Who has the highest mileage?

[Gibbo2286]

That BMW engines are so good is just German propaganda, Dr Goebells would have been proud of them.

One of my customers had a 3 series with just genuine 30k on the clock, one of the valve rockers had broken so he'd lost a cylinder, when I came to repair it I found that the camshaft lobes were pretty well all worn off.

I suggested at the dealers when I went for the parts that this was unusual and I bet they didn't sell many camshafts, their answer was it was common and that they sold about six sets, camshafts and rockers every month.

[addo]

Interesting. Here those Teutonic brands often fall into the hands of "aspirational" second or third owners who cannot budget for the upkeep.

But we are well past looking at PSA-designed/built engine durability now.

[Gibbo2286]

As for mileage and servicing back in the sixties when BP introduced their first multigrade detergent oil 'Viscostatic' they did a promotion where to avoid any claims of fixing they bought a batch of cars direct from the various maker's showrooms, they then drove those cars for a hundred thousand miles only stopping to change the oil and filter at the prescribed intervals, then stripped and measured all the working parts to see the results.

The Hillman Minx current at the time had no measurable wear and was still usng less than a pint of oil per thousand miles, exceptional in those days, a number of the others fared similarly, the big flop was the Austin Mini which started chucking out clouds of smoke after only around 3k miles, they pulled the head off only to find that there was a self tapping screw trapped down the side of a piston, sabotage/accident? I don't think they ever found out but they put the head back on and completed the test, the resultant oil cosumption for the Mini was as you can guess pretty abyssmal but the wear other than the screw damage was minimal.

Just found this: http://www.anglia-models.co.uk/history-bp-trial.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Duke137]

That BMW engines are so good is just German propaganda, Dr Goebells would have been proud of them.

One of my customers had a 3 series with just genuine 30k on the clock, one of the valve rockers had broken so he'd lost a cylinder, when I came to repair it I found that the camshaft lobes were pretty well all worn off.

I suggested at the dealers when I went for the parts that this was unusual and I bet they didn't sell many camshafts, their answer was it was common and that they sold about six sets, camshafts and rockers every month.

Ambiguous statement.

Which engine was it?

How do you know there had not been previous 'work' done?

How many owners had the car had?

etc etc etc

You say the dealer said they sold about 6 sets well depending on the engine it was for I know quite a few lads who have rebuilt BMW engines because the cars have a cult following. Much like old MG's or VW's one of my mates bought a load of new parts and is stroking his 2.5 M20 engine to 2.8 so of course the dealers will sell these parts

I also care to add that your experiences with BMW engines I am sure not solely isolated to a BMW only problem I am confident that many other manufacturers such as the infamous "MG Headgasket" range....

Like all cars without delivery miles/warranty there are too many factors that can affect an engine fault of failure.

[Northern_Mike]

My previous Xant had 220kish when I sold it, I think it's on 230-240k now and shows no signs of stopping any time soon. I get the feeling that it's going to be one of the cars that will still be used as a daily driver for a good couple of decades yet! Had it's first clutch at just under 200k IIRC!

Yep, it's still going strong Kev. I heard from my brother just yesterday that he planned to take a picture of the mileage in a week or so when it reaches his date of birth, 230177.

It's had, erm, an oil change, a set of leak-off pipes, a new accumulator and a set of front pads in that time I believe. I'll see if I can get you a pic of it over xmas, though I suspect it won't be in the cleanest state ever, it being winter and my brother not being one for washing exteriors of cars..

Rattiva has over 220k on her, and is still going with a leaky rear electrovalve. <insert curse>

My C5 is a baby, with only 109k on it.

My last XM had over 240k on it when I sold it, last I heard it was still going strong with over 320k on it. All but one of my Saab C900s had over 200k on them, and used no water or oil. One ate it's turbo spectacularly, but that was, I suspect, my fault.

[Gibbo2286]

That BMW engines are so good is just German propaganda, Dr Goebells would have been proud of them.

One of my customers had a 3 series with just genuine 30k on the clock, one of the valve rockers had broken so he'd lost a cylinder, when I came to repair it I found that the camshaft lobes were pretty well all worn off.

I suggested at the dealers when I went for the parts that this was unusual and I bet they didn't sell many camshafts, their answer was it was common and that they sold about six sets, camshafts and rockers every month.

Ambiguous statement.

Which engine was it?

How do you know there had not been previous 'work' done?

How many owners had the car had?

etc etc etc

You say the dealer said they sold about 6 sets well depending on the engine it was for I know quite a few lads who have rebuilt BMW engines because the cars have a cult following. Much like old MG's or VW's one of my mates bought a load of new parts and is stroking his 2.5 M20 engine to 2.8 so of course the dealers will sell these parts

I also care to add that your experiences with BMW engines I am sure not solely isolated to a BMW only problem I am confident that many other manufacturers such as the infamous "MG Headgasket" range....

Like all cars without delivery miles/warranty there are too many factors that can affect an engine fault of failure.

I wasn't intending to be any more than general on the subject but in answer to your questions the car was one owner, under 30k miles BMW 6 cylinder 2.0L, dealer serviced with a ream of invoices for back up, my customer was a real petrol head enthusiast who bought it for it's spec. and history, for whom I also maintained a 1950s Mercedes coupe, a Riley 2.5 RMF, a Morris 1300 estate that did all his day to day work was faultless for several years and constantly produced 53mpg (all recorded in his farm spreadsheets) plus all his agricultural vehicles.

I never picked out BMW for any special reason other than the constant 'BMW is wonderful and everything German is superbly engineered' comments. I realise that many other makers have their dogs. Just a 'speak as you find' post.

[Duke137]

That BMW engines are so good is just German propaganda, Dr Goebells would have been proud of them.

One of my customers had a 3 series with just genuine 30k on the clock, one of the valve rockers had broken so he'd lost a cylinder, when I came to repair it I found that the camshaft lobes were pretty well all worn off.

I suggested at the dealers when I went for the parts that this was unusual and I bet they didn't sell many camshafts, their answer was it was common and that they sold about six sets, camshafts and rockers every month.

Ambiguous statement.

Which engine was it?

How do you know there had not been previous 'work' done?

How many owners had the car had?

etc etc etc

You say the dealer said they sold about 6 sets well depending on the engine it was for I know quite a few lads who have rebuilt BMW engines because the cars have a cult following. Much like old MG's or VW's one of my mates bought a load of new parts and is stroking his 2.5 M20 engine to 2.8 so of course the dealers will sell these parts

I also care to add that your experiences with BMW engines I am sure not solely isolated to a BMW only problem I am confident that many other manufacturers such as the infamous "MG Headgasket" range....

Like all cars without delivery miles/warranty there are too many factors that can affect an engine fault of failure.

I wasn't intending to be any more than general on the subject but in answer to your questions the car was one owner, under 30k miles BMW 6 cylinder 2.0L, dealer serviced with a ream of invoices for back up, my customer was a real petrol head enthusiast who bought it for it's spec. and history, for whom I also maintained a 1950s Mercedes coupe, a Riley 2.5 RMF, a Morris 1300 estate that did all his day to day work was faultless for several years and constantly produced 53mpg (all recorded in his farm spreadsheets) plus all his agricultural vehicles.

I never picked out BMW for any special reason other than the constant 'BMW is wonderful and everything German is superbly engineered' comments. I realise that many other makers have their dogs. Just a 'speak as you find' post.

That's that sorted then, though if he was a true petrol head he wouldn't have bought that model

The older BMW stuff is where it is at. I noticed the new 3 series was in honest John's top ten most unreliable cars this year so that is disappointing to see.

[melkig]

My old 1991 Merc 300TD had 393000 when I sold it and still started bang on the turn of the key.

Interior looked like it was on a 30,000 mile car too. Last great Merc to be seriously over-engineered.

Sold it this year so it doesn't count though. Now on a young Xantia at 195,000

[Timmy69]

I had a Vauxhall Astra 1.7 TD.The one with the Isuzu engine..That had done 411k when i sold it .My Xantia is just approaching 137k so plenty of miles in the old girl yet i hope.

Timmy

[ashy90]

there was a 2.3 turbo petrol volvo for sale in paper other day with 746000 miles, and my friends dad has a old mazda b2500 with 1.4 million miles on it in south africa, on its 6th gearbox, but original engine, its had 7 head gaskets, 2 cranks, 3 cams, and 2 sets of pistons and rings, and its still going strong and in daily use....its in very good condition to

The Volvo advertised in the paper was probably a typo. I see it all the time - they mean to put 55000 miles, but instead put 550000 accidentally.

That Mazda has basically had a new engine then. Bit of a case of triggers broom lol

[Northern_Mike]

How many owners had the car had?

Why does this matter? I've always wondered who actually cares how many owners a car has had and why.. it doesn't matter. It's either been looked after, or it hasn't.

It could have had one owner, one owner like my friend who didn't give his car an oil change for 150k miles....

[Northern_Mike]

there was a 2.3 turbo petrol volvo for sale in paper other day with 746000 miles, and my friends dad has a old mazda b2500 with 1.4 million miles on it in south africa, on its 6th gearbox, but original engine, its had 7 head gaskets, 2 cranks, 3 cams, and 2 sets of pistons and rings, and its still going strong and in daily use....its in very good condition to

The Volvo advertised in the paper was probably a typo. I see it all the time - they mean to put 55000 miles, but instead put 550000 accidentally.

That Mazda has basically had a new engine then. Bit of a case of triggers broom lol

When I was more involved with Saabs, I was amazed at the mileage some had clocked up. It's not so common in the UK as we don't go huge distances. On Saabnet, there was a list of high mileage cars and their owners. The page is still up, but a little out of date now.

http://www.saabnet.com/tsn/faq/miles/all.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[myglaren]

Million mile SAAB

[Duke137]

How many owners had the car had?

Why does this matter? I've always wondered who actually cares how many owners a car has had and why.. it doesn't matter. It's either been looked after, or it hasn't.

It could have had one owner, one owner like my friend who didn't give his car an oil change for 150k miles....

In my experience I have found the more owners the car has had, the less it has been "loved"

People tend to move them on with a big repair/service bill pending it is a fact of life

I know loads of people who have done this or do it fairly regularly (relatively speaking) and when we are talking about high mileage cars this is something you have to take into consideration.

A mate of mine part chopped his car because the alternator wouldn't hold charge and he was quote £300 plus to replace it. I said, do it yourself.... He said, my Dad said you can't get in because it's all plastic in there.... and that folks is the mentality and stupidity of the general public

[Duke137]

Million mile SAAB

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Million mile BMW E30