In my experience that's pretty much the life expectancy of ANY serpentine system. Just replaced the water pump & idlers on the Jeep(102k), it was starting to weep and the idler had a little resistance when spun by hand.

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

My experience has been that the idler pulleys that are worn out spin very easy indicating excessive bearing clearance.

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Jim

Bad factory viscous fan clutches seem to be a common theme, across OEM's, as well the past few years.

On my 05 Liberty diesel, I've long ago lost count of the number of complaints on the Jeep forums - quite often when they were new off the dealer lot - of bad fan clutches, idler pulleys, belt tensioners, decoupler pulleys on the alternators, and bad thermostats.

Common upgrade on the Liberty diesel is to replace the original fan clutch - which has a engagement temp more suited for a gas engine - and factory mechanical fan - which is a five bladed metal beast that looks as if it came off my old 65 Mustang - with a Hayden severe duty clutch with a more suitable engagement temp for a diesel, and the 11 bladed nylon fan which is an "option" on the V6 gasser, and just happens to have the same bolt pattern and overall dimensions.

On my late father's 98 F150, 5.4 V8, that he bought used at 50K miles, beast always sounded like the engine was surging up and down at idle. Recently when doing some long neglected maintenance on the cooling system, I finally tumbled to the fact that it wasn't the engine, but the mechanical fan, that was surging up and down. Replaced the fan clutch, problem went away.

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Just say "NO" to Ethanol - Drive Diesel

Mitchell Oates
Mooresville, NC
'87 300D 212K miles
'87 300D 151K miles - R.I.P. 12/08
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD 67K miles
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club

Too late... My 325ci has a bit over 140K miles on it.

While on the interstate a few weeks ago, idler pulley bearings gave up the ghost and the pulley flew off the shaft, shredding the two serpentine belts.

While the actual parts were not a big deal to replace, the car had to be towed, and due to lack of time, I let my favorite indy perform the service.

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Just had to do one a few weeks ago for a previous customer on a 2002 X5.

The only reason I buy BMWs is because they sell so easily. There's always headaches for me reconditioning them and quite often problems shortly after the sale. BMWs love coming up with ways to crap their coolant or send it into the combustion chamber.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

Is it an issue with the car . . . or with owners that don't regularly maintain their 100K+ mileage cars?

Its hard to keep your head above water on the repairs. That was my experience owning a X5 4.4 for 3 years. It was great while it was still under warranty, then after 50,000 miles the party is over. You begin triaging.

I gave up on it, bought a W123, and joined this forum.

At least the 4.4 doesn't use oil like the 3.0. Every 3.0 uses oil as it gets above 100k.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

A mechanic told me that it cost less to maintain a Mercedes Benz than a BMW. It seems to me that Mercedes uses more durable components than BMW, but since I have never owned a BMW, I don't know for sure. All I know is when I slide the 560SEL out onto the freeway, it is like riding on glass and as quiet as sitting in my living room. For a twenty+ year old car, it is spooky.

I think the older german cars were built to different standards, but it seems that MBZ are generally better built. However, I prefer the BMW straight 6 to any current MBZ engine line-up, so I'd be willing to sacrifice some of the MBZ quality to a BMW straight 6.

Can you still get a non-Valvetronic six? Non-turbo options are drying up quickly as well. The M54 might well have been the last good choice...

MV

The best way to own a BMW is new, until the extended 7/125 warranty and maintenance plan runs out.

After that, next.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I owned a W124 and a W210 before my current E39 525i: build quality is lightyears ahead of Mercedes, engineering and detail is mind blowing. It's the best and most comfortable car I have ever had. Actually, it's so perfect, it's sometimes almost boring...

Car reached 150K last year, had all serpentine belts, waterpump, visco clutch, pulleys, dynamo, MAF changed, normal for this mileage. Intend to do big roadtrip through Russia next year: car appears in perfect shape for this.

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2011 Prius

One and only one BMW engine do I like from an engineering standpoint and that it the V-12, ala E-31 850csi with 6 speed manual.

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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership

I bought a '95 540i in 2005 with 82K on the clock. It had had the short block replaced (the infamous Nikasil fuel issue), along with new radiator, water pump and thrust arms when I bought it. I installed a new AC compressor, changed the trans fluid using aftermarket multivehicle ATF and drove it about 50K miles. At 130K, new thrust arms again, this time with 750il bushings and Billie HD shocks all around. Had the driveshaft and water pump serviced at 160K, new radiator and heater core at 200K, and at 215K I replaced a cat with a low-mile used OE unit. I also changed the serp belt idlers at that time, which I regard as a minor maintenance item like brake pads or fluid renewals. Not a difficult job if you don't wait for it to come up and bite you.

Obviously I've done other maintenance on the car, but those are the high points. I regard it as a pretty easy car to keep up on -- and the 4-liter M60 engine is a joy. 298 hp with a Dinan chip and 295 pounds-feet of torque, averaging 23 mpg on my mostly-highway trips.

I've been shopping around for a new car now that the E34 has 227K on it, but it's running so well I may just hang onto it for another 50K. I should schedule in another water pump replacement -- admittedly a BMW weakness -- but if I do that job I'll probably drive it til the wheels fall off. BTW, I do 90% of the work on this car.

Just one man's experience.

Replace it with an E430. You'll get the same horsepower, more torque, and better fuel economy. I can get 26.0 mpg going 75 mph on the freeway.

And what's more, these are probably the most trouble free cars Mercedes ever built.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".