[Marko131]

Hi guys. Opinion on higher millage N53 and N54/N55.

Would you go for 165k miles N53 or 143k miles N54/N55?

[em5ive]

This guide was great! Just picked up my 2009 328xi Sport Wagon with manual transmission. Looking forward to learning from the forum.

[GTP157]

Excellent read. I just purchased my first BMW and love it.

[n00b0rKa]

Amazing, thank you! Helped a lot

[VMX1]

Fantastic post. A lot of excellent info.

I just want to add a point I think is necessary. A lot of information on this car and others is based on mileage when it comes to parts. I have a 2007 e93 with 81k kilometers (roughly 50K miles) on her. She is a summer car only. Although the parts have not yet met their mileage date for the "caution zone" to be inspected and/or replaced I would recommend anyone to take the time at some point in the year to crawl over your vehicle and do a visual inspection. I work in aviation and everything is time based, parts...fluids...inspections....everything. After 11 years my car isn't mileaged out on specific components but as per fluids you should really consider a preventive program. Rubber belts wear out, Caliper seals and suspension bushings get rot etc....so Just a thought.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by VMX1

Fantastic post. A lot of excellent info.

I just want to add a point I think is necessary. A lot of information on this car and others is based on mileage when it comes to parts. I have a 2007 e93 with 81k kilometers (roughly 50K miles) on her. She is a summer car only. Although the parts have not yet met their mileage date for the "caution zone" to be inspected and/or replaced I would recommend anyone to take the time at some point in the year to crawl over your vehicle and do a visual inspection. I work in aviation and everything is time based, parts...fluids...inspections....everything. After 11 years my car isn't mileaged out on specific components but as per fluids you should really consider a preventive program. Rubber belts wear out, Caliper seals and suspension bushings get rot etc....so Just a thought.

Great advice, much more often heard on forums for cars that lean more towards the 'toy' end of the spectrum, such as the Z car forums here. I too have a 2007 E93, and although the mileage is higher than yours it is still nowhere near the 150,000+ miles a normal daily driver would have by now. Some maintenance needs to be time-based rather than mileage based.

[hrabadi]

Nicely done .. Thank you

[Nickco43]

Originally Posted by VMX1

Fantastic post. A lot of excellent info.

I just want to add a point I think is necessary. A lot of information on this car and others is based on mileage when it comes to parts. I have a 2007 e93 with 81k kilometers (roughly 50K miles) on her. She is a summer car only. Although the parts have not yet met their mileage date for the "caution zone" to be inspected and/or replaced I would recommend anyone to take the time at some point in the year to crawl over your vehicle and do a visual inspection. I work in aviation and everything is time based, parts...fluids...inspections....everything. After 11 years my car isn't mileaged out on specific components but as per fluids you should really consider a preventive program. Rubber belts wear out, Caliper seals and suspension bushings get rot etc....so Just a thought.

At some point I want to go back and add more information to the guide. I have been a bit busy.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by VMX1

Fantastic post. A lot of excellent info.

I just want to add a point I think is necessary. A lot of information on this car and others is based on mileage when it comes to parts. I have a 2007 e93 with 81k kilometers (roughly 50K miles) on her. She is a summer car only. Although the parts have not yet met their mileage date for the "caution zone" to be inspected and/or replaced I would recommend anyone to take the time at some point in the year to crawl over your vehicle and do a visual inspection. I work in aviation and everything is time based, parts...fluids...inspections....everything. After 11 years my car isn't mileaged out on specific components but as per fluids you should really consider a preventive program. Rubber belts wear out, Caliper seals and suspension bushings get rot etc....so Just a thought.

There is a difference between airplanes and cars. Failure of components on airplanes is far more critical than automobiles. While it is true that a low-use car that sits parked can develop problems due to non use, it still ages either way regarding "rot". It is my opinion, that because of the internet, a lot of owners over-maintain these cars. Rubber components deteriorate due to environmental conditions whether the vehicle is used or not, I don't think sitting accelerates the process, unless possibly, there is a high-ozone atmosphere where the vehicle is stored.

My fleet of vehicles is a broad spectrum of two cars that accumulate well over 1,000 miles per month, to one vehicle that accumulates maybe 150 miles a month, and a motorcycle that sits 5 months a year immobile and then maybe 100 miles a month during the spring, summer and fall, mostly in single trips. The low-use car, my Wife's Z3 is 22 years old and is on the original calipers and rubber brake hoses. The main coolant hoses are 16 years old now; the heater hoses are original. I last changed the belts in January 2011. We took it on a 10-day 6,000-mile cross country trip from the East coast to the Rockies in September 2017; it was over 20 years old at that time (why I love BMWs - they last practically forever). Surely, I went through the car thoroughly prior to the trip, and took some spare plastic parts for the cooling system, that if failed, would have delayed our trip immensely waiting for obscure BMW parts in some mid-West town. I did replace the doughnut spare tire, which was showing signs of dry rot. The spare was original and interestingly the Z3 spare tire size is no longer offered by any tire manufacturer. With my fleet, I keep all my vehicles at the same level of reliability. If you were to not look at the odometers, you'd not be able to tell a difference between the condition of any of them.

The motorcycle is 20 years old this year. It's a flat-six Honda. When it was 18, I replaced the timing belt, which has a 100,000 mile replacement interval. The old belt looked practically brand new. It too is on it's original calipers and brake hoses. I did also replace the coolant hoses at 18; drop coolant on the road in a turn, and that would hurt. But, again, the bike's cooling hoses were in good shape at 18, and I could have left them alone. I change the oil on mileage basis or every three years, which ever is first. The bike has 66,000 miles on it. The engine consumes zero oil between changes.

My point is, some of us around here make fun of Mike Miller's "Old School" maintenance schedule and consider it "airplane-level maintenance", which triggered this response . I 100% agree with you, an owner should periodically and thoroughly inspect his vehicles, but I do not think replacement of rubber parts and fluids is as critical as time-based aviation maintenance requirements. I think automotive mileage-based maintenance schedules for cars are as completely reasonable as are time-based maintenance schedules for GA aircraft, or farm equipment for that matter.

My 2 cents.

[VMX1]

I respect your opinion Efthreeoh. I don't necessarily agree with everything you said there...but I do understand your point of view...

Flat six huh? Valkyrie or Goldwing? I have a 2000 Goldwing that is my pride and joy...Candy two tone red. Love the cassette deck..LOL...:P

I have also read Mike's guide, and I would agree, it is a little over kill but, at the same time, a nice "guide" if taken with a grain of salt.

"I think automotive mileage-based maintenance schedules for cars are as completely reasonable as are time-based maintenance schedules for GA aircraft, or farm equipment for that matter."

I would certainly agree with this...but...LOL....always a but huh?

Millage is all well and good and an excellent indicator but time has to be worked into that equation as well. If you have a car with 20k miles on it but it is 10+ years old you really should...and like you, this is just my opinion with 12 years automotive and 23 years aviation speaking...you should have a look at certain things. Your 18 year old timing belts might look good to the naked eye but I would bet dollars to donuts it wouldn't under proper inspection. You got lucky in my opinion...If you had lost that belt that interference engine would have cost you a lot more than a $50 dollar timing belt and adjusters.....

Same with the brake hoses...22 years old huh? Looks good outside but have you had them off to inspect the condition inside? You loose one of those in a critical situation and you may well regret a $20.00 part for the rest of your life....especially if it is at the result of someone else's life....just food for thought..

Making fun of Mikes work because he purposes preventative maintenance that is, to some aggressively premature, is fine...I mean your car, your dime. But, I also think leaning in the other direction could be considered just as bad? I have seen things that looked perfectly fine to the naked eye but under scope and test were finished. Replacing items for the sake of replacing them is wasteful. I agree. But some serious discretion should be giving to safety items 10+ years old...


Just my 2Cents as well...

All the best to you Efthreeoh.

Be safe

VMX1

[wcnngt]

Thank you for the advice.

[Nubee]

How to buy a used E9X BMW 3 Series

Very much appreciated , information i was hoping to find somewhere, anywhere! You addressed points i had not considered and thoroughly. Thank You!!!

Nubee

[ralphyboy]

Are their cases where it is okay to buy a 3 series with higher mileage, say 140k?

[Nickco43]

Originally Posted by ralphyboy

Are their cases where it is okay to buy a 3 series with higher mileage, say 140k?

As long as it was well maintained. Hell I would buy a well maintained 200k mile E90 is it had good service history.

[macheff03]

Originally Posted by Nickco43

As long as it was well maintained. Hell I would buy a well maintained 200k mile E90 is it had good service history.

+1

[ralphyboy]

So I'm looking into getting a used BMW 3 series and I've found a beautiful car. Its a 2010 328i with x drive and a 6 speed mt. It happens to have the M sport package(very epic). It does have a bit under 140,000 miles on it. It seems like people like to claim x drive is too expensive when it comes to repairs but I've also heard from many people saying they've had zero problems with x drive after years of ownership. Just need to know if the mileage should be of concern but I think not. Its listed for a bit under 8 grand. I just want to know if there's any other knowledge I could gain on this car and any advice would be appreciated.

[Nickco43]

Originally Posted by ralphyboy

So I'm looking into getting a used BMW 3 series and I've found a beautiful car. Its a 2010 328i with x drive and a 6 speed mt. It happens to have the M sport package(very epic). It does have a bit under 140,000 miles on it. It seems like people like to claim x drive is too expensive when it comes to repairs but I've also heard from many people saying they've had zero problems with x drive after years of ownership. Just need to know if the mileage should be of concern but I think not. Its listed for a bit under 8 grand. I just want to know if there's any other knowledge I could gain on this car and any advice would be appreciated.

I would ask if the transfer case fluid has been changed.

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by Nickco43

I would ask if the transfer case fluid has been changed.

this.

I changed the fluid in mine at about 120k miles.
144K now without issue.

expect that at 140k miles the bushings are all clapped out unless they've been replaced.

[Nickco43]

lab_rat Clear your PMs.

[ralphyboy]

Thank you for the adviuce! Anything else I should know?

[4 Doors]

Originally Posted by ralphyboy

Thank you for the adviuce! Anything else I should know?

Maybe if the front axle assemblies have ever been replaced? Depending on the roads and if they had consistent alignments, the axles could be on the way out. But, sometimes they last until 200k also. Hit or miss.

[charmer37]

I have over 200,000 miles on my 325i E90 and plenty more to come, I had almost 300K on my E36 before i sold it.