318 iS engine life

[tommo320i]

What kind of mileage can be realistically expected from one of these, I now six pots go forever if looked after, are these as bulletproof..

does anyone know anythng particular I should look for.

Thanks

Tom

[Blackie_No1]

Well mine had 193,000 when it went pop, and from my own experience, any rattles comin from it or the usual mayo in the water/oil and u shud walk away!!

Althought rite up until mine went pop, she had very good power!!!

[kidsinister]

Mine's done 134k and still feels like new - as long as the timing chain's been done at the allotted intervals, and it's been serviced reasonably regularly it should go on and on.

[Jhonno]

pop.............

[E30Mark]

Mine went after 148K... the head cracked i believe. Still haven't got round to ripping the engine apart and see what went wrong...

I found a 86k engine and popped that in instead, so i should be OK for a good few years yet. Especially as i only average 3-4K a year in the BM.....

[Karan]

depends how much u cane it really and maintenance...

also let em warm up first!!!

[pmaddy00]

I have just changed a timing chain on mine @ 134000 miles...and it sounds sweet ...hopefully will go over 200000 miles. No rattles now (was before).

[jaistanley]

I bought mine at 140 000 and I've ragged the living nuts out of the poor thing. I stretched the timing chain so had to replace that.

Now at 155000, despite being a little rattly and having an annoying tappety exhaust manifold leak it's going strong.

Bet it blows up on the way home now...

Jai

[bmwe30mtech]

I bought mine at 140 000 and I've ragged the living nuts out of the poor thing. I stretched the timing chain so had to replace that.

Now at 155000, despite being a little rattly and having an annoying tappety exhaust manifold leak it's going strong.

Bet it blows up on the way home now...

Jai

Safe journey home! I guess a 318i (not iS ) does the same mileage right?..

[Zayyan]

It seems the iS heads seem to crack far more often actually.

Number one rule is just to avoid going over 2500rpm when it's cold, and to remember that warm coolant doesn't equal warm oil due to the different SHCs!

[bmwe30mtech]

It seems the iS heads seem to crack far more often actually.

Number one rule is just to avoid going over 2500rpm when it's cold, and to remember that warm coolant doesn't equal warm oil due to the different SHCs!

Ahh, thats good for us 318i owners, but not the iS owners i guess. I was expecting to hear they blow at 113,000 miles (just cos im on 112,000) !! Thanks for the advice i wont put it over 2500 rpm when cold.

[tomstickland]

Interesting thread this. They are a high revving engine, which is not good for long life. But I think careful attention to oil changes and keeping the coolant in a good state, along with warming it up properly and they should be capable of 200K without any hassle.

Mine is at 145K and the timing chain needs sorting due to sprocket wear. It doesn't sound good, but it goes really well.

[tommo320i]

what does warming up properly constitute?

my current 320 takes about 10mis to hit 1/4 mark on the temp guage and then just sits there,

WHat the best bet, leave the engine idling for 10 mins or drive it gingerly for a few miles.

I live it in a hilly area, no more than 2.5K rpm is going to my those hills very hard work indeed!

Ta guys. this is really helpful stuff.

[Pal318is]

Guys,

Mine's hitting nearly 196,000 miles now.....Had the timing chain and sprockets and all that stuff changed at the stealers when it hit 100,000 miles, sounds tappy from cold but still goes ok. Full engine rebilud next year is number 1 on the shopping list. Hopefully it will go untill then!!

She's done me proud for 10 and half years!!!

[kevin316i]

My iS has 124,000 miles on it at the moment. There is no rattle sounds at all from the engine, even after startup. There is no record of the timing chain ever been changed, but the car does have a full service history so looks like oil and coolant has been changed regulary.

I'm curious about timing chain replacement. Is there a defined interval that it should be replaced at, or does it depend on its condition and the condition of the sprockets?

[Zayyan]

It seems the iS heads seem to crack far more often actually.

Number one rule is just to avoid going over 2500rpm when it's cold, and to remember that warm coolant doesn't equal warm oil due to the different SHCs!

Ahh, thats good for us 318i owners, but not the iS owners i guess. I was expecting to hear they blow at 113,000 miles (just cos im on 112,000) !! Thanks for the advice i wont put it over 2500 rpm when cold.

I presume your 318i is an M40? My M40 has 187k on it and has never had any problems if you're wondering about engine life.......has been in the family since it had about 20,000 miles on it and hasn't been taken over 2,500rpm when cold.....

Tommo, as I mentioned earlier water and oil have different specific heat capacities, so coolant up-to-temp doesn't mean the oil is up-to-temp as it takes more energy to heat oil up.

It's better to drive off pretty much straight away rather than leaving it idling, though 30 secs at idle to let the oil circulate can't do any harm, especially on a cold morning.

Maybe 2,500rpm is a little extreme, you can do about 3,000rpm when it's cold......though less revs when cold is always better

As for "what is warming up properly?", IMO it's fine to give it a few more revs when the water's been at temp for 5 minutes, but I wouldn't take it to the limiter until maybe 10-15 minutes after the coolant temp needle has been static, when you know the oil's fully warmed up.

[Dan318-is]

my is done 126 thousand and not even a flinch

should i get timing done

also what milage do profile gaskets go at? or is it a case of it failing or not failing?

[bmwe30mtech]

Hi Zayyan, yer mine is the m40, so hopefully loads more miles yet to go. I guess it depends how you drive it to, as it sounds like yours has been very well looked after. Anybody know if drifting ruins e30's and engines?!!

Paul

[Zayyan]

Drifting obviously puts a more strain on the car but they seem to be able to handle it.....

Sitting on the limiter will cause you big problems though.....

Also important for engine is keeping it at low revs for a few minutes after you've been driving it hard to cool it down before you turn it off, and also avoiding full throttle when warming up......same as when running in really.

[Zayyan]

And yeah mine's been pretty well looked after, I'll be very unhappy if I don't get a quarter million out of it

[bmwe30mtech]

Yer, i thought so. I dont think my cars ever been drifted or driven hard either. (its had some boring owners i think which is good for me!) I dont intend to burn it out either. (call me boring lol).

Paul

[Jos]

just make sure the timing belt gets done regularly on the M40.. stupid idea to move away from chain driven..

[Zayyan]

Yer, i thought so. I dont think my cars ever been drifted or driven hard either. (its had some boring owners i think which is good for me!) I dont intend to burn it out either. (call me boring lol).

Paul

I've never done any intentional drifting (well OK I've spent one morning in Tesco car park after it snowed all night ) or burnouts as it's not worth risking an accident for.......and I'm always pottering around getting between 40 and 45mpg as well so you can call me boring anyday.

Saving fuel and not crashing all helps in my quest for a 320is

[Zayyan]

keeping it at low revs for a few minutes after you've been driving it hard to cool it down before you turn it off

Oh and this is more important than you might think with the head and block being made of different metals and having different expansion/contraction rates....

[Lordschleife]

My iS has 124,000 miles on it at the moment. There is no rattle sounds at all from the engine, even after startup. There is no record of the timing chain ever been changed, but the car does have a full service history so looks like oil and coolant has been changed regulary.

I'm curious about timing chain replacement. Is there a defined interval that it should be replaced at, or does it depend on its condition and the condition of the sprockets?

I thought that all the BMW double chains were considered lifelong parts?
Witness all the E30 M3 timing chain disscusions on the BMW Car Club M Power Forum

[Lordschleife]

my is done 126 thousand and not even a flinch

should i get timing done

also what milage do profile gaskets go at? or is it a case of it failing or not failing?

I think if the cars made it past 70k it should be ok
see: http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/bmw_e36.html towards the bottom