high milage m20s

[TimKninja]

Ive got 263 on mine...and it pulls very hard and doesnt burn a thing.

Leaks terribly but thats it. I dont know if anything has ever been done to it, but it really doesnt look like its ever been apart.

my ETA's engine had over 300k on it, I dissassembled it and nothing showed signs of severe wear anywhere.

M20s are buelletproof.

[bastianshaw]

Ive got 263 on mine...and it pulls very hard and doesnt burn a thing.

Leaks terribly but thats it. I dont know if anything has ever been done to it, but it really doesnt look like its ever been apart.

my ETA's engine had over 300k on it, I dissassembled it and nothing showed signs of severe wear anywhere.

M20s are buelletproof.

tell this to cabriolet

[rodpaine]

A retired BMW engineer in the Netherlands told me that the M20 was a 500k km (312k miles) service life design, given proper maintenance. That is, it should not need major repairs involving opening the engine, other than a major component failure repair, which was rare. However, this applied to M20s in Germany only, as records from America showed that maintenance was not 'proper', performed as specified by BMW and failures were well below 312K miles. I have witnessed this myself, having worked or consulted on 37 different 528e models, in the last several decades, all with less than 225k miles and in typically poor condition. Four of them had broken cam belts, due to excessive time and mileage, resulting in major cylinder head and piston damage. Another 8-10 had badly worn cam belts due to excessive time and mileage on them. This is not a unique problem with BMW's, as most American cars are poorly maintained too.
FWIW,
-Rod

[603Racing]

Unless the engine had at least a crank scraper, the track use is probably what set the stage for the bearing failure.

I'm sure your're exactly right, which is why the first part I bought for the replacement motor was a IJ scraper.

[bastianshaw]

A retired BMW engineer in the Netherlands told me that the M20 was a 500k km (312k miles) service life design, given proper maintenance. That is, it should not need major repairs involving opening the engine, other than a major component failure repair, which was rare. However, this applied to M20s in Germany only, as records from America showed that maintenance was not 'proper', performed as specified by BMW and failures were well below 312K miles. I have witnessed this myself, having worked or consulted on 37 different 528e models, in the last several decades, all with less than 225k miles and in typically poor condition. Four of them had broken cam belts, due to excessive time and mileage, resulting in major cylinder head and piston damage. Another 8-10 had badly worn cam belts due to excessive time and mileage on them. This is not a unique problem with BMW's, as most American cars are poorly maintained too.
FWIW,
-Rod

Im not really concerned w broken timing belts

[Earendil]

Im not really concerned w broken timing belts

Then you do not drive an M20 :)

The M20 is an interference engine. Timing belt breaks and your engine is

[dnguyen1963]

Im not really concerned w broken timing belts

What???? Your timing belt breaks and you can kiss your engine good-bye. Unless you are being sarcastic...

[jeffnhiscars]

What???? Your timing belt breaks and you can kiss your engine good-bye. Unless you are being sarcastic...

or he changes it weekly and knows it will NEVER break

[Earendil]

or he changes it weekly and knows it will NEVER break

How much more worried can you be than to be that guy that changes it every week for fear it'll break? ;)

Now, if he inadvertently won a lifetime supply of weekly timing belt changes when he was really trying to win the Alaskan cruise vacation, then I could see how he may not be worried.

[einstein57]

I'm boosting 14psi with 350k miles


Thread/

[bastianshaw]

I change my timing belt when scheduled, but I do change it, I was going on the premise that changing it is a given, I was talking about MACHANICAL WEAR, main bearings, rings, ect

[dnguyen1963]

I change my timing belt when scheduled, but I do change it, I was going on the premise that changing it is a given, I was talking about MACHANICAL WEAR, main bearings, rings, ect

Then...you should have said "I wouldn't be concerned about broken timing belt..."

[bastianshaw]

Then...you should have said "I wouldn't be concerned about broken timing belt..."

maybe...but i didnt

if you look at the initial post I did specify timing belts kept up

[seatown88]

I'm boosting 14psi with 350k miles


Thread/

epic!

[einstein57]

20 years later