busy in the least and tracking very . IOt actually felt like it wanted to go another 10 or 20 mph to settle in... The only reason I slowed her back down was the thought of meeting up with some of the local revenue collection agents... (I don't have a radar detector in the car as I am seldom able to explore the high side of 80 mph) My E34 ('94) 540 has had an alusil replacement block installed, though it was done during the tenure of a previous owner and I don't know at what mileage. I picked the car up down in VA (milder weather, less road salt) and got it at a pretty price, partly since the re-seller did not know if it still had the original Nikasil block or not. You have to remove an exhaust shield on the engine's right side to see the block casting numbers in order to ID the block. The only negative to these cars is that the steering box on the V8's is a recirculating ball type rather than the rack and pinion in the 6 cylinder models of the same vintage. There is a way to snug them up when the get worn and sloppy (done it to mine already ) but it is a royal PITA and it still is not as snug feeling as a good R&P box. Altogether, for highway cruising, it is one hell of fine car at a price that just cannot be beat. -Fred W > You have to remove an exhaust > shield on the engine's right side to see the block casting numbers in order > to ID the block. You don't have to remove anything, simply use a long screw driver to move aside the starter lead and you can see the casting numbers from below. > The only negative to these cars is that the steering box on the V8's is a > recirculating ball type rather than the rack and pinion in the 6 cylinder > models of the same vintage. No E34 got rack and pinion. The E39 6 cylinder gets R&P while the V8 gets recirculating ball. Brett Anderson KMS www.bmwgears.com > > You have to remove an exhaust > > shield on the engine's right side to see the block casting numbers in [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > No E34 got rack and pinion. The E39 6 cylinder gets R&P while the V8 gets > recirculating ball. Really? I was under that false impression. I stand corrected... Thanks for setting me (and the record) straight. -Fred W (but I still could not see the block numbers till I pulled off the shield over the idler arm) >>>I have a '99 323i convertible, which I thought was clear of the problem, >>> however on start up with the drivers door open, it runs a little rough [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > The issue impacted the US spec v8s - I know, I'm a former owner of a '94 > 740i. Quite true, see http://www.koalamotorsports.com on the lower right of the page. But that's not the OP's problem. Wrong year, wrong engine. SignatureThe instructions said to use Windows 98 or better, so I installed RedHat. Thanks for your help jim, but the link is not working. Tony > >>>I have a '99 323i convertible, which I thought was clear of the problem, > >>> however on start up with the drivers door open, it runs a little rough [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > But that's not the OP's problem. Wrong year, wrong engine. > Thanks for your help jim, but the link is not working. >> Quite true, see http://www.koalamotorsports.com on the lower right of the >> page. http://www.koalamotorsport.com/ No "s" on sports. If you like, go directly to: http://www.koalamotorsport.com/tech/misc/v8shortblock.htm Floyd All the replies seem to refer to the V8's mines a 2.5ltr straight 6, any help identifying whether I have a problem or not ? Tony > > Thanks for your help jim, but the link is not working. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Floyd > All the replies seem to refer to the V8's mines a 2.5ltr straight 6, any > help identifying whether I have a problem or not ? As I said earlier, the only 6-cylinder motors were early M50/M50TU engines *IN THE UK*. And I also pointed you to http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/ That's all I know, sorry. You might look for UK posters, like Dave Plowman, Dori A Schmetterling, and Huw. FloydR > > All the replies seem to refer to the V8's mines a 2.5ltr straight 6, any > > help identifying whether I have a problem or not ? [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > FloydR When I was looking into buying my '93 325 I looked into this, and there's a lot of information on this page: http://www.lestac.co.uk/bmw/nikasil.htm According to this, it's not M50/M50TU engines, it's the M52 made between '95 and '98. Yours being a 323, it'll either have the M52 (possibly affected), or the M52TU which is the updated engine that's clear of the fault, or the M54. There's a section on the web page above that deals with how to tell what engine's in your car. Good luck! Chris >When I was looking into buying my '93 325 I looked into this, and there's a >lot of information on this page: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >There's a section on the web page above that deals with how to tell what >engine's in your car. This page is now at its correct permanent home of: http://www.e34v8.co.uk/nikasil.htm It's even been recently updated to take new information into consideration. -- Simon Worby I've just contacted BMW owner's circle in South Africa re my 1995 328i. According to them it has the motor with Nikasil coating in the cylinders. It has done almost 90,000 miles, yet no problems. From what I've heard, South African fuel contains a lot of sulphur. Can anyone explain why my car has never had any of the symptoms? Regards MW >>When I was looking into buying my '93 325 I looked into this, and there's >>a [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > Simon Worby >I've just contacted BMW owner's circle in South Africa re my 1995 328i. >According to them it has the motor with Nikasil coating in the cylinders. >It has done almost 90,000 miles, yet no problems. From what I've heard, >South African fuel contains a lot of sulphur. Can anyone explain why my car >has never had any of the symptoms? Some vehicles do appear to have been unaffected, even in high sulphur petrol regions, though it seems to be rare. How long have you had the car? Could it be the engine had been previously replaced? (Many owners simply don't know; the engines were replaced as low as 20,000 miles -- our 328iAT had a new engine at 19.700 miles. There's no easy way of telling with the 6-cylinder engines.) How do you know it's not affected -- have you had the leakdown tests? -- Simon Worby >>I've just contacted BMW owner's circle in South Africa re my 1995 328i. >>According to them it has the motor with Nikasil coating in the cylinders. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > engines.) How do you know it's not affected -- have you had the > leakdown tests? The only way to know for 100% certain if you have a nikasil block is to check the numbers in the castings. I know where they are on the 8 cylinder blocks but not the sixes. -Fred W I've got the engine number, so what do I do now? Who will be able to tell me what kind of block it is? Regards MW >>>I've just contacted BMW owner's circle in South Africa re my 1995 328i. >>>According to them it has the motor with Nikasil coating in the cylinders. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > -Fred W If all else fails reread the original post and linked web page! > I've got the engine number, so what do I do now? Who will be able to tell > me what kind of block it is? [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] >> >> -Fred W To answer the question re how long I've had the car - 3 months. Full service record BMW only, so BMW South Africa should know if the car has a Nikasil coated block. If it suffers from leakdown, then it is good for my fuel consumption. A friend of mine has a 1998 model which is much (25 - 50%) heavier on fuel than mine, and his car does not have the Nikasil block. Maybe BMW replaced the sleeves with steel many years ago and forgot about it. Let's hope for my sake! Oh, something else I noticed when I had the car through road worthy. There was a small difference between the engine number on the block and the engine number on my registration papers. I think I should investigate this further... Regards MW >>I've just contacted BMW owner's circle in South Africa re my 1995 328i. >>According to them it has the motor with Nikasil coating in the cylinders. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Simon Worby >Oh, something else I noticed when I had the car through road worthy. There >was a small difference between the engine number on the block and the engine >number on my registration papers. I think I should investigate this >further... I agree. If the rest of the car is Kosher, to me that suggests a block change. Bock changes do not figure in the normal service history/booklet. -- Simon Worby > I have a '99 323i convertible, which I thought was clear of the problem, > however on start up with the drivers door open, it runs a little rough and > shakes the door slightly, which I thought was a test. Am I looking hard for > a problem that isn't there ? is there a list of engine numbers vulnerable ? > > Tony http://www.e34v8.co.uk/nikasil.htm#what_is "Steel liners were introduced into production at Week 10 in 1998, i.e. March 1998. " When was yours manufactered? Certainly not before March of '98 if it is a 99 model year... -Fred W |
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