Thats interesting. Before I clicked on the picture and could only see the thumbnail I thought it was an 8 Series.
Silver MK3;1992540 said:Thats interesting. Before I clicked on the picture and could only see the thumbnail I thought it was an 8 Series.
^Ahhh, yes- those are beautiful cars. I was obsessed with them awhile back and did some research on them. Early models have engine blocks with nikasil liners- i.e. not a good idea in the US. Running them on the american gas in their time caused pitting in the cylinder walls as it is too high in sulfur.
toyMKIII;1992547 said:
Yeah, I've heard they aren't too reliable, but they are so good looking. I wish you could still get cars with pop-up headlights. I really like them.
Apparently it is the early V8's that have the not so ideal cylinder wall linings, but American gas has been reformulated since then. I'm sure they are similar to our cars. If they have been treated well and maintained they will probably serve you well, but if they have been beat on and not maintained in the last 20 years they may not be so reliable.
supraguy@aol;1992578 said:
I would have to agree with Silver MK3 , so long as the damage isn't already done. If the car was well maintained and cared for that definitely goes a long way. As he stated, our gas is up to better standards now and is no longer the issue.
I can't find the facts anymore online but I believe production years post 1997, leaving only two years left, the cylinder lining was alusil- in which case the problem doesn't exist. The problem is US production stopped in 97, so we never got these.
Just a side note, the engines in honda s2000 and I would suspect several more have nikasil liners. Do they experience the mentioned problems?
eraezer;1992599 said:
From what I was reading it sounds like the gas here in the US has been brought up to higher standards like toyMKIII said, so I don't think it would be a problem. I also see that you are in Sweden though so I don't know how the gas there compares.
the 850I's come with a 5L v12! and a 6 speed, too bad an mkiv still blows them out of the water in every aspect.
Beals;1992771 said:
I'll take the looks of the 8 series over a MKIV though, but I'm sure it is better performance wise.
That V12 is one of the worst things to ever come out of BMW. It has two full computers, one for each six cylinders. It's basically being run as two engines.
I'd love to have one, but the first thing I'd do is toss out the stock ECU and replace it with something aftermarket.
I'd love to have one, but the first thing I'd do is toss out the stock ECU and replace it with something aftermarket.
Funny enough toyota did the same thing with the 1GZ-FE motor. Wonder if there was an actual engineering reason or if it was just cheaper to pull to one of the I6 ECU's both companies are known for right off the shelf.