118i - BMW Prince engine

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Mon 1 Feb 2016 15:45
118i - BMW Prince engine - Coady1uk

Hi everybody, i may be in the market for a replacement for my trusty old Passat TDI PD and have been looking at something smaller, namely BMW 1 series 116i/118i (beauty is in the eye of the beholder). Not really interested in diesel versions due to the well documented problems with that engine and my probably too short commute of 18 miles each way. Basically this engine was quite problematic in earlier Mini's but from 2011- was 'improved' in regards to PCV system and timing chain. Looking around there does not appear to be many reports of problems with newer engine or are they all with to few miles on them for the problems to show.

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Mon 1 Feb 2016 21:05
118i - BMW Prince engine - DanCactus1200

The BMW 1-series isn't my cup of tea but each to their own, eh?!

As for the Prince engine, I haven't experianced one in the 1-series but have in the Mini and many times in PSA Peugeot Citroen range of vehicles. Great engine with decent performance and fair enough MPG figures. One thing I would recommend is to use Premium fuels as oppoesed to regular petrol as in a few cases I have worked on has seen the engine write itself off within around 30,000 miles as a result of poor fuel quality.

Timing chain were an issue on the 1.6 Turbo Petrol engines, not sure if this is the engine you are going for...

If you do go for the turbo petrol, watch for carbonisation issues on the inlet valves. Expensive to put right and usually caused by constant short journeys, much like diesels.

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Mon 1 Feb 2016 22:37
118i - BMW Prince engine - Coady1uk

Thankyou for your reply, certainly food for thought. The 1.6 engine in BMW's is turbo only and timing chain issues are what concern me. Carbonisation could possibly be much reduced with the fitment of an oil catch can? More concerned as to the reliability of the updated engine as there seems to be very little reported problems on the various forums as opposed to previous iteration of this engine on the Mini and Peugeot/Citroen forums.

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