Bmw Marine Diesels

[Boxertwinjeff]

Hello, do Bmw have a good reputation in Marine Diesels, I ride their bikes funny enough though never come across their M.diesels

Cheers Jeff.

[shakey doug]

The marine engine fraternity in Australia sent BMW Marine packing years ago. Seven Years bad luck if you owned one, have not heard from an owner with twins!

[Jim Cate]

Dunno what the reputation is, but we had a D-35 in our previous boat. It was a reliable engine, smooth for a two banger, and had over 6000 hours when we sold the boat, still running strong. OUrs was raw water cooled and salt buildup was the only problem that we had with it. Based on a Hatz commercial diesel, robust construction, no real worries with it. YMMV.

JIm

[Island Time O25]

When my first 27ft 2boat's Volvo MD5A gave up its ghost I was considering getting a used rebuilt BMW one-banger from the craigslist. The seller was about 1.5-2 hrs from me so before heading his way I did some research and asking around among several diesel mechanics. All reports and reviews were unanimous in their negative criticism. Meanwhile the seller kept dropping the price from $600+ to $300 or b/o. But I passed even on that price based on not finding even one positive review of these diesels. Ended up with installing an o/b bracket and a 10hp old Johnson which was another story altogether.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

When my first 27ft 2boat's Volvo MD5A gave up its ghost I was considering getting a used rebuilt BMW one-banger from the craigslist. The seller was about 1.5-2 hrs from me so before heading his way I did some research and asking around among several diesel mechanics. All reports and reviews were unanimous in their negative criticism. Meanwhile the seller kept dropping the price from $600+ to $300 or b/o. But I passed even on that price based on not finding even one positive review of these diesels. Ended up with installing an o/b bracket and a 10hp old Johnson which was another story altogether.

The little one cylinder BMWs were entirely different sorts than the 35 and 50 hp models, and indeed had a very bad track record. The two larger engines were based on industrial Hatz diesels and were quite robust.

Jim

[Boxertwinjeff]

Thankfully its the 50hp which is in the yacht their selling, if appearances mean anything, from the photo it looks fairly clean.

[Boxertwinjeff]

Engine room looks reasonably tidy yes

[Boxertwinjeff]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Dunno what the reputation is, but we had a D-35 in our previous boat. It was a reliable engine, smooth for a two banger, and had over 6000 hours when we sold the boat, still running strong. OUrs was raw water cooled and salt buildup was the only problem that we had with it. Based on a Hatz commercial diesel, robust construction, no real worries with it. YMMV.

JIm

In your opinion Jim, should I not let the 50hp Bmw be the deal breaker,
it may have scared off other potential buyers. Refering to engine photo,
looks cared for from what I can see.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Boxertwinjeff

In your opinion Jim, should I not let the 50hp Bmw be the deal breaker,
it may have scared off other potential buyers. Refering to engine photo,
looks cared for from what I can see.

Sheesh, mate, I'm not sure I should answer that question... I have an N of one, and I had good luck with it. The base engines are good, and as in most marine engines, it is the quality and design of the marinization that tips the balance, and I dunno how the bits on that specific engine have been treated.

Here's what I think I would do:

Call the Hatz folks (used to be in Sydney) and see if any parts are available these days. I'd think the basic engine parts would be, but the marinization parts may not still be around.

If that works out ok, have an engine survey to determine condition.

If that works out ok, I'd say the engine is not a cause to reject the boat.

But, I'd go through a similar process with any boat and engine I was considering!

And do note that many of the more common yacht engines have parts issues and less than sterling service records... and this includes yanmar and Volvo, those perennial favorites. A little research here on CF will find lots of folks who have had problems with those marques. Our resident blonde, Sailorchic 34 had to rebuild her Yanmar with small hours due to cracked piston ringlands, just for one example. Lesson being that there is no such thing as a perfect small diesel, no matter how popular they are and how many mfgs install them in their new boats.

Sorry that I'm not able to be more concrete about this, but I'm just a cruiser with no particular expertise... just observations of the folks around me and my own experiences, and a healthy dose of skepticism!

Good luck,

Jim