[hardtothepaint]

The question is the tittle of this thread. How many KM/Miles does a 3 Series engine usually last for (assuming there have been no rebuilding or replacement has been done on the engine). I have read that the average life on the 3 series engines is 150000 km to 200 000 km. Why is that? I thought given that BMW's are well known, they would last you for a while. Some Japanese and even American Cars last for a good 250- 300 K.

[Gizm0]

Here are a few with over 200,000 miles...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1982-...#ht_500wt_1182

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1988-...#ht_500wt_1182

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-3...#ht_500wt_1182

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1993-...#ht_500wt_1182

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1988-...#ht_876wt_1165

The answer is... it all depends on how you drive it, how you maintain it, and to a certain extend the climate conditions...

[fazman]

Originally Posted by hardtothepaint

The question is the tittle of this thread. How many KM/Miles does a 3 Series engine usually last for (assuming there have been no rebuilding or replacement has been done on the engine). I have read that the average life on the 3 series engines is 150000 km to 200 000 km. Why is that? I thought given that BMW's are well known, they would last you for a while. Some Japanese and even American Cars last for a good 250- 300 K.

Motors will run forever (any ICE) provided they are maintained. It's all the external factors/abuse which cause motors to fail. But they do motor oil tests where the vehicles are driven for 1 million miles and the wear on the motor is next to nothing. Is that what you were asking about???

[fazman]

Originally Posted by Gizm0

Here are a few with over 200,000 miles...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1982-...#ht_500wt_1182

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1988-...#ht_500wt_1182

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-3...#ht_500wt_1182

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1993-...#ht_500wt_1182

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1988-...#ht_876wt_1165

The answer is... it all depends on how you drive it, how you maintain it, and to a certain extend the climate conditions...

Darn u Gizmo :P u beat me in reply by 1 minute, don't make me put u in water

[yarviinn]

As long as you want it to be. Just fork over money.

[Gizm0]

Originally Posted by fazman

Darn u Gizmo :P u beat me in reply by 1 minute, don't make me put u in water

Don't feed me after midnight, and you'll be fine...

[MrPig]

My e30 has 312,000 km on it and still going strong.

[mrbillytalent]

e46 has 207,xxx and gets whooped on every day. With a bit of TLC these motors can easily outlive the chassis.

[hardtothepaint]

Originally Posted by fazman

Motors will run forever (any ICE) provided they are maintained. It's all the external factors/abuse which cause motors to fail. But they do motor oil tests where the vehicles are driven for 1 million miles and the wear on the motor is next to nothing. Is that what you were asking about???

Yes. I have heard some of MB cars go for 1 million KM. I Don't know if the same applies to BMW. I have repeatedly read on not only this forum but others that BMW's have reliability issues. I have an 08 e90 328xi and it has about 88000 km. I was thinking in terms of the long haul, how long more does someone have on a car like mine. Am i expecting it to die around the 150- 200 k mark? I had bought this car used with fairly low KM's (62000 km), and based on the past service history, the only engine work done on this was at 16000 km when the head gasket and cylinder heads were replaced on the engine. What is the best way to ensure that one gets the maximum life from their engine? I Do ensure that I fill it up with the proper gas (no ethanol from shell), Regular oil changes when needed, fluids are kept up to levels at all time, and the car is parked in the garage so no animal or anything of that nature can get into the engine department. I do drive the car everyday, so I understand wear and tear is going to happen.

[fazman]

Originally Posted by hardtothepaint

Yes. I have heard some of MB cars go for 1 million KM. I Don't know if the same applies to BMW. I have repeatedly read on not only this forum but others that BMW's have reliability issues. I have an 08 e90 328xi and it has about 88000 km. I was thinking in terms of the long haul, how long more does someone have on a car like mine. Am i expecting it to die around the 150- 200 k mark? I had bought this car used with fairly low KM's (62000 km), and based on the past service history, the only engine work done on this was at 16000 km when the head gasket and cylinder heads were replaced on the engine. What is the best way to ensure that one gets the maximum life from their engine? I Do ensure that I fill it up with the proper gas (no ethanol from shell), Regular oil changes when needed, fluids are kept up to levels at all time, and the car is parked in the garage so no animal or anything of that nature can get into the engine department. I do drive the car everyday, so I understand wear and tear is going to happen.

All good things, have you looked up the Mike Miller document for BMW Maintenance? I think if you read that... your car should be rock solid. BMW's don't like to sit around... so the key thing of doing long frequent drives will make sure you get the most of your car.

However, if you are still worried about getting a headache of a car... why not just keep leasing new cars? With the lease, the car is covered under all situations and all you need to do is put gas in it! :P

[hardtothepaint]

Originally Posted by fazman

All good things, have you looked up the Mike Miller document for BMW Maintenance? I think if you read that... your car should be rock solid. BMW's don't like to sit around... so the key thing of doing long frequent drives will make sure you get the most of your car.

However, if you are still worried about getting a headache of a car... why not just keep leasing new cars? With the lease, the car is covered under all situations and all you need to do is put gas in it! :P

Not a fan of leasing. Reason why is because a) your limited in terms of how much you can drive and b) its not your car at the end of the day. Your very limited... I much rather finance than lease. NO I have not heard of Mike Miller . I Do actually take my 3 series for long drives frequently. Usually i take a long drive (1 hour high minimum) once every one or two weeks. I try to get rid of any unburned gas or anything that may have built up from city driving.

[fazman]

Originally Posted by hardtothepaint

Not a fan of leasing. Reason why is because a) your limited in terms of how much you can drive and b) its not your car at the end of the day. Your very limited... I much rather finance than lease. NO I have not heard of Mike Miller . I Do actually take my 3 series for long drives frequently. Usually i take a long drive (1 hour high minimum) once every one or two weeks. I try to get rid of any unburned gas or anything that may have built up from city driving.

Linky to Mike Millers doc request form --> http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=825310

[SharkBait]

I have an M20 motor in an E28 528e that I picked up with 357,000 miles on it. I then turbo charged it and ran it through 10 weekend long endurance races (that's about 500 miles of track abuse per race) plus numerous open track days. The bearings finally started to show some wear at the last race. I will simply drop in new bearings and rings and then race it for another 10 races.

[MrPig]

Originally Posted by SharkBait

I have an M20 motor in an E28 528e that I picked up with 357,000 miles on it. I then turbo charged it and ran it through 10 weekend long endurance races (that's about 500 miles of track abuse per race) plus numerous open track days. The bearings finally started to show some wear at the last race. I will simply drop in new bearings and rings and then race it for another 10 races.

I want to turbo my M20 at some point. What kinda PSI did you run?

[AzureHaze]

Originally Posted by hardtothepaint

Not a fan of leasing. Reason why is because a) your limited in terms of how much you can drive and b) its not your car at the end of the day. Your very limited... I much rather finance than lease.

+1. I would love to drive a brand new car every 2-3 years but I want to actually own one and call it my own. Sure you can say the bank/credit union owns your financed car until you pay off the loan but I can mod the heck out the car and never worry about it. My work commute is way too far to do a lease anyway.

[F104]

Originally Posted by MrPig

My e30 has 312,000 km on it and still going strong.

I had a E30 320i 6-cyl sewing machine and put 450k km on it in 9 years. It had the LSD option which was available at that time.. Except for tyres, oil, and brake pads, it needed one new clutch, one new exhaust, and a DIY repair of a idle related stepper motor.

Great car, sold it, next owner did put another 50k on it, and then i lost trace

[BoogeyMan'sBMW]

Well, I'm sure that if you do regular maintenance, the car will outlive your desire for it. Especially with our N52's, if you take care of them they will take car of you.

Since we are on the subject, a buddy of mines had an e39 525i with 950k miles on the clock in high school. He totaled it when the suspension completely gave out on a curve. The engine was still going

[Beamer325xi]

I'm at 180,000 something tells me it will last much longer than anything else in the car.

[chronos6]

Originally Posted by hardtothepaint

Yes. I have heard some of MB cars go for 1 million KM. I Don't know if the same applies to BMW. I have repeatedly read on not only this forum but others that BMW's have reliability issues. I have an 08 e90 328xi and it has about 88000 km. I was thinking in terms of the long haul, how long more does someone have on a car like mine. Am i expecting it to die around the 150- 200 k mark? I had bought this car used with fairly low KM's (62000 km), and based on the past service history, the only engine work done on this was at 16000 km when the head gasket and cylinder heads were replaced on the engine. What is the best way to ensure that one gets the maximum life from their engine? I Do ensure that I fill it up with the proper gas (no ethanol from shell), Regular oil changes when needed, fluids are kept up to levels at all time, and the car is parked in the garage so no animal or anything of that nature can get into the engine department. I do drive the car everyday, so I understand wear and tear is going to happen.

Question to you even though your post is 5 months old, why where the head gaskets replaced on a n/a motor? You sucked in wAter and popped the gasket?

[thyshallsmite]

the motor itself is pretty bullet proof, the injectors, the turbos and some seals not so much, i haven't heard of anyone just straight up losing a motor but plenty of other stuff goes wrong

[fun2drive]

My M3 which I sold to a friend last year had 284K miles on it. It ran strong. I pulled the head to refreshen it and low and behold there was absolutely nothing wrong. Upper end was doing just fine. Pistons had carbon on them and you could still see the scoring marks in the cylinder walls.
What is likely to happen is that the crank will either spin a bearing or snap but at what mileage who knows...

[John 070]

I'm sure at least 5700 miles. I know someone who drove across the country, and then came back.