Deciding if I will buy another bimmer

[Kibokojoe]

Found a 91 735i with 111,000+ miles. Body is good very little rust. Couple of small dings. Front dam has been crunched hitting a high curb. Interior is nice and seems that all electronics work. Awesome stereo. Drives nice. new tires, new brakes, new ac :). Down side The M30 Engine performs poorly and its a Automatic :(

Tonight I returned to look at the car one more time started the engine and noticed that the hose on the fuel regulator valve was broken and not connected. Plugged the valve and hose with my finger and immediately the car smoothed out. Wish this hose was easier to reach and replace. Could have found out real quick if this resolved the problem. I have read where these engines will have excessive noise from not only the valves but also the injectors. Will the fuel reg valve not connected up properly cause the injectors to build high pressure and make excessive noise? I have talked the guy down to $3000 but it looks like the dam with be around $700 to replace. The engine noise scares me and I don't want to get into any major engine repairs.

[632 Regal]

3K sounds a little on the high side right now. Should be able to pick something similar in the 1500-2500 range. Too bad the body is kinda messed. I doubt the car was maintained either, did you ask to see the service records? No records and cut the price in half.

[Ross]

At 3k he won't have anyone standing in line for it.

M30s need periodic valve adjustment so maybe this one is overdue. Check the banjo bolts that retain the oil line for the cam and rockers for tightness if you buy it. Fuel pressure won't change injector noise, actually a nice sharp click is good. The hose is a fifty cent two minute job.
The autobox in that car is the ZF 4hp22, a good box with a real drain and dipstick that no one ever suggested would last forever without maintenance.
Sound decent to me, try and get the price down.

[Kibokojoe]

Thanks for the input. The guy will be gone through the weekend but I will talk to him again when he returns.
Always wanted to ask if the girl under the car is your girlfriend?

[Kibokojoe]

He says that he has the maintenance records but I have not seen them yet.
3K sounds a little on the high side right now. Should be able to pick something similar in the 1500-2500 range. Too bad the body is kinda messed. I doubt the car was maintained either, did you ask to see the service records? No records and cut the price in half.

[Ross]

Always wanted to ask if the girl under the car is your girlfriend?[/QUOTE]

If I had THOSE to play with do you think I'd be here talking with you?

[Kibokojoe]

Point taken

[genphreak]

Always wanted to ask if the girl under the car is your girlfriend?

Is that a girl? I doubt it somehow. Never see girls under e30s round here. Maybe 'she's' a tranny working on a transmission problem!

Seriously tho, good advice here. $3000 is a bit rish, esp if it isn't running too well. If the tranny is bad it will cost you that again, and other things commonly on the list are AFM, suspension arms & bushes, brakes, exhaust (not cheap either), cats (beware cars that have been running badly for a while, cats don't take that happily) and obviously rust, etc. :) nick

[Rick L]

Have you looked at any E38? If you're looking for a 7 series, I think E38 is much nicer and more luxurious than E32. And I have seen many mid 90s E38 ~$5k with 110k - 120k miles. But not sure about the early V8s with Nik problem...


Found a 91 735i with 111,000+ miles. Body is good very little rust. Couple of small dings. Front dam has been crunched hitting a high curb. Interior is nice and seems that all electronics work. Awesome stereo. Drives nice. new tires, new brakes, new ac :). Down side The M30 Engine performs poorly and its a Automatic :(

Tonight I returned to look at the car one more time started the engine and noticed that the hose on the fuel regulator valve was broken and not connected. Plugged the valve and hose with my finger and immediately the car smoothed out. Wish this hose was easier to reach and replace. Could have found out real quick if this resolved the problem. I have read where these engines will have excessive noise from not only the valves but also the injectors. Will the fuel reg valve not connected up properly cause the injectors to build high pressure and make excessive noise? I have talked the guy down to $3000 but it looks like the dam with be around $700 to replace. The engine noise scares me and I don't want to get into any major engine repairs.

[genphreak]

Most Niks would be looked after by now, but always it is something to check. e38s are much nicer than e32s, they are really an e32 mkII. Only thing bad about them is the plastic front lights (but no biggie; the e32 glass ones need maintenence too). Hey these are BMWs. Rule of thumb is always, the more dealer service history, the less mods, the less miles and the more meticulous owner history the better. Never buy a Bimmer from a fool, let alone some guy that bought an old one for his first car and is now selling it for 'some reason'. it will have lots of non-apparent problems and to make things worse, apparent ones will be 'in the making'.

You want one from someone that bought it for the right reasons and maintained it with the same thinking...

[Kibokojoe]

Haven't looked at these. I will start. Thanks

What is the Nik problem?

[Rick L]

Nikasil Lining in the cylinders...

The BMW M60 V-8 and BMW M52 6-cylinder engines (the M52 Nikasil engine never went to the USA) with Nikasil cylinder bore linings are particularly vulnerable to fuel (gasoline or petrol) with a high sulfur content.

The sulfur in the fuel breaks up the Nikasil lining in the cylinders, thus causing a loss of compression. Once the lining is damaged, excessive bore wear of the soft, underlying alloy occurs very quickly. Some Nikasil engines have failed in as little as 30,000 miles. And the effect is cumulative, so if the engine has ever been run on high sulfur fuel, the damage may already have been done and premature bore wear may result.

Some symptoms of the Nikasil problem are rough running at idle and difficult cold starting, both due to loss of compression. In severe cases, the loss of compression is so bad that the engine loses power. Oil consumption increases dramatically as oil is sucked up the side of the leaky pistons. In extreme cases, the compression decrease is so severe the car will not start in cold weather, especially M52 6-cylinder engines.

Over the years, BMW has provided replacements with steel, cast-iron or Alusil lined engines, at considerable cost to the manufacturer. Often, disgruntled owners have borne the brunt of these replacement costs, and prospective buyers are at risk, too.

The Nikasil coating process was developed by the German firm Mahle, originally for use in the Mercedes Wankel rotary. Audi, BMW, Ferrari and Jaguar have all used Nikasil engines in their production cars. Porsche used Nikasil in their turbocharged 917 - 935 series of race cars. In racing two strokes, both Morbidelli and Rotax have had great success with Nikasil. Nikasil has been used in thousands of professional grade chainsaws, motorcycle and marine engines, and even many NASCAR Winston Cup and Formula One engines.

Nikasil has been used in high performance engines because it allows the total elimination of poor-cooling cast-iron, and it is harder and more oleophilic (oil-liking) than cast-iron. Nikasil offers superior lubrication, reduced friction, and superior wear characteristics.

The Nikasil cylinder coating is a nickel and silicon carbide matrix coating about 0.07mm (.0025-.003") thick. The Nikasil treatment coats a layer of nickel-silicon carbide, usually by electrolytic deposition, to the inner surface of aluminum cylinders. The nickel matrix is very hard, yet it is relatively ductile. Dispersed through the nickel are particles of silicon carbide less than 4 microns in size. These extremely hard particles make up 4% of the coating and form a multitude of adhesion spots where oil can collect. Beside providing a long wearing surface for the piston and rings, the silicon carbide particles contribute to longer engine life by ensuring good cylinder lubrication.

So why is there a problem? BMW reportedly did not discover the problem with Nikasil in their original testing because they used only high-quality fuel. Sulfur should be extracted from fuel before it is used, but since it is a costly process, oil companies may not remove as much as they should. Once BMW was aware of the Nikasil crisis, BMW replaced the cylinder blocks and also tried to ameliorate the problem by re-programming the DME to ensure higher combustion temperatures.

Take the vehicle to a qualified mechanic for a "leakdown" compression check. The leakdown test detects a lack of effective sealing (loss of compression) in one or more cylinders.

If you take the vehicle to a BMW dealer, the mechanic can quickly check the idle quality using a BMW diagnostic computer system. BMW extended the warranty on Nikasil engines up to 6 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Remember, the higher the octane, the lower the sulfur. If the previous owner had always used high octane fuel, then you may never have a Nikasil problem. Beware if the prior owner always bought the cheapest fuel!

Because of the quality of the fuel in certain locations, some areas are more likely than others to have high sulfur fuel. Unfortunately for BMW, the USA and the UK are two of these areas. These also happen to be two of BMW's largest markets! Incidentally, Germany and Continental Europe appears to be largely unaffected by the Nikasil problem.

Everything else being equal, if you are in the market, you want a car with an Alusil engine (the M62).



Haven't looked at these. I will start. Thanks

What is the Nik problem?

[Kibokojoe]

What kink of mileage do you get with the 8 cylinder?

[Kibokojoe]

Found a 91 735i with 111,000+ miles. Body is good very little rust. Couple of small dings. Front dam has been crunched hitting a high curb. Interior is nice and seems that all electronics work. Awesome stereo. Drives nice. new tires, new brakes, new ac :). Down side The M30 Engine performs poorly and its a Automatic :(

Tonight I returned to look at the car one more time started the engine and noticed that the hose on the fuel regulator valve was broken and not connected. Plugged the valve and hose with my finger and immediately the car smoothed out. Wish this hose was easier to reach and replace. Could have found out real quick if this resolved the problem. I have read where these engines will have excessive noise from not only the valves but also the injectors. Will the fuel reg valve not connected up properly cause the injectors to build high pressure and make excessive noise? I have talked the guy down to $3000 but it looks like the dam with be around $700 to replace. The engine noise scares me and I don't want to get into any major engine repairs.
Went by too look at the 735 again today. Found out it has a $1300 stereo in it. Installed 2 years ago. Serious wattage 960 :-). I have him talked down to $3000 but I know I should only pay around $2000 to $2500 at the most

[Ross]

For what it's worth you may wish to consider that the current ownwer has apparently assigned a higher priority to the sound system than the running condition. And, is also trying to recoup the cost of his stereo. I'll guess he hasn't owned it long.
That car will tolerate a fair amount of neglect. If you get it running right and woofers haven't been more important than oil changes for too long at the right price it may be good car.

[Kibokojoe]

I checked the oil in the engine and trans, both very clean. The father bought the car for his teenage son to "straighten him out", that almost always fails. He got two speeding tickets and his father took it from him. Anyway my only real concern is the tack tack coming from the valves. I pray it is only a valve adjustment.


For what it's worth you may wish to consider that the current ownwer has apparently assigned a higher priority to the sound system than the running condition. And, is also trying to recoup the cost of his stereo. I'll guess he hasn't owned it long.
That car will tolerate a fair amount of neglect. If you get it running right and woofers haven't been more important than oil changes for too long at the right price it may be good car.

[Ross]

In my experience M30s are a little happier with the valves adjusted on the loose side. If this one is real noisy it might be worth investigating beneath the rocker cover.
The oil supply for the cam and rockers is via a pipe secured with "banjo" bolts that had a tendancy to loosen and consequentially starve those parts of oil. A new design bolt was made available by BM and it has defferent markings which I forget. Someone here will be able to make the distinction so you can determine if this was done. I just retighten them.

[Mordan]

E32 > E38

E34 > E39

E30 > E36

'nugh said :). simply enough. those on the right.. they do not look like a BMW.

oh by the way has the auto box the sport option?

[Kibokojoe]

Yes it does have the sport option...Why?


E32 > E38

E34 > E39

E30 > E36

'nugh said :). simply enough. those on the right.. they do not look like a BMW.

oh by the way has the auto box the sport option?