Alan,
Au contrare, the American TR7s (and all the rest) got the dreaded aluminum
head.
(read: warps more than the Enterprise in StarTrek)
Emissions regs were the reason the US didn't see the 16v head.
And sulfur in the fuel is a problem with burning coal and some of the cheap
diesel fuel, not your typical gas/dish water.
I'll join in with the other response.. sounds like an unscrupulous mechanic
is trying to take advantage of a female car owner.
Sounds like a job for Super-Susan! (you out there?:-)
Cheers,
Jim
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-spitfires@autox.team.net
> [mailto:owner-spitfires@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Alan Lemen
> Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 1999 12:17 PM
> To: AH7324@aol.com
> Cc: Spitfires@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: Need info, but no LBC
>
>
>
> Andy, I had heard that the high sulfur content was the reason
> that the TR7 did
> not get the 16 valve aluminium head as per the Dolomite Sprint in
> the US like the
> ones in UK. The US TR7 got an 8 valve steel head. Also I heard
> that they were not
> additives but a base part of the gasoline that was not in that in
> UK, as the
> "petrol" there comes from a different location. i.e. oil from
> Saudi Arabia as
> opposed to oil from Texas(?).
> So the story about the V8 is real, but I don't know if BMW ever
> did anything
> special like liners etc.
>
> Alan
> '76 Spitfire
>
> AH7324@aol.com wrote:
>
> > Sorry to bomb the list like this, but I need to tap into the
> vast pool of
> > knowledge that it is. It concerns my sister's 1994 BMW; don't know the
> > series, but do know that it is a V-8 that is stock. The
> mechanic that works
> > on her car told her that, due to the fact that the engine is
> aluminum, it
> > reacts adversly with the sulfer additives with the gasoline that is
> > available. As a result of this reaction, it could suffer what
> he describes,
> > more or less, as a complete meltdown, & that all of the BMW
> engines of this
> > year & size were at risk. Also, that it was a common, well
> known problem,
> > but that there were, as far as he knows, no plans for a recall.
> He's not
> > employed by BMW or one of their dealers. Just wondered if
> anyone knew of or
> > had any experience with this? I told my sister that, based on
> the way that
> > she cares for her car (very well), and considering that she
> really likes it &
> > has had no trouble indication, she should keep driving it.
> > Sorry for the length, but the late night worried calls are
> getting old.
> > Cheers, & I'll stick with my Spit!
> > Andy H.
>
|