[akf30]

Hey guys,

I am slowly but surely nearing the 100,000 mile mark. I am just at 81,000 miles, but currently the car is parked in my driveway covered, until the E90 airbag, blower motor and PCV heater recalls are available to be fixed in my car (Got a nice 17' X3 for the time being, so I get to save my miles). But surely I know I won't have this rental for that long, so I know I will be at around 100k miles by next fall, and seeing as I live in Boston, I wan't to try and get whatever possible done in the summer.

So on to the questions, what does everyone suggest I replace/do to my car just as I get close to the 100k mile mark. All I have replaced since I got this car is:

Spark plugs and Coils @ 61k miles
Starter - 64k miles
Water Pump - 68k miles
Battery -75k miles

Thats really it.

I plan on doing the following Summer of 2018, probably around say June/July;

Front & Rear Brakes - Pads/Rotors/Sensors -
Front Control Arms, Tie Rods, Stabilizer Links, Sway Bar
Front Wheel Hub Assembly
Oil Change (Just did one on December 1st)
Power Steering Reservoir Replacement
Thermostat
All fluid flush and replace as well.

All the stuff I listed above, totals out to just under $1000 shipped, all either OEM or Lemforder parts.

I know I have more things to replace, but these are definitely going to need to be done no question about it. But I want to also know what you guys think I should also replace. Any insight would be great and thanks in advance. I plan on ordering a good chunk of stuff after the New Year, and before anyone comes and says why not just trade it in and use the money I am going to use to replace all this stuff to a buy a newer less mileage E90, the answer is I don't want too. I enjoy this E90 and, still has low miles, and I am doing all the work myself.

Thanks in advance.

[Meeni]

Do a trans and trans filter oil change before 100k miles.

Look at the idler pulley and the accessory belt. They are probably reaching EOL.

Don't forget to flush brake fluid.

When reaching 100k, replace coolant (with OE coolant or KNOWN compatible, OE is not overpriced so no reason to take something else). Take a good look at the condition of rubber hoses. Should be fine but its time for inspection.

The rest is need based. Case in point, thermostat has probably(?) been replaced with the water pump and can keep running for very long in any case. If the car tracks true and you don't hear shop complaining about it being hard to align, you probably don't need the control arms. The shocks are probably a better use of the money to restore -that- feel.

If you want to, you can consider guibo, trans mounts and engine mounts. They are getting old, but you can keep running old ones for much longer without real adverse effects beside a rough P-D shift.

[akf30]

Sorry I forgot to mention it's a 6SPD, i didn't replace the thermostat when I did the water pump my rookie mistake.

[Efthreeoh]

I just replaced the control arms and tierods at 336,600 miles on my car and neither needed it. I don't hit a lot of pot holes, but do run the shit out of the car on backroads at high speed every day. You are over maintaining your car IMO.

And you are scared to drive it for a couple of recalls?

[akf30]

I live in Boston and pot holes are the road basically. The roads here are shit completely I can feel the ballpoints in the control arms are worn.

[BravoJohny33]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I just replaced the control arms and tierods at 336,600 miles on my car and neither needed it. I don't hit a lot of pot holes, but do run the shit out of the car on backroads at high speed every day. You are over maintaining your car IMO.

And you are scared to drive it for a couple of recalls?

Half the people on these forums go maintenance nuts on their cars. I blame that mike miller guy for it.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by e90bs

I live in Boston and pot holes are the road basically. The roads here are shit completely I can feel the ballpoints in the control arms are worn.

I dated a girl in Boston long time ago, I'm familiar with the tarmac, but it might be more just the shocks than anything. I had a bad ball joint on my left thrust arm and never felt it. I discovered it when torquing the wheel bolts outside of my garage on the gravel. The wheel moved weird. I threw it back up on the lift and sure enough the ball joint was loose. Still, I never felt it.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by BravoJohny33

Half the people on these forums go maintenance nuts on their cars. I blame that mike miller guy for it.

Someone on here wrote once about Mike Miller:

"Airplane level maintenance"

[Meeni]

When reaching high mileage, I tend to take a more relaxed approach to maintenance. Fix what breaks (inspect every 15k miles/with oil change), and do regular maintenance according to schedule. Don't do "preventive" replacement (except if on schedule). You never know when/if the transmission will not crap-out or if you'll discover a leaking cam ledge in the next 10k miles. These are usually costlier than sucking up the loss, so, terminal. All that "preventive" replacement" is just additional unrecoverable loss if that happens.

[akf30]

I figured I want this car for another 5+ years so somewhere in the 120k more miles till I'm done with want it to last that long so I figure I'll do the proper maintenance but if you guys think I'm over doing I'll try to stick to what you guys recommend

[BravoJohny33]

Originally Posted by e90bs

I figured I want this car for another 5+ years so somewhere in the 120k more miles till I'm done with want it to last that long so I figure I'll do the proper maintenance but if you guys think I'm over doing I'll try to stick to what you guys recommend

I have hardly done shit on my car and have multiple oil leaks. I am at 120k and I expect I will hit 180k without doing too much to it besides oil changes and adding oil now.

[Jesda]

Drive it into a lake.

[alfazrus]

I would deal with it when the problems arise. The car basically tells you almost everything you need to do. I'm not going to change my starter now just because someone else's failed @ 70K, you know. But, I changed all my coils when I had a #3 coil failure and the 6 spark plugs. I changed the water pump and termostat & all the hoses when my termostat failed, just common sense. I would go around the car once in a while and check all the bushings and other stuff. just pay attention and you'll be fine. My 330i has 104K and it's been nothing but pleasure.

[sonofsun]

Many of the items are replacement upon failure. The only thing you need to watch out for is the accessory (serpentine) belt. If it fails the belt gets chewed into the engine because of the purposefully stupid seals with a conical shape tapering inwards without a guard and you are looking at a big chunk of money to fix the engine or get a new one.

If you see anything leaking anywhere near the belt fix it immediately.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by e90bs

I figured I want this car for another 5+ years so somewhere in the 120k more miles till I'm done with want it to last that long so I figure I'll do the proper maintenance but if you guys think I'm over doing I'll try to stick to what you guys recommend

Take my advice, I've owned BMWs for 30 years and DIY most everything. Total combined mileage on 4 vehicles (I still have three of them) is over 850,000 miles, you should save money for maintenance and repair when the car needs it. Doubling up on maintenance does not double the life expectancy. It is very rare that a normally aspirated manual transmission'd BMW loses a driveline component if the BMW recommended service schedule is followed.

[mecheng77]

Finally, some common sense replies. The Mike Miller schedule is a ridiculous waste of time, money and resources; it almost seems arbitrarily chosen. There is no logic to the low intervals, has he inspected each part and analyzed it in a lab? No, its just gut feeling.

a)Most thermostats fail open so don't worry about it.
b)Did you flush the coolant when you did the WP, if so don't worry about it. BMW coolant is $20 for 4L, not very expensive.
c)I would definitely recommend changing the trans fluid as it affects the life of the transmission. I have similar mileage and the shifting has improved.

Curious, Did your starter fail or just start to crank slowly?

[CTinline-six]

Originally Posted by sonofsun

Many of the items are replacement upon failure. The only thing you need to watch out for is the accessory (serpentine) belt. If it fails the belt gets chewed into the engine because of the purposefully stupid seals with a conical shape tapering inwards without a guard and you are looking at a big chunk of money to fix the engine or get a new one.

If you see anything leaking anywhere near the belt fix it immediately.

This. Replace everything else once it breaks, but stay on top of the belt tensioner and oil filter housing leaks. This is a really stupid design that could cost you an engine, which in many cases would be more than the car is worth meaning scrap yard time.

I'd also keep an eye on all the plastic cooling hose connectors. My GF's car cracked one of the radiator hoses on the plastic connector part. The coolant all leaked out of the car in a matter of minutes with no warning. Luckily she happened to pull into a parking lot and when she got out noticed a lake pooling up under the car. There was nothing behind the car since it was all pooling up in the under tray. It had about a cup of coolant left. Luckily the engine was fine.

[minaret]

As others have said, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Periodically perform a visual inspection of the car for seepage from hoses, the oil filter housing and oil pan gaskets. If you hear noises in the drive train, belt tensioner or suspension, don't ignore them. Choose a local Indy BWM/Euro Repair Shop. Bimmershops.com is helpful if you haven't received recommendations from fellow BMW owners and e90post members.

[akf30]

Okay, after all the helpful advice, decided to just do

Fluid Flush (all fluids)
Thermostat (only because it's failed open and might as well)
OFHG
Tensioner pulley and belt - rather replace these now then to have my engine eat it up.

[akf30]

Originally Posted by mecheng77

Finally, some common sense replies. The Mike Miller schedule is a ridiculous waste of time, money and resources; it almost seems arbitrarily chosen. There is no logic to the low intervals, has he inspected each part and analyzed it in a lab? No, its just gut feeling.

a)Most thermostats fail open so don't worry about it.
b)Did you flush the coolant when you did the WP, if so don't worry about it. BMW coolant is $20 for 4L, not very expensive.
c)I would definitely recommend changing the trans fluid as it affects the life of the transmission. I have similar mileage and the shifting has improved.

Curious, Did your starter fail or just start to crank slowly?

Well I knew is was slowly dying and I neglected to take care of it before it died, but it failed completed when I decided to finally replace it. Was a pretty straight forward DIY, took me 4 hours or so with some patience.

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by e90bs

Hey guys,

I am slowly but surely nearing the 100,000 mile mark. I am just at 81,000 miles, but currently the car is parked in my driveway covered, until the E90 airbag, blower motor and PCV heater recalls are available to be fixed in my car (Got a nice 17' X3 for the time being, so I get to save my miles). But surely I know I won't have this rental for that long, so I know I will be at around 100k miles by next fall, and seeing as I live in Boston, I wan't to try and get whatever possible done in the summer.

So on to the questions, what does everyone suggest I replace/do to my car just as I get close to the 100k mile mark. All I have replaced since I got this car is:

Spark plugs and Coils @ 61k miles
Starter - 64k miles
Water Pump - 68k miles
Battery -75k miles

Thats really it.

I plan on doing the following Summer of 2018, probably around say June/July;

Front & Rear Brakes - Pads/Rotors/Sensors -
Front Control Arms, Tie Rods, Stabilizer Links, Sway Bar
Front Wheel Hub Assembly
Oil Change (Just did one on December 1st)
Power Steering Reservoir Replacement
Thermostat
All fluid flush and replace as well.

All the stuff I listed above, totals out to just under $1000 shipped, all either OEM or Lemforder parts.

I know I have more things to replace, but these are definitely going to need to be done no question about it. But I want to also know what you guys think I should also replace. Any insight would be great and thanks in advance. I plan on ordering a good chunk of stuff after the New Year, and before anyone comes and says why not just trade it in and use the money I am going to use to replace all this stuff to a buy a newer less mileage E90, the answer is I don't want too. I enjoy this E90 and, still has low miles, and I am doing all the work myself.

Thanks in advance.

100k -

1) new spark plugs, if not changed on an already existing interval plan. Ex- Every 45k you change them on an N54. N52 & N55 is 100k I think.
2) new coils
3) new belts & pulleys, if not changed at 60k or prior to 100k
4) complete flush of tranny fluid & new filter
5) change out Pwr Steering fluid
6) change out coolant
7) change out differential fluid(s)
8) change out transaxle fluid, if AWD.
9) change brake fluid; consider where you are at in the cycle according to the CPU in the car before you change it.

For N54 & 55 engines :

10) New PCV Valve & cap (rob beck)
11) new breather, vent hose near the PCV valve

Suspension ?

If it hasn't been done, probably update the shocks & struts as well as the surrounding hardware soon. Most shocks & struts on BMW's are toast by 100k no matter what the conditions of the roads are in your area. Mid-West - 75k for sure.

Control arms & subframe bushings and the like ?

You probably have another 25k of grace there, but after that, it's only a matter of time. Keep in mind, my experience is in the Mid-West where we have extreme winters, crappy pothole filled roads and salt used on those roads 4 months out of the year.

[ritzzzzzwik]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Take my advice, I've owned BMWs for 30 years and DIY most everything. Total combined mileage on 4 vehicles (I still have three of them) is over 850,000 miles, you should save money for maintenance and repair when the car needs it. Doubling up on maintenance does not double the life expectancy. It is very rare that a normally aspirated manual transmission'd BMW loses a driveline component if the BMW recommended service schedule is followed.

This!

And I am guilty of overdoing it. Its always some other random thing that brakes, which I did not anticipate. Could be small stuff like radio, or adaptive headlight. Then I wish I had spent money on that, instead of replacing a part that didnt really need replacing.