1. A method for detection of a component malfunction along a life of an internal combustion engine, said internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder and controlled by an Electronic Control Unit (ECU), the method comprising: defining a pre-determined component malfunction classifier at the start of engine life; setting said pre-determined component malfunction classifier as an active classifier, defining a validity condition for said active classifier, acquiring in real time a set of relevant signals relating to the operation of a component, feeding said signals to said active classifier in order to determine the occurrence or not of a malfunction of said component and in case the validity condition of an actual classifier is not satisfied; defining a new classifier using the most recent relevant signals recorded by said ECU; and substituting the actual classifier with said new classifier.