E36 328 Sport... Nikasil (sorry!)

[CypherP]

PetrolHeadSeb said:

... Or I could just wait for one to come up for sale closer to home!

I'd do this. You sound concerned about this and rightly so if it may lead to a fault or extra cost in sorting etc. A 6 hour trip to see a car is a little excessive IMO. Surely there are examples in a 40 mile radius that are worth seeing, and may not be subject to this problem?

I'm not saying rule out the car, but do your checks with the seller first and then see what comes of it.

Edited by CypherP on Thursday 3rd March 15:31

[PetrolHeadSeb]

Little update, the seller was able to do the visual check and looks like it does have the steel block after all



Looks right doesn't it?

I still have to decide whether it's worth travelling so far to see it of course, but it's all looking good so far.

[Babu 01]

That is the tab you wanted to see.

It is possible that the car left the factory with it, tight timescale but possible.

[Babu 01]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

This car was registerd April 98.

If it was registered at the end of April then maybe like I said, tight timescale but possible.

[PetrolHeadSeb]

Granted, but surely the fact that the car is still going after this amount of time points to it being ok?

[E30M3SE]

PetrolHeadSeb said:

Granted, but surely the fact that the car is still going after this amount of time points to it being ok?

If the car has April 98 prod date then it will be a factory steel liner'd car.

[NiceCupOfTea]

PetrolHeadSeb said:

Granted, but surely the fact that the car is still going after this amount of time points to it being ok?

I've read several reports of Nikasil cars that were absolutely perfect many years/miles after switching to low suplhur fuel but then suddenly developing engine issues...

[griffter]

NiceCupOfTea said:

I've read several reports of Nikasil cars that were absolutely perfect many years/miles after switching to low suplhur fuel but then suddenly developing engine issues...

You can't put this down to Nikasil though. Premature bore wear can be for many reasons e.g.:

(1) Unsympthetic use from cold
(2) Engine left idling for long periods
(3) Incorrect fuelling
(4) Incorrect/dirty engine oil
(5) Generally driving the knackers off the thing

These would affect any engine. Most of the scaremongering over Nikasil is by people who had their fingers burned and/or now have a steel liner block.

I agree there's some sense in - like for like - erring on the side of caution and going steel (particularly if the car is high mileage). But all else being equal, these are not expensive cars, and a cared for Nikasil car would be a better bet IMHO than an abused steel-liner car.