how long does my motor last
 

how long does a motor in a bmw x5 3.0 last for miles wise. would anybody know?

Is it brand new to you, out of a crate, did you buy it used with x miles? Did you buy it new?

Posters here have reported 150,000+ miles...
Your mileage may vary. Things on/in/attached to the engine may
wear out, or break and need replacing in the meantime.
GL,mD

From 1 mile to 200,000 miles, depend on how you maintain your car.

THEY LAST FOR EVER, AS LONG AS YOU REPLACE WHAT IS NEEDED.

I would expect 200K+ with normal maintenance

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 ?? :dunno:
Shame the same can't be said for the dreaded tranny hex.

It will run until you turn it off!!! :D

I have 168K miles on my 3.0 and it still pulls like a mutha!!! The transmission on the other hand is a different story...

BMWs and X5s specifically may have many frequent issues: door locks, hatches, CV boot, water pump, etc. But there are 2 things that are bulletproof on BMWs: engine and steering. In fact, it is the German-engineered engines and the steering that makes BMWs what they are: world-beaters. As X Foomph pointed out, there is no reason why a 3.0 engine, or ANY post-1990 BMW engine should not last for 600,000 miles or more. The rest of the vehicle (trim, radio, transmission) may fall apart long before then, but the engine should keep on ticking. Assuming of course that you didn't brutalize the hell out of it by changing the oil only once every 60,000 miles or something retarded like that.

all depends on how you take care of her...

how are your driving habits?

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.

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.

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

:iagree:

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.

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.

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

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).

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.

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".

:iagree:

It eventually could be if you keep replacing parts. I have changed a ton of parts on my e36, which now has 294,000 miles. All new cooling system, driveshaft, differential, motor mounts, control arm bushings, Bilsteins and many other misc. parts. I keep replacing them becuase the engine is still strong. If it wasn't, it wouldn't be worth it to me. Now I know that the X5 is a much more complicated and expensive car than my e36, but some people may keep throwing new parts at a high mileage model if the engine is still running well.

The resale or salability of our cars as they get less expensive is also a consideration when repairing all the issues, you couldn't give away another brand car with 200,000 miles on it so yes, you end up putting more $ into a car you like but, you also can sell it much easier. Therefore we fix 'em. (didn't mean to drive off course here):sorry:
Gotta go now load up the X5 for vaca to Outer Banks.

I was kinda hoping to get 200K out of my 4.6is. I just purchased it with 95K on the clock. Runs and drives like a new car - all maint has been kept up always at the dealer. PPI showed no issues other than brakes were 2/3 worn. Some things have already been replaced - entire cooling system as preventative and alternator because it died. Also all other long term maint items have been done except spark plugs.

Now that is a V8, which may not last quite as long as a I6, but I had 200K as a reasonable service length in my head. And sure - some other things on the car are going to need to be replaced from time to time, and I kinda doubt the trans will make it that long. But considering the car is still just as nice as it was new, buying it for 1/4 of the original price when maybe 1/2 of it's useful life has expired is not a bad trade-off.

I had a E21 320 with 300K on it, stolen. Then had a E30 325 with 300K on it, sold it, saw it was still on the road 2 years later. I currently have a E32 740iL with 310K, yes a V8 M60 engine in it, still running strong, and a E53 4.4, another V8 M62 with 115K on it, original tran running strong. So expect it to last as long as you take care of it.... Taking it to Jiffy Lube for and a oil change is not quite what I call taking care of it either..... Needs a BMW oil filter!!!

Hi Guys,

Don't compare taxis to road cars as they aren't a good benchmark of what to expect in a family car.

The reason is that they are used in a VERY different way, meaning the wear and tear on the engine isn't as severe. I can't remember the article I read, but there are a number of factors that favour taxi engine life, including:
- far fewer cold starts per km driven (ie: cold started, then driven for 16 hours)
- I also read something along the lines of there are acids and stuff that get into your oil on a cold start. Something to do with the piston clearance on a cold engine lets a bit of fuel biproducts into the oil. This boils off in a taxi, but in a car that's run for 10 minutes then sits all day, things aren't as sweet.

Sorry my facts aren't bulletproof (haven't got time to do the research), but you get the idea...

As for what the BMW engine would get: dunno.. For the same km on an enginee, the one that does lotsa long freeway mile trips would be better than one that sits in traffic inching along day

Cheers,
Scott

Taking proper care of these German cars is way more important than on a Honda or Toyota for example. Some of those cars will go past 200K even if you do not do all the right things.

Well for what its worth, I am at 248,700. Still on the same tranny and drive line. No major repairs or builds, still on the same water pump. I have replaced the brakes quite a few times. Replaced one of the two catalytic converter, that was a real pain in the butt. Still on the same oil separator, and air suspension. And most importantly I drive this truck as hard as I can every day...I wished I had bought a 4.4 or 4.6, but now I am just going to drive it untill it dies just for curiosity.