Re: How do I detect Nikasil problem?

Jun 05, 2005 7 Replies
S


When I was looking into buying my '93 325 I looked into this, and there's a


>lot of information on this page:
>
>
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>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.

This page is now at its correct permanent home of:



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It's even been recently updated to take new information into consideration.


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M

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

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S

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?
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M

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

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M

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

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M

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

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R

If all else fails reread the original post and linked web page!

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S

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.

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