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.
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!!!
146K on my 335, 225K on my truck. Love them both equally but in different ways, they’re both paid for, and just about anything I need on either is cheaper than a new car so I do my own work and will be sticking with the two I love until the wheels fall off.
i don’t care about mileage. then again, i tend to drive naturally aspirated i4/i6 bmws with manuals from rust free areas
No number cars are meant to be driven only time it makes sense to replace a car is for better safety or when cost of repair is more than the cost of the vehicle
Almost 300K km on my 08 E92and it seems like it’s not enough. The drivetrain is bulletproof. I daily it and it never lets me down.
I have one 10 years only put 40k miles on it. E46. Still haven’t sold it even though I got an x3 m40i. I will keep the x3 5-7 years since the repairs seem like a nightmare. The e46 was easy to work on. I’ll probably sell it because it irritates my wife. But it’s psychological. We’ve been thru a lot.
If I don’t get 200k out of a car I’m bullshit with it. I will drive them until it’s financially stupid to do so.
thanks everyone who chimed in to share their mileage! some great responses here and some have made me chuckle.
i hope my X5 can can make it to 100k and then 150k and so on.
i see some high mileage out there and well, challenge accepted!
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.
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.
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 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.