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Sulfur problems with 93-95 V8 engines

>Return-Path: <fred@domain.elided>
>From: "Fred Miller" <fred@domain.elided>
>Date: Mon, 12 Aug 1996 14:07:24 -0700
>To: pdkmd@domain.elided
>Subject: Sulfur problems with 93-95 V8 engines
>X-UIDL: 7e199ac91510f97ec4925c02b6eae4cf
>
>Hi Paul,
>  I'll attach what I've saved from the list on the problem.  As far as I
>know, there is no single source of information about it, just tidbits
>here and there.  I did get a letter from BMW NA but my recollection is
>that it didn't say much.  I'll pull it out tonight and let you know if
>has anything interesting in it.  The latest tidbit I read was from a
>brief review of the new 540i, it said it was gas refined from Venezuelan
>oil that was the problem and it is generally only distributed in the
>southeastern US.  The new engines use a different process, silicone
>impregnated I think.
> Much of the discussion on the list was about the affects of the 'fix',
>a new ICU & thermostat that raises the engine temp to 'burn' the sulfur.
>This isn't as much of an issue for the 540i as the 530i, where the
>performance is marginal anyway and any degradation is noticable. My 530i
>seemed to be the only one where the performance actually improved.
>  Sorry I couldn't be more help.  I will check out the letter from BMWNA
>and let you know.  Let me know if you have any problems reading the
>attachment.
>
>-Fred
>
>
>
>
>-- 
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>
>From: Ephraim Fithian <fithian@domain.elided>
>Date: Sat, 26 Aug 1995 09:06:24 -0400 (EDT)
>Subject: Aluminum V8 Blocks
>
>I was rather concerned when I read about the engine failures of aluminum 
>V8 3 and 4 liter engines, due to sulfur content of US gas attacking the 
>coating inside the cylinders.
>
>Thanks to someone's post about an EPROM upgrade, I contacted my dealer 
>(Otto's in West Chester, PA) about the problem. After some research, my 
>95 530i popped up on the computer as needing the EPROM upgrade, which 
>will be done on Monday, Sept 28.
>
>The EPROM upgrade lowers the combustion temp in the cylinders, thus 
>preventing the sulfur content of US gas from attacking the cylinder 
>walls, according to the dealer.
>
>All owners of V8's should get the dealer post haste for a possible EPROM 
>upgrade. They will also replace the thermostat.
>
>Question: Which US gasolines have the highest (avoid) and lowest (choose) 
>levels of sulfur?
>
>Ephraim Fithian <fithian@domain.elided>
>95 E34 530i, 92 E36 325i
>
>
>From: Ephraim Fithian <fithian@domain.elided>
>Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 08:08:56 -0400 (EDT)
>Subject: EPROM Upgrade for V8 Results
>
>Yesterday (Monday) my 95 530 was taken in for the EPROM upgrade that is 
>supposed to stop the aluminum V8 from dissolving, due to high sulfur 
>content in US gas.
>
>In addition to the EPROM upgrade, there was a thermostat change, and an 
>oil change. The net result is that the 530 is now slower and gets worse 
>gas mileage, and the engine may still fail. BMW have no plans for 
>extending the warranty on the engine, nor do they provide info on which 
>gas is low sulfur content. They do say that the problem occurs only in 
>the Northeast (me), the Southeast, and the West Coast.
>
>Ephraim Fithian <fithian@domain.elided>
>95 E34 530i, 92 E36 325i, NMA member
>
>
>
>
>
>From: Scriven@domain.elided
>Date: Sat, 30 Sep 1995 11:05:35 -0400
>Subject: BMW V8 disease
>
>OK, here's the situation to date. This applies to '93 through '95 V8s. The
>first year or two of these are the ones that get eaten up by
>sulphur-in-the-gasoline disease. All owners have been told that a free fix is
>available, AND that their warranty will thereupon be extended to 6yrs/100,000
>miles i.e., doubled. All later cars, which includes most '95s, at least, were
>given the treatment during manufacture. But if that's all that was done,
>their resale would suffer because they would not have as long a warranty as
>those built a week earlier, although the engines are, after the fix, the
>same. So now BMWNA has extended the warranty on all those machines, too.
>Pretty reasonable, though those owners who go well past 100,000 miles may run
>into some kind of trouble, due to the fix not being a complete fix. Hence,
>beware, etc.
>
>Now we come to the tricky part. What exactly was the fix? The rumor is that
>it involved lowering ignition temp, etc., etc. and one naturally wants to
>know how much power loss this caused. No magazine is going to test a car in
>the last months of its run, but I'm hoping that the gearheads amongst us with
>access to a dyno, e.g., Conforti and Korman, will have turned up some
>figures. Anyone know or even heard a rumor?
>
>Of course, the new semi-M5 (should we call it the M4) will be here shortly,
>with the Getrag 6-speed and the M5 brakes, etc., and it may have the stock
>V8; in which case we'll learn something from the road tests. But they are
>quite likely to do a little fiddling with the engine, so it may not be a fair
>test. Any thoughts?
>
>------------------------------
>
>From: KAO_ROY/HP2000_14@domain.elided
>Date: Wed, 11 Oct 95 18:16:00 +0000
>Subject: E34 530i Ownership Question
>
>Well, it's been a few weeks since I've been on this mailing list.
>Getting a new job and getting the e-mail address straightened out proved
>to be tough but I'm finally back.
>
>BMW Canada has finally fixed the rough cold idle syndrome in my '95 530i
>with 5-speed.  The cure was to replace the engine management chip with
>the one from the automatic transmission car.  The rough idle is gone, but
>so is the snap off line and on the highway.  It seems that the chip has
>taken away some of the original sparkling performance of the car, I may
>be going to a Dinan chip earlier than planned.
>
>I have a question to other E34 530i owner, or maybe even some 525i or
>540i drivers have noticed this: when the steering wheel is at or near the
>lock position on either side, there is a 'clunk' sound from the
>suspension during the turn.  The sound is especially pronounced if the
>turn has a dip or a small pothole on the road surface.  It only happens
>at the limits of the steering lock so I think it may have something to do
>with the suspension arm rather than the dampers or springs.  Any owners
>who have experienced this or has an explanation for it is encouraged to
>share this insight with me.  Thanks.
>
>
>From: Tracy_Meyer@domain.elided
>Date: Fri, 08 Dec 95 09:34:33 EST
>Subject: Aluminum V8 modification update
>
>Hello All;
>
>I just got our '95 530i 5-speed back from the dealer last night.  We had 
>complained about performance degredation after the EEPROM and thermostat 
>modification.  The dealer said they could find nothing mechanically wrong with 
>the car.  I asked if they would put the car back to its original state, but
the 
>answer was no because it is costing BMW about $6,000 to replace each failed 
>aluminum V8 engine block.  Since we are still not satisfied with the
performance 
>the next step is to talk with the BMWNA area service rep.  Evidently he has
the 
>authority to authorize additional repairs or modifications to satisfy unhappy 
>customers.  I should meet with him in the next couple weeks.
>
>Further discussions with the service advisor revealed several interesting
facts 
>about the problem.  Dealerships in some areas have been replacing several
failed 
>blocks a WEEK.  Virginia seems worse than Maryland.  Also, for customers with 
>automatic transmissions, BMW is willing to reprogram the transmission to match 
>the characteristcs of the modified engine for customers who complain about 
>decreased performance.  Since we have a 5-speed this will not help us.  The 
>service advisor conjectured that the torque curve for the modified engines has 
>shifted.  He suggested that my wife wind the car out closer to the redline to 
>get more performance.  How practical is that around Washington D.C. in rush 
>hour?
>
>BMW is facing a potentially huge problem.  Over 50,000 5, 7 and 8 series cars 
>are affected by the faulty V8s.  Now we really know why there is not going
to be 
>a '96 M3 in the US and why the new 2.8 litre engines for the 3 and 5 series
are 
>iron blocks.  BMW is scared to death to import more aluminum block engines
into 
>the US.  Their liabilty for the problem could easily run into the $100 million 
>range.
>
>Hopefully BMW will take care of its customers and not learn its marketing 
>lessons from Audi.  It would be a shame to see an otherwise great company get 
>slammed in the US.  BMW is relying one the new 5 series to be its bread and 
>butter car in the US.  If it is not successful, there won't be anymore M3 or 
>specialty cars for awhile.
>
>Tracy Meyer  
>
>