BMW and M Power Owners

Soldato
Joined
14 Apr 2009
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Cheshire
More research. It I buy an f10 66 plate I presume i have a b47 engine which is less likely to have timing chain issues, but have to check it has had the egr valve replaced.

I'll get approved warranty for a year I know, but still make me think am I buying a ticking time bomb. Lol
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Dec 2004
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15,763
Any recommended places for buying parts online? My E90's v-belt is squealing so I want to replace it, and probably the tensioner at the same time.
 
Caporegime
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25 Nov 2004
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25,812
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On the road....
Saw a new shape 5 series at a bmw garage today. Fully loaded, but first service record was basically at 25000 miles.

It had done 25001. So literally just serviced. Is that a concern?

BMW themselves recommend - generally - you’d service a car every 10k or 12 months, whichever comes sooner, 25k is a lot and I’d wonder why it’s been left so long, maybe the owner was exceptional at not triggering the condition based service parameters like exceeding certain engine speeds from cold amongst others, maybe he just didn’t give a crap and let it run way past it’s due date.....

I’d be skeptical.

https://www.group1auto.co.uk/bmw/servicing-how-often-should-i-service-my-bmw
 
Caporegime
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25 Nov 2004
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25,812
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On the road....
My M140 is is dependent on how it's driven but it's first service is still showing at 20k.
Indeed hence me saying generally , as does the text in the link I posted.

Ultimately, modern service intervals are set to please accountants / fleet managers rather than with a view to any real degree of engine longevity or mechanical sympathies imo.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
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159,534
Regardless of a page on a dealers website trying to get you to service your car more often, you've not needed to service a BMW annually or 10k miles for almost 20 years now. BMW service intervals have been variable for decades and every 24 months since about 2003.

Our Mini had its first service at about 22k - it's therefore possible a G30 could go even further with more motorway usage. There is absolutely nothing wrong with BMW variable servicing, my E39 made it 200,000 miles on BMW longlife servicing and that was a car introduced 20 years ago! Things have moved on even more since.
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Jun 2005
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9,066
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Nottinghamshire
BMW themselves recommend - generally - you’d service a car every 10k or 12 months, whichever comes sooner, 25k is a lot and I’d wonder why it’s been left so long, maybe the owner was exceptional at not triggering the condition based service parameters like exceeding certain engine speeds from cold amongst others, maybe he just didn’t give a crap and let it run way past it’s due date.....

I’d be skeptical.

https://www.group1auto.co.uk/bmw/servicing-how-often-should-i-service-my-bmw
Jesus assuming that website is real it’s severely misleading
 
Soldato
Joined
10 Oct 2006
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3,563
Regardless of a page on a dealers website trying to get you to service your car more often, you've not needed to service a BMW annually or 10k miles for almost 20 years now. BMW service intervals have been variable for decades and every 24 months since about 2003.

Our Mini had its first service at about 22k - it's therefore possible a G30 could go even further with more motorway usage. There is absolutely nothing wrong with BMW variable servicing, my E39 made it 200,000 miles on BMW longlife servicing and that was a car introduced 20 years ago! Things have moved on even more since.

My old 530d needed an engine rebuild by 150k due to snapping it's timing chain (I sold it just under 100k), would more regular oil changes have helped with the chain wear I expect it probably would have. Our old Mini's timing chain would get noticeably nosier on a cold start when it was coming up for it's service and be silent after the oil change. I bet in the future that car will have chain/tensioner issues. It's why I will never keep a modern car past the extended warranty period.
 

mrk

mrk

Man of Honour
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18 Oct 2002
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South Coast
Probably not though... Modern engine could actually be harmed with too frequent oil changes due to the volatility of oils. You get burn off in new oil of various hydrocarbons that can clog up a lot of things. My guess is that you're unlikely to get issues either way but I think BMWs system is actually kind of smart - essentially the more motorway type relaxed driving you do, the less oil needs to be changed often. This makes good sense and can be calculated from mileage, cold/hot cycles etc... They know this info and give you guidance based on that rather than you guessing on your usage like most manufacturers.

This has been my thoughts for a while too but regularly when I speak to someone who has had an E46 M3 or E9x M3 or even an E60 M5 I am told time and time again that oil changes should be done mid service interval, so every 6-7k miles instead of the BMW stated interval of up to 15k miles (or less depending driving style). The bulk of this notion was to prolong rod bearing shell lifespan but the reality is that even BMW acknowledge that shells should be replaced from ~80k miles and the vast majority of failures are in the 80k to 100k mile range although it does totally depend on the kind of life the engine has been put through by its often many owners.

As some will know from the thread here, my original S54 had bearing shell failure happened at 114k miles. There were no symptoms before this point, was just driving off the motorway then suddenly loud ticking. Again online people said you often hear symptoms beforehand but not so in my case. The S54 is a rattly engine by nature, pop the hood and you'd think something was broken inside but this is how it is.

I guess what you say makes perfect sense. BMW's numbers are sound. It is a bunch of umbers derived from millions of £ in R&D and long term testing. Bearing shells are a wear and tear item and should absolutely be replaced. Prolonging their life beyond 100k miles is a negative effort. Preventative maintenance and mechanical sympathy is the key here with stuff like this. Let the fluids reach optimum temps before going beyond 2500rpm and accelerate smoothly as well. You get the idea.

There’s a guy round the corner from me who will clock anything with a digital odometer for around £20. His customers seem to generally own modern BMWs / Audis etc which have been used for long distance work trips. He regularly takes over 100k miles off, and the smarter owners will go to him every 6/12 months before the service so all the records look like they match up, with the car doing 4-5k miles per year instead of 30k. As a buyer it’d be almost impossible to spot unless you had dealer level equipment.

Typically there are very easy tells for a car's mileage based on its visual condition inside and out. Very very few people who clock their cars will be the same type of people who meticulously maintain the interiors as well. A clocked car that has had 30k miles+ shaved off it would stand out when you sit and look around the cabin.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Mar 2013
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9,121
This has been my thoughts for a while too but regularly when I speak to someone who has had an E46 M3 or E9x M3 or even an E60 M5 I am told time and time again that oil changes should be done mid service interval, so every 6-7k miles instead of the BMW stated interval of up to 15k miles (or less depending driving style). The bulk of this notion was to prolong rod bearing shell lifespan but the reality is that even BMW acknowledge that shells should be replaced from ~80k miles and the vast majority of failures are in the 80k to 100k mile range although it does totally depend on the kind of life the engine has been put through by its often many owners.

As some will know from the thread here, my original S54 had bearing shell failure happened at 114k miles. There were no symptoms before this point, was just driving off the motorway then suddenly loud ticking. Again online people said you often hear symptoms beforehand but not so in my case. The S54 is a rattly engine by nature, pop the hood and you'd think something was broken inside but this is how it is.

I guess what you say makes perfect sense. BMW's numbers are sound. It is a bunch of umbers derived from millions of £ in R&D and long term testing. Bearing shells are a wear and tear item and should absolutely be replaced. Prolonging their life beyond 100k miles is a negative effort. Preventative maintenance and mechanical sympathy is the key here with stuff like this. Let the fluids reach optimum temps before going beyond 2500rpm and accelerate smoothly as well. You get the idea.



Typically there are very easy tells for a car's mileage based on its visual condition inside and out. Very very few people who clock their cars will be the same type of people who meticulously maintain the interiors as well. A clocked car that has had 30k miles+ shaved off it would stand out when you sit and look around the cabin.
I'm not sure it would, if it's 130k vs 90k I bet you wouldn't tell in the interior. There was a guy selling his m3 on cutters and it had lower mileage than my 911 (which had 107k when I sold it) and his drivers seat looked mega worn, far more than the 911. I realuse they are completely different cars, but it depends totally in the driver.
 
Associate
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14 Dec 2003
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501
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Lincs
Could anyone offer any advice? When taking a call in my 640d F13 the call has become unclear and noisy, this is connected to an iPhone. This occurs on any part of the journey, so its not reception related. Its only just started doing this and I'm not sure if there is an option that has been selected in error (or not), either on the car or the phone. Seems to be car related as the phone is crystal clear on a a normal voice call.
 
Soldato
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location, location
Could anyone offer any advice? When taking a call in my 640d F13 the call has become unclear and noisy, this is connected to an iPhone. This occurs on any part of the journey, so its not reception related. Its only just started doing this and I'm not sure if there is an option that has been selected in error (or not), either on the car or the phone. Seems to be car related as the phone is crystal clear on a a normal voice call.
I sometimes found this on an older E series car when you had an alternate phone added (e.g. 2 x BT devices), but otherwise I couldn't think what might cause it.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Sep 2012
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3,860
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Monterrey, Mexico
Typically there are very easy tells for a car's mileage based on its visual condition inside and out. Very very few people who clock their cars will be the same type of people who meticulously maintain the interiors as well. A clocked car that has had 30k miles+ shaved off it would stand out when you sit and look around the cabin.

Here I'd say it's the opposite: those who clock their cars are usually people who have a lot to gain from it, i.e. they own a modern, relatively high value car which would have said value significantly reduced by high mileage, therefore they try to keep the car in as good condition as possible. The other tricky thing is that it's perfectly possible to turn a brand new car into a shed in under 30k miles: I've seen cars with 25k on them that are in worse condition than my car on 90k, therefore when you're buying it's very hard to tell anything about the car other than if it was owned by a careful owner or not, and plenty of careful owners clock their cars.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Sep 2012
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3,860
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Monterrey, Mexico
I hear this a lot but I'm not sure how you make a new car into a shed so quickly. Driving a car hard does not make it into a shed. Reving when cold, ECU cuts this out in modern BMWs. Most cars with actual break ins kinda enforce it and there's still the hard break in afficionados. So what would I have to do?

Talking of which I should really check how many launches my car has done... Next owner might get some surprises if he looks!

Drive at full speed into potholes / kerbs / speed bumps, let kids or pets damage / pull bits off the interior, leave the car in direct sunlight all day, not take any care when opening the doors near walls / fences, scrape the bumpers when parking and get a cheap, poor quality repair, not get it serviced on time, the list is endless.

Where I live, most cars with more than 50k miles on them that aren’t enthusiast owned are sheds, due to a combination of a lack of care and poor road conditions.
 

Jez

Jez

Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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33,073
Here I'd say it's the opposite: those who clock their cars are usually people who have a lot to gain from it, i.e. they own a modern, relatively high value car which would have said value significantly reduced by high mileage, therefore they try to keep the car in as good condition as possible. The other tricky thing is that it's perfectly possible to turn a brand new car into a shed in under 30k miles: I've seen cars with 25k on them that are in worse condition than my car on 90k, therefore when you're buying it's very hard to tell anything about the car other than if it was owned by a careful owner or not, and plenty of careful owners clock their cars.
Exactly the same here, lease cars or cars which otherwise cannot show a high mileage when returned, therefore usually new. Completely disagree with mrk. My E-Class is another example at the other end where it is now heavily devalued due to mileage, it just runs up and down the the M40 with only me sat in it, i hardly touch the controls, never operate the windows, touch very few surfaces, etc, yet it has now nearly 150k on it due to just sitting on cruise control for 3-4 hours per day. I cant/wont do it due to the service history showing the miles covered (damn! :p) but if i altered it to around 60-70k miles, there is absolutely no way that anybody would know on inspection.
 
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