How expensive is a high mileage //M to maintain?

[Zikim]

I'm looking at this //M on Ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331952578422?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT -

Yes I know it has been around since the summer and has 131k miles but the question I have is can I maintain the //M myself or how low can the cost of ownership be? It would be a DD at 25k miles per year (hence why a high mileage car is attractive). What would the condition of the engine be like post 200k?

I have had my 3.0 preface lift for nearly 3 years now and fancy a change. I have done all the work on the zed myself in that time from Vanos, suspension, servicing, etc.

 

[srhutch]

From a servicing point of view, there should be no issues doing yourself. The shims are not that hard to check/change. It's only IF something goes wrong that it's going to cost more to fix due to ///M tax.

 

[Yorkie Z]

Think if you plan on changing the Rod bearing £700 for peace of mind. Then you could overhaul the vanos, it could be a good buy considering your planned mileage. Just do all the servicing yourself after that.

Tell him you've seen it advertised for months. Offer £8500, leave your phone number and walk away. Let him think about it for a few weeks. Clearly the cars not going anywhere.

 

[tomscott]

One thing to bare in mind is that they aren't great dailys, people do... but it wouldn't be my choice. Especially compared to your 3.0, really wouldn't have wanted to daily mine when I had it. The 3.0si is a far better car for that more relaxing less strenuous plus the MPG to me makes no sense again when you have the 3.0 lets be honest is 90% the M. Id keep the 3.0 and get a nice M for the weekend

I got 27mpg out of mine over the 25k that I put on it over the 3 years mixed hooning and driving long distances to see the gf and it needs to be super unleaded really. Work out the costs of fuelling it etc whereas if your dallying it and a decent commute which it sounds like you are the 3.0 can get 35-40mpg.

Also probably asking for a bit of trouble buying at that sort of mileage and expected mileage.

Just an opinion

 

[Smartbear]

Hi, I have the same opinion as Scott about using an M car as a workhorse when it's already covered a substantial mileage-it's probably not going to end well & the 3 litre is probably going to be the more durable out of the two.
Rob

 

[Argenta]

Funny tho, my friend (3.0Si Coupe) had a ride in mine (MCoupe with 19" and Eibach springs) and was astonished how comfortable & quiet it was compared to his runflat-OEM-Coupe.
I certainly have no comfort issues with the M, tho it was rougher on OEM springs. Don't know about the lower H6R springs.

So there...

Milage doesn't seem to affect reliability much. Mine's soon 180000km's and no problems or weird noises at all. Valve adjustments this summer tho which was a bit dear.

 

[tomscott]

Cant agree less, my M coupe with CSLs and H&R springs was spine shattering, fine for a hoon and weekend car but miserable as a commuter.

A 130k+ mile sports car isn't something I would be particularly happy to rely on for a daily.

The E89s are not in the same league when it comes to driver enjoyment but for a comfy quick daily there isn't much that can touch them especially with early 09 plate 3.0L starting at around £8k with mid mileage.

 

[mmm-five]

High mileage isn't a problem if you know 100% how it's been treated during all those miles.

Unfortunately, buying one with that mileage already and you'll probably only get a bit of random history for the 10 years it's been through the 10 owners.

I know how I've treated mine, and what's been replaced, so had no qualms putting over 140,000 miles on it as a daily driver & only car, track toy, ring toy, weekend hooner, etc.

Yes, putting that sort of mileage on it was expensive, but the expense was expected as I'd come from an e34 M5, and ultimately worked out about 50% less to run than the M5 did.

My 'log' is on Pistonheads HERE.

The only thing mine hasn't had replaced is the gearbox

 

[Gustavo7]

Mine is my daily driver, bought it with 83k, clocks showing 110k+, in slightly less than two years. Roughly 18k/year, then.

Mine is standard apart from the Eibach springs and spacers. I prefer harder car than a bouncy one, but it's not overly hard but definitely firm. Great fun daily driver will not break your back.

Reliability is immense, but then I change oil every 7k for piece of mind. Tyres last 10k (rears) fronts maybe twice as much. I run Michelin Pilot Super Sports. You can get better mileage of the tyres with other tyre make/model.

at 25k per year I would do average 4 oil changes. Buy well online and 6L of Castrol 10W60 + Mahle OX 187D oil filter can be had for £60-£65.

Inspection I will cost you around £450. Inspection II £750.

With around 14k as an interval between scheduled maintenance and your 25k expected annual mileage, you would never do two inspections in 12 months (28k between inspection I and II, or vice versa). So worst case you would spend £1000/year in scheduled maintenance + 4 oil changes, and six tyres (1 set of fronts + 2 sets of rears). Assuming you go for the best, that will be around £360 for the fronts + £880 for two sets of rears.

All in you would be £2250/year, £187/month on scheduled mainteance, preventive maintenance and tyres.

You would be spending 3 times as much in petrol.

Make sure you get a compression test carried out before you buy one as it will tell you a lot about the engine.
If you are in the London area give me a shout and I can run the original BMW Vanos test/diagnostic on the spot. Well, my mate can I'm sure he wouldn't mind.

Guaranteed driving pleasure. These cars are immensely reliable.

Do it.

 

[Gustavo7]

Plus if you are concerned about rod bearing failure, have an oil sample taken regularly and get it analyzed by a lab. 25 quid it costs.

I've just started to do so, it will enable me to build a history on the content of iron, copper, and lead. If these rise I know I know something is cooking.

 

[mmm-five]

I must be getting old

Even with my hooning, track days and ring trips, I'm getting about double the life out of my PSS than Gustavo7.

BTW, could easily require 2 inspections in a year as you could have an Insp1/2 in Jan on 130,000 miles, and an Insp1/2 at 144,000 miles as early as July. Shorter commutes (mine's 220 miles each way) and you're fuel economy will go down, so you could end up doing another Insp1/2 as early as December.

I definitely agree with Gustavo7's 'over-servicing' comment, as mine oil is changed every 2.5-3 months or normal driving, and also after a Ring trip.

 

[Gustavo7]

BTW, could easily require 2 inspections in a year as you could have an Insp1/2 in Jan on 130,000 miles, and an Insp1/2 at 144,000 miles as early as July.

Don't forget that we get a scheduled oil service between inspections, so if at 130,000mls he gets an Inspection I, at 144,000mls he will only require an oil change, Inspection II would come at 158,000mls.

 

[mmm-five]

BTW, could easily require 2 inspections in a year as you could have an Insp1/2 in Jan on 130,000 miles, and an Insp1/2 at 144,000 miles as early as July.

Don't forget that we get a scheduled oil service between inspections, so if at 130,000mls he gets an Inspection I, at 144,000mls he will only require an oil change, Inspection II would come at 158,000mls.

DOH

So use to doing the 7k oil changes that I used that as the multiplier

As I said, nothing wrong with 'over-servicing' :?

 

[Yorkie Z]

Plus if you are concerned about rod bearing failure, have an oil sample taken regularly and get it analyzed by a lab. 25 quid it costs.

I've just started to do so, it will enable me to build a history on the content of iron, copper, and lead. If these rise I know I know something is cooking.

Where do you get your oil analysed mate.?

 

[STUBOY2UK]

OP I have had the same thought as you on several occasions but even using man maths I can't make it viable :lol:

You're looking at an minimum extra £1,100 a year on fuel alone presuming you stick to normal unleaded, plus £200 extra road tax, and the insurance was an extra £100 for me. So even if nothing goes wrong and you do all the servicing and maintenance yourself, you're looking at an extra £1,400(ish) a year.

Throw in a couple of potential issues because of the high mileage and add a bit of ///M tax and I began to realise that sticking with the 3.0si was definitely the way forward for me.

 

[bmwaddict]

OP I have had the same thought as you on several occasions but even using man maths I can't make it viable :lol:

You're looking at an minimum extra £1,100 a year on fuel alone presuming you stick to normal unleaded, plus £200 extra road tax, and the insurance was an extra £100 for me. So even if nothing goes wrong and you do all the servicing and maintenance yourself, you're looking at an extra £1,400(ish) a year.

Throw in a couple of potential issues because of the high mileage and add a bit of ///M tax and I began to realise that sticking with the 3.0si was definitely the way forward for me.

Pretty much exactly the same thought process I've gone through, I'm in the same situation, and why I didnt go for the M from the beginning. I just can't make the numbers work at the moment, so holding off for a couple of years until I'm making more money and can make it work. I'm a keen modder too so things like wheels, performance exhausts etc add even more to the mix in terms of cost.

 

[Fishy Dave]

Hi Zikim,

Yes, you could do all the routine servicing yourself and I think it would make a decent daily driver too. The example you linked to makes perfect sense for what you have in mind. I enjoy driving my Z4MR to work but take almost an hours worth of back roads which makes me sad to see extra miles and mud go on the car, so tend to take the 3 series instead. The ride can be crashy so you'll soon know if you could live with it everyday; I commuted in my race Caterham for some time so the Z is limo like by comparison!

 

[mr wilks]

Once you are on top of it service wise i really don't see why the next 50k maintenance costs would cost any more than if you were going from 30k to 80k :? If you factored a extra £1000 to cover unexpected failures you have at least paid a fair sum for it in the first place ( if you got it £8500/ £8750 )
As Mmm-five points out your high mile gamble is more to do with how the car has covered its 131k & what the service record tells you
View the car with a open mind if you are seriously tempted & you may be surprised by the condition & how it drives
The last owner had it 8years which to my mind is very positive & ideally he will have covered the bulk of the miles
Be wary that the seller has zero feedback & if you do buy it first job is put the ///M boot badge on the correct side :wink: :

 

[srhutch]

if you do buy it first job is put the ///M boot badge on the correct side :wink: :

followed swiftly by cleaning the exhausts :wink:

 

[pHilli0]

You can make an ///M less of a daily problem with adjustable coilovers set on their softer settings, will make the ride much better than stock and able to adjust to any circumstance. But that is a few thousand £ to factor into the cost, hardly cheap. As a daily I would also vote a 3.0 Si is a much easier car, I would never have considered a stock M as a daily.
Or buy the ///M for occasional fun and have something super cheap as the daily as others have said.
The unexpected costs of the S54 going wrong will be thousands, if you get unlucky which is more likely if you are doing 25k a year.
Whatever ///M you bought would be overdue the bearing shell replacement at 134k miles, if not done which is likely as no major service has them in the replacement schedule. Plus a cam inspection would be highly recommended at that mileage.