A518catcher 0 Report post Posted June 21, 2005 :thumbsdown: Ok . So im as wrapped as with me first BMW, then i realise that it wasnt just a bit soft in its old age,,, but it consistantly was not starting proper when cold. And i mean NOT!! crank and crank and get jump battery on to it and crank some more and finally it comes to life. done all the obvious things. and it starts first flick of the key when hot. its a NZ new 520i 1989. 260,000 kms 6 cylinder multipoint injection, no cold start injector. when its running its a pleasure to drive but gutless as. Idles like a dog. from looking on the internet it appears i may have the Nikasil Engine and the associated problems. Any suggestions other than transplanting a small block Chev,,,which is becoming more then just a whime. Any one tell me how difficult this transplant may be or if it will even fit?. Any one got a non NIKASIL engine that they want to sell. cheers. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chomies 0 Report post Posted June 21, 2005 ICV perhaps???? unplug it and see if it makes a difference, alternatively - turn the key on, and see if it's buzzing... your's isn't nikasil, nikasil is a v8 thing (M60) - your engine is an M20, same as the e30 320i engine.... transplanting a small block?? NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that'd be terrible- toyota 1uz-fe would be more like it, if not, m30 3.5 or similar american v8s are terrible, hell, you know you're not onto a good thing when a diesel hilux can pull more revs than you (not to mention more women ) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gus 5 Report post Posted June 21, 2005 (edited) nikasil is the v8 problem......yours should be an m20. a 520i WILL be gutless as.....having driven a m20 525i i can only imagine how bad half a litre less would be. idle will prob be ICV (round black cylinder, spray inside with carb cleaner till the mechanism inside moves freely), bad contacts or maybe Throttle body Throttle position sensor switch. all fixed easily with $10 worth of carb cleaner and some spare time.....when i find the write up i used ill whack it up as for swaps the easiest would be m20 2.5, but still slow.. m30 3.5 prob the best all round (low cost, etc) as it came factory in the 535i's, just find a wrecked one and i imagine your away laughing Edited June 21, 2005 by Gus Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Spargo Report post Posted June 21, 2005 Not a Nikasil engine, and it would have either been replaced by now, or not affected, as the sulpher content in fuel is much less. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cainchapman 0 Report post Posted June 21, 2005 Don't blame the Nikasil regardless. NZ did not have a problem with this block. Cilk wurm is correct, our sulphur content was different. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vonripsnorter 0 Report post Posted June 21, 2005 (edited) Don't blame the Nikasil regardless. NZ did not have a problem with this block. Cilk wurm is correct, our sulphur content was different.true, you guys must be on the net too much to even know about this problem, as it did not effect NZ, it was mainly a UK problem, it wasnt just the V8's ether as someone mentioned, I have a list of effected engines here in my files, I will have a look for it if you like, from memory , it was almost all the engines but the 4cyl & 2L 6 in the mid 1990's Edited June 21, 2005 by vonripsnorter Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A518catcher 0 Report post Posted June 21, 2005 THANKS for the tips GUS....... but ive gone through all the basics like striping down the throttle body and removing and cleaning the ICV..im a hugh fan of Carb Cleaner. could sit and sniff it all day... Idles real low and cant seem to lift the idle. TPS im not keen on touching as its still got the paint on it and hasnt been moved since new. If the 2.5 are not much better it's looking like V8 time. that sort of horse power cant be achieved with inline engines and im not going diesel. :gay: no offence to the diesel heads ,,saw a guy in the super cheap carpark doing serious dounuts in his mum and dads diesel hilux the other week..RESPECT! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Andrew Report post Posted June 21, 2005 THANKS for the tips GUS....... but ive gone through all the basics like striping down the throttle body and removing and cleaning the ICV..im a hugh fan of Carb Cleaner. could sit and sniff it all day... Idles real low and cant seem to lift the idle. TPS im not keen on touching as its still got the paint on it and hasnt been moved since new. If the 2.5 are not much better it's looking like V8 time. that sort of horse power cant be achieved with inline engines and im not going diesel. :gay: no offence to the diesel heads ,,saw a guy in the super cheap carpark doing serious dounuts in his mum and dads diesel hilux the other week..RESPECT! hah we'd get on well - i'm falling in love with carb cleaner also. Check the TPS - its merely a no throttle and full throttle switch. If the no throttle part doesn't work then the ICV doesn't work properly either. All load readings for the ECU are taken from AFM readings (like a pretend variable TPS). You can get big horsepower from the I6 - try find the S38 from the M5 and you'll have a nice 300 + hp. The M20 2.5 is terrible even in a manual 5 series (we have one) We also have an M50 2.5 5 spd auto and this car goes quite nicely - as well as a 730i E38 V8 one in fact. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
