Posted by Edward Beech on June 13, 2005 at 03:19:31 from 61.9.184.27
In Reply to: Planning to buy an e12 posted by Mario on June 13, 2005 at 00:31:59:
It has the M30, commonly known as the "big six". The alternative being found in the E28s, the small six, which is a bucket of camel shite.
The M30 comes in an array of sizes, from memory, 2.5, 2.8, 3.0 (in the 530i), 3.3 and 3.5 litres.
However, as far as I know, the 530i has all the American emissions gear, such as the thermal reactors, which are known to get about 4 times as hot as hell itself and cause mass violent head warpage. Well, it's not quite that bad, but it increases the chance and decreases the buffer for error if you get a cooling system failure.
I think they also have slightly lower compression than the 528i, and on the whole, don't haul as hard.
But hey, if you've got one for a good price, and the body, interior, running gear, etc is all in good condition, then snap it up my friend, you can always source a wreck with the 2.8, or ideally, the 3.5 and do a swap, if you're so inclined!