Used BMW from the UK

jnevin

Hello there, im going over to the UK on wednesday to buy a '98 523i just wondering if there is anything i should know or watch out for on the car itself, and about buying in the UK aswell. i read the guide about importing but if anyone else out there has done it it would be great to get some personal experiences and any other advice going as i have never done anything like this before. Thanks

unkel

You read the sticky, which will answer all your general questions about importing

Now about the 523i. Be very careful. That car suffered from the "Nikasil" issue. It only affected cars that were fed cheapsh!te high-sulphur petrol, as was on sale in parts of the USA and parts of the UK. An affected car could need a complete new engine. Finding out that a '98 UK 523i needs a new engine is pretty much the same as being told your car is a write-off

Google "Nikasil" to find out more for yourself. I recommend you do not buy this car until you understand what you are up against

Seth Brundle

nikasil info...
make sure all electrics work.
Check the suspension is ok and that the exhaust is working fine (cat often goes after about 60-70kmiles).
Its a buyers market so make sure you get a decent spec - 17" rims, leather, digital climate control, sunroof, 6CD, sports suspension, etc.

Lex Luthor

Just to add in my 2c...check the cooling system.

The needle should go to the dead centre position within a few miles of driving from cold and STAY there. Anything off centre, even by a mm, something is wrong.

Its early in the morning, so if I think of anything else later today, I'll post up

Gatster

Phone BMW (UK) Customer Service with the reg number and if it's a full BMW history they can tell you if it's been recalled for Nikasil or been compression tested at a BMW garage - what miles are on it (it's much more unlikely to occur once you've passed 100k, apparantly)? Nikasil is a bit hit and miss, it should affect all BMW 6 cylinder engines of this era (upto mid '98, but not diesel) but doesn't, so you could get lucky, but it's a gamble.

unkel

Gatster wrote:

Nikasil is a bit hit and miss

It is. If no dirty petrol has been used, the car will be fine. If the car passes the leakdown test now, it will most likely not develop any problems in future. All dirty petrol in the UK has been replaced with low-sulphur a few years ago iirc

On all engine replacements because of the Nikasil issue, BMW used an engine made of a different alloy, called Alusil. None of these suffered the same problems, so if the engine has already been replaced, the car will be fine

Fey!

IIRC, if the engine on the documents is an M50tu, then it's alusil, but if it's just M50, it's nikasil. Not 100% sure, though.
Also, again IIRC, the end manufacture date for Nikasil was March 1998, so if the car was built after that you're ok. In other words, look for a late '98 car (R reg, I think), or maybe go '99 altogether.....

If any of the above is wrong, someone please correct me.

Lex Luthor

Fey! wrote:

IIRC, if the engine on the documents is an M50tu, then it's alusil, but if it's just M50, it's nikasil. Not 100% sure, though.
Also, again IIRC, the end manufacture date for Nikasil was March 1998, so if the car was built after that you're ok. In other words, look for a late '98 car (R reg, I think), or maybe go '99 altogether.....

If any of the above is wrong, someone please correct me.

I think you're right Fey about the March 98 cut-off point date, but like you say, best be safe and go for an early '99 in case a few of the engines were used in cars built later in '98

Also, a good way to check the front control arm bushings are in good nick is to turn the steering wheel until you expose the tyre thread on each side and then kick the threaded part of the tyre hard a few times. There should be very little rocking movement in the wheel. if more than 10mm, you would be looking at replacing both upper & lower control arms on each side (about €100 each)

Seth Brundle

Fey! wrote:

IIRC, if the engine on the documents is an M50tu, then it's alusil, but if it's just M50, it's nikasil. Not 100% sure, though.
Also, again IIRC, the end manufacture date for Nikasil was March 1998, so if the car was built after that you're ok. In other words, look for a late '98 car (R reg, I think), or maybe go '99 altogether.....

If any of the above is wrong, someone please correct me.

The E39 used the M52 in the 6 sylinder petrol cars (520i, 523i and 528i) until alusil comae on the scene. This became the M52TU.

Lex Luthor

kbannon wrote:

The E39 used the M52 in the 6 sylinder petrol cars (520i, 523i and 528i) until alusil comae on the scene. This became the M52TU.

Just a pre-thought....if he was to get the chassis number, he could put it into the parts website and it would tell him if it had a M52 or M52TU engine...

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do?PHPSESSID=1ead2770cc8bad7f131fda77f662bc0c

unkel

Lex Luthor wrote:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do?PHPSESSID=1ead2770cc8bad7f131fda77f662bc0c

Thanks a lot for the link. Wasn't aware of that site!

jnevin

Thanks for the responses, i wasnt aware of the Nikasil issue, the car has done 120,000 miles already so hopefully it hasnt been affected or it would have shown up already, setting off in the morning so we'll see how it goes. have to drive it to holyhead from london aswell which is a nice drive, about 5 hours according to the route planners, anyone else done it before?

Lex Luthor

jnevin wrote:

Thanks for the responses, i wasnt aware of the Nikasil issue, the car has done 120,000 miles already so hopefully it hasnt been affected or it would have shown up already, setting off in the morning so we'll see how it goes. have to drive it to holyhead from london aswell which is a nice drive, about 5 hours according to the route planners, anyone else done it before?

Ya, I did it about 13yrs ago in a Ford Fiesta....give yourself plenty of time and when you get to half way in the tank, pull in and fill up again. The last section into Holyhead is much better now but watch the speed on that road.

What kind of money will it set you back altogether?

Do-more

You won't want to be buying this M coupe either!!!!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-781163969053975339