BENTLEY ARNAGE

BENTLEY’S MOST AFFORDABLE MODEL REVIVED A STALWART BRITISH V8 AMID GERMAN BOARDROOM STRIFE – BUT YOU WILL STILL NEED DEEP POCKETS

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CONCEIVED WAY BACK in the 1980s when company finances were low, the Arnage, together with its Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph sister, became embroiled in an acrimonious row upon launch. As BMW and Volkswagen fought over ownership of the Rolls-Royce and Bentley marques, the Arnage was revealed to the world with a 4.4-litre Cosworth-fettled twin-turbo BMW M62 V8 instead of the traditional L-Series V8 to which marque aficionados were accustomed. They simply didn’t chug along like a Bentley should.

When the Arnage was signed off, there was no money left for a new powerplant, and traditionalists were cool to the twin-turbo BMW engine from launch; its origins and driving characteristics did little for Bentley fans.

Munich, stung by losing the bidding war with Volkswagen, refused to guarantee engine supply to a bitter rival. Amid the uncertainty, Pyms Lane dragged its 6.75-litre V8 out of retirement, stiffened the Arnage’s shell to compensate for the engine’s extra weight (some models weighed more than 2600kg) and added a Garrett T4 turbocharger to up the performance ante.

ENGINE Let’s deal with the BMW-engined Green Label cars first. Forums complain about timing chains and tensioners. If the 16,000km or yearly service intervals haven’t been adhered to, you need to budget for this alongside the timing service. Listen to the engine at idle; if it’s sounding rough, the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) valve might be at fault – and it’s buried beneath the turbo plumbing, which can also leak from the wastegates on higher mileage cars of all Labels. Auxiliary water pumps used for intercooling purposes can also fail; replacement is labour intensive.