E-series reliability 4 v 6 cyl

[AlanWT]

Hello All -

Quite a few sub £2K 300TE's on autotrader uk at the moment. Very tempting. However, a friend thinks that the 6 cylinder engine is less reliable and less long-lived than the 4 cylinder. What are peoples opinions/experiences on this, please?

Cheers

Alan

 

[Spike]

I think your friend might be referring to the 24 Valve 300's.

Dont quote me on this but I have heard that the 24 valve engines used the same (but modified) 12 Valve heads until the 320's came out and tend to have head gasket problems because of this.

I am sure someone will be along in a minute to clarify things.

 

[spanners]

Re: 300E

The M103(6cylinder) engine is a far more robust engine than the M102(4 cylinder).

The later M102's were modified to a double timing chain which improved some problems, but the M103 is by far a lower maintanence engine and if you can afford the fuel costs I would definately buy the 300E. :wink:

 

[Ozmerc]

From aussie experiences the six lasts much longer than the four, we get at least 2-300,000 miles out of a six.

but the four is obviously cheaper to rebuild when required.