nikasil or steel

[redcar]

Hello,
just wanted to know if all of the single vanos m52b28 in the e36 328i which have steel liners are replacement engines from BMW, and when looking to buy an m52b28 from an e36 328i, if it is nikasil is that a huge problem.
One more question, how many miles on the engine should i be looking for as regard to reliability.

Thank you and sorry for all the questions

[E30BeemerLad]

I can't recall the date when the Alusil/steel blocks were introduced, probably around 1997/8 onwards.

The Nikasil issue is now old news. There are plenty of Nikasil lined engines still running about doing the business. Anything that was going to cause problems would have made itself known long ago and died.

So if it starts OK and ticks over nicely and doesn't burn a load of oil and drink fuel like it's going out of fashion then it will be OK.

My engine came from a 1995 car which had the block replaced under warranty in 1999, the engine had only done 79k at the time the Nikasil problem arose.

The steel linered blocks are not immune to problems as liners have been known to sink, especially if the engine has overheated.

These engines are all capable of well over 200k miles if oil is changed regularly and most importantly the cooling system is looked after with coolant changes every year or so and water pump and thermostat changed.

[redcar]

Thanks for the help mate.