[GKurey]

Congrats on the milestone and good luck on many more!

I know you said you followed the BMW maint. schedule...did they ever call for headgasket replacement and/or new timing bits? If so, how was that?

I've enjoyed reading your thread...this is what owning a car is all about. I have 226k on my e30 currently; they last if you take care of them!

[raleedy]

Cold!

[chrisny]

I have been leasing almost every car I've had since college, and actually my last car in college too.. Just prefer new cars and get bored too quickly to keep too long. But there is a part me that wishes, out of every car I've had (including an X5 4.8i and an Audi S5), that I had bought my E46 328i and run it till it died.

So, nice work and good luck with however long you get to keep driving it.

[TTG]

Originally Posted by chrisny

I have been leasing almost every car I've had since college, and actually my last car in college too.. Just prefer new cars and get bored too quickly to keep too long. But there is a part me that wishes, out of every car I've had (including an X5 4.8i and an Audi S5), that I had bought my E46 328i and run it till it died.

So, nice work and good luck with however long you get to keep driving it.

+1

1st amazing story but I would be bored to death if I were to drive any car for 200K. My DD's are always a 3 year 36K leases and I usually am very ready to order my new one after 2.5 years.....

But it shows the fact that if you take care of it, it will take care of you

[GI335I]

Originally Posted by Nitty3series

U mean it didn't die at 60,000 like everyone else's

hahahaha

[left123]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Okay, I need to respond to this. Earlier in the thread I described my commute. It is not an easy all highway affair. I hammer my car a lot on back roads every day and drive it like a BMW not a Lexus. Second, the lift just makes the maintenance work easier, not better. Third, as mentioned earlier this is my 3rd high mileage BMW, and my 4th high mileage car over all.

1. the Lift: someone willing to install a lift in their home is MUCH more likely to maintain their vehicles well compared to the average person (people keep referring to lease for 3 years then ditch. That is the kind of person I am comparing it to).

2. Your commute is not hard if you are able to keep the engine running relatively consistently. A "hard" commute is someone in stop and go traffic for 2 hours a day in LA. Or someone that drives for 8 minutes only and shuts off the car. Those are "hard" commutes on a car and take their toll. I understand your point about running the car hard for a significant part of the commute and I wont discount that. Just comparing what the typical person's commute is and how that takes its cumulative toll on the vehicle.

[Imola.ZHP]

Would love to see more pics of the car, interior and exterior. See how she's holding up...

congrats!

[BMWs4ever]

Awesome :-)

By the way I also have a 2002 6 cyclinder VW Passat that just passed 210,000 miles on it. My Passat is my daily drive and my BMW only sees weekend drives in the spring, summer and fall. No problems on my Passat other then maintaining the car. Gotta love German engineering. My 1992 4 cyclinder VW Jetta had 335,000 miles on it before I had to get rid of it.

I'm also like you and don't want the problems of a turbo and really can't stand the electric steering so for me my E90 is as good as it gets.

My 2007 BMW 328i only has 14,000 miles on it so I figure it will be 40 years before it hits 200,000 miles. :-)

If you click below "Garage List" below my name you will see my Passat and BMW. The Pic of the Passat was at 180,000km original paint.

[spellbmw]

Originally Posted by idrift4wd

I hope you run that car to the ground! congrats!

+1!

[NjPrince]

Originally Posted by AndreyT

200K and you still have more than a quarter of a tank left!

How are those two things even relevant haha

[ozzy1]

Originally Posted by chrisny

I have been leasing almost every car I've had since college, and actually my last car in college too.. Just prefer new cars and get bored too quickly to keep too long. But there is a part me that wishes, out of every car I've had (including an X5 4.8i and an Audi S5), that I had bought my E46 328i and run it till it died.

So, nice work and good luck with however long you get to keep driving it.

I would feel the same way probably if I didn't live in the boonies. Would not make financial sense to lease in my case. Owning the car has allowed me to be frivolous with my mileage and actually enjoy the drive (rather than worry about miles). Completely maintaining the car myself has also allowed me to not worry too much about depreciation due to mileage.

[badbimmer]

I just hit over 2 million miles. Only changed my oil twice!

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by bigworm000

1. the Lift: someone willing to install a lift in their home is MUCH more likely to maintain their vehicles well compared to the average person (people keep referring to lease for 3 years then ditch. That is the kind of person I am comparing it to).

2. Your commute is not hard if you are able to keep the engine running relatively consistently. A "hard" commute is someone in stop and go traffic for 2 hours a day in LA. Or someone that drives for 8 minutes only and shuts off the car. Those are "hard" commutes on a car and take their toll. I understand your point about running the car hard for a significant part of the commute and I wont discount that. Just comparing what the typical person's commute is and how that takes its cumulative toll on the vehicle.

1. But that's the point, with the lift I could have doubled or even tripled-up on the maintenance, but I've followed BMW's maintenance schedule almost to the tee. I could have changed the oil every 3,000 miles (every 5 weeks) with no sweat (except for a bunch of trips to the oil recycling center). Well, okay, so I have a pneumatic oil extractor with a custom brass suction tube to get all the oil out of the diff, where someone with just jackstands and a hand oil extractor may leave a bit more residual oil in the diff. And it might be easier for me to refill the trans without the chance of getting some dirt contamination. But I would think an owner with the desire to keep his car to high mileage would make sure the maintenance work is properly done and on schedule. Other than ease on my 50-year old body, I see no advantage to my lift getting my car to 200K.

2. Well my E30 spent 3 years and about 45,000 miles in New York city traffic and it lasted until 256K when I sold it to my neighbor, who drove it to 290K before he killed it. So you can call my commute what you want, but cars will last a long time regardless of their commute. Crown Vics last hundreds of thousands of miles as taxicabs and limos. Stop and go traffic is stop and go traffic regardless of the time you spend in it. Someone who drives 8 minutes should walk instead of drive.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by ozzy1

I would feel the same way probably if I didn't live in the boonies. Would not make financial sense to lease in my case. Owning the car has allowed me to be frivolous with my mileage and actually enjoy the drive (rather than worry about miles). Completely maintaining the car myself has also allowed me to not worry too much about depreciation due to mileage.

Me too.

[itsFelo]

That's amazing, congrats!

[Agent11br]

Pretty cool!

I'd think that you limiting all the "fancy technology" options definitely helps too. I've never understood the need for iDrive and all that "luxury crap" as you put it... more stuff to break.

Your cost per year seems decent for how many miles you drive! Does that also include insurance?

Lastly, was curious of you have had to replace the headlight bulbs at all. Those Xenon bulbs are supposed to last a lot of hours.

[Erich2142]

I like how you kept all the maintenance records and posted them here.

Originally Posted by AndreyT

200K and you still have more than a quarter of a tank left!

What did you expect? Its more fuel efficient than the prius or any VW diesel!

[Evice]

I am pretty sure I will be soon a thread with my 2009 128i. My car is as pure as possible, with only driver and driving related upgrades..Xenons, premium hiFi, msport pkg., heated but no power seats nothing....

currently driving 130 miles a day, since Feb 2011 and everyday there after. Luckily, 1st 1,5 year i drove 3 miles as commute so it slowed aging down a little....I am at 80k miles. Knock on wood no repairs just yet.

See you soon

[b-man]

Congrats!

[LittleBlue]

I have an 06 325i and love it, do my own oil changes using oil and filter from dealer at 5k mile interval. I think for someone that drives mainly highway and long distance they can go far longer than one who drives 10 mike one way to work with stop and go. At 60k miles so far, (other than front brakes that I put on myself "Akebono Euro" and love then plus they're dust free )! I have had the dealer just do the pump, stat and flush, and last year they did the battery replacement. So far do good, love the car and keeping it as long as I can .

[georgere]

for $76K in 7 years and 200Kmi something is missing. What I mean is if you compare it to leasing, you will be pretty much at the same cost which doesn't make sense.

Example: a friend of mine drives on average 20-25Kmi/year (mostly on business). In 2007, he leased a BMW 328xi coupe with Prem, Nav, and Sat radio. His payment was $600/month. He also prepaid for the extra miles (included in the monthly bill).
Now, maintenance free, repairs free - well mostly, and in 3 years a new car...

in 7 years he would pay ~$50K for 3 cars + gas @ ~$27K. this is about the same you paid for your car ownership. No need for lift, tools, garage and no time invested in repairs.
So is leasing a better option?

[ozzy1]

Originally Posted by georgere

for $76K in 7 years and 200Kmi something is missing. What I mean is if you compare it to leasing, you will be pretty much at the same cost which doesn't make sense.

Example: a friend of mine drives on average 20-25Kmi/year (mostly on business). In 2007, he leased a BMW 328xi coupe with Prem, Nav, and Sat radio. His payment was $600/month. He also prepaid for the extra miles (included in the monthly bill).
Now, maintenance free, repairs free - well mostly, and in 3 years a new car...

in 7 years he would pay ~$50K for 3 cars + gas @ ~$27K. this is about the same you paid for your car ownership. No need for lift, tools, garage and no time invested in repairs.
So is leasing a better option?

Intresting. I presume you are not counting the down payments on the leases and the residual value of the used car after 200k miles. That may make the difference in cash. $2k down each lease and $4k residual, you are looking at $10k. But then, repairs etc. don't know....