Hey Scotty, Love the channel, watch it everyday.
Wish I would have seen it before I bought my used BMW.
I was wondering what your advice would be to get the most years and mileage out of it.
I've had it for 4 years now, bought it with 120,000 miles, now have 156,000.
I've replaced the brakes, rotors, DPF filter since it was over 150,000.
I asked the dealership what they do for preventive maintenance. They said that they don't. They just fix stuff as it breaks. OMG...
SO i went on youtube and most of the people over in germany were saying to replace the glow plugs, replace crank shaft pulley, drive belt, coolant flush, clean intake manifold and valve ports via walnut blasting.
I did all of that but I did not replace the timing chain since it would have been $4,000.
I also change my own oil at 10,000 miles, but am now going to start changing it at 5,000 miles.
Is there anything else that you would recommend that i do so that i could get at least 300,000 miles out of this car and possibly my moneys worth.
Thank you very much and I love your channel and your enthusiasm.
Dave.
Is there anything else that you would recommend that i do so that i could get at least 300,000 miles out of this car and possibly my moneys worth.
It is impossible. You will spend more and more and more to keep this car running. Get rid of it sooner than later if you value your money.
If things around the engine are plastic, expect they will crack. I suppose those repairs aren't cheap. There probably strange design makes repairs cost more.
A video example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cuUNZClgag
Take care of as much of what breaks as possible on your own and use genuine BMW parts, or higher quality 3rd party guys. There are tons of BMW forums on the Internet where you can gleam a lot of knowledge from other fellow "Bimmer" owners.
In my experience, the best way to own a BMW is if it's an older design, and when it's in between outbursts of the Endless Money Pit Syndrome. I had a 1994 540i for my first car, the previous owner had replaced the transmission with a remanufactured one about 10,000 miles before he sold it. The radiator, water pump and a bunch of other stuff were also new. I paid $3,000 for the car in 2013 and Got over 2 years worth of daily driving and road trips out of it. I loved the thing. The CCV valve and a battery were the only things I needed to do to the car. I fixed the CCV valve and dodged an un-needed $2000 intake manifold gasket job by using the forums I mentioned before.
Then the Endless Money Pit crept up. It had a problem with the steering box being out of adjustment and a power steering leak from a $70 P.S. return hose, $35 with the old car discount at the dealer's parts department... haha. I couldn't replace the hose or adjust the steering box without pulling the V8 out of the car. The power steering was starting to leak pretty bad, so I sold it on, not being able to pay what I paid for the car to fix that stuff. I got $1000 out of it.
1) Generally speaking, BMWs are reliable vehicles.
2) But that reliability comes at a cost, because both parts and labor are expensive, if you want it done right.
3) I say this all the time, but it is worth repeating. I owned a 2007 X5 from 2016-2020. From 160,000-200,000 miles. Amazing vehicle. But I spent more money in those 4 years maintaining the vehicle, than I did in 22+ years maintaining my Honda Accord.
Can a BMW reach 300,000. Absolutely. It will just cost an arm, leg, and torso.
With that said, if you are handy with tools, and have a knack for cars, and have the time a desirability to do the work yourself, I think a BMW is a worthwhile car to work on.
Yeah, don't listen to all the baloney that the dealer says. Go to a real BMW mechanic who knows what they are doing. Change the oil every 5000 miles, don't overheat the engine, and definitely do all the preventative maintenance to keep it going because ik that the powertrains are generally solid (most of them), it's just the rest of the car that have problems. Just realize ur not gonna be looking at Honda or Toyota repair prices.
With my previous comment said, if you do want to keep it, my recommendations is like what others said:
Use OEM or OEM equivalent or better parts. A site I like to use was FCPEuro. They take the guesswork out, and offer you with the OEM BMW part or an OEM equivalent.