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  E39/M62 engine life, high mile record?

 E39/M62 engine life, high mile record?



What is the "forum record" for miles on an original BMW engine block, cams and heads?

I have a new-to-me 2000 540i with 96,000 miles on the odo. I'm looking at extended warranties (have one now, till Nov this year), and I'm checking in to engine life expectancy.

In a recent Autoweek, I found Vines Auto, a BMW salvage in Alabama. I called and talked with a guy there for about 30 minutes and learned quite a bit. He said his wife has a 540i with the first generation of Alusil block (4.0 liter), and she has 190,000 miles on the original block, heads, cams, etc., with no signs of impending problems.

He says if no fuel injector or spark problems occur that might cause unburned fuel to wash down the cylinder walls that the Alusil can far outlive steel cylinders. Most all problems he sees with blocks are due to fuel wash problems, and second to that, overheating. He sees very few, if any, camshaft wear problems as long as oil changes have been maintained correctly. He also has reman engines, short blocks and long blocks, as well as reman cyl heads in pairs or singles.
   Reply » E39/M62 engine life, high mile record?

That`s nothing ...
I have seen an E39 540 with 450.000 miles on it. Many cars have like 100.000 or 200.000 miles on the odometer ... but ... (the truth is outthere ...)



That`s a common view with 10+ year old cars. (E32 730i V8 - still running smooth)

   Reply » E39/M62 engine life, high mile record?

BMW, Mercedes, & Toyota are easy 300k engines when properly taken care of. Of course, there are bad apples once in a while.

I'd take a 2.8 German engine over a 2.8 Domestic engine any day. 2.8 domestic engines are practically engineered to blow a gasket between 50-60,000 miles.

Now a 4.0 engine doesn't work nearly as hard, so you should see a great life span out of it. I'd worry more about taking care of the paint and interior than the engine, we're talking German precision engineering here. The sun will do more damage than holding the pedel to the floor every day.


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