E30 Zone

i am about to sell my e36 328i tourung on a p reg ,how do i find out if my engine is a nikasil one or not ,i remember something about a marking on the block ,any help ?

When looking at the engine from the passinger side down by the starter and where enginr touches gearbox you shoud see a shiny ish plate 50p size then it's ausil and ok. there is a quick check guide on e36coupe in the FAQ section as well

BMJG wrote:When looking at the engine from the passinger side down by the starter and where enginr touches gearbox you shoud see a shiny ish plate 50p size then it's ausil and ok. there is a quick check guide on e36coupe in the FAQ section as well

cool ,should have checked they

Also ask BMW to check the VIN to see if it had its recall to have a new block fitted. Like BMJG said an Alusil block will have a pear shaped blanking plate down near the starter on the n/s.
I went through the same processes when i was looking to buy a 328i sport. The one i have is an April 98 car which had the alusil block fitted from the factory.

Hope this helps.

No M52 engine had alusil coated bores, that is just chinese whispers created in E36 forums. The replacement blocks have steel liners which can create a whole new problem

like sinking alloy and headgasket failure?!

I think the whole nikasil issue is over hyped. Theres many BMW with nikasil that run fine with high miles. These days most petrol has a low sulfur.

Its not over hyped at all, ive yet to strip an M52 with no bore wear, even engines that have run ok have still had bore wear