[mammothboarderdc]

1st thread on here.. just curious about any special things to pay attention to in order to keep our NA motors running like new for as long as possible.

Just passed the 50k mark!

[vtbandit]

I've been researching this as I just bought a 2011 328i with 30k miles. The short answer appears to be following mike miller' old school maintenance schedule, use good gas, and let it warm up before driving it hard. The NA engines seem to be very reliable unless beaten on. Of course you'll always hear about sporadic sensor failures and other issues that are fixed with either a software update or following a DIY located on this forum.

[mammothboarderdc]

Originally Posted by vtbandit

I've been researching this as I just bought a 2011 328i with 30k miles. The short answer appears to be following mike miller' old school maintenance schedule, use good gas, and let it warm up before driving it hard. The NA engines seem to be very reliable unless beaten on. Of course you'll always hear about sporadic sensor failures and other issues that are fixed with either a software update or following a DIY located on this forum.

ok cool. yea i just want to keep as much as my power and reliability for as long as possible haha.
Thanks

[GoRomeo]

all i can say is that you are on the right forum.

If you are mechanical inclined you will do good here.

oh... I almost forgot...

just joking...

[hardtothepaint]

My Car is hitting the 100k mark and honestly, the best thing to do is make sure you get your oil changed at the right intervals, put 0% ETHANOL gas (i.e V Power), and do your tune ups on time.

Pretty much what i do... I probably will get the transmission, coolant, power fluid and oil changed on my 110K mark.

[mammothboarderdc]

Originally Posted by GoRomeo

all i can say is that you are on the right forum.

If you are mechanical inclined you will do good here.

oh... I almost forgot...

just joking...

the manual doesn't tell you about a possible bad water pump at 80,000k does it?! hahaha

[BroImAwesome]

I just hit 120k and mine is still ok.. "knock on wood" I heard it was between 120- 150k

Originally Posted by mammothboarderdc

the manual doesn't tell you about a possible bad water pump at 80,000k does it?! hahaha

[Johnny D]

Just rolled over 90k miles. I change the oil when the car says to change it. I drive the piss out of it frequently. Still clean inside and havent had to do any maintenance. Water pump included in that.

[jc_bmw]

Originally Posted by vtbandit

I've been researching this as I just bought a 2011 328i with 30k miles. The short answer appears to be following mike miller' old school maintenance schedule, use good gas, and let it warm up before driving it hard. The NA engines seem to be very reliable unless beaten on. Of course you'll always hear about sporadic sensor failures and other issues that are fixed with either a software update or following a DIY located on this forum.

where can I find the Mike Miller guide?

[Amini77]

Valve cover gasket, oil housing gasket, water pump, and oil pan leak are what'll get you 75k-100k. Its a pretty solid engine just the fixes are costly.

[Wheres My Key?]

Originally Posted by Amini77

Valve cover gasket, oil housing gasket, water pump, and oil pan leak are what'll get you 75k-100k. Its a pretty solid engine just the fixes are costly.

+1, and also the thermostat.
The valve cover gasket was probably the most expensive repair in the engine by far. Good luck with yours!

[vtbandit]

Originally Posted by jc_bmw

where can I find the Mike Miller guide?

I googled it... Or you can pm me your email address.

[mammothboarderdc]

Ok, thanks for all the input guys.

Also be sure to check your eccentric shaft sensor. Oil leaks into it sometimes and messed with the car and will actually shut the car off at bad times... Repair will be around 900-1200 so get a warranty

[srezzo]

Originally Posted by hardtothepaint

My Car is hitting the 100k mark and honestly, the best thing to do is make sure you get your oil changed at the right intervals, put 0% ETHANOL gas (i.e V Power), and do your tune ups on time.

Pretty much what i do... I probably will get the transmission, coolant, power fluid and oil changed on my 110K mark.

I've heard this before and I avoid Ethanol as much as possible What does Ethanol do to our engines though??

[Johnny D]

Originally Posted by srezzo

I've heard this before and I avoid Ethanol as much as possible What does Ethanol do to our engines though??

Nothing other than poorer gas mileage. The car was designed with the e10 gas to be within tolerance.

[hardtothepaint]

Originally Posted by srezzo

I've heard this before and I avoid Ethanol as much as possible What does Ethanol do to our engines though??

Here are some of the things ethanol rich gas can do.

http://www.drivenracingoil.com/news/...ur-carburetor/

http://www.naturalnews.com/035205_et...e_engines.html


My BMW dealership has specifically told me not to fill up ethanol rich gas in BMW's because the BMW engines are made to burn ethanol free gas. It causes the engine to misfire, and misbehave if the car doesn't get ethanol free gas. I can even vouch for this as my car use to shake when I started it up. This problem resolved once I had used gas that wasn't ethanol rich. That is why i fill only from Shell and shell only.

Also, after using ethanol free gas, I am not only getting better gas mileage, but also way better performance from my car.

[poosamjam]

700 miles and i drive it like an animal. My car is on a lease and i will not have much issues but the person who will buy my car pre-owned in 3 years.....well good luck to them. Lol

[Efthreeoh]

Okay, so let's just knock this shit off. Gasoline with 10% ethanol in it is approved for use in the N52. Almost every gas station near a metropolitan area only sells ethanol gasoline now. I've driven my N52 230,000 miles on 10% ethanol fuel and changed the oil on average about 17,500 miles. My engine is running as good as the day I bought the car new almost 7 years ago.

Ethanol can be hard on older lawn equipment where the fuel sits for long periods of time.

[.fLip.]

yea I used the top shell (94) I think it isn't 0% ethanol but my car runs perfect with that gas. I was in the boondocks once and had to use some other gas and the highest rated was 91 and boy could I tell the diff.

either way, besides oil changes, and one coil going bad (75 dollar part from the stealerhsip, changed it in the parking lot) my motor has been great to me...

still waiting on the waterpump to go out, im almost at 80k.

[alexwhittemore]

Originally Posted by hardtothepaint

http://www.drivenracingoil.com/news/...ur-carburetor/

http://www.naturalnews.com/035205_et...e_engines.html

Those articles sound a bit alarmist to me. You're definitely not going to fuck up your engine on E10, and you can probably get away with higher. Probably much higher, but I wouldn't know.

I do know tuners with turbos love E85 because ethanol has a much higher octane rating than gasoline. You can run much higher compression ratios without going way out of your way, paying the premium, and breaking the law to use race gas.

Anyway, the problem with ethanol isn't that it'll fuck up your engine, though I wouldn't put E85 in my own. The problem with ethanol is that, in the US, it's sourced from corn. Corn growers love it because it's another market for them, which drives up corn prices, gas manufacturers like it because it boosts octane, is cheap, and is much lower energy density than gasoline so you'll take an MPG hit vs pure gasoline.

But in fact, corn ethanol takes more energy per volume to produce than it contains. From an environmental and consumer perspective it's totally shitty.

(NOTE: This is NOT true in Brazil, for example, where ethanol is a common fuel but is sourced from sugarcane, which has a positive EROI [energy return on investment] and is thus generally a really good thing as long as your engine is designed for the kinds of issues mentioned in the articles.)

[e9012345]

change your oil at 15-17.5K and follow your maintenance interval...