Long term owners (80 000miles+); how much have you put on your car?

[Saintor]

... in maintenance & repairs? Please indicate year & milleage and include tires, brakes, everything.

[GregE_325]

... in maintenance & repairs? Please indicate year & milleage and include tires, brakes, everything.
Well, my 2001 325, which had a little over 114,000 miles on it when I sold it a few weeks ago, had cost me approximately $10,000 in maintenance and repairs over the past 8 months. That's probably a little higher than your average owner, but needless to say, around the 100k mile mark a lot of things start to break. I had a good independent mechanic do the work, and I shudder to think of what the dealer would have charged for everything.

[bmw325]

Well, my 2001 325, which had a little over 114,000 miles on it when I sold it a few weeks ago, had cost me approximately $10,000 in maintenance and repairs over the past 8 months. That's probably a little higher than your average owner, but needless to say, around the 100k mile mark a lot of things start to break. I had a good independent mechanic do the work, and I shudder to think of what the dealer would have charged for everything.

10k :yikes:

What broke?


Out of curiousity, I looked at some of your older posts-- the only stuff I could find was:
-control arm bushings, power steering pump, engine fan, and shocks. Add brakes and tires to that, and I still don't see how it got to 10k!?

[Artslinger]

Damn I'd sell the car before I'd pay that much for repairs.

[AndyDe]

Well, my 2001 325, which had a little over 114,000 miles on it when I sold it a few weeks ago, had cost me approximately $10,000 in maintenance and repairs over the past 8 months. That's probably a little higher than your average owner, but needless to say, around the 100k mile mark a lot of things start to break. I had a good independent mechanic do the work, and I shudder to think of what the dealer would have charged for everything.


No kidding, what went wrong? :yikes:
10G's in eight months, good grief!! :confused:

[NetEngWiz]

Wow, that reinforces my idea to get rid of my car before the cpo coverage runs out at 100k.

[The Roadstergal]

Yeesh!

You're only asking about E46s?

As cars age, the quality of past maintenance really comes into play. The dead engine I pulled out of the E30 showed signs of being regularly driven on not-to-temp trips, infrequent oil changes, and things being replaced once they broke, not when they were due to be replaced.
As cars age beyond 100K, things that aren't in your standard maintenance schedule start to go. Rubber will wear out - suspension busings, engine mounts, subframe bushings. Shocks will go, oxygen sensors will go, you'll want to change "lifetime" transmission and diff fluids. Engine gaskets will need to be replaced. It's usually not bad if you're willing to DIY, but it will cost a lot to keep the dealer doing it.

[GregE_325]

10k :yikes:

What broke?


Out of curiousity, I looked at some of your older posts-- the only stuff I could find was:
-control arm bushings, power steering pump, engine fan, and shocks. Add brakes and tires to that, and I still don't see how it got to 10k!?
Sorry, I haven't updated my experiences in a while. Well, the last month of its time with me cost about $4000 of that total. I know I'm forgetting a few things, but here goes: springs and struts ($1800), radiator, resevoir tank, several sensors, new hoses and pullys, aux cooling fan, and now I forget the rest. I did include new tires in that total, since Saintor asked -- and that would be about $800. I didn't include the rental car cost that I had while the car spent 4 weeks in the shop from Jan-June. And the labor for replacing this stuff is pretty intensive.

So all total, it is somewhere between $9-10k for Dec-June, when I dumped the car. The car left me stranded on the side of the road 3 times in those months. I think I just had a bad run of luck. Ha! It just reinforces my opinion that BMWs are generally good cars, but certainly not cars that anyone would want to accumulate lots of miles on in a relatively short period of time (3 years in my case). Now that I have a new Mazda 3S as a daily driver, I'm looking for an older 5 series (E28) that I can play around with and that maintaining won't be such a chore, since I can do a lot of the work myself.

I hope this clears things up a bit.

-- Greg

[Artslinger]

Springs, radiator, resevoir tank...?

[bmw325]

Sorry, I haven't updated my experiences in a while. Well, the last month of its time with me cost about $4000 of that total. I know I'm forgetting a few things, but here goes: springs and struts ($1800), radiator, resevoir tank, several sensors, new hoses and pullys, aux cooling fan, and now I forget the rest. I did include new tires in that total, since Saintor asked -- and that would be about $800. I didn't include the rental car cost that I had while the car spent 4 weeks in the shop from Jan-June. And the labor for replacing this stuff is pretty intensive.

So all total, it is somewhere between $9-10k for Dec-June, when I dumped the car. The car left me stranded on the side of the road 3 times in those months. I think I just had a bad run of luck. Ha! It just reinforces my opinion that BMWs are generally good cars, but certainly not cars that anyone would want to accumulate lots of miles on in a relatively short period of time (3 years in my case). Now that I have a new Mazda 3S as a daily driver, I'm looking for an older 5 series (E28) that I can play around with and that maintaining won't be such a chore, since I can do a lot of the work myself.

I hope this clears things up a bit.

-- Greg

Was the car in an accident? is that why it was in the shop for 4 weeks and also why the radiateor and reservoir were replaced?

What parts failed that stranded you?

Thanks!

[GregE_325]

Springs, radiator, resevoir tank...?

The radiator is a known issue. There's too much plastic on a part that should be all metal. And the resevoir tank was damaged when the cooling fan failed and threw fan blades all over the place.
The springs had to be ordered to match the replacement struts. The original springs were a little too short. I should probably deduct that from the total cost estimate, since this was a bit optional on my part. But the springs weren't all that expensive compared to everything else that was done.
I forgot to mention that the rear diff had to be torn apart and all the seals replaced because if was leaking like a faucet. So much for the "lifetime" replacement concept.
Sorry for the confusion.

-- Greg

[Artslinger]

The radiator is a known issue. There's too much plastic on a part that should be all metal. And the resevoir tank was damaged when the cooling fan failed and threw fan blades all over the place.
The springs had to be ordered to match the replacement struts. The original springs were a little too short. I should probably deduct that from the total cost estimate, since this was a bit optional on my part. But the springs weren't all that expensive compared to everything else that was done.
I forgot to mention that the rear diff had to be torn apart and all the seals replaced because if was leaking like a faucet. So much for the "lifetime" replacement concept.
Sorry for the confusion.

-- Greg


Wow thats a string of bad luck.

[GregE_325]

Was the car in an accident? is that why it was in the shop for 4 weeks and also why the radiateor and reservoir were replaced?

What parts failed that stranded you?

Thanks!

Nope, no accident. It just took that long for the shop to do all of the work. It's been in the shop 4 times this year, and each time it took exactly 1 week to complete the repairs. Only on one of those visits did I think the work took longer than necessary, and that was with the struts and springs. But that was mostly a delay in ordering parts combined with a weekend that they don't work.

The radiator has some plastic pieces that crack and fail, and usually take the thermostat with it. All of that was replaced. This might have been brought on by the cooling fan that died and shredded itself and other important parts with fan blades flying everywhere. I'm lucky it didn't damage the hood, since at least one of the blades cut through the insulation on the underside of the hood. Body work would have made it much more expensive.

The same story goes for the coolant tank. That's how it was damaged. I cannot stress enough that any owner who is keeping their BMW past the 100k mile mark have their cooling fans replaced sometime around that mileage. The chances of it failing are fairly high, and the damage can be catastrophic. A new fan with installation will be several hundred dollars, but that is much cheaper than fixing the damage if it breaks.


-- Greg

[GregE_325]

Wow thats a string of bad luck.

I suppose so. But I still like the cars and want another one, albeit a used one, in the near future. Does this make me crazy or what? :)


-- Greg

[Artslinger]

"I cannot stress enough that any owner who is keeping their BMW past the 100k mile mark have their cooling fans replaced sometime around that mileage."

Good advice.

I wounder how long until the water pump fails on your old car. :eek:

[Chris90]

Bought my '95 325i almost 4 years ago with 49k miles for $18,500.

Now has 104k miles and 10 track days on it. I spent about $9000 in maintenance. It's worth about $7k or so, less in trade, so it's cost me about $22,000 to own. I could have bought a new 323i and it would have cost me less, but woulda been less fun at the track too.

[Chris90]

Unfortunately on a BMW they're much more expensive repairs. The waterpump was $250 to fix, the radiator was $800 to fix for me. Can't imagine how much they'd cost for a BMW...Another reason to learn to do this stuff yourself I guess.

My water pump was like $350, cause I took it to BMW Peabody - the one and only time I used a BMW dealer! 3D Autoworks (BMW specialist) did my radiator for like $550 I think?

[GregE_325]

"I cannot stress enough that any owner who is keeping their BMW past the 100k mile mark have their cooling fans replaced sometime around that mileage."

Good advice.

I wounder how long until the water pump fails on your old car. :eek:

Oops, sorry, forgot to mention that. When they had everything else torn down this last time they went ahead and replaced that too. I would have been happy to keep the car, especially since I had paid for so much work on it, but I was really concerned that something else "big" would break and require even more money to fix. The transmission (unfortunately, it was a Step) had begun to slip some and slam into gear on occasion. From every mechanic I talked to, I gathered that the automatic transmissions typically last around 150k miles. Well, that was less than a year away for me, since I average around 40k miles per year. I just couldn't bear the thought of having to spend quite a bit more money in the near future to replace it, and anything else that broke in the meantime.

Instead of worrying about the water pump, I hope the guy who bought it wants to replace a transmission in the next year or so. I sold it to a wholesaler, who was going to resell it to someone else. I don't suppose he passed along all this information I gave him, do you think?

Now I'm on a search for a late 80's model 5 series to play with. Since it won't be my daily driver, I can work on it myself (well, except for the really hard stuff) and if anything breaks that I don't want to have fixed at that time, then it can just sit there if need be. I'd like to have something I could fix up a bit for light track duty.

-- Greg

[GregE_325]

Excellent advice. Same could be said for almost ALL brands of cars.

I'm planning on some preventive maintenance on the Kia soon, it's coming up on 100K miles. But almost all the cars myself, and my family have owned, have at one point or another had issues right around 100K miles. Water pump went at 80K mile on two of the Integras we owned, radiator at 120K miles on one. Alternator went at 75K mile on an older Maxima. My uncle had leaky coolant ducts on his Camry since day one and it finally failed catastrophically at ~4 years, 80K miles.

Unfortunately on a BMW they're much more expensive repairs. The waterpump was $250 to fix, the radiator was $800 to fix for me. Can't imagine how much they'd cost for a BMW...Another reason to learn to do this stuff yourself I guess.

You might be surprised to find out that BMWs aren't necessarily that much more expensive to repair than most other cars. It's just that repairs are usually needed more often, which make the total cost of ownership that much higher. I can't remember what the radiator cost, but the water pump was in the $300 range, if memory serves.

For long-term owners, it makes sense to find an independent mechanic with whom you can develop a good relationship with. From my own experience, the right shop will look out for your interests because they value your patronage. Dealerships will not typically act in the same manner.
And learning to do even the simple things yourself can help tremendously.

-- Greg

[Artslinger]

To bad its not a manual, after all the repairs it would probably be a good buy for a high mileage car. You could get it cheap and put in a nice aftermarket clutch and shifter.

[bmw325]

You might be surprised to find out that BMWs aren't necessarily that much more expensive to repair than most other cars. It's just that repairs are usually needed more often, which make the total cost of ownership that much higher. I can't remember what the radiator cost, but the water pump was in the $300 range, if memory serves.

For long-term owners, it makes sense to find an independent mechanic with whom you can develop a good relationship with. From my own experience, the right shop will look out for your interests because they value your patronage. Dealerships will not typically act in the same manner.
And learning to do even the simple things yourself can help tremendously.

-- Greg


Interesting--overall i'm pleasantly surprised at how trouble-free the car is (not kidding). Overall I'm actually not seeing much (w/ the possible exception of the radiator and colling fan) that you wouldn't have had to do on any car (Toyota included) at around 100k. All cars will need new suspesniosn, bushings, etc. Maybe not a radiator, but then again on most other cars you would've been paying $700-$1000 to have the timing belt replaced every 60k-- so it evens out. Too bad that cooling system article in the Roundel didn't come out earlier- you could've replaced the fan before it failed.

Also, it sounds like (as we already knew) that one of the worst parts of BMWs is the cooling system. But, the radiator, water pump, thermostat and hoses actually don't cost too much. And, I was reading the procedure on replacing them and its really not bad at all. Even the electric cooling fan isn't too expesneive and is easy to replace. So, I don't think i'll mind just doing a preventative DIY of those items at 90k (looks like all of those items could be replaced w/ about 4-5 hours of DIY time maybe less) -- should cost around $800 in parts. The springs and shocks also don't seem too hard to DIY. I've read many of the repair procedures in the TIS, and I think BMW has done a good job making the e46 as easy to service as possible. Maybe not as good as old American V8-- but better than any modenr FWD car.
Also, this makes me happy i have a manual trans car -- I don't have an engine mounted cooling fan that can break itself apart, and I don't have a tranny that lasts just 150k. THen again, i have a clutch that will need to be replaced at 90-100k. BTW, did you ever change the fluid on your auto?

[Saintor]

I suppose so. But I still like the cars and want another one, albeit a used one, in the near future. Does this make me crazy or what? :)


-- Greg

Well, I have been there. I spent 8000$ in maintenance and repairs over 29 months on an used Audi.

[SergioK]

... in maintenance & repairs? Please indicate year & milleage and include tires, brakes, everything.


2000 323ci with 89k miles on the clock:

Since new, June 30th, 2000 delivery date, I've spent an average of $4000 per year for every single item I've ever bought for the car, except for fuel.

That might seem allot, but that also includes 40+ track days so my wear & tear is higher than most.

[GregE_325]

BTW, did you ever change the fluid on your auto?

I sure did. The whole concept of "lifetime" fluid fills for anything makes absolutely no sense. I hadn't done anything to the rear differential fluid until we discovered that there was such a bad leak. And by then new seals were necessary.

-- Greg

[GregE_325]

Well, I have been there. I spent 8000$ in maintenance and repairs over 29 months on an used Audi.

Ouch. I think I can understand your pain on that one. As much as I like Audi, there's just no way I can bring myself to buy one considering their troublesome nature.

-- Greg

[bmw325]

Now I'm on a search for a late 80's model 5 series to play with. Since it won't be my daily driver, I can work on it myself (well, except for the really hard stuff) and if anything breaks that I don't want to have fixed at that time, then it can just sit there if need be. I'd like to have something I could fix up a bit for light track duty.

-- Greg

Why not an e30-- woudn't that be cheaper and better for track duty?

BTW, how do you find the comfort of the Mazda 3 compared to your old BMW? My biggest complaint about my car isn't reliabilty or durability, its actually the lack of comfort. i have the sport seats, and they *seem* like they would be comfortable but they're not. I'm in pain after about an 1.5 hours of driving it. Doesn't seem to happen to me in other cars.

[Bill97Z]

I just turned a little over 50K miles on my 2001 325i.

Warranty repairs:

2 window regulators
Auxillary Fan
Final stage resistor (climate control controller)
Thermostat
idle Control Valve

Non Warranty repairs and Maintanance:

oil changes
Interior cabin microfilter
Rear tires at 35K miles
Front tires at 51K miles
Front and rear brakes (pads, rotors) at 51K miles
Control arms and ball joints (51K miles)
Struts and shocks will be next soon.....

[Desertnate]

I just rolled over 100K...I'm actually at 100098 miles right now on my '99 323i delivered in Jan of '99

Here is my list

Tires x3
Front Brakes x2
Rear Brakes
Control Arms
Oil Sensor x2
Air Bag wire harness
Air Bag sensor mat, Passenger side
Water Pump
Serpentine Belt
Bottom Belt
Moon Roof assembly
Thermostat

This has been spread over 5 years of very enjoyable ownership and the car has become more reliable as it has aged.

[GregE_325]

Why not an e30-- woudn't that be cheaper and better for track duty?

BTW, how do you find the comfort of the Mazda 3 compared to your old BMW? My biggest complaint about my car isn't reliabilty or durability, its actually the lack of comfort. i have the sport seats, and they *seem* like they would be comfortable but they're not. I'm in pain after about an 1.5 hours of driving it. Doesn't seem to happen to me in other cars. An E30 is on my list to consider. The only problem that I've had so far with E30's are finding ones that haven't lived a hard life. Every single one that I've looked at seems to have been abused. But I'm continuing to look. I've found more 5's in better condition, but you are right that the E30 would be a better track car.....if I can find one.

The Mazda 3 seats have been suprisingly comfortable. They are well bolstered and quite firm, which is good for my aching back. There is a manual lumbar adjustment, for which haven't quite figured out the best position. I need to play with it sometime soon. I've been so busy lately that I haven't even given the car a full detail cleaning, and I've owned it for 3 weeks! Ha!!! There is a pretty good range of adjustment for the seat height, as well as the lumbar cushion. So with a little fiddling I should be able to find the perfect position.

I can understand what you mean about the BMW seats. I had the standard ones, and for 3 years I was unable to get comfortable in them. Of course, I have some back problems which probably make me a bit more sensitive than most people. Almost every time I would get into the car I would adjust with the seat controls, and could never find the ideal position. I'm only 5'8"...maybe I'm not tall enough to own a BMW? :rofl:

We'll see how the Mazda seats do. I've yet to go on any longer trips to really tell how they feel, but I hope to soon.

-- Greg