Mileage Between Services

Chompers

Member
 Co. Down, NI
Hi,

After my intro in the Newbie section, thought I would pop in here and fire of a few questions if thats ok :driving:

In the early stages of looking for a 3rd car and wondered what kind of mileage you get between services? Have looked a couple of MR's and one had on the face of it very poor history. Was late with the run in @ 1.6k next in the book @ 19k then the last at 31k. This car has had 4 owners and has been sold through BMW main dealers. So I guess AUC's have been done but the service book doesn't of course show these nor the work carried out.

Next question I have is previous owners. Guessing that the MR 's like M3's tend to change hands more frequently than the more main stream stuff but just wondered what the forums thought were on at what no. does no. owners become an issue for resale later down the line?

Lastly, for now anyway :D I would be interested to hear from any of you that may have gone from a 3.0Si to an MR. Pricing at the moment puts the 2 very close to each other. Of course I would like the MR but the OH will drive the car aswell and running costs have to be considered.

Think I'd better stop there for now, so hello to you all and look forward to hearing your thoughts :thumbsup:
 
Firstly, welcome! I can't really comment on service intervals as mine had 13,500 to go to inspection ii when I bought it. Guessing circa 16k?


Tapatalking...
 
Chompers said:
...what kind of mileage you get between services?
Usually from min 9,000 to absolute max 15,000 miles. How long to chomp(!) though 500 gallons?

Chompers said:
Next question I have is previous owners. Guessing that the MR 's like M3's tend to change hands more frequently than the more main stream stuff but just wondered what the forums thought were on at what no. does no. owners become an issue for resale later down the line?
A lot of cars were pre-registered BMW cars or demo cars so I'd say a two owner car will be pretty rare, after 3-6 years most will have between 4 and 6.

Wouldn't put too much thought into it, get one with a decent mileage on it, not too high or low, same with owners, then just enjoy it without thinking too much about it.
 
Thanks for the feedback :thumbsup:

Yes had thought between 10 & 15 would be about right similar to our current BMW's. Would I be correct in saying that if mileage was on the low side then timescale would come into play again as per std cars? On that basis the car I was looking at has too many issue unless more history can be found.

Wouldn't put too much thought into it, get one with a decent mileage on it, not too high or low, same with owners, then just enjoy it without thinking too much about it.

Yep, trying not to but you now what its like you have all the questions now but when you see the right car they all get forgoten :D
 
:thumbsup: And read every link in Wondermike's signature - lots of great stuff that I wish I'd read before I bought mine :D
 
Hi

I don't think I'd be too hung up on a running in service at 1600 miles rather than 1200. If I owned the car from new I'd probably have had it serviced within 5 or 10 miles of 1200, but I don't think 1600 will cause any problems and I believe it's within BMWs allowed timeframe. 19k to 31k seems fine at 12k between services, although the 17k between running in and the first service seems a bit much to me. :?

My impression is that M3s go through more owners than Z4MR/Cs, although virtually every (all?) Z4Ms I've enquired about were first registered and owned by BMW...

Quite a few threads over the last few months about 3.0 vs M, most seem to say the M is worth the extra cost but have a search of those threads and make your own mind up :thumbsup:
 
Running in service is OK at 1600 as said wouldn't get hung up on it. I went from 2.5si sport to MR nearly six years ago and have never regretted it. Incredible car loved every minute of it.

Car has been very reliable and driven as it should be. If I was looking for one I'd be looking for a 2/3 owner car ( with BMW first owner often), 20-40K, garaged with full service history.

A sports exhaust of some sort is a good mod on the 'M's as it adds to the drama :)
 
sammyz said:
If I was looking for one I'd be looking for a 2/3 owner car ( with BMW first owner often), 20-40K, garaged with full service history.

These are along the lines I have been thinking :thumbsup: BMW GB cars quite easy to spot and all bar 2 of the BMW's I have bought have been ex-GB cars. Its finding a car with just 2 private owners after that seems to be getting a little harded. Now that both the models I am looking at represent such amazing value I guess its going to get harder still :thumbsdown:

Interesting feedback on the runnning in side of things. I have seen and heard so much about how important this is to be done on time, hence why I challenged the car I was looking at.
 
Chompers - you devil cheat, how dare you show up here without contacting me.

You even skipped our Christmas dinner and have been AWOL since that "shirt" incident in Bristol :D
 
And I have one of the few non BMW registered ones, mine, all mine from day one :)
 
pvr said:
Chompers - you devil cheat, how dare you show up here without contacting me.

You even skipped our Christmas dinner and have been AWOL since that "shirt" incident in Bristol :D

Why would I contact you :evil: !!!! I'm looking for helpful and informative information from the nice people on here :D

I see things haven't changed much on the sister lorry site :poke:

Guess I will have to show my face over there and say Hi :tumbleweed:
 
I recently bought a ///M - 56 plate with just 15,000 miles. It has had 4 previous owners but when you consider it's age and mileage, it can only have been used as a weekend car for a series of owners. So don't be put off. I'm told +3 owners is fairly common.

As for 3.0 or ///M - I had the same thought process. Head said 3.0 would be ample and better on the wallet. However soooo pleased the heart won out. I admit it - it's an ego thing and also a craving for speed.
 
Putter Whore said:
I recently bought a ///M - 56 plate with just 15,000 miles. It has had 4 previous owners but when you consider it's age and mileage, it can only have been used as a weekend car for a series of owners. So don't be put off. I'm told +3 owners is fairly common.

As for 3.0 or ///M - I had the same thought process. Head said 3.0 would be ample and better on the wallet. However soooo pleased the heart won out. I admit it - it's an ego thing and also a craving for speed.

Cheers Putter :thumbsup: Agreed the MR would be fab, liking your one by the way 8) sounds very nice

So a few owners in the book doesn't look like a big issue. Thought this was going to be easy :?
 
Quick question on the mileage / max 2yr period between services, i have had a doubt sowed in my mind from reading something on another forum! :roll:

Services are Oil -> Inspec 1 -> Oil -> Inspec 2 and repeat.
Am i correct in thinking that if the mileage limit ISN'T hit between services and the car reaches 2 years since the last service it MUST have that FULL next service and NOT just an oil change?

eg 2006 car, oil service is done in 2008, car then only does 5k miles in the next 2 year time frame to 2010 and so hasnt hit the mileage indicator but it must have the Inspection 1 done as its been 2 years since the oil change in 2008?
Or can it just have an oil change and only have the Inspection 1 done when the mileage indicator hits 0?
 
duckson said:
Quick question on the mileage / max 2yr period between services, i have had a doubt sowed in my mind from reading something on another forum! :roll:

Services are Oil -> Inspec 1 -> Oil -> Inspec 2 and repeat.
Am i correct in thinking that if the mileage limit ISN'T hit between services and the car reaches 2 years since the last service it MUST have that FULL next service and NOT just an oil change?

eg 2006 car, oil service is done in 2008, car then only does 5k miles in the next 2 year time frame to 2010 and so hasnt hit the mileage indicator but it must have the Inspection 1 done as its been 2 years since the oil change in 2008?
Or can it just have an oil change and only have the Inspection 1 done when the mileage indicator hits 0?
You only need the minimum every 2 years to maintain FSH - which in our case is an oil service.

DO NOT reset the service indicator when you do this.

Continue to follow that routine until the SI shows a scheduled service is due.
 
Thanks. So you could have a number of oil services done inbetween each Inspection?

For example i automatically thought this was out of BMW schedule:-
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3768206.htm

As i expected the inspection to be have to have been done in 2010! It seems that 24k miles would be about right for an Inspection 1 then and all should (or could) be in order.
 
duckson said:
Thanks. So you could have a number of oil services done inbetween each Inspection?

For example i automatically thought this was out of BMW schedule:-
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3768206.htm

As i expected the inspection to be have to have been done in 2010! It seems that 24k miles would be about right for an Inspection 1 then and all should (or could) be in order.

Depending when that car was registered it may have only had

Running In > Oil > Inspec 1

It's unlikely and that would mean oil service due soon (2 years), most likely had two oil services before the Inspec1.

My car will do 2-4k per year so will have a couple of oil services between each inspection service at least. Tappets will only wear due to use so no point doing them early.
 
mmm-five said:
You only need the minimum every 2 years to maintain FSH - which in our case is an oil service.

DO NOT reset the service indicator when you do this.
So with a car that has 1800 miles to its oil service and the 2 year time period is up, you are advising having an oil service, then another oil service in a further 1800 miles.
Do you work for BMW?
:rofl:
 
If it was me i'd just have the oil service as the SI has nearly scheduled and have it reset with an Inspection being up next.
If i did a very small yearly mileage and it would be a fair while off i'd have another oil service after 1800 miles and then reset the SI.
 
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