2008 finally hit 36,000

[mousitch]

Have been stranger for awhile. Any z4m questions? I'll try to answer. I've had her 7 years now

[StickMon]

163,000 here. You have some catching up to do.
Good to see you're still around.

Don't f with Schrödinger, or the cat gets it!!
Or not, or maybe both ...

[ShakyDog]

Where have you been hiding?

Steve

[chickdr]

Originally Posted by mousitch

Have been stranger for awhile. Any z4m questions? I'll try to answer. I've had her 7 years now

My 06 is sitting at 19,999. I thought I was going to hit 20k the last time I went out, but hit the garage before 20 came up. Now I will will be waiting a while to drive her again... I have had mine for 8yrs.

[SCHMOUPE]

7 years checking in with 56k miles.

[NickyC]

Originally Posted by StickMon

163,000 here. You have some catching up to do.
Good to see you're still around.

Don't f with Schrödinger, or the cat gets it!!
Or not, or maybe both ...

You have 163,000 MILES on your Z4M?? Whoa, mind giving a quick rundown on how the motor is doing? Original motor or have you had to replace it etc.? Thanks!

Mine just hit 77k and it feels stronger than ever! Same bearings, VANOS, etc. Only parts I've replaced in the past three years of ownership were the alternator and starter recently.

[86Zed]

25K miles on my car in the last two years alone (78K total) - it has been a DD minus a few months where I had an extra car. For what it's worth the car seems to be happier being driven regularly than sitting for 6-10 days at a time, minus the exterior wear n tear

[StickMon]

Originally Posted by NickyC

You have 163,000 MILES on your Z4M?? Whoa, mind giving a quick rundown on how the motor is doing? Original motor or have you had to replace it etc.? Thanks!

Mine just hit 77k and it feels stronger than ever! Same bearings, VANOS, etc. Only parts I've replaced in the past three years of ownership were the alternator and starter recently.

Yep. 163k Miles.
Original motor. Rebuilt Vanos, new timing chain guide, and rod bearings at around 125k miles.
Also rebuilt alternator a while back when the voltage regulator went poof.
Car looks like hell but runs great. Leaks a bit of oil from somewhere (or everywhere) on the front of the block.

[NickyC]

Originally Posted by StickMon

Yep. 163k Miles.
Original motor. Rebuilt Vanos, new timing chain guide, and rod bearings at around 125k miles.
Also rebuilt alternator a while back when the voltage regulator went poof.
Car looks like hell but runs great. Leaks a bit of oil from somewhere (or everywhere) on the front of the block.

Wow, awesome stuff!! Thanks for the info!

This is all great news, I plan on having this car a long, long time. The only option I had for replacement was an Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, but even getting past the fact it isn't offered in a manual, I can't FIT in the car. Nothing looks better than our cars anyway, when I parked it next to the 4C I actually liked the look of my car better!

[racerbruce]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Wow, awesome stuff!! Thanks for the info!

This is all great news, I plan on having this car a long, long time. The only option I had for replacement was an Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, but even getting past the fact it isn't offered in a manual, I can't FIT in the car. Nothing looks better than our cars anyway, when I parked it next to the 4C I actually liked the look of my car better!

Build date Nov 2006; first owner bought Jan 2008; second owner (me) bought Mar 2010 @12K miles; currently @ 63.5K miles; @62.5K miles spent $7K on suspension upgrades, Insp II, repairs including PS hoses, vanos insp, constant psi valve, etc; at 48K miles, replace broken motor mount; still has original auxiliaries (alternator, water pump, starter); love this car - keeping it for the duration.

[David70]

Originally Posted by StickMon

Yep. 163k Miles.
Original motor. Rebuilt Vanos, new timing chain guide, and rod bearings at around 125k miles.
Also rebuilt alternator a while back when the voltage regulator went poof.
Car looks like hell but runs great. Leaks a bit of oil from somewhere (or everywhere) on the front of the block.

I've had mine about 5 years and it has 38k miles on it. The above makes me think the Vanos, rod bearings are an issue but possibly will never be for me.

[NickyC]

Originally Posted by David70

I've had mine about 5 years and it has 38k miles on it. The above makes me think the Vanos, rod bearings are an issue but possibly will never be for me.

I'd had two Indie shops now tell me to leave the bearings alone, but upgrade/refresh the VANOS when possible if the engine is over 70k miles or so. Both said it's not a requirement, but good for peace of mind. Neither place reported to me they've ever seen spun bearings on an S54, and they have cars come in all the time with over 100k on the motor now. I was leaning hard towards having them replaced, but a horror story from another forum member here after what happened to his motor from what was supposed to be preventative maintenance on the bearings swung me to the "if it ain't broke" camp. I'll probably have the VANOS done within the next six months or so, then just enjoy the car for a long time hopefully.

[StickMon]

Lead in my oil went way up, so I decided to play it safe.

I knew the timing chain guide was a wear item, and given the miles on the Vanos, since I was taking it off anyway, might as well put on a rebuilt.

And, or course, there's the friggin' Vanos exhaust hub.

[Andyh1]

Just picked up my 06 Z4MR.. currently sitting at 27K miles.
Black sapphire / imola
Weekend warrior, garage queen.

I also talked to a couple of Indies and was also told not to worry about the road herring issue. One of them recommended liquid Molly MoS2. Did a quick search and found a few good worthy threads from other S54 owners.

[StickMon]

Originally Posted by Andyh1

... was also told not to worry about the road herring issue.

[mercedesc63]

Originally Posted by mousitch

Have been stranger for awhile. Any z4m questions? I'll try to answer. I've had her 7 years now

02 E46 M3 here 43800 miles currently

[zgood4u]

06 Moupe 127000, 02 M3 89000

[SCHMOUPE]

Originally Posted by Andyh1

Just picked up my 06 Z4MR.. currently sitting at 27K miles.
Black sapphire / imola
Weekend warrior, garage queen.

I also talked to a couple of Indies and was also told not to worry about the road herring issue. One of them recommended liquid Molly MoS2. Did a quick search and found a few good worthy threads from other S54 owners.

[W///]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Wow, awesome stuff!! Thanks for the info!

This is all great news, I plan on having this car a long, long time. The only option I had for replacement was an Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, but even getting past the fact it isn't offered in a manual, I can't FIT in the car. Nothing looks better than our cars anyway, when I parked it next to the 4C I actually liked the look of my car better!

I don't know, finally got to drive the 4C this year and was very disappointed. Apart from the looks, it did nothing else for me. Didn't sound good, didn't handle that great, interior sucked ect ect....

As for rod bearings, it's not a myth at all. At the very minimum, I'd do Blackstone oil analysis. My numbers look horrible, so I'm doing a short interval. If it stays bad, it's time to tackle the rod bearings

[Lucky1]

Originally Posted by W///

I don't know, finally got to drive the 4C this year and was very disappointed. Apart from the looks, it did nothing else for me. Didn't sound good, didn't handle that great, interior sucked ect ect....

As for rod bearings, it's not a myth at all. At the very minimum, I'd do Blackstone oil analysis. My numbers look horrible, so I'm doing a short interval. If it stays bad, it's time to tackle the rod bearings

Thought these issues were fixed in later year S54's like ours?

Really not sure about some of these preventative steps being cited here. There's so much conflicting advice/info out there related to this engine.

[Caddyshk]

Many including myself are adding Liqui Moly MOS2 to the oil. Not sure of any data to support it; however, I've read and talked to folks that have seen it dramatically reduce the wear on our bearings. 11 years, 1 month and 34,000 Miles here.

[W///]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

Thought these issues were fixed in later year S54's like ours?

Really not sure about some of these preventative steps being cited here. There's so much conflicting advice/info out there related to this engine.

I don't believe in just hoping for the best, thus why I at the minimum recommend doing Blackstone oil changes. And even those are not 100% accurate.

As far as I'm concerned, rod bearings in a very high revving car like the S54, S65 and S85 should be a wear and tear item. My 2 cents.

P.S. Keep in mind I'm all the way at 90k, so this might not apply to garage queens