# Anyone think a (new) BMW could go a half million miles?



## pony_trekker (May 26, 2003)

It's possible but depends on the luck of the draw.

Guy I know has an 03 E39 530 with about 225k miles on the clock that hasn't done anything but regular maintenance. The car looks like it rolled out of the showroom.

OTOH, plenty of Honda drivers talk about mega high mileage.

http://automobiles.honda.com/mile-makers/

Here's one example:


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## 2004BMW325Ci (Aug 9, 2009)

pony_trekker said:


> It's possible but depends on the luck of the draw.
> 
> Guy I know has an 03 E39 530 with about 225k miles on the clock that hasn't done anything but regular maintenance. The car looks like it rolled out of the showroom.
> 
> ...


That's not nearly as impressive given the car is a hybrid. What's really impressive is that the guy put 800,000 miles on a 2003 model car. He must drive 14 hours a day. That or it is some kind of fleet vehicle.

If it were a conventional engine, I'd be very impressed but with a hybrid not so much!


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## Andrew*Debbie (Jul 2, 2004)

2004BMW325Ci said:


> If it were a conventional engine, I'd be very impressed but with a hybrid not so much!


Really? On the Hondas the internal combustion motor is running whenever the car is moving. And there is all the added complexity from the IMA. I wonder how many repairs that car has seen. How many transmission rebuilds?

2003 and earlier Civic Hybrids had transmission troubles. Quite a few of them failed well under 100,000 miles. The current CVT might be much better :dunno:

800,000 is high even for a passenger car diesel although it is possible.


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## JimD1 (Jun 5, 2009)

I replaced my garage door after the compression of a high mileage, but nowhere near 500,000 mile, honda motor was insufficient to keep it from rolling in my driveway. I don't know the miles exactly but I'm confident they were under 300,000, probably not over 200,000. Hondas are well engineered but susceptible to wear just like all other engines.

I don't think any motor, diesel or gas, will go 500,000 without a rebuild. Diesel would probably go further. To make 500,000 you're probably looking at 2 rebuilds of a gas motor and 1 of a diesel. For the gas, I'm saying you would need to replace valves twice and probably seats once, bore for over sized pistons twice, and replace every bearing that can be replaced both times. Probably need at least one new camshaft. I'm not sure what the diesel would need but I suspect at least one over bore would be required.

Transmission might make 500,000 but would make noticably more noise. Same with rear end. Safer and better to plan on new bearings for each at least once.

My 128i has the N52 engine with the silicon aluminum cylinders. I read up on them prior to purchase but I don't know what to think. They've been used for awhile but that or the aluminum/magnesium block could be a longevity asset or liability. I like proven things so I tend to look at the new block technology as a liability. If that is true, you would need to source a different engine somewhere along the way. That may not grossly change the cost of a rebuild, however. Buying a rebuilt short or long block can be cheaper than rebuilding what you have.

Electronics seem to be a gamble. If they do not fail within the first few months, they typically last a long time. But not necessarily 10 years. Mileage shouldn't really matter, however. Maybe a little more vibration on them but I would be less worried about this than just wear on the moving components.

So if you are asking if you can go 500K with nothing but normal maintenance I would say definitely not. If you are asking if you are willing to spend several thousand dollars on the vehicle once or twice along the way will it do it, I would say I think it would. I also think most cars would and so far I've been impressed that BMWs are better engineered than most cars.

I will also agree with you on the 3 series diesel. I think it is comparable to the 335 in power (more torque, less hp = comparable to me) not the 328. I would prefer less power, lower price, and better mileage.

Jim


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## synenergy52 (Apr 10, 2008)

If you plan on doing 500k miles, then a new bmw isn't for you. Get a diesel 4cyl vw like others said. or a Honda. I'm a firm believer in BMW build and reliability. But 500k trouble-free miles is asking for a bit much. You'll need to do a tranny or two, few guibos, 10 brake changes, 100 oil changes, 10 tranny flushes, possibly some vanos repairs, sensors, couple of suspension rebuilds (actually probably more). These cars just aren't for that. Plan first, drive later. Not the other way around


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## Zedfor (Jun 13, 2009)

Keep it garaged, keep it clean, and change the oil and filters. Maintain it religiously. No problem. Simple is better.


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## MikeTerp (Feb 3, 2007)

abelhands said:


> I am wanting to finally reach this goal. I drive over 50,000 miles a year, sometimes more. I am considering a 2009 328i coupe with manual. No xdrive, no navigation, as simple as I can find it.
> 
> Just trying to see what others think? Do you think with proper care and maintence it could happen? Or do you think I am barking up the wrong tree with a BMW?
> 
> ...


Easily. Just take good care of it. I drove a 97 528 (E39) 166K miles before trading it in and there was nothing really wrong with it except that I would have had to put out lots of $$ to replace the catalytic converter, clutch and do a major service all at about that time and just wanted something newer with nav, etc. Had I chosen to put the bucks into my 528, no doubt it would still be going strong. I did change the oil twice as often as required and also made sure that other key fluids (trans, diff, brakes, etc) were changed about every 60K.

On the newer models, I think you would have to actively intervene to do some things not required in the maintenance manual, such as coolant change. Why they sealed the system and claim it is "permanent" is beyond me. It may be for someone keeping their car five years and less than 100K miles, but I wouldn't want to try to "see how far it would go" before being stuck out in nowhere with a broken hose and no coolant.

The other thing is that you have to _WANT TO _do this. No doubt some things are going to break over the course of 500K, so just accept the fact that you are likely to have to replace/repair some things. Otherwise, just stay after the maintenance aggressively, including stuff they don't "require" you to do, and you can hit 500k easily.


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## Bimmin2000 (Sep 20, 2009)

it could....but it will cost ya!


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## Zedfor (Jun 13, 2009)

Be sure and cheeck back with us in 41.67 years and let us know how you made out.


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## Andrew*Debbie (Jul 2, 2004)

Zedfor said:


> Be sure and cheeck back with us in 41.67 years and let us know how you made out.


OP drives over 50,000 miles per year. It will take less than 10 years to reach 500,000.


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## Andrew*Debbie (Jul 2, 2004)

MikeTerp said:


> E I drove a 97 528 (E39) 166K miles before trading it in and there was nothing really wrong with it except t...


166,000 isn't even 1/2 way to 500,000. Most modern cars will get to 166,000 with relatively minor repairs.

To get to 500,000 you could be on the 3rd engine, 2nd transmission and 2nd or 3rd interior.

My mom kept a '79 Peugeot 504 Diesel as her daily driver for 20 years. She had it repainted and put a new interior into it too. It needed a valve job, but the bottom end was original when she sold the car.


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## barnowl (Aug 6, 2009)

It's not a current example but my dad bought a 1985 535ia new and ran it 350k in 8 years or so. Went through a transmision and a suspension rebuild and a bunch of other minor stuff. It finally started falling apart when he quit driving it. Electrical sensors and switches started going bad. Hit a speed bump too hard and the wipers would come on. Power window switches all went bad. Drivers seat was practically bent to fit the off center way he sat in it. At 350k it needed another suspension rebuild but the motor was as strong as new. Always a quick, fun car. Funny because it was a little rough to drive at low speeds but 90+mph it was still very very smooth and stable.

I ran an e36 325is 200k with few problems (usual stuff - cooling problems, crappy door panels, etc). Still was on the original clutch. 

I'm betting you could get 250-300k with not much more than the expected repairs/maint. Beyond that it's probably time to junk it once something major breaks.


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## Alpine300ZHP (Jan 31, 2007)

Personally I think 150-200k miles is the limit of driving a car where the cost/benefit is worthwhile. Most cars are not worth keeping past that point for various reasons. I am seriously considering getting out of my serial leasing cycle and buying a CPO or new BMW and driving it to 150-200k miles and then dump it and repeat. With the increasing costs and decreasing BMWFS support it is not cost effective to keep getting a new car every two years the way I have for the last decade or so.


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## MikeTerp (Feb 3, 2007)

Andrew*Debbie said:


> 166,000 isn't even 1/2 way to 500,000. Most modern cars will get to 166,000 with relatively minor repairs.
> 
> To get to 500,000 you could be on the 3rd engine, 2nd transmission and 2nd or 3rd interior.
> 
> ...


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## fuz (Feb 6, 2002)

The longer and more you drive it, the more serious and lengthy maintenance and repairs will be. At some point, the car will be out of service so frequently, so long, that even though the cost can be justified, the time can not. Never mind the stress of driving a car that may or may not die on you at random times.

BMWs from what I know, are fairly complicated cars that are not really designed to endure such extreme use. It is certainly possible, but like people have said, I can't advocate it being a good idea.


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## epbrown (Apr 12, 2005)

MikeTerp said:


> Most people would never even try for such a longevity mark, since the "cost/benefit" and desire for something newer/better probably trumps other factors. You have to WANT to do this.


I'd say that someone has to PLAN to do it. Cars are made of much better materials than they used to be, and I don't consider older cars overbuilt to some magic degree - just less complex. But as Mike Miller, Tech Director for BMWCCA and Tech Editor for _Bimmer,_ often notes, BMW now maintains the cars at their lowest level those first 4 years, plenty much with the goal of the car lasting about 100k miles. If someone wanted an E46 or E9x to last 500k miles, they'd have to order the car new and maintain it beyond the bare minimum standard the warranty offers.

I'd get a car with manual seats, leatherette, manual trans, and avoid the tech toys. Keep the fluids changed (especially the so-called "lifetime" fluids), drive it regularly, keep it clean (the number one way to avoid rust and having to paint the car) and worst-case scenario is you'll replace a few waterpumps and radiators along the way.


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## Andrew*Debbie (Jul 2, 2004)

barnowl said:


> It's not a current example but my dad bought a 1985 535ia new and ran it 350k in 8 years or so.


BMWs built before the mid-90s are more durable than what BMW builds now.

After that BMW made a choice to make lighter, cheaper cars. They are faster and cost less but aren't as durable as the previous models.

Current cars have a lot of under hood plastic parts. These parts become brittle and fail. Fan shrouds, radiators, well most of the cooling system starts to fail around year six or seven.

The intake manifold is plastic too.


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## pony_trekker (May 26, 2003)

Keep in mind the OP talked about a large number of highway miles being driven per year. Some of the wear items have to be time based rather than mileage based so that's different from someone driving 15k per year for 33 years. 

I suppose.


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## dalekressin (Sep 3, 2008)

I would very bored with the same car for that long of a drive and my current 530i is an 01 purchased in 11-00. You would have to be handy to run it that far. I wouldn,t think you would have the time for repairs and significant down time would be likely.


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## MikeTerp (Feb 3, 2007)

As just one more comment on this overall topic, I remember MANY years ago being in a Chevy dealer to have my '64 Corvair Spyder serviced and while there struck up a conversation with a guy who had his Chevy II in for service. I remember being astounded to hear that he claimed to have 300K on his car (a number unheard of to me in those days), which I think was a 6 cylinder automatic. He said he was a salesman and drove the car up and down the east coast. I recall that he said he had had no problems with his car except for normal maintenance items plus a new transmission shortly after he got the car (don't remember if he told me if this was warranty or not). In any event, I always remembered this as an indicator that depending upon circumstances and maintenance, lots of cars will run many miles if you want them to and help them to.


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## mcumeda (Jun 18, 2009)

500,000 is a lot of miles like everyone said, but I think it is possible. Whether it is worth it is a different question. My first car was 1982 528e. My Dad had it for years, he gave it to my sister who drove it, and I got it when I started to drive. When I stopped driving it, the car had 225,000 miles on it in 1999, and it was still running well. I don't recall any major issues with it. I remember that everything still felt pretty solid. In fact, when I drove other cars, I sort of remember thinking about how much more solid my car felt compared to theirs. None of my friends had especially nice cars, but they were much newer by 15 years or more. The only thing that probably needed to be replaced was the driver's seat. It had lost some of its support, but the seat itself was still in good shape.

I imagine things are much different now since cars are more modern and advanced, but car manufacturers also have learned some things from building cars a lot longer and manufacturing processes are more modern and, I imagine, better. I imagine older cars were easier to fix, but at the same time, they were a lot less reliable than modern cars.

I read some thing a while back in, I believe, Consumer Reports that said that even new cars that are considered unreliable are miles ahead of cars that were considered reliable ten years ago. In other words, modern cars today are getting more and more reliable.

500,000 miles in 10 year seems like it would be reasonable to achieve. Although that is a lot of mileage, ten years is not a long time for a car to run. I think at some point age can affect a car more than mileage. For example, the rubber seals of the car, the paint, plastics, etc. all are more affected by age rather than mileage. 

If your driving is mostly highway, and I pray it is, I think 500,000 is possible especially if you are easy on the car and take care of it.


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## aSiD (Feb 12, 2010)

I think that e34 is best candidate out of list to do 500k+ miles.

Because all new technology in newer cars are not mainly to make them more reliable, but to reduce fuel consumption overall cost, safety, comfort. Starting from e39 suspension is built from aluminium - less reliable than in e34. In Belarus and in Russia e34 is called T34 because in World War 2 there was a very successful tank T34 which was very simple and reliable.
Plus maintenance cost for e34 would be considerably smaller than e9x.


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## 6 Brit (Jan 19, 2009)

depends who owns & maintains it


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## mike03 (Jan 31, 2013)

*500, 000 - go for it*

I know that a 2003 530i driven in Northern New England has gone over 430,000 miles and is still going stong,

Here are some of the details:'
2003 530i original owner, 430,000 + miles
manual transmission, rear wheel drive
- change the oil every 15,000 to 17,000 miles, Fully Synthetic Castrol oil
The car is driven year round, snow, ice, rain, it goes, car is outside all the time never in a garage 
There have been many winters where it gets down to -13 deg F not including the wind chill, no problems, i do let it warm up for 2 minutes when the temps are below zero deg F
- replaced the fuel pump every 150,000 miles,
- replaced water pump around 410,000 miles 
- replaced the resistor for the blower motor around 380,000 miles
I have not done a clutch yet
change sparkplugs every 100,000 or so miles
- replaced radiator, radiator fan and hoses around 320,000 miles
i run the same OEM Continental tires, I never rotate the tires i just replace them in either front or rear pairs when needed
- normal wear items breaks, front end componants because the roads get torn up from the winters/plows, and i replaced the fuel filter 2 times, BMW replaced the instrument cluster once

500,000 miles is not too far off, still runs great, and i'm not selling the car

hope this helps

Mike


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## David Williamso (Jun 19, 2011)

Any car can run 500K if you keep it well maintained. The new cars are built better than any old car plus with modern oil and fuel injection they will last a long time. Had a ride in a town car to the airport that had 500K on it last week, it looked and ran great. The driver was not happy because he has to replace it next year, not allowed to run a car older than 7 years as a limo (he is going to keep it for his personal use) and there are no new town cars made. I am sure it had many small repairs but the engine and major mechanical parts were all original. Around here the rust after 10 or 12 years is what kills most cars. The other item that will kill a car is the auto transmission, if the car is old and only worth a few grand, not worth a new tranny. So look after it and drive on.
David


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## The Tick (Aug 29, 2012)

My brother has a 2000 Audi s4 with 265,000 miles and still running strong. This thing has never been into the dealer. We do all the work ourselves. If he can do that with the most unreliable engine Audi has ever made, you can definitely do 500,000 miles in a 328.


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