^I'd rather my tank blew than my cylinder head gasket...

But early failures do happen with the tanks. As with just about every automotive part, there will be early failures in a limited number of cases. We very rarely saw 50,000 mile failures at the shop... but VERY commonly saw 100 - 130,000 mile failures. At their cost, that is an acceptable life span in most people's eyes.

Like I said, people aren't going to sign in to a forum to say how many miles their original tank (or other parts) have on them. Only when something fails. Forums can give the illusion that there are an unacceptable amount of failures happening.

Now, as with most auto manufacturers, BMW has dropped the ball in the past. If an unacceptable failure rate is reached they redesign/re-engineer parts. That's the reason for the "ended" part numbers in realoem.

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2005 X5 4.4i Build 04/05 Maintenance/Build Log
Nav, Pano, Sport (Purchased 06/14 w/ 109,000 miles) (Sold 8/15 w/121,000 miles)

2006 X5 4.8is Build 11/05 Maintenance/Build Log
Nav, DSP, Pano, Running Boards, OEM Tow Hitch, Cold Weather Pckg (Purchased 08/15 w/ 90,500 miles)

2010 X5 35d Build 02/10
Nav, HiFi, 6 DVD, Sports Pckg, Cold Weather Pckg, HUD, CAS, Running Boards, Leather Dash, PDC, Pano (Purchased 03/17 w/ 136,120 miles)