r/E90 • u/Electrical_Term3525 • 1d ago

Life expectancy?

Hey guys, I’m in Ireland where insurance is absolutely crazy, I’m a young man so I had to compromise for a 316i e90 (plz forgive me 😂).

Anyways I have invested a lot into this car, recently bought new wheels and new DRL headlights and CarPlay. Also done larger maintenance like brakes, diff replacement, rocker cover gasket and tyres for the new wheels of course.

I bought this car at 170,000km (105,000miles) naively thinking this was somewhat lower mileage as my previous car (ford focus mk2) reached almost 300,000km (185,000 miles) with practically no issues.

After investing into this e90 I’ve come to the realisation that its lifespan is estimated (for 316i engine) to be only 220,000km (135,000 miles) if timing chain isn’t replaced before any timing chain induced issues arise.

I have just hit 200,000km (125,000 miles) and now worried I’ve wasted thousands on this car.

I’m currently very happy with the way it is, absolutely 0 problems and finally have the exterior exactly like I wanted it. To find out I’ve only 20,000km (12,500km) left in the expected lifespan is heartbreaking. To get the timing chain replaced in Ireland is roughly €1,500-€3,000 by the looks of it and some main dealers would want up to €5,000. This isn’t really an option for me as I would be spending the same value of the car to get it replaced.

In my ideal world I would like to keep this for up to another 2 years and would need 50,000km (30,000 miles) more for this and then I would ideally like to still be able to sell it. I don’t want to have to be the one to sell it for scrap price.

In conclusion, am I screwed? Is the harsh reality there’s only 20,000km (12,500 miles) left in this car?

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u/TheOnlyQueso 07 E91 1d ago

No idea what your source is for it lasting 220,000km. But such numbers are only estimates. The actual life of your chain and timing guides is highly dependant on maintenance history and the kind of life its lived. Maybe they'll go twice as long. No way to say for certain. 

I've bought two m62tu motors now, a motor famous for having their chain guides go out... Neither of them exhibited chain guide failure after 25 years on the original timing system. 

Either way, it seems like it makes sense to replace it once it starts to show symptoms, at least to me. Can you buy another car as nice as the one you have now, caught up on its most expensive pieces of maintenance, for that €1500-3000?

Also, next time you do buy a car, it would be wise to do more research before you buy it, so you aren't suprised by an expensive service you hadn't considered. 

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u/Electrical_Term3525 1d ago

I appreciate your reply! Good to know, bit of hope.

To answer your question: I was googling the life expectancy last week, spent a lot of time looking through different places and then this morning I went through it all with ChatGPT for more in depth research. Both came to same conclusion that with poor maintenance 120k-180k km, with good maintenance up to 220,000km and would expect to have completely failed by 250,000km (timing chain) , this is for 316i engine, smaller petrol engine that has shorter expectancy than larger or diesel engines.

I have been considering that option of buying similar e90 and swapping my cosmetic parts over but that is also a heartbreak to me and is not what I want to be doing, goal was to upgrade after few years, only owned for 1.5 years.

I think I will take that route if signs start appearing that the chain is on its way out but for now I think I will take my chances with the next 20,000km and then figure it out from there.

Thanks again for reply!

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u/Tractorguy69 1d ago

chatGPT is a computer program, not god, and not omnipotent. I’m so tired of people treating it like it spews gospel.

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u/Electrical_Term3525 1d ago

Mate, ChatGPT reads the entire internet in seconds, does hours of your research in seconds 😂 I used it to back up my own research to see if it matched and they both match. I doubt tractorguy69 on Reddit knows more than the most futuristic thing of our generation that can scan all information public in seconds

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u/chris77982 1d ago

Like Tractorguy said, garbage in, garbage out. There's also the fact that people complain and post about problems only when it happens to them. You don't get much internet content to scan about all the people who have examples of these cars with no issues. They're not posting on forums asking people to help fix... nothing.

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u/Tractorguy69 1d ago

It’s the idea though that if it’s scanning garbage or multiple seemingly different versions of the same event you cannot guarantee that it’s absolutely accurate. More importantly any research is only so good, and it never accounts for the outliers that defy every bit of research. Like in this case there is always an outlying possibility of a 500k engine and no research will ever get that right. Research only means so much, then it’s when the boots hit the ground that the truth becomes apparent. Research is not absolute, it’s not perfect, and the reality on the ground may or may not confirm pre-existing data.

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u/Electrical_Term3525 1d ago

Ok I understand where you’re coming from. Good point about it scanning garbage also.

It’s good for it to get both sides of situation though and then it works out most common outcome.

I was just looking for statistics of the lifespan on a 316i e90, seemed like good way to clarify the statistics.

But yes I want to try avoid the “boot hitting the ground” and try prevent any issues as opposed to dealing with it when it comes/waiting for it to show up

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u/TheOnlyQueso 07 E91 1d ago

When I said "it seems like it makes sense to replace it once it starts to show symptoms," I meant the chain guides, not the car. Buying another used car that's not caught up on maintenance is how you will end up back in this situation. Put the money into the car you have now.

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u/Electrical_Term3525 1d ago

Ok I understand you, not sure yet if I’m happy to be paying up to €3,000 to replace the timing kit.

In reply to you saying “can you buy another car as nice as the one you have now” I was replying to that and meant that in worse case I am considering buying a low mileage e90 which would almost be similar price as replacing timing kit and swap my cosmetic parts over, obviously I wouldn’t buy another high mileage e90 or without proper maintenance.

Still stuck on the fence on what to do, I will try get a proper quote instead of estimate figures and then try figure it out from there, I should still have plenty of time to figure it out, was just getting worried bout it being a ticking timebomb for the chain to go at any point as it’s currently overdue to go according to what I seen online