How many miles do you put into your car before you say, the mileage is X and I need to get a new car? Do you drive your car to the ground? Do you say when my car hits so many miles, I’ll get a new one? Do you just just keep fixing what is broken and full steam ahead?
My friend had an X5 with I want to say either 250k or maybe 300k before he finally broke down and retired the bucket for a newer one. I don’t remember how the old his car was but he does drive a lot. For reference, he bought a 2022 X5 and already has over 80K miles. Again, he drives a lot of work. The only reason he even bought a new one was because his mechanic refused to continue to work on his old car, LOL.
I have a 2018 and I’m coming up to 80K probably by the end of year. Still runs great with no issues aside the regular maintenance needed. Sometimes I think I want to trade it in for a new one, then I say no, I’m run this bad boy into the ground.
Just got me thinking what every other BMW owner does when you begin to get into the high mileage.
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Mine is not about mileage. It’s when the next BMW I want has depreciated to an acceptable level!
Infinity. Just do maintenance and be happy. That’s why my brother just sold his e36 328 convertible at 287k miles to a friend of ours so he could make room for his newly acquired corvette. His own words, not mine: “if I had the space, I would’ve kept it. That car was a blast to fuck around with since it was cheap enough to not care as much about, but still fast enough to have fun.”
The magic number for me is 180k. I do some extended maintenance every 60k so twice in the lifetime of the car.
180k was my number. got 2 cars to that mark. But I also feel like 10 years old might be a new magic number for me. And realistically that’s gonna be like 75k miles. Still worth selling and not a giant maintenance project.
Im just passing 120k on my 2015 x5, but it’s a diesel so….aiming to get more than double that :)
How do you like it? Any issues with the timing chain? Did you emissions delete it?
I absolutely love it. Have had no issues with the timing chain although I do keep it closely monitored so I can stay ahead of it if it does become a problem. Everything is stock for the emissions and I am also planning to remove it possibly next year.
227,632 in my case 2012 535xi
525i E60 from 2007 and I’ve only put 120k miles onto it, I keep up with maintenance very meticulously (Google Sheets of every purchase or repair/maintenance done with a sum of total cost) . considering getting an android CCC unit for Carplay. It certainly isn’t the fastest car or have that instant torque but the drive and (hydraulic)steering and everything is soooo smooth. When I called BMW how much a new windshield was they said 2k for the glass and 2k for labor :( , regardless
I plan on the car to outlive me because I also like not having a car payment.
Looking back I guess when I’m sick of fixing it or feel like I’m spending too much to fix it relative to its value.
I feel that buying a car is really just like renting it. You pay a large amount and sometime later you sell it for a lesser amount. If you divide the difference between the two by the number of months you had it you get the monthly rental cost. For accuracy include all the repair work. For example, a $30k car over 6 years will have cost you around $260 per month to own, purely in depreciation. Keep it another 6 years and that number drops dramatically. A more expensive car is far more on a monthly basis of course.
I keept my car util some expansive issue appear .
My previous 3 series was gone at 370.000 km /230.000 miles because at some point there was smoke from the exhaust ( diesel engine ) caused by a leaking turbo.
Bmw said repair will be 3500 €, more than the car value so i trade it in for a new 3 series, the one i’m driving now and just last week had an oil leak, i’m waiting for the bmw center to call me and tell me the price, i may sell it at 220.000 km.
I never keep a car out of warranty. I trade in every 2 years mostly.
There’s no definitive mileage when you must replace a BMW from a reliability standpoint. But here are some considerations around higher mileage vehicles:
- 200k+ miles is when more expensive issues like engine/transmission may start popping up in many BMWs. But not necessarily if regular maintenance has been kept up.
- If the vehicle has a thorough service history and has aged well visually, no reason it still can’t go strong for awhile.
- An older high mileage BMW out of warranty tends to get expensive to repair and maintain though. Budget for increased costs.
- Many start looking to trade theirs in from 150k miles up to 200k when repair frequency picks up or the car starts feeling worn.
- Leasing/buying new and getting a fresh warranty every few years appeals to some rather than prolonging repairs.
There’s certainly no definitive line you have to trade a BMW in. With TLC some do last and run for 300k+ miles. Do the math on your repair costs, how it drives, and other factors. If it makes financial sense to keep fixing it, drive on!
80k. Takes me 4 years to get there, then replace the car. I want a new car after 2 years, but can’t justify the cost.
For me it’s until they become unreliable. For example:
2006 X3 with M54B30 motor. Purchased 7 years ago with 122k miles and now have 201k miles. Never brokendown on the side of the road, never refused to start and never had to be towed. Spent about $8-9k to keep it immaculately maintained and everything in good repair/working. Have no plan to get rid of it anytime soon.
2013 X5 xDrive35i. Purchased 1 year ago with 108k miles. Now at 126k miles. It has spent the majority of the last 4 months at the dealership for a misfire issue. I’ve had to bring it back now 3 times and spent about $6k on this problem. Outside of that I’ve spent an additional $3k or so on maintenance and repairs. It’s had to be towed twice. It had to be left at work once for a repair (worked at a repair shop at the time, otherwise it would’ve been towed 3 times). It’s been at the dealership for almost a month now with 3 mechanics trying to figure out wtf is wrong with it. They suspect it’s the engine wiring harness for the coil packs and ECM, and the ECM itself are both bad. After replacing the high pressure fuel pump, vacuum pump, all injectors, all plugs and coils packs (both twice), doing an oil change (fuel mixed with oil due to stuck open injectors, stuck because fuel pump disintegrated and sent bits of shrapnel throughout fuel system), testing the compression, checking for car on buildup and a list of other things I’m done with it and planning on replacing it as soon as I can afford to. (Just moved from US to Germany and financially recovering from that, some health issues, car repairs, house repairs, vet bill for cat repairs…it’s been a rough 6 months). I’ll probably be replacing it in about a year with a brand new X5 xDrive40i or the newest lowest mileage Lexus GX460 I can find (unfortunately they’ll have been replaced with the GX550 by the time of can afford one).
I got a 2012 x5 with only 90k. My oil pan has been leaking for the last five years. I need to fix the air conditioning this spring but other than that it’s still running pretty well. I do have a seatbelt issue and one of my parking sensors is gone but mechanically it’s pretty decent. I changed the water pump, thermostat and valve cover up within the last two years. I’m definitely gonna buy a new CPO X5 in the next two years though.
wait wait wait
you have a 2012 with only 90K on it? do you not drive your car? damn that low mileage there!!!
For me it depends on my “inspiration” or a “vision” of the next BMW I want to modify/own.
I used to lease BMW’s and while it was fun to have a new toy every 3 years, I went back to buying used BMWs because I enjoyed modifying and keeping them until I wanted to without dealing with the lease return process.
I bought my E39 almost 6 years ago as a project. I have no intent to ever get rid of it until I’m an old lady who won’t be able to drive a manual anymore.
I bought my 2017 G12 2 years ago. It currently has 49k miles. There’s no set time frame of when I’d like to sell it. I plan on keeping it for another 3+ years or if I decide I want to upgrade.