hi vincent,
to prevent or minimize the pinging you can replace the original cylinder-foot-gaskets. Your BMW-dealer should have (or could order) thicker ones, designed specially for the 'bad-fuel-problem'. they are about double as thick as the originals and lower the compression of the engine. this minimizes the problem but of course (nothing's for free) lowers also the power of the engine.
to change the gaskets is not a big deal, but you will need a torque-wrench to tighten the cylinder- and head-bolts again with the right torque. i think you would find a torque-wrench also in a russian garage, but I would recommend to do this work in france, so you can do at a proper, clean and well equiped working space. anyway you should set ignition a little bit 'later' than original and of course use filters and clean or replace them regularly.
You could also get a double-ignition (with two pluges for each cylinder). this also lowers the risk of pinging, but it's an expensive work and you dont have no time.
before i changed my BMW engine (R60/5) completely (with no 'bad-fuel-problem' never again), i did this foot-gasket thing and it worked fine with bad fuel in the middle east and egypt (in the late 80s).
long may you run
gerd
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