Re: 91 850i failed leak down compression test (archive)

Awesome advice and definitely words to live by. I am in Austin, TX, so I'm sure your words apply to me. I just parted with an E30 M3 that I put 153,000 wonderful miles on. I LOVE BMWs and basically wanted to "sit at the feet" of someone who really knows and had been there, as far as an 850 is concerned. It can not be underplayed what an accomplishment it is to maintain a car as complex and exotic as an 850 to last/thrive well over 100K miles.

Also, since mine is an auto with 45K, what would you do with the tranny? And what are your other fluid change schedules?

Thanks and take care,

Mike

Mike,

Make that 140,000 now! Well, my secret is to keep the oil and filters changed and use synthetic 20w-50 in the summer and 5w-30 in the winter (I use Castrol-which is BMW OEM supplier for oil). (Here it gets down to the 20's F. and up to the 100's F.). Otherwise I am somwhat reluctant to have anyone touch it unless something goes wrong. My motto is: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I know a lot of people on this board lean towards the preventative maintenance measures, but I have found that the techs at the dealerhips and shops know so little about this car that they can cause more damage than they repair, unless I am there to point out each and every 8 feature that they are unfamiliar with due to the small numbers they encounter. (whew, was that a run-on sentence or what!) Maybe that is not so true in LA, Miami, NY, etc. where the techs probably get LOTS of these cars. However, here in Oklahoma, the techs seem to know less about the car than I (except for the engine since it is also found in the 7's).

Case in point on the techs. I ordered new belts the other day and they asked me how many alternators the car had! They said it could have 1 or 2. Does ANYONE out there have 2 alternators? I'm very curious.

I am sure that part of my secret is that about 80% of the miles on my car are highway miles, flat-to-slightly rolling hills type highway driving.

Jim Surdick
'92 Laguna Green 850i 6spd 140,000 miles

Follow Ups:

Auto tranny fluid/filter change schedule? Jim S. 10:53 8/04/2000 (1)
- Re: Auto tranny fluid/filter change schedule? Mike 11:33 8/04/2000 (0)

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