High mileage weak points for diesel?

[kolosy]

Looking at a possible project car.. '12 3.5D with 240K miles. What am I looking at here? Haven't done much work on the X side.. I've owned a few but always leased. Most of my hands on experience is on the E90 M3 / E60 M5 side of the house.

What's expected maintenance and what's likely to be broken?

[jbash87]

Hi kolosy! Fancy meeting you here. (I'm imagining you're the same Kolosy as on M5board)
My D is only at 140k but I've seen plenty at MUCH higher miles. They can last a long time. Aside from all the typical BMW things the diesels will have a life limit on their emissions systems. If it is not yet deleted at 240k that would be close to first on the list.

In no particular order
-Vacuum lines (if needed/when convenient)
-Vacuum pump seals (if leaking)
-Hot and cold side charge pipes (upgraded and if needed)
-Swirl flaps(when convenient)
-Harmonic balancer (ASAP)
-Carbon cleaning intake manifold (when convenient)
-Glow plugs and modules (when needed)
-VCG (but that's most BMWs)

Do it. I absolutely love my D

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by jbash87

Hi kolosy! Fancy meeting you here. (I'm imagining you're the same Kolosy as on M5board)
My D is only at 140k but I've seen plenty at MUCH higher miles. They can last a long time. Aside from all the typical BMW things the diesels will have a life limit on their emissions systems. If it is not yet deleted at 240k that would be close to first on the list.

In no particular order
-Vacuum lines (if needed/when convenient)
-Vacuum pump seals (if leaking)
-Hot and cold side charge pipes (upgraded and if needed)
-Swirl flaps(when convenient)
-Harmonic balancer (ASAP)
-Carbon cleaning intake manifold (when convenient)
-Glow plugs and modules (when needed)
-VCG (but that's most BMWs)

Do it. I absolutely love my D

haha funny -- i saw the response and thought "that's an awfully familiar screen name"

awesome, thanks for that list! so now that i know you're over here (muahaha).. do you know if the lower timing chain is an engine-out job, and whether it breaking means bent valves? like i said -- project car, dude is asking $3K for it and it looks nice cosmetically... he says that it cranks but the upper chain doesn't move. on an interference design that says bye bye valves, i just don't know if that's the case with the diesels...

[kolosy]

just found this video

yeah.. might have to pass on this one. project is fun. this looks like a full tear down.

[jbash87]

Originally Posted by kolosy

haha funny -- i saw the response and thought "that's an awfully familiar screen name"

awesome, thanks for that list! so now that i know you're over here (muahaha).. do you know if the lower timing chain is an engine-out job, and whether it breaking means bent valves? like i said -- project car, dude is asking $3K for it and it looks nice cosmetically... he says that it cranks but the upper chain doesn't move. on an interference design that says bye bye valves, i just don't know if that's the case with the diesels...

Haha, yeah always happy to help. Haven't come across many that have broken. You hear about a few here and there but it doesn't seem like as much of a problem on the M57s as it is on the newer N57s. BUT yeah... If it is broken then you're probably looking at an engine replacement rather than going through all that.

Keep looking though. They're great vehicles!

[Daytonawim]

It’s all about good maintenance and a proper use of the car, and not beating up the car! Buying an old car with a history that you don’t know is always a risk. Another thing is that car producers stretch up the oil change, thats not a good thing for the long run.

I have seen plenty of perfect high miliage engine’s, butt also plenty that broke down mostly due to bad maintanace or beating the engine up.

If you buy a car, don’t believe stamps in a book, but look at the repair bills!

Another thing is that u see with the newer engine is that they are small, with a high power output. They won’t last long, espacialy when they boost up the power.

If you have a good feeling about a car, you could do an oil check at a lab ( for 50 buck’s) they can find engine and bearing wear.

And the big tip, make sure you have a savings bowl for repairs.