I have had an e36 M3 (3.0l) with 295000km on it, with not a single issue, and the motor has never been opened. Not even a headgasket. The hooligan that got it now still havnt been able to break anything, and it is now well in excess of 300k. i Traded the M3 in on an e39 M5 with 211000km and although it ran very strong compared to others i have driven, I feared the worst to happen everytime i turned the key. The vanos was definitely on its way out on both cylinder banks. According to the history, nothing ever broke on the S62 up to then. I never had any fear of something breaking in the M3 however.