how long does my motor last

[c4racer]

Originally Posted by X Foomph

Sorry, I don't agree guys. As mentioned, with proper routine maintenance and not being used like a hire vehicle, why would a BMW engine not keep running past 6 or 700,000 miles plus.
I mean Ford, Holden and Toyota taxis seem to rack up massive milage. You don't see them dragged off the road and scrapped because they hit 200,000 miles. This is achieved only because of regular maintenace. Granted parts of the car especially plastic trim bits n pieces will probably fall apart or break but the motor should just keep on keeping on, no ??
Shame the same can't be said for the dreaded tranny hex.

My buddy runs a taxi service in CO. He uses Dodge minivans. He runs them to 200K miles and then sells them. He has only had one motor fail, and it was up near 100K miles. They do regular maint - basically oil changes every few weeks and whatever else is needed on schedule. Cmon now - if a Dodge motor can go past 200K easily with good maint even under severe service in the mountains by a taxi service - a BMW I6 is good for way more. My parents had a 1990 525i they took to 230K miles before wrecking it which ended up totaling it. Still ran like new. My sister has a 1992 Honda Accord with 240K miles, that I doubt has been all that well maintained. Still going.

I think 250K+ for a BMW I6 is very much reasonable - could easily go past 300K.

[FSETH]

I know it isn't the same exact engine, but I had an e30 with around 300,000 miles before I sold it and my current daily driver, a 1994 e36 325i, has 296,000 miles and it runs pretty smooth. It does burns about a quart and a half of oil every 3,000 miles, but that doesn't seem excessive. Especially considering how hard I drive it.

BMW sixes are bulletproof. Change the oil reqularly with OEM filters and you will be good for a very, very long time barring some sort of freak failure.

[Werewolf]

Originally Posted by X Foomph

Sorry, I don't agree guys. As mentioned, with proper routine maintenance and not being used like a hire vehicle, why would a BMW engine not keep running past 6 or 700,000 miles plus.
I mean Ford, Holden and Toyota taxis seem to rack up massive milage. You don't see them dragged off the road and scrapped because they hit 200,000 miles. This is achieved only because of regular maintenace. Granted parts of the car especially plastic trim bits n pieces will probably fall apart or break but the motor should just keep on keeping on, no ??
Shame the same can't be said for the dreaded tranny hex.

I am not sure I agree with you. I have not seen a newer BMW with over 200k miles let alone 600K. The closest I've seen is a e24 with 215k miles; a much simpler engine design than a double-Vanos I-6 3.0i.

Modern (2000+) BMW engines are
1) high-compression, high-revving and are more 'sensitive'
2) have more gadgets and sensors than older engines
3) sometimes have coolant-related issues (warped heads, etc)

I don't think the engine would make 600k or even 300k without a major rebuild. But I don't know if we will see one. Why? b/c the rest of the car will break down 1st / repair costs will be too much and the owner will scrap the car before the engine rebuild.

Let's wait and see

[dsm2925]

Originally Posted by Werewolf

I am not sure I agree with you. I have not seen a newer BMW with over 200k miles let alone 600K. The closest I've seen is a e24 with 215k miles; a much simpler engine design than a double-Vanos I-6 3.0i.

Modern (2000+) BMW engines are
1) high-compression, high-revving and are more 'sensitive'
2) have more gadgets and sensors than older engines
3) sometimes have coolant-related issues (warped heads, etc)

I don't think the engine would make 600k or even 300k without a major rebuild. But I don't know if we will see one. Why? b/c the rest of the car will break down 1st / repair costs will be too much and the owner will scrap the car before the engine rebuild.

Let's wait and see

[FSETH]

Originally Posted by Werewolf

I have not seen a newer BMW with over 200k miles

There are six cylinder e39's and e46's out there with well over 200k. I agree that 600k would be pretty hard to reach, but BMW engines are built well enough to get 300k without a tear down as long as they are properly maintained.

[JIMROD]

why wouldn't it last as long an E46 engine? I see pic in Roundel with these cars clocking 300000 miles. A straight 6 is a truck engine anyway. What we need is to have people take a pic of their high mileage X5. It would be interesting and would help offset all the naysayers. If I believed all the negativity written, I would have never bought my CPO X5.

[explicitdwk]

long story short, if well maintained, well over 300k

[X Foomph]

Re taxis and high milage.
Maybe one of our german members could sign in with possible high milage figures on german BMW taxis (as I'm sure they would have). Granted it won't be an X5 however it would be interesting to observe milage on say a 525 (2.5Litre) or 530 (3.0L).

[FSETH]

Originally Posted by JIMROD

why wouldn't it last as long an E46 engine? I see pic in Roundel with these cars clocking 300000 miles.

Yeah, I found this thread over at e46fanatics. Basically asking how many miles and what issues have you had. Many of the higher milage cars with 175k to 200k+ have not had any internal issues. Keep in mind that the newest post is almost a year old, so many of these are higher now. The highest one I read was near 300k miles.

High Mileage - Check In - E46Fanatics

Like I said, change the oil regularly and 200k-300k should be no problem.

[StanF18]

Originally Posted by Werewolf

I am not sure I agree with you. I have not seen a newer BMW with over 200k miles let alone 600K. The closest I've seen is a e24 with 215k miles; a much simpler engine design than a double-Vanos I-6 3.0i.

Modern (2000+) BMW engines are
1) high-compression, high-revving and are more 'sensitive'
2) have more gadgets and sensors than older engines
3) sometimes have coolant-related issues (warped heads, etc)

I don't think the engine would make 600k or even 300k without a major rebuild. But I don't know if we will see one. Why? b/c the rest of the car will break down 1st / repair costs will be too much and the owner will scrap the car before the engine rebuild.

Let's wait and see

We can debate whether typical BMW engines die at 300K miles or at 600K miles, but you've made the most relevant and practical point to this discussion: the rest of the car will break down LONG before the engine does! So if the OP is still around to hear feedback to his question, a well-maintained engine is NOT the rate-limiting factor on a 3.0i's "life expectancy".