Johnhav430

Talked to my aunt yesterday, she's the original owner of a 2006 330i, purchased fall 2005. It has 58k miles.

My car is a garage queen, 1 yr. newer, and has 52k. I thought my miles were on the low side for a 2007.

She lives 2 miles from work, and her car is a daily driver!

I was disappointed to learn that she finally had to get a new battery this year. I replaced mine proactively at 5 years, sometimes we do foolish things. The dealer even asked me why I wanted to replace it, when there's nothing wrong with it (at least I got a $280 dealer job, seen over $500 on the forums--today I have the software to do battery registrations, still might not even DIY, which is why I love how the LS is a Costco DIY in 10 min. job).....

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Trying to understand your post... you're disappointed because you feel you wasted money by replacing the battery after 'only' 5 years while your aunt held out for over a decade?

Johnhav430

quoting myself
I was disappointed to learn that she finally had to get a new battery this year.

No, I was disappointed to hear she finally had to get a new battery. Shows you how long they actually last. At least the German made ones--replacements are made in USA by Exide.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

why do you find it disappointing that a battery lasts over a decade? That's amazing!

My0gr81

gengar

Yeah, you'd think the opposite.

mmarshall

Exide batteries are good. At one time, they were sold here in the American market under their own name (still is, in some places)......and, like the famous Sears Die-Hard battery, came with a lifetime warranty as long as you owned the car. But even the Die-Hard doesn't have a lifetime warranty any more. They were first pro-rated, then dialed back to ten years, then five, and now it is 3 year / 36 month...like many mainstream-brand Bumper-to-Bumper auto warranties. Exide batteries now vary the warranty by specific model....it is labelled on the battery itself.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

50k miles for a 10 year old vehicle is extremely low no matter how you look at it. Not good for a car to sit that much.

Johnhav430

I see what you fellas are saying, what I meant was the aunt's car is a daily driver, but still has lower annual mileage than mine, even though mine sits lol....and agreed the battery lasted a long time. She wants to squeeze 3 more years out of it (I think she said she would retire then), so I told her I felt she could and it's actually imho a better car than the new ones....I didn't look but she thinks she needs the oil filter housing gasket done....

Coleroad

that's a common gasket to leak on the BMW 3.0. I would preemptively change the electric water and thermostat housing. Common to stop working between 60 and a 100k miles. The thermostat housing because you have to remove the water pump to replace it. If the water pump stops and she doesn't notice right away. That could a quick end to that motor.

My0gr81

Oh and shouldn't forget the Crankshaft Position Sensor too. There are a slew of other little parts and sensors that are known to fail regularly. Flabbergasted that the battery needs to be programed in. BMW seems to be taking a page out of RIM/Blackberry's playbook when they were at their peak, we know how that ended.