100000 miles but i think this started 10K ago. Last yr i had thermostat issue where car was getting slow to reach temp. Had the Stat replaced and since then have to top off the coolant monthly.
Finally got under the car to do an oil change and saw this.

I really like the car a lot and i know its a 100K amg which means potential money pit.
Hoping i can avoid such.

 

Somehow the picture has gone missing ....

Just in case it's referring to coolant salts deposited on passenger side bellycovers... it's caused by tank overflow due to improper refill procedure. It discharges safely from under side of tank.

Are these great cars money pit... it depends who works on them : this thread is a perfect example about troublesome repair work.

High maintenance for sure. I hear BMW need even more frequent fixings

 

They are higher maintenance and costly for sure but when they run right they offer something the less expensive or more reliable cars just cannot. Carpe diem.

 

 

Mandated use of recycled plastics by the Germany government that started more than 20 years ago. With BMWs, failures begin in the 60k range. When it comes to these OEM parts, 100k is a safe limit for life expectancy.

 

I was told a long time ago this saying, it's basically held true:

BMW will have electrical gremlins
Audi will pop motors
Mercedes will be reliable, but the maintenance will cost as much as if stuff had broken.


Granted, that saying doesn't hold all of the time, the meaning behind it is more important: They all cost a significant amount of money over a Honda Accord to drive. For one reason or another.

Since that saying came out so long ago, BMW M cars require high dollar "fixes" to things that BMW should have never allowed to go into production. If you don't take care of these fixes, your M motor will blow.
AMG has had the head bolts issue on the M156, M157 has the cylinder scoring and the oil in the ECU issue.
Audi ... well, they still pop motors. LOL

 

I think BMW has come a long way on electrical, at least in the lease window. Maybe they still fall apart at 100k. But they are WAY up the chart on initial (up to 3 year) quality metrics compared to MB. I take that stuff with a grain of salt though. I've been happy with all three of my MB products. Complex cars can have issues. Even Lexus has had issues with air suspension, for example. Nobody makes a car like the E63 but totally reliable. It's not a thing.

 

Agree!

 

I agree...But they're sooo close. The MB failure modes mentioned could all be easily remedied. Metal coolant lines, better seals on CPS and solenoids, get rid of the stupid dual oil pressure system. Don't understand why there is no aftermarket interest in producing better cooling lines!?

 

why the heck does the pic keep disappearing

 

Agreed as well, however w/ 70-80%+ of owners only taking it to dealers for repairs and maintenance, there will never be enough demand for aftermarket production for these fixes. The R&D costs just don't make sense unfortunately, especially on lower cost items like coolant lines.

I had two M5s (and still have an M3, but it's almost 30 years old and OBD1...), Mercedes has done a MUCH better job w/ engineering in my opinion. Little things like keeping the same oil drain plug bolt for 15 years across multiple platforms - yes these cars are over-engineered, but the Merc seems to be on the more thought-out end of the spectrum (rather than changing things just to stay ahead, fine tuning when it's not exactly needed etc).

I just did coolant lines on my E63, 70k miles and one failed. Did water pump, t-stat and oil cooler gasket etc too. I was expecting it, it happened, and the job was very straight forward. I'll take that over constantly worrying about my BMW rod bearings any day!

 

Tell me you dont worry just a bit about your con-rods....just a bit.....

 

People running around with a tune are much more at risk, due to building torque at lower RPM. These tiny turbos are capable of ridiculous torque at low RPM but the bottom end can't handle it. No tune, should be no problems. Would it be nice if they built these for 1000 hp? Yeah. But they didn't, and we know this.

 

Well, I know what I am doing today -

 

Sigh

 

Why the sigh Kevmo?

 

i do and im stock.

 

saw this video. will look into it