Re: 1992 318i rev limiter?

["Bill Bauman" <bmw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> Insurance is saying she must have intentionally overrevved the engine by
> downshifting from 5th to 2nd or something, and are questioning whether
> she knows how to drive a stick...
>
> My first comment was that every german car I've ever owned (Audi & VW)
> has a rev limiter builtin.  I know that newer BMWs have a top speed
> limiter as well.


I am not sure if a '92 318i has a rev limiter or not. However....

even if did, it would not help in a downshift from 5th to 2nd. The rev
limiter only prevents the engine from revving past a certain RPM when you
are applying the throttle to accelerate. If you downshift from 5th to 2nd,
the driveline acts in the reverse of the norm - that is, instead of power
going from the crank to the driveshaft to the diff to the half-shafts to the
wheels, it goes the other way around. The end result is the wheels end up
mechanically turning the crank and KABOOM. Goodbye top end. An electronic
rev limiter cannot prevent this.

When I used to own a Talon TSi AWD the guy who ran dsm.org did exactly this
to a friend's M3 on a racetrack. Not a cheap to fix by any means. There
might still be pics of it at dsm.org.


Bill Bauman
Genesee Valley Chapter

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