Rebuild or Replace ?
 

Those who were working on imported German vehicles in the 1950's and 1960's hear this same nonsense : the M-B / Mercedes / Volvo / VW /Etc. engines cannot be rebuilt, at least they're affordable new....

Virtually any engine you take care of will be reliable these days, with a few exceptions.

I did that job on my explorer(s). Not only does the engine have to come out (although you could take the trans out and do it in place that way, allegedly), but there are NO reference marks on the cam gears, and they are only held in place by a nut and washer, no keys so the torque on those bolts is critical. The timing is set by approximations of TDC and cam lobe position, while using a special jig to keep it in place since it is under tension from the valve springs. My first time was a failure, I must have gotten the timing wrong or mis torqued the cam gears and many things snapped. Whoops!

Great engines if the oil has been changed regularly, but a complete nightmare to do that rear chain.

A classmate of mine in college was a tech' in GM' engine test facility back in the 1970's. He said that one of their test was longevity of an engine continuously running. Their all time record holder was the aluminum block Chevy Vega engine. He said that all the trouble with those engines happened at start-up.

The Vega's engine was made from the same Reynolds 928 silicon-alloy that Mercedes-Benz used. The problem with 928 was that it was so hard that it was hard to machine. They now use softer alloys, requiring cylinder sleeves or laser-resurfacing where silicon and maybe nickel is introduced into the cylinder walls after machining.

Since the US EPA now runs emission tests for 150k miles, manufacturers have increased the durability of their passenger car engines, by a variety of means including requiring synthetic oil.

Kia/Huyundia are getting a dirty name locally. They have two big engine issues. Some seem to be getting free replacements and some denials are occurring.


The bad problem is the blocks where not cleaned properly after machining. They are telling those customers they were not changing their oil often enough. As a denial I hear. The swarf in the engine really damages them.

After the warranty was off the friends wife took her v6 in for engine noise. These models hydralic chain tensioners fail I believe. They told her about 10k Canadian to replace it. While the dealership was totally aware the company was paying to to replace them free. She got a used engine installed elsewhere . Even that was not that cheap. Then she found out what they had attempted. That has really cost that dealership. They tried really stupid things to placate her until her lawyer got involved.

@engatwork

Bmw diesel have it at the back too, bmw basically did a hybrid job of utilizing their own designs which they already had lying around.

@tbomachines

The friction held design is proven technology, and works very good. I find it easier to time such an engine (e.g. mazda mzr) just install the locking jigs, release tensioner and torque it down with new bolts.

There seems to be some oiling issues in the Twin turbo six that BMW puts in (I know of) the 335i. Not sure what else they are putting it in. I had one in shop recently with about 122k miles that the engine was locked up in. Have an aquaitenance with one that has an on going low oil pressure message keep coming up.

Everytime I see a documentary about the Bataan death march and what the japs did to our men, I hesitate over buying or owning any japanese car/truck/suv.

If they had a serpentine belt shred, it can enter in through the front seal and clog the oil pickup. Its more common than you'd think. On the e90s you have to drop the front subframe to remove the pan. As far as no oil? Probably just a bad rear main seal or pan gasket leak as the cars are getting older.

Oil issues on the N54 are pretty few and far between. HPFP and VANOS stuff pop up, but rarely oil problems. The N54 is a great engine and can handle a lot of boost pretty reliably.

It is proven, and works well from factory. However to a shade tree mechanic I find it pretty annoying. Keep in mind there arent even timing dimples on the cams or sprockets to line things up. I recently redid all the timing on my ecotec engine and everything keyed up, near impossible to screw it up.

And yet you buy a German car?

Reality Check
 

Capt. Mike ~

hm's a delusional coward and serial liar, now you expect him to make sense with his paranoid fantasies ? :rolleyes: .

The problem with this thread, at least as far as the title question goes, is that everyone has different parameters for measuring “best car.”

Some folks might want the best fuel economy, others best performance, others best looking, others best driving experience, and on and on and on.

If you want to make such a judgment you need to specify what parameter(s) are most important for the measurement.

If you’re making your purchase based on torture of our soldiers and others by the makers country in the past, I think you need to leave out the Germans too. Either that or realize that the people that participated in those atrocities are no longer around. The guy in Stuttgart designing the next Mercedes model is no more guilty of torturing American pilot POW’s than a white American today is guilty of owning and working slaves a hundred and fifty years ago.