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High Mileage M6 owners come in

50K views 37 replies 27 participants last post by  pizdous  
#1 ·
Hey everyone,


Was wondering what your mileage? What issues you might have had? And how is the car holding up today in 2013?:wroom:
 
#2 ·
Just hit 70k a few weeks ago. No issues.....knock on wood
 
#4 · (Edited)
I think the key is to drive it.....seems like all the ones with issues are the ones that sit and have super low miles. I've had mine 2 years this month and somehow I've managed to put over 30k miles on it during that time. Only mechanical issue i've had was one of the throttle actuators crapped out
 
#6 ·
Please take my following post very seriously (it could save you many $$$) :

I had a 2006 M6 and drove it for 6 years before selling it in 2012. Just before I sold it I had bearing failure and had to replace the engine. Lucky for me a found an almost brand new engine at $10000 installed.

I did a lot of research regarding the V10 engine when this bearing failure occurred, and it could have been easily avoided by a bearing replacement at around 60000miles. This is a very hard working high revving engine and takes a lot of strain causing the bearings to wear. A gentleman from BMW germany STRONGLY suggested bearing replacement BEFORE 60000miles or 100 000km.

In my quest for finding a new engine I spoke to various mechanics etc and they know and confirmed the bearing issue with the V10 engine. These are contributing factors to the bearing failures:

1) High revving
2) Bad oil distribution with the vanos system.
3) relatively small bearing size on the V10.

If you hear a "click click" sound in your engine it might be too late already, mine started making a weird vibration noise at around 4000 - 4500rpm.
Almost sounds like the old VW "tappet" noise.

PLEASE listen to me and have your bearings replaced ensuring you another 60 000miles rather than taking a chance and end up with a broken motor..

Other than that I had no issues except a clutch / flywheel replacement, which is normal.
 
#7 ·
wo.. i didn't know about this, sorry to hear that you had to fork out large sum of money for the new engine..

just out of curiosity, was it not under the warranty?




Reg the topic,
I've had a few issues,

47k - Radiator blew up, not due to chip stones, it had leaks
58k - VANOS + O2 sensor problem
62k - Mirror malfunctioning
68k - Front ball joint failed after Nurburgring trackdays
72k - Faulty release bearing, which caused damages and extra wears on the flywheel & clutch,
hence changed all the parts including guide bush, fork, pins, SMG fluid

now at 73k, car drives brilliant
I had to be patient and gentle on my clutch for 1k so last weekend when I hit 73k I went to Silverstone circuit and drove around,
feels fantastic.
Car is in brilliant shape at the moment, everything working just fine.

Image
 
#9 ·
I am at 58,000 with no issues material issues so far. The original owner put 45K miles on it, while I am at about 4K per year. I push the car in the limited mileage that I put on it. I have a warranty though 9/16 or 100K miles. All services are performed by the BMW dealership.
 
#11 ·
yeah sure, I really appreciate that
who knows, somebody may save literally thousands from your post.
I've got mine under warranty so I'm not much worried about it but it is terrifying story indeed.
Thanks
 
#12 ·
I have 47k miles on my 2009.....which is 'normal' (about 12k a year)

i thought the bearing/vanos issue applies to the earlier year 06/07) no?
 
#13 ·
66,000 miles, replaced both paddle shifters a year and a half ago. Other than that, it's perfect :biggrin:
 
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#15 ·
I know this is a M6 thread but I just wanted to chime in that I'm at 100,300+ miles on my 06 M5 with no major issues (yes I'm knocking on wood). Clutch & DME went out at 67k and I've been trouble free. I'm very meticulous about my maintenance and have oil treatments, fuel injectors/induction cleaning, etc.
 
#17 ·
E63 M6 2006 With 80,423 miles on it.
Replaced clutch at 63k
Oil-Cooler, 71k
replaced Smg motor which most people are told their smg pump went bad, which isn't always the case. Its actually a service bullentin that was in place for the earlier M5 Models.
Special thanks for a friend that only deals with the function & operation of the SMG transmission for BMW Corp.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Almost 90,000 miles; 6x,xxx miles as my long distance commuter. Rod bearings replaced at 84,000 miles.

Only normal wear items: spark plugs, LCAs, wheel bearings, brakes, and suspension.

1) Oil cooler replaced with RPi after hitting road debris.
2) Battery/Alternator/voltage regulator replaced at 75,xxx miles.

Nothing major.
 
#34 · (Edited)
Update...I'm at 125,xxx miles now. Nothing major except my Dinan 3.91 exploding.

I still love this car: the last of a dying breed.
 
#20 ·
2007 e63 M6 SMG - Getting ready to swap out my battery! Lucky dawg!
 
#21 ·
2009 SMG Coupe w/51,000 miles. Only scheduled maintenance so far! Still have the original battery, but began putting it on a tender a few months ago after getting "High Battery Discharge" to try and extend the battery life a bit. It's not a daily driver, so battery would sit for days at a time between drives. Noticed a big improvement in drive train smoothness after performing spark plug, engine air filter, SMG fluid, differential fluid at 46,000 miles.
 
#22 ·
2008 smg coupe with 72,000 with no problems (knock on wood) but I've only owned it for a short time now and love it! Oh to the op above..this is not my daily driver and ill be leaving it in my heated garage for the winter. I have a tender and was wondering how u hook it up? Do you go through the trunk and leave it popped open? Or the hood where the metal clip things are, one of which is cover by a red positive (+) symbol...
 
#25 ·
Just hit 30k miles after nearly 6 years ownership! Jan 2011 I had problems with Vanos, clutch, and soft-top mechanism. Since then, she's been running like a dream thank goodness.
 
#30 · (Edited)
Just curious, people keep saying as long as you do proper maintenance ... What would you consider proper maintenance. I'm not sure I trust my dealer to do the right things at the right times.
I follow the CBS/iDrive for the things it covers, and the Warranty/Service booklet for the things it doesn't. The dealer will not know about the Warranty/Service booklet schedule, so it will be up to you to follow it.
 
#28 ·
i found this ironic the people who don't do proper maintain on there cars are the ones who get higher milage. one thing I've learned about cars is they don't like new things and when you do replace old parts with new parts. it seems like other parts on the car get jealous and that when you have occurring problems .. I live by the old saying if it aint broke don't fix it other then my regular oil changes.
 
#29 ·
2005 model m6 just hit 80000 miles and the vanos and pump have gone £3500 repair bill .
Luckily done under warranty .
Thing is the warranty is a high expense each month .

Mine also had clutch and flywheel at 69000 miles .
How many miles would you keep your car before you sell it due to worrying about things going wrong ?