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S54 head gaskets in E46 M3's

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  • S54 head gaskets in E46 M3's

    Interesting.
    Just seen this on the Munich Legends FB site, relates to higher mileage S54 engines in the E46 M3:


    "The cause of head gasket failure on the S54B32 is loss of compression between cylinders, normally 5 and 6, sometimes other cylinder as well.
    The early symptom is "pinking" or detonation under engine load.
    The reason for the failure is prolonged use or poor quality or low octane fuel which can lead to a leaner combustion and as the head gasket between the cylinders is the weakest point in the combustion chamber due to the close proximity of the cylinder spacing, it's the first point to fail.

    In extreme cases we have seen the head erode at the point where the gasket has failed, a piston melt and in one case, the block crack!

    It tends to happen somewhere between 90-120k miles but we have seen one with as little as 65k miles fail.

    It pays to run BMW M power engines exclusively on 97-98 Ron fuel."

  • #2
    I run everything, even including my '68 Cooper S, on Shell Nitro VMax. Got a thing about ethanol...

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    • #3
      Interesting. I've always ran mine on V-power / Nitro+, which I believe is 99RON so fingers crossed....

      Makes a fairly interesting read...

      http://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-...he-microscope/
      2002 '52 S54 - Titanium Silver with 18" BBS LMs, AP Racing BBK, KW V3, H&R anti roll bars & ACS flippers (previously 2000 'X' S50 - Arctic Silver)

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      • #4
        Maybe there's some truth behind it Spooks, rather than just a clever marketing and sales strategy.

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