[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Soles330i

this post actually prompted me to create an excel spread shit detailing all work done to my car. whether it be coil work, or an oil change.... mileage, work done, date, location and pricing is all notated!

gotta keep my baby running smooth

That's the only way to do it.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by ozziewizzle

This car deserves a photo shoot!!!! #Click #Click #Click

Nah, it's always dirty.

[86rexer]

of the car instead of the complaints to some extent. It goes to show that diligent upkeep and maintenance will extend the life of the car. Sounds like it's not a garage queen and is used for its intended purpose , driving enjoyment.

Well done.. hats off to you.

[F30lolz]

This should be a sticky. Well done OP, hoping to see 400K within 2.5 years.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by 86rexer

of the car instead of the complaints to some extent. It goes to show that diligent upkeep and maintenance will extend the life of the car. Sounds like it's not a garage queen and is used for its intended purpose , driving enjoyment.

Well done.. hats off to you.

The garage that I built and outfitted to do the "diligent upkeep and maintenance" cost more than the car.

but don't tell anyone...

[thecadman99]

Thanks for sharing the updates- I was getting worried that my 175k mile clutch and flywheel still felt fine.... I guess it will last a bit longer

[lordbmw]

300K , wow.

I have a n54 335i and I doubt it'll get anywhere close to that. My turbos will blow up way before then.

[rich8566]

Congrats my friend !! This is a major accomplishment.

[Fundguy1]

Got me beat. I'm 241k. Congrats.

[BMWs4ever]

That's Awesome :-)

Congrats !!!!

[NW 335i]

Originally Posted by rich8566

Congrats my friend !! This is a major accomplishment.

What does that picture have to do w the price of tea in china?

[Efthreeoh]

The E90 now shares DD time with the Z4, so my yearly mileage has dropped a bit. She's now at 317K and change.

[thecadman99]

Originally Posted by Soles330i

this post actually prompted me to create an excel spread shit detailing all work done to my car. whether it be coil work, or an oil change.... mileage, work done, date, location and pricing is all notated!

gotta keep my baby running smooth

Oh, and I have to rib a fellow 330 owner for the typo- that was pretty funny.

[djh2]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

The E90 now shares DD time with the Z4, so my yearly mileage has dropped a bit. She's now at 317K and change.

Just wanted to say, your E90/N52 experience is a huge inspiration and something that gives me faith in the chassis code and engine. I have a mere 156k, but am looking forward to making at least 200k and beyond with this car.

[n55jb4]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

The E90 now shares DD time with the Z4, so my yearly mileage has dropped a bit. She's now at 317K and change.

Just to clarify a few things. At what mileage you replaced spark plugs and coils and coolant for the first time? Also, it looks like for the first 50K car needs only oil changes and break fluid flush correct?

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by n55jb4

Just to clarify a few things. At what mileage you replaced spark plugs and coils and coolant for the first time? Also, it looks like for the first 50K car needs only oil changes and break fluid flush correct?

There's a link in here somewhere to my 200,000 mile thread if you want the detail of the first 50,000 miles of maintenance. I did the plugs at 98,939 miles. I did all 6 coils at 287,585 miles after I lost cylinder No. 5 coil; I figured at the mileage once one went the others were soon to follow. Other than correcting the dead No. 5 cylinder, I didn't notice any improvement in engine performance with the new coils in place, no decrease in fuel consumption and no power delivery change.

The first 50,000 miles of BMW maintenance was, two (2) oil changes, one (1) set wiper blades, one (1) cabin airfilter, and one (1) brake flush. The BMW "free" maintenance is a joke. They make it sound like it is a great deal because they calculate into the value a set of brakes, but for the average owner the brakes last well past 50,000 miles. All the free maintenance is is an extra $1,000 of pure profit for BMW they add to the MSRP. IIRC at the time in 2006, the "free" maintenance was worth something like $1,200 or $1,400 (the dealership had a sign on top of one of the cars in the showroom). But since BMW just adds that to the price of the car (nothing is free) you are really prepaying for the maintenance up front. Since the average owner doesn't get brakes out of the deal, the $1,000 worth of brake maintenance price goes straight in as profit. It's a joke as I stated earlier.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by djh2

Just wanted to say, your E90/N52 experience is a huge inspiration and something that gives me faith in the chassis code and engine. I have a mere 156k, but am looking forward to making at least 200k and beyond with this car.

So I do need to say that I have no little kids that tore up the interior, so the interior has held up well. And while I drive the car hard as a BMW is meant to be driven and on ideal driving roads, the car does see about 75 miles a day of easy 6th gear cruising, and it sees about 45 miles of heavy traffic a day. But the engine runs almost constantly for about 1 hour 45 minutes at a time. It's rare that I don't hammer the thing on the good roads on my commute though.

My E90 has been as every bit stout as my E30 was and I'd say way less maintenance intensive and probably on par as far as repairs go. I read most of the threads on E90 post and in my opinion most owners over maintain these cars. Many people replace engine mounts, transmission mounts, diff mounts, subframe bushings when it is not necessary. When my car was at 22,000 miles I started the 80-mile one-way commute I still drive today. Up until 200,000 miles I took a slightly different route that didn't change the total miles by much but added in about 17 miles of pure track level driving (and I drove the car that way) on a back country road in place of some of the 20 miles (one-way) of easy cruising. So that kind of driving environment wears on driveline mounts and suspension bushings. I'm still on the various original suspension components except the front thrust arms and the dampers (shocks). The tierod ends and all bushings are original and in good shape. I have a lift, so I can inspect them at every oil change. Could I freshen all those bushing up? Sure, but at 317,000 miles why, and would it really improve the car that much? I doubt it.

I've been thinking about where to go with this car lately. It's the last of the classic BMW inline sixes, so I feel I should preserve it (if that's possible after 300,000 miles - lol). I kick myself every once in a while for getting rid of the E30, but in reality I like the E90 better. I recently passed on an almost pristine and original E21 I found because I already have 4 automobiles (two of I say belong to my wife...). I think I'm going to retire the E90 soon from DD and get a Chevrolet Bolt for the daily commute and throw in a E90 and Z4 trip every week or so. I chatted up a sales dude at the Chevy dealer this week about the Bolt (Fundguy1 is cringing about now...). He said his dealership should be getting Bolts by mid-April, so we'll see. My main problem is I drive so much I really don't need a "weekend" car.

1st world problems...

[AWSB328iM]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

Got me beat. I'm 241k. Congrats.

You blew the original motor. So you have 241k chassis miles.

[Mantraxalos]

With the feedback you provided I have a newfound trust in my 06 325i. Thank you for your attention to detail and encompassing logs.

[tric2k]

Wow, nice post. BMW FTW Gives a great average maintenance cost pr. year which really isn't that high.

[mastarron]

First of all, great work! That is really awesome. My 2011 328xi e92 M-Sport Automatic, is at 83k miles, and it is running great.

Have you changed the engine timing chain? I know this was always a big deal for timing belts, but for chains, I hear theyre supposed to be lifetime, how true is this? A failure in this component means certain death of the engine.

As far as the OCI, when you are putting 30k miles a year, 17k seems pretty fair to me, right above 6 month intervals. I get mine changes at 10k intervals regardless of OCI, because I dont drive my car as much, so I dont want any oil buildup to contribute to my "lack" of driving. If I'm wrong, please let me know. But I feel if the engine is sitting idle, some days not being driven at all, located in NY, where the winters are usually brutal. It cant be good for the engine.

Either way, congrats!

[bobchuong58]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

7:04 AM April 18th, 2016

The car is a 2006 325i with a manual trans. I ordered it in April 2006 with just the Sport Package, HIDs, and BlueTooth (BMW assist) and it was delivered mid-May 2006.

I hit a deer at 12,500 miles and had $4,500 of crash damage. I swapped to non-runflats on a non-staggered 8.5 x 18 wheel set up using high-performance all-season radials at 22,000 miles (I've since switched back to the original wheels at 287K). At about 80,000 miles the A/C pump died (I attribute it to poor craftsmanship from the deer crash repair where I think they left the system open too long or allowed dirt to get in the system). The T-stat went at 135,000 miles and the water pump at 150,000. Second deer hit was at 95,000 miles, she luckily only damaged the right headlight. 3rd deer hit last Friday evening at 299,921 miles. Damaged the rear left passenger door and rear quarter panel. I'm hoping paintless dent repair can fix it, or I'm concerned the insurance company will total it.

I replaced the suspension with OEM BMW sport suspension parts at 182,000 when the kit went on sale a few years ago (I stored the parts kit for a few years), and had the alignment checked and re-set. I replaced the thrust arms at that time with M3 parts (the front was starting to shutter upon braking).

All the other maintenance has been at BMW specified intervals and CBS intervals:

From new (0 miles) to 221,630 miles was on 13 oil changes @ 17,050 OCI
From 221K to 300K 8 oil changes @ 9,800 OCI. Motor runs perfect and uses a liter of oil about every 6,000 miles. Still returns my lifetime fuel consumption of just under 27 MPG.

BMW 5W-30 oil and OE filter used for all 21 oil changes.

Diff and Trans oil changes:
Transmission:
No. 1 - 89,670
No. 2 - 158,806
No. 3 - 264,914

Differential
No. 1 - 76,880
No. 2 - 158,806
No. 3 - 264,914

Brakes:
No. 1 - 75,205 (front & rear)
No. 2 - 182,540 (front) 185,723 (rear)
No. 3 - 298,190 (front & rear)

Power steering flush:
No. 1 - 151,100
No. 2 - 264,914

Brake flushes every 2 years
Engine air filters every 50,000 miles
I clean and swap the VANOS solenoids every 50,000 miles

Diff and trans are original. 3 of the O2 sensors are original. Only the right front wheel bearing was replaced 248,895. I chased down a bad driveline vibration that showed up in February 2014. Replaced the trans mounts, guibo, and driveshaft center bearing to no avail. It ended up being the dual mass flywheel.

All new hoses at 236,580 (all were in great shape and didn't need replacement)

Just in the last 7 months:
-coils and plugs (287,585 miles)
-rear level sensor (287,900)
-left rear wheel speed sensor (287,900)
-crankshaft vibration damper (288,400)
-clutch & Flywheel (293,340)
-Oil pan gasket replacement (293,550)
-HVAC blower motor (293,550) - 2nd one - 1st one at 130,000
-left rear wheel speed sensor (yes another one - story there)
-Drive belt and pulleys (297,950)
-Parts at the ready for the valve cover and eccentric shaft sensor...

My total cost of ownership to-date has been $96,204 (purchase, loan cost, fuel, and maintenance).
Total gallons of fuel - 11,188.
Total fuel cost - $36,589.56.
Lifetime MPG 26.82
Total Maintenance cost - $20,060 (most all of it DIY)
11 sets of tires

Oil Life Monitor:
On the E90 (at least for my 2006 325i) the CBS oil service indicator (oil life monitor) is programmed to stop working after 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles). The system is programmed to stop processing the oil quality data provided by the oil quality/oil level sensor that is in the oil pan. If you are not familiar with the CBS oil life monitor system, the sensor that determines the level of the oil in the engine also measures the quality of the oil though a practice of measuring the dielectric of the oil. The oil quality sensor provides oil quality data to the CBS that is used as part of the data input to the BMW algorithm used to determine when the oil needs changing. So I changed out the oil level sensor (as a DIY). The part is around $160. The new sensor did not change the behavior of the system and the CBS still would not reset. So, figuring it was a software issue, off to BMW of Sterling I went. BMW of Sterling, who was great in really trying to solve the issue BTW, had my car for 8 days. BMW of Sterling followed the procedure noted in the attached bulletin, and when that didn’t work, they hooked my car up to the BMW NA engineering network to let BMW’s NA engineering department have a crack at it. BMW NA couldn’t fix it either, and opened a PUMA case, sending the issue off to BMW AG. Since August 2014 BMW has not addressed the issue and never followed up on the PUMA case. So if BMW puts the software patch in your car, the CBS still tells you it is over due for an oil change every time you start the engine. UPDATE: In July 2016 I gave BMW one last chance and they finally came up with a fix in February of 2016. The CBS now does not report anything about OCI. Cost me $100.

I drive it 160 miles a day round trip to work. I don't drive it much on the weekends. My commute is ideal; it's 40% back roads that I hammer all the time and 60% interstate (stop and go traffic about 35 miles a day) and dual lane (easy cruising - except when deer run into you). The last 18 miles to my house is basically a race track with no traffic and the car usually is burning hot when I park it at night. So most of my miles is not "mostly highway" and I drive the car very hard on the back roads (it's a BMW after all).

Hulala!!!!! Great!!!!