V-8 Engine Defect (Was "E36 M42 Engine Gasket Ripoff")

[Spiegelthal.Dave@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Regarding the M42 engine "timing case profile gasket" defect, "L Mendonca"
wrote:
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"How can an individual judge the 'quality' of an automobile? Any
manufacturer can produce a bad product, but how the manufacturer deals with
that problem is a good yardstick to measure the product and the
producer........
 .........the 'goodwill' offer by BMW seems to be nothing but a sop to
cover poor engineering and indifferent customer service. BMW North America
has defrauded thousands of owners, by knowingly selling cars with a major
defect, and refuses to live up to their inflated reputation for engineering
quality. This defect has been handled in an unethical manner, and, I would
argue, in an illegal manner.
Time for a small claims court action! Anyone else out there suffering the
same fate?"
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I was nearly a victim of the same defect, but fortunately for me the car in
question, a '91 318i, had suffered the failure (at 43,000 miles) just prior
to my purchase, and it had been repaired by the seller (Auto Advantage of
Manassas, Virginia, a terrific and highly ethical dealership, by the way).
Since the new-style gasket was installed by AA and I'm changing the coolant
every year, I'm confident that I'll never have the problem again in my car.

However.....

My wife and I just bought a 1995 540iA from the very same Auto Advantage,
and this car has its own defect, analogous to the M42 profile gasket, but
in this case, it's the M60 engine block failure from high-sulfur gasoline,
corroding the original Nikasil aluminum block (replacement blocks and those
on the newer E39 models are Alusil).  Similar situation-----  Many failures
have occurred, frequently at around 50,000 miles or thereabouts. BMWNA has
subsequently instituted a 6-year, 100,000 mile warranty on this engine,
which has helped some folks get a new short block for free.  However, we
bought our car (with around 40,000-some miles on it) knowing full well that
its block has not yet been replaced, and that it could fail at any time.
You might say that I have plenty of time to worry about it, but that's not
true --- the 6 years will be passed in 2001, and even worse, at 30K miles
per year (what my wife and I each drive), we'll be out of warranty only two
years from now.

So what happens if, in two-and-a-half years,let's say, our 540i starts
having a rough idle and fails its leakdown test?  At that point, we will be
at the mercy of the "goodwill" of BMWNA to help us cover the cost of
replacing the short block.  From what I've read so far, the average amount
of assistance provided by BMWNA to 530i/540i owners in this predicament,
has been about 50%.  Some folks have gotten zero help, a few lucky ones got
the whole thing paid for (about $5000+ total bill?), but typically it seems
that the owners have been met about halfway by BMWNA.  Even 50% of the bill
is a big chunk of change to pay!

So what will happen?  Time will tell.  In the meantime, the best insurance
is to keep a careful eye and ear on the engine, and stay on the good side
of BMW, so that when the time comes for out-of-warranty engine replacement,
there's at least a chance of getting BMW to stand behind the product.
Anyone else out there with stories to tell on this subject?

     Dave Spiegelthal  '91 318i (M42) -- mine
                    '95 540i -- wife's
     Calverton, VA

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End of bmw-digest V9 #61
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