My high mileage e90

[dominicjones69]

Please forgive me, I've been reading post here for sometime but it's my first time asking a question. I have 2 BMW's a 2001 325ci and a 2007 328xi. The 325 for my kids and I drive the 328. My 328 has nearly 250,000 mostly highway miles (125 mi commute to Washington DC every other day for 15 years). I really like this car and it's been good to me but I'm concerned about putting money into the car. I don't want to throw good money after bad. I drove my 1988 528e for about 220,000 before selling it and it was running great at that time. Does anyone have a high mileage success story? Should I just minimize what I spend i.e NO UPGRADES? Just replacement parts for the next 2 years or do you think I could upgrade suspension, brakes, exhaust, etc and drive for well over 400,000 miles? Also I'm not able to find many people upgrading this car, I suppose because it's and all-wheel-drive sedan, but it has enough highway pep to get me in trouble (I have the points on my license to prove it) What about an engine rebuild? Will the all-wheel-drive system fail on me? Again I really like the car and it's probably worth more to me driving it, I can't imagine I'd even get a decent downpayment on another used one with the mileage that I have. Honestly I could probably pick up a 2008 or 9 335i for less than 12,000.00 with regular folks miles on it!!! Has anyone been through this exercise? Much appreciated

[MIKYZZ4]

No forgiveness needed, and welcome.
You seem to have a lot of prior experience with BMWs,
and a decent amount of mileage with them, with no complaints,
so I'm going to assume you know how to upkeep them, and have done so.
From my point of view, it would appear the maintenance schedules you seemed to have followed,
work really well, so I wouldn't be too concerned about your ability to reach the upper limits of mileage,
as long as your attitude towards maintenance doesn't change. The all-wheel-drive system shouldn't be a concern,
as long as all drivetrain fluid changes were included in your maintenance schedule.
Actually it's your call concerning a newer model, but it's nice knowing you don't have to.

[Pilgrim]

I'd suggest keeping up with maintenance at normal intervals, and especially replacing lubricants in the drivetrain (axles, transmission, transfer case) which are easy to forget. Brake fluid, too. Aside from that, with the highway mileage you drive, just keep on keepin' on. You can probably get another 100K or more out of that car.

[TonyAngel]

Man, I'm glad to hear that your car is running so well with so many miles on it. It just goes to show that maintenance is key. Personally, I'd just keep the car and drive it till the wheels fell off. Assuming that you like the 3 series form factor, what is "upgrading" going to get you? A car note or just spending money that you didn't really need to spend right now? Besides, what would you upgrade to? I really don't think that going to a 330 is going to get you so much more of a kick in the pants that it will be worth dumping the money on and going to a 335 could be a mistake. This is just personal opinion based on observation, but when you go turbo, you give up reliability, at least to some degree. Of course, that may not be a consideration if you are going with something with a warranty, but I wouldn't own a turbo anything as a daily driver if I had to come out of pocket for repairs.

If you still enjoy it, stick with it.

[setho1993]

I love high mileage stories. My father is close to rolling 300,000 miles on his 2002 Silverado with original engine and trans. His first mod was an exhaust at 220k miles. I like the idea of keeping it simple. Mod if it's something you want or like. If you want more sound look at an exhaust, other wise I'd spend $ on things that need to be fixed. Whatever your doing seems to be pretty solid. If it ain't broke don't fix it comes to mind. Do you follow BMW's oil change intervals?

[tgmedin]

I'm sitting here wondering the same thing as my 2007 328i just rolled over 155K with nary an issue over the 4 years I have been running it. The worst issue I corrected was the infamous leaking valve cover gasket. Other than that it's just been routine maintenance. I can trust driving the car and I still get 32mpg on the highway with great performance and reliability. Heard all the issues with the turbos after 2007 so I'm happy to run this girl as long as I can.
Thanks guys,

[dominicjones69]

Thanks for all the great advice. I'll be all over the changing the other fluids. I purchased the car with approx. 25,000 miles on it and added the extended warranty. I only had to use it once prior to 70,000 miles it wouldn't go into reverse. Turns out some type of pin or linkage broke in the transmission. I saved the part and used it as a paper weight for a few years. Last year I replaced the started myself and the valve cover gasket. It now has an oil pan gasket leak and time for new struts and shocks. One is leaking but not badly. Other minor things like window regulators, a door lock or 2, AC fan electrical connector, but that's about it!! I think I'll keep using it as my daily driver until it becomes unreliable. It still drives great and as fast I dare to go, still great pickup and all. Thanks again!!

[TonyAngel]

Yeah, bud. I'd stick with it. I have an '06 325i that's giving me a bit of a headache (and a bit of buyer's remorse), but I own it now and even with the problems, the thought of getting rid of it due to the problems is there, but not overwhelming me. I don't think that any of the problems I'm having will affect overall, long term reliability and it runs like a bat out of hell. Being a 325, I am going to do the 3 stage intake upgrade to get the 330 like horsepower, but that has to wait until I fix all that's wrong.