TurboLlew said:
I had clutches changed around 90000km. Didn't really HAVE to do it but it was starting to vibrate a bit on pull off.
Had turbo coolant lines replaced twice (small leak - smelled coolant burning). Out of plan you would get away just changing one pipe leaking or even just the clamp so costs are not representative I guess. BMW replaced all the pipes/lines/heat wraps.
Had battery changed after 5 years (weird errors were related to battery).
Did two wheel bearings at around 80000km and 90000km (both driver side)
One set of discs (65000km) and likely another towards end of extended plan at this rate.
Other than that it is regular maintenance.
Overall at the prices the ones out of plan are going for I wouldn't think twice personally provided you are aware that these cars are going to be harder on the pocket than a regular 5er. They will also likely hold their value a bit better.
The catastrophic failures on boxes and motors are related to very high power and torque... past 900Nm you should really start looking at Dodson clutches etc. However guys with JB, intake and downpipes don't seem to have any issues... it is with meth/BCM/much higher boost that trouble starts (as with any car really). Either way the problem is putting the power down, not making it... as you can see with the new one that lops a full second over the 0-100 (and if you ask me even quicker in practice possibly) mostly by having AWD.
Spot on and great advice.
They're really solid cars but will chew through brakes and tyres quite fast.
The turbo coolant pipes had a recall where they fitted heat insulation around the pipes to stop this from happening - its basically heat damage to a rubber host from the turbos' heat.
I've had the turbo coolant hoses and wheel bearings on mine - both had SIB's and should be done with not much of a fight from BMW.
Other than that, solid.
Oh, the HPFP issues affected pre-Jan build 2012s and I dont think SA got many of those, but its worth a check of build date.
