e34 540 w low miles on a Nikasil

[kramsivad]

Would anyone NOT recommend looking into a 540 ~120K with half of that on a new Nikasil M60? If not, why not? What questions would you ask to give you confidence (or not) in the car? Thanks, Mark.

[Phil M]

a 60k nik block? why wasnt a alu block put in? weird.

take it to an indy and get it checked out. you will thank yourself. i so wish i had done that before i got mine.

how much are they asking? color combo? completely stock?

[kramsivad]

OOOPS! I meant 60K on an ALUSIL block! Asking $13K. White ext, black int. H&Rs and Bilsteins all around.

[kramsivad]

by the way, did your problem turn out to be nikasil or other issues that should still be a concern to me?

[Phil M]

well thats good! mines an alu block as well. it has something like 45k miles less than my current mileage. ive had numerous not big/not little problems with her. slight oil leak, slight coolant leak, slight ATF leak. transmission probs, but is getting worked out today actually along with the ATF leak. slight shimmy 55-65mph. valve cover gasket needs replacing (this should fix the oil leak). rear window motors replaced. suspension needs replacing soon.. (some say that the 4.0L M60 is a bit too heavy for the E34, and i agree) my radiator blew up (but it was my fault; left the AC on full sitting in the sun for over 35 mins. dont do that.)

but since that one has had susp work done already.. no need to worry about that. $13k is way high, even with the 60K on block. engine failure is not even a factor with these cars. 99% of other things fail before the engine does. even after minimal care to the engine. mine had 118k miles when it was for sale (i guess arond 68k on block?). the lady was asking $11k. dad got a briefcase, filled it with $8000 cash and the lady took it without hesitating.. try that if the owner's a female

[632 Regal]

i have a few miles on Nikasil, does the car have good maintenance records? Is it immaculate?

[kramsivad]

good maintenance records claimed and very clean from the pix. haven't seen the records yet or the car in person for that matter. what I'm really wondering is - engine aside (and that seems to be taken care of) - are there things I need to worry about with this type of vehicle that I would not have to worry about with, say, a '94 525? Sounds like from Phil's comments that M60 engine weight can add some stress that leads to unique maintenance issues. Anything else?

[Phil M]

good maintenance records are always a must especially with these cars. both models have their share of things that can go wrong. seems though that the average cost of repair per year is a bit higher with a 540 vs a 525. plus along with the much higher fuel consumption by the 540 (i get 15-16 MPG in town, 23-25 on the interstate) its just a more expensive car to own. and that stupid gas guzzler tax! blah. the 525 is easier for the DIY'er and that can save you money too. although i think the performance of the 540 far surpasses that of a 525 (obviously) and is worth this extra money. id love to check out how much better a 540 w/ HR's/Bilsteins is compared to my stocks. Take the thing out on a test drive.. i recommend finding a nice 2 lane country road and give her a lil hell.. whilst in "S3" mode. i dont think youll ever look back.. unless those probable maintenance issues are too overpowering..

[Dick Schneiders]

Nikasil block. I know that this isn't the case here, since he simply used the wrong term. However, early on when BMW started replacing the blocks they really didn't know the full extent of the problem and didn't have any alusil blocks ready. They replaced with nikasil blocks for some time so that they could at least get the cars back on the road.

a 60k nik block? why wasnt a alu block put in? weird.

take it to an indy and get it checked out. you will thank yourself. i so wish i had done that before i got mine.

how much are they asking? color combo? completely stock?

[MikeV]

I personally think the M60 engine just got a bad rep because of the Nikasil problems. The only real problems it causes are (1) makes a lot of things hard to do in the engine compartment, because it takes up so much space, and (2) if the car is an auto, that's an awful lot of torque to be battering an auto trans.
If it's an automatic, I'd say it would have to be in exceptional condition, in and out, to fetch 13K - with all maintenance records and recent replacement of thrust-arm bushings, subframe bushings, dogbones, radiator, etc. These are the things that will definitely go on you.

BTW, I'm biased, just buy my 530iA for half that much.