Are the 4 bangers in the BMW 318ti's prone to blowing head gaskets?

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RALLYRS

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DaveK
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I got mine for $1100 back in 2009 and drove it home. Did have a check engine light...so I scrapped it and put in multiple M3 engines. Have I mentioned I'm an idiot? LOL

Dave

So it's entirely possible the lowly 4 cylinder BMW engine has an edge(at least in reliabilty) than the
'legendary" BMW 6 cylinder?

The water doesn't have to travel as far, maybe less likely to boil as a result?

Dave

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DaveK

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RALLYRS

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DaveK
......
I got mine for $1100 back in 2009 and drove it home. Did have a check engine light...so I scrapped it and put in multiple M3 engines. Have I mentioned I'm an idiot? LOL

Dave

So it's entirely possible the lowly 4 cylinder BMW engine has an edge(at least in reliabilty) than the
'legendary" BMW 6 cylinder?

The water doesn't have to travel as far, maybe less likely to boil as a result?

Dave

Same basic materials? Iron, aluminum, steel..
Roughly same height, width, length?
Shorter will be stiffer.
Block is shorter..
Crank is shorter
head is shorter
weight moar btter-er
weight moar better-er-er located.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Fours sound like a winner in many categories, except that one simple smile inducing one.

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Grant Hughes

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NoCoast
Fours sound like a winner in many categories, except that one simple smile inducing one.

Only to guys who don't know how to make engines go, or make excuses about gearing and final drives and are simple too cheap to do the right things to make it go.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

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john vanlandingham

Quote
NoCoast
Fours sound like a winner in many categories, except that one simple smile inducing one.

Only to guys who don't know how to make engines go, or make excuses about gearing and final drives and are simple too cheap to do the right things to make it go.

Cheap is right. When a 6-cyl pops, it's $175-$750 for a brand spanking new-to-me 6 cyl that makes 200 hp & tq off the showroom floor. Hard to justify dropping several K to make 40hp less...

Dave

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DaveK

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john vanlandingham

Quote
NoCoast
Fours sound like a winner in many categories, except that one simple smile inducing one.

Only to guys who don't know how to make engines go, or make excuses about gearing and final drives and are simple too cheap to do the right things to make it go.

Cheap is right. When a 6-cyl pops, it's $175-$750 for a brand spanking new-to-me 6 cyl that makes 200 hp & tq off the showroom floor. Hard to justify dropping several K to make 40hp less...

Dave

200 Hp should be easy: a set of pistons and a pair of cams, maybe valve springs, done on the engine.
Management of some sort, exhaust..done. Torque: do the math. Engine makes T for torque x X.XX for final drive, comes out the same as an engine makes 1.4 times the torque, times 3.xx final..
Difference? weight sounds like a big one---6 is 50% more of everything (2 more cylinders worth of block, 2 more throws on the crank, 2 more rods, 2 more pistons, lots of extra valves..

Sure seems like much of the world can go pretty damn good with a 2,0 16v motor.

Have we forgotten how Paddon paddled every single turbo 4wd car in NZRC round this year with a nearly 40 year old 1600 16v in an old thing with leaf springs?
Seems kinda superfluous, especially when the 3,0 thing seems to blow up so easily.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Quote
john vanlandingham
200 Hp should be easy: a set of pistons and a pair of cams, maybe valve springs, done on the engine.

That's all well and good (and more than $750), but didn't you hear 333 is the new 200? If (when) I blow it again, I've got an excuse for an ex-nascar v8. ...and the front dampers to keep it in check.

Dave

Quote
RALLYRS

Quote
DaveK
......
I got mine for $1100 back in 2009 and drove it home. Did have a check engine light...so I scrapped it and put in multiple M3 engines. Have I mentioned I'm an idiot? LOL

Dave

So it's entirely possible the lowly 4 cylinder BMW engine has an edge(at least in reliabilty) than the
'legendary" BMW 6 cylinder?

I wouldn't say they have an edge, but I would say they are equal. They are the same engines with very slight changes in bore, stroke, and cylinder count. People often take m3 pistons and rods coupled with a diesel crank to make a 200hp plus 2.1 liter M44/42.

The first M3 engine was based of the M1 supercar engine the M88. Legend has it that the R&D engineers took a road going m10 block/crank from a 2002 and the put M88 head on it with two cylinders cut off.

Basically they are all the same. They use the same parts. Obviously a long straight six crank has a weakness that a four banger will never have, but we also don't rev our engines to extreme RPM.

One point I will make is and I think Grant and Dave may have said something regarding this is....

In the US only 318 and 318ti from 1990-1999 have m42/44. While in Europe they have 316,318,320,518,520, etc not to mention a slew of diesel four cylinders. AKA four cylinder BMW cost more then six cylinder BMW in the states. That is why I'm building my car with a heavy M52 2.8 six banger. I bought the whole donor car running and driving for $300.

really? seems like the M42/M44 have ZERO value here in CA. people will literally give them away when swapping or failed smog because seriously no wants them.

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First Rally: 2010 First RallyX: 2004 (a bunch)
Driver (0), Co-Driver (7)
Organizer (3), Volunteer (3)
Cars Built (2.5), Engines Blown (2) Cages Built (0) # of rotations (3.5)
Last Updated, Apr 9, 2023

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john vanlandingham

Quote
NoCoast
Fours sound like a winner in many categories, except that one simple smile inducing one.

Only to guys who don't know how to make engines go, or make excuses about gearing and final drives and are simple too cheap to do the right things to make it go.

Ding ding ding ding... you can make a 4 banger beat a 6cyl very easy. I'm not sure on the internal geometries of the m44 but with little head work, high compression pistons and some 305 cams it could make 220hp all day. 250 if you could get a good intake and exhaust combo to match the cams.

You could do things like this if you're really into it.

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Gravity Fed
really? seems like the M42/M44 have ZERO value here in CA. people will literally give them away when swapping or failed smog because seriously no wants them.

Same here. Hard to even find as most scrap them.

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Grant Hughes

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Cosworth
Ding ding ding ding... you can make a 4 banger beat a 6cyl very easy. I'm not sure on the internal geometries of the m44 but with little head work, high compression pistons and some 305 cams it could make 220hp all day. 250 if you could get a good intake and exhaust combo to match the cams.

So with how much work to get to the same or less power than a fairly affordable engine swap will get.
I almost went with a S52 swap for my rally car at 240 hp/ 240 ft lbs STOCK. It was like $2k with ECU, wiring, and gearbox. I decided the M52 was sufficient, bought the whole running/driveable but crashed donor car for $175. The 193 hp/210 ft lbs. is plenty for my needs right now, which is really to just get seat time and have fun without having to constantly fix things. So far I've got 3 hours of competition on track and two completed hill climbs (about another 0.75-1.0 hour in seat time) in the Goose, which is probably around $6-7k spent at this point. LSD diff, lightweight flywheel/clutch, 2.5" exhaust, upgraded radiator, shroud, and fan, and Porterfield R4 pads. That's about it for improvements. Going back to more road racing and building the new car for gravel in 2016.

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Grant Hughes

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NoCoast
So with how much work to get to the same or less power than a fairly affordable engine swap will get.
I almost went with a S52 swap for my rally car at 240 hp/ 240 ft lbs STOCK. It was like $2k with ECU, wiring, and gearbox. I decided the M52 was sufficient, bought the whole running/driveable but crashed donor car for $175. The 193 hp/210 ft lbs. is plenty for my needs right now, which is really to just get seat time and have fun without having to constantly fix things. So far I've got 3 hours of competition on track and two completed hill climbs (about another 0.75-1.0 hour in seat time) in the Goose, which is probably around $6-7k spent at this point. LSD diff, lightweight flywheel/clutch, 2.5" exhaust, upgraded radiator, shroud, and fan, and Porterfield R4 pads. That's about it for improvements. Going back to more road racing and building the new car for gravel in 2016.

Bought the cams used for $600, pistons are $500, rods another $500, and the fact that it weighs half of an iron 6cyl its not bad at all. But if I was running a bmw I'd probably run the 6cyl too just because there's more of them. But not because its better. And now since you can run different manufacturer engines for RA, I'd look at a different 4 cyl to put into a TI.

Ecoboost all things!
Or just turbo the BMW six? Or Kern style S54 with it's 330 or whatever. Or LSX swap from a crashed GM.

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Grant Hughes

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NoCoast
Ecoboost all things!
Or just turbo the BMW six? Or Kern style S54 with it's 330 or whatever. Or LSX swap from a crashed GM.

Probably do a 4g64 Mitsubishi if I ever blow the 6 up. Easy power from 200-600...it gets expensive above that point.

Dave