Longevity, Reliability, etc

[mcompact]

I've owned 11 BMWs since 1983 and currently have three in the garage. Proper maintenance is key. As for minor issues like battery registration just buy the Carly App and wifi dongle. A BMW will generally require a bit more maintenance but as for my wife and I? We think it's worth it.

[05X3lover]

Originally Posted by mcdanielvzw

In my opinion, the longevity of BMW or *ANY CAR* largely depends on how well it is maintained. I suspect my X1 35i will last for quite a long time with regular maintenance because I got it at low (30k) mileage 1.5 years ago and will do all the preventative maintenance.

On the other hand, my 328i was purchased at 116k miles 4 months ago, and you can tell maintenance was not done. It's cost more in maintenance than my 35i. I've done the following:
Changed rear Diff fluid
Oil Change
Replaced all lights with LEDs (combination of either burnt out and wanted to have matching lights, HALOs included)
Just cleaned both VANOS solenoids

And this weekend I'm doing ($425 in parts):
Transmission fluid/filter (slight shuddering in OD at 40mph while accelerating, known problem if you don't do maintenance)
Spark plugs / wires

And I need to / should do:
Hydraulic pump and/or fluid
Water pump / tstat / fluid

I agree. Most people don't maintain their cars properly, they wait for a break down to get their vehicle into the shop. I've owned several cars up to 300K miles and they wouldn't have gotten there w/o the regular maintenance.

We just bought our '15 X1 about a year ago with about 55K miles on it - was just off a lease. In that time we've had the oil changed and tires balanced, and the transmission fluid changed. BMW states their vehicles have 'leftime' transmission fluid. No such thing in my mind, so make sure you change yours periodically OP. Every 30K is a good schedule.

I have high hopes our X1 will last a very long time and be relatively economical to maintain.

[Vidgamer]

On one of my Hondas, I used to get the transmission fluid twice as often as the factory schedule, as otherwise the shifting wouldn't be as smooth. So, it doesn't seem so crazy to me to change the "lifetime" fluid periodically.

The hard thing for me is to know what to schedule since I'm not putting many miles on these days. Changing the oil once a year could be excessive, but I've seen that often stated as a "thing"...

As far as reliability, so far I had the A/C and headlight housings replaced under warranty, so I'm not too impressed with the reliability. Aside from that, it performs better than most cars and seems pretty tuff. I just keep in mind, now that it's out of warranty, that it may need repairs occasionally, and they won't be cheap. :-( There is a local shop that's cheaper than the dealer which may help mitigate that. The dealer seems VERY expensive, even by normal dealer standards.

[sudermatt]

one thing about these cars...the engine and transmission are in every single bmw. I think the n20 transmission is in many other brands as well. lots of knowledge out there.