BMW Nikasil Issue

Gatster

As we all know, the M52 single Vanos engines occasionally 'suffered' from Nikasil related problems. Now if a car was compression tested and easily passed before 100000miles (@ 88k afaik), what is the likelyhood that Nikasil will develop after that?

Most BMW mechanics think not, including one who is a mate, but what does anone else think?

Seth Brundle

It is probably fine at that mileage.
Read http://www.bmwcarclubforum.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=4539&PN=1 also

milltown

Gatster wrote:

As we all know

LOL!

unkel

Not just the M52

If the car you refer to is originally Irish, it's unlikely to develop problems as the petrol sold here is from the middle east and low sulphur

Seth Brundle

when I was out buying my current car I spotted one which definitley was suffering from some kind of wear (using the shaking door test, the door was doing some nice disco moves!) but I suspect two others also had the initial stages of it.
These were all lowish mileage cars also.
On this note, BMW Irl to my knowledge offered no assistance to anyone. Until recently BMW GB replaced the engine for the cost of fluids & lubricants. However, nowadays their support is pretty much gone with a slip possibility of getting a goodwill donation towards fixing it.

Gatster

The car runs like new, the door moves less than on any of my mates (none BMW) cars! I know Nikasil cars were sold until well into 98 but the fuel sulphur content really started to reduce towards the end of '96-start of '97, so I'm pretty confident it's Ok by this point. It had a compression test about 18 months ago at the BMW dealer it was serviced at in the UK, and passed with flying colours.

I knew about Nikasil when I bought it and looked at a few which I was deeply suspicious of.

As mine is now highish mileage, I'm pretty hopeful, as I say it shows no signs...

Seth Brundle

what car is it?

Gatster

323i coupe

Seth Brundle

very nice. Love the 'Style 29' cross spoke rims!

kluivert

Stupid question stupid answer probably but what are you guys on about.

unkel

kluivert wrote:

Stupid question stupid answer probably but what are you guys on about.

Did you forget how to type in "BMW" and "Nikasil" into google?

Anyway here ya go

kluivert

No not really, have you lost the art of conversation.

kluivert

Cheers

Very interesting actually, i never knew anything about that. So i guess you find sulphar in all types of petrol.

Seth Brundle

The nikasil issue relates to the fact that BMW (among other manufacturers) used nikasil linings in the cylinders of some of their straight 6 and V8 engines (~96 to 98). For whatever reason, these sometimes wore out prematurely in the BMWs (but not in the likes of Porsche). resulting in poor performance, increased oil consumption...
Basically it was caused by a combination of cold starts/short trips and high sulphur fuels. Ireland, to my knowledge, was largely unaffected by it (not entirely though) but the UK (esp. apparently Northern Britain) had many cases.

See www.bmwcarclubforum.co.uk/nikasil.htm for more!

Gatster

very nice. Love the 'Style 29' cross spoke rims!

Cheers! Thing is I was going to change the rims as they could do with refurbing, and although I could do this myself I really can't be arsed taking them apart so was going to change up to 18's. I know the ride quality may be affected but I'm mostly on decent enough roads. Seen some bargains about.

As I'm reasonably comfortable at this stage about the engine, I was going to get all the little cosmetic stuff fixed (few stone chips, repaint the front airdam/lip). It's a mint car, it's almost like new indside.

Seth Brundle

I wouldn't change them as they aren't that common. Just get them cleaned up.

unkel

kbannon wrote:

The nikasil issue relates to the fact that BMW (among other manufacturers) used nikasil linings in the cylinders of some of their straight 6 and V8 engines (~96 to 98)

But most of all the '93 to '96 M60 engine! The whole issue exploded because of the great consumer power of BMW owners in the USA

BMWUSA was forced to enhance the warranty to 6 years / 100000 miles and they paid for many many Alusil engine replacements for faulty Nikasil ones

Just to expand: there is NO Nikasil issue as long as the petrol used is low sulphur. Petrol used on the continent and in Ireland is from arab oil, which is low sulphur. Petrol used in some parts of the states (based on oil from the Golf of Mexico) and the UK (based on North Sea oil) is high in sulphur and can do serious damage to Nikasil engines

Gatster

The fuel suppliers that formerly had high sulphur content started to remove it in late '96, by 1998 pretty much all fuel was low sulphur (stable door, horse etc.)

stratos

BMW replaced my engine free. I was the second owner and it was out of warranty. There were no clues to the fact the engine was about to implode. It drove fine one day, and would not start the next.

unkel

Gatster wrote:

The fuel suppliers that formerly had high sulphur content started to remove it in late '96, by 1998 pretty much all fuel was low sulphur (stable door, horse etc.)

Had forgotten about that, but remember it now. Thanks for posting

stratos wrote:

BMW replaced my engine free. I was the second owner and it was out of warranty. There were no clues to the fact the engine was about to implode. It drove fine one day, and would not start the next.

You did well. How did you persuade them to replace it for free? Was it here in Ireland?

Gatster

Was it due to Nikasil, did they specify - I heard they can be a bit cagey when it comes to admitting Nikasil isues

Seth Brundle

I know a lad whose car developed symptoms about 12 or 18 months ago. Went off to BMW Irl where he got the two fingers (which is usual). Went up North and talked to a dealer (who he had never used before) and they managed to get him a free M52 for nowt.
However, as I said BMW GB now offer sweet FA!

stratos

In my case, no, noone admitted nikasil, They just told me the car missed a recall and a new engine was required. They tried rebuilding the old engine first, this didn't work, They eventually just replaced it. I didn't know about the nikasil issue at the time, I wasn't questioning too much, as if I was paying the bill it would have been awesome. I just counted myself lucky in an unlucky way.

Mac 3

When mine developed problems, I was given great advice by other BMW Owners on various forums. These lads were better informed than the dealers themselves. (Kbannon mentioned me above)

No one in BMW wanted to help, "That problem was limited to Northern England, no cases in Ireland, wear and tear etc ". Once my issues were put to bed and the dust settled, I wrote a nasty letter to BMW Irl, stating that thier used car warranty was useless and the attitude of them and thier dealers in the south left a lot to be desired. I was then informed that my claim for a warranty was rejected because both dealers had asked for a complete replacement engine as opposed to the "short motor". All apologies, very sorry, blah, blah, blah.

They're your best friend when you buy the car, when a problem comes up, get lost. Still love my beamer though.

Silvera

I read about the Nikasil problem a couple of years ago, but what is the 'door test' a few people have mentioned ???

Do you mean a high mileage car with worn door hinges?

Seth Brundle

The door test is a primitive test for this. Basically you open the drivers door on the car and start the engien. If the door (which shouldn't move) starts shaking then there is some kind of problem.
However, if buying a car with one of the nikasil prone engines then this would be the first test. If it didn't fail this then proceed onto the next tests - a compression test and a leak down test. If these pass then you should be fine