190K on an eta--not that much!

[Thomas Stork <tomstork@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

ra rabmw wrote:
>    Rick;
>         You don't mention what you're asking for your 325eta car.190K on an 
>eta engine is quite alot compared to the 535i's 200/300k lifetime 
>possibilities,and it sure will scare some people.

Funny thing--I would have told him just the opposite, that the eta engine was designed for long wear, with low compression, relatively forgiving ring tolerance, etc.  
On top of that, the cars that had the eta were geared very high for fuel economy, with 2.79/2.93 differentials and overdrive, so that the number of revs that an eta 
was likely to have turned for each of those miles was pretty low (a cynic might also point out that since they aren't very free-revving engines and they have high 
torque at low revs, the owners are not likely to wind them out as often driving around town as a non-eta driver might--and they'd probably be right).

Since the wear on an engine varies geometrically with the engine's average speed over its lifetime, I'd guess it's probably likely that an eta under normal driving 
would have a longer life expectancy (if you call it living!) than a big six, and if you expect a big six to get 200/300K, a well-maintained eta with 190 has a lot of life 
left.  But obviously, YMMV.
- - Tom

BMWCCA #131072
'85 635csi
'86 325es (formerly)
'81 320i (formerly)
'73 Bavaria (formerly)

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