can anyone answer this?

[E39esp]

Ok so I'm traveling out of state to see a 1995 BMW 540i/6 tomorrow. The Nikisil engine we all know was the fail one, thus BMW replaced them with the Alusil engine under warranty. I spoke the the mechanic that has been working on this specific BMW for the majority of it's running life, and he says that BMW shipped 540i/6's WITH the ALUSIL engine after 3/95. This one was made on 6/95, so it would make sense that it had the Alusil block from the beginning.

I have a friend that is 100% sure that BMW found out about the problem OVER 1 year after production (1996-1997) and that it when they started to replace the engines under warranty (Got his information through an intense debate on bimmernut.com, where supposedly documentation was shown). So that means the mechanic is wrong, and the engine in this car is still the Nikisil block because the mechanic said it was never replaced.

So,
Did BMW make the ALUSIL engines DURING production thus it was with the car its entire life? Or were the Alusil engines introduced after production?

[dansgt]

im not 100% sure and im sure someone else will say for certain but from what i've read on here it seams all e34's with the 8's had nikisil from the factory.

[AndrewH]

to my understanding e34's NEVER came with alusil from the factory

[strad]

Get the block part # and post it here. It's really the only way to be sure what is in the car now. Never mind what it had when it left the factory -- that was 14 years ago.

[bdejong11129]

The best and only way to be sure is to get the casting numbers off the block and see if they match the known numbers for the non-nik blocks. Search the forums the numbers are out there,,

Mine was replaced under warranty in 2000, had a receipt for it from the PO.

[garethashenden]

All V8 e34s had Nikisill engines from the factory. The were swaped to Alusil as needed. Not all cars got them. If the car your looking at has the original block, run it on good gas and you should be all set.

I think Alusil started sometime in 1997, or maybe MY '97

[bdejong11129]

Ha...strad and I posted at the same time.....Duplicate info means good advice? right???

Here is a link

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=BMW+E34+Nikisil+block

[T444E]

Ok so I'm traveling out of state to see a 1995 BMW 540i/6 tomorrow. The Nikisil engine we all know was the fail one, thus BMW replaced them with the Alusil engine under warranty. I spoke the the mechanic that has been working on this specific BMW for the majority of it's running life, and he says that BMW shipped 540i/6's WITH the ALUSIL engine after 3/95. This one was made on 6/95, so it would make sense that it had the Alusil block from the beginning.

I have a friend that is 100% sure that BMW found out about the problem OVER 1 year after production (1996-1997) and that it when they started to replace the engines under warranty (Got his information through an intense debate on bimmernut.com, where supposedly documentation was shown). So that means the mechanic is wrong, and the engine in this car is still the Nikisil block because the mechanic said it was never replaced.

So,
Did BMW make the ALUSIL engines DURING production thus it was with the car its entire life? Or were the Alusil engines introduced after production?

No. NO E34 was EVER shipped with an Alusil engine. It became an issue AFTER production had stopped. Thus BMW manufactured new M60s with Alusil to replace the bad Nikasil ones. The production date DOES NOT MATTER, it would have had an Nikasil when it was new. I don't know where this misconception started from but it's been around for a while.

[garethashenden]

No. NO E34 was EVER shipped with an Alusil engine. It became an issue AFTER production had stopped. Thus BMW manufactured new M60s with Alusil to replace the bad Nikasil ones. The production date DOES NOT MATTER, it would have had an Nikasil when it was new. I don't know where this misconception started from but it's been around for a while.
Fixed

I think this is where the confusion comes from, typing the wrong word

[T444E]

True but claiming some production date made a difference doesn't account for the wrong word.

[E39esp]

Just scheduled a PPI on the car so Ill talk to the guy that will be working on it and hopefully he can tell me something more accurate.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

[David325e]

I don't know why, but it makes me RAGE when someone thinks there was a factory alusil.