Nikasil

Hi BMMAD,

With regard to your brother's car, he obviously tried his case with the dealers in the Republic. Any idea what were the grounds for refusal?

I called BMW GB yesterday and I was put onto a very helpful gentleman who explained that the goodwill contributions are still being done in the UK according to certain criteria, mainly being Service History and Mileage.

I'd be interested to hear the full story, if you could spare the time.

Thanks.

Mac.

@ BMMad - that kinda story boils my blood. How can BMW Irl justify such a stance??? Fair enough it was a problem that, arguably, effected UK cars predominantly. But a load of BMWs in the IRL are UK imports. In fact, I've never owned a BMW that has been an Irish-registered car from day one. So for BMW Irl to wash their hands of it is a total disgrace. If BMW UK are still making provisions for warranty repair, why aren't BMW IRL? Are they just to lazy to go find out if there is provision made by the powers-that-be? We still have alot to learn about customer service here....

Padraic

Interested to hear more about the short block kit, if you can share the details.

Rhys

The 6cyl engines are expensive if they have to be replaced.  V8's are horrendous (I've heard stg�3.5k parts and labour mentioned).  Doesn't surprise me that the dealer "hasn't heard" of the problem, its not in his interest to acknowledge it, and if he genuinely hasn't heard of it then this motor is out of his league.

My advice would be not to touch it at least until you've had a reasonable chance to make the necessary checks yourself (verify service history, cold start, check the dipstick, check with BMW Customer service) AND get it inspected, make sure that the inspector can do a compression test.  The margin for error is huge on these, relative to the purchase price.

Rhys

Both 3.0 and 4.0 V8 engines were affected.  I think door check needs to be done from cold as the engine electronics can compensate to some degree once the engine has warmed up.

Its worth taking a note of the VIN number and ringing BMW Customer Service to see if the engine was replaced.  Be creful though, the V8's started having this problem long before BMW realized what the problem was, so many original engines were replaced with new Nikasil lined engines rather than the steel liners.

Also, the 3.5 and 4.4 V8's have steel lined bores, so its worth looking out for an early one of these if you can stretch to it.

KBannon

Regarding your question ,the service advisor said it would be a 1 years warranty,still running smoothly and still got about 7-800 miles to run in yet (too much work not enough play)

Andy T

Is there another Dealer you can go to? I went to Benham's in Stockport (mainland UK) I was advised to go here by the specialist who services my car as the other 2 main dealers near me would not be anywhere as helpful.

Guys

I'm based close to Limerick and use Keogh's for servicing, including my '97 523i.  I have a bunch of links and magazine articles covering the issue and can copy/share if it helps. 

It might help to describe your issue as being about bore wear and if I recall correctly Mike is the name of the service manager.  The service receptionist is helpful but has the mechanical know how of a gnat.

PM me if I can help.

Hi all,

Got my 1997 E39 in Manchester 3 years ago, it has now got 130K miles and an oil usage of 3 litres/1000miles. Local dealer in Limerick has never heard of nikasil problem. �1800+VAT for new short block. I do all my own repairs so am not sure how BMW Ireland will react when I contact them on Monday.

Padraic