reliability of m42's

[the.other]

I am in the market for a new DD, I came across a decent alpinewhite II 318is in my area. My only experience to this date has been with the m20b27, which seem to be all but bulletproof as long as the mateinence is done. Is there anything that I should be sceptical of (other than the total lack of power ;)) with a m42b18 with 150k on the clock? I need to get away from my evil malibu ls before it grenades lol

[kowalski]

lol no theres nothing to worry about with them, they're less hasle then the 6 with the hydrolic lifters. only thing you prolly should do is timing chain tensioner which would take about 30 seconds to replace maybe a min. and thats about it. most of the timing tensioners have been done already so you might not even have to do it. they had headgasket problems but i believe just about every single one has had it changed on recal.

[the.other]

wonderful! thanks for the info.

[nickmp0wer]

you may find yourself liking it more then your E

[hamann318is]

I was talking with a Porsche engine builder when I had my head out, and while looking at it, he noticed a lot of good things in terms of reliablility.

The overhead cam design provides a lot less wear on the valves. You will not really ever have to worry about anything valve train related (and you never have to adjust M42 valves). The chain is also a plus, and it should never break. With regular maintence, that car should run for a long time.

Alpine is a great color. I want my next E30 to be a M42 Alpine, so enjoy it!

[the.other]

again good to hear!...yeah once I get my 327i project going on I hope that I wont have to worry about liking the m42 more :P I just need to find a cheep IM ...all the wreckers around here either have no e30's or they have e's and EM 318s.

yeah, alpine on late models is by far my favorite color for these cars. unfourtunately, the guy wants 4k for it :roll: idk I guess I will take a thorough look at it hopefully later this week and find an excuse other than kbb to bring the price down as I doubt I can sell my DD for 4k, though it is only 5 years old in almost mint condition...american cars :roll:

[VtwinVince]

The M42 is an extremely strong engine, and alot of fun when you wind it up. It lacks torque, but the car is very entertaining.

[RH318is]

Don't know if you bought the car already, but I bought my 318is with about 110k on the clock and within a couple months had to replace the head at which time I had all the timing chain components changed. It's been my daily driver for the last 5 years and now has just over 202k on it.

I guess my suggestion would be to make sure there aren't any hairline cracks in the head. Other than that it's been a great car and is very fun to drive.

rh