Buying an early E34 540i - Nikasil gamble

Discuss Non-E30 BMW's in here - No selling!

Moderator: martauto

Post Reply
jkarran
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 327
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Isle of Man

Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:20 pm

Hi guys,

The old E30's given me the BMW bug and I'm looking at a '93 E34 540 but I'm woried about the nikasil problem. It's absurdly low mileage (60k documented), mint and not a lot of money. However... It has the slightly rough idle indicative (apparently) of bore damage/wear, either that or I'm paranoid!

The owner reckons his mechanic thinks it's 'ok' but I want to know for sure. If it has a nikasil engine I'll get it tested fully by a good mechanic.

Any idea how to confirm if it has nikasil or alusil linings? I have the engine No. I plan to ring the dealer but am expecting I'll get nowhere fast! Engine No. is: 50460589 Chassis No. WBAHE62060GF20618A

Anyone know a good uk E34 forum?
fuzzy
He who sleeps with "Gingers"
Posts: 14351
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: melbourne Australia

Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:31 pm

wasnt that problem sorted by bmw in a product recall? if it was then your bmw dealer should be able to tell you .if you recon its running rough at only 60k miles then theres obviously some problems as thats not even run in yet.would it cause it to run rough? ive had problems in the past with bore damage and it ran fine but was a little smokey.
Turbo-Brown
Boost Junkie
Posts: 4705
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Aldershot, Hants
Contact:

Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:35 pm

Isn't there some other problem with oil leaking past the seals around the spark plugs and causing electrical faults with the coil packs too?

Guess that might cause some idling roughness if it's had the engine done?
325i Twin Turbo (until 10am 01/12/07 :( )

www.air-in.co.uk free M20 exhaust and inlet flange
jkarran
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 327
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Isle of Man

Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:18 am

Cheers guys,

The idle just seems a little lumpy when left standing, this may be due to the low ish 500rpm but I doubt it with the weight of the internals.

It also doesnt pull as hard as I'd expect up to about 2000-2500rpm at anything other than full throttle, that may just be the weight of the thing and the tall diff though, having never driven one before I dont know, maybe my expectations of the V8 are a little unrealistic.

Sounds like a paln is to call the dealer (it's a 'local' car so they should have a record if they've swapped the block) and get my mechanic mate to do the blow-by test for crankcase pressure.

As for fast... what an awesome engine, would be even better in an E30 :twisted:
Motorhole
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 2395
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Cheshire

Sat Jul 08, 2006 6:52 pm

I thought it was high sulphur unleaded in the UK in the early 90's that screwed the Nikasil bore liners?? :roll:
Ziggy
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 11534
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: floating round my tin can...

Sun Jul 09, 2006 8:58 pm

What year's it 'safe' to get one of these from then?
E30 in need of wiring loom smoke since April '11...
User avatar
rob750
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 43
Joined: Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:00 pm

Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:08 am

all e34 540s suffer early e38 4.0 740s A compression test will verify if a bore is worn. No 1 cylinder is normally the first to show signs.

Regards

Rob
Post Reply