[haffl]

To all,

I purchased my White M235xi brand new back on 10/29/2014 and I've already racked up 55,500 flawless, trouble free miles. This is my only car and serves double duty as a daily work commuter (90 miles a day) and weekend cruiser. I have no intention of tracking it.

In this capacity the car has been phenomenal. The best vehicle I've ever owned. The AWD traction has been superb in all seasons particularly in the winters where I encounter long stretches of hilly roads commuting from Northern VA to Frederick MD every day.

My only mod (if you want to call it that) is an extra set of BBS rims with max performance summer tires. I use the OEM wheels w/winter tires from December through March.

As I plan to keep this car running over 100,000 miles, I just ordered the following parts from Bavarian Autosports for longevity:

-BMW front/rear M brake pads
-ZF Automatic transmission fluid
-Meyle pan and filter (more cost effective than the BMW offering)
-Bosch spark plugs
-BMW antifreeze
-Redline differential fluid
-AWD transfer case fluid

I look forward to getting service completed in the next couple of weeks.

Thank you BMW for building such a refined, sporty coupe at a manageable price point.

Happy motoring!!

Lee

[bimmerfile]

You'd be even more appreciative of just how good the M235xi is if you had the experience I just did on my 6 day trip to the National Parks (Sequoia & Yosemite) in California.
My wife & I had reserved a 'stang ragtop with Dollar car rental and when we got to SFO, Dollar said they were out of ragtops, and we'd have to wait hours or maybe even to the next day to get one.
After giving them my best impression of Seinfeld's car rental "reservation" vs "holding" episode (which went over their heads), they were able to offer me a Mercedes CLA (which they borrowed from Hertz).
So, thinking that the CLA should be somewhat similar (size, handling, performance, etc) to the 2er, I accepted.
What a f***ing disappointment. Even my wife couldn't believe how bad this thing was. IMO - a total piece of crap. My former 128i ragtop after 6 years was light years ahead of the CLA as far as ride, handling, road-feel..
O.K., enough with my rant - as you can tell, I'm still pissed off.

[xantdieselx]

Good to hear. This is the first car in years that I'm considering keeping off lease. I really ticks all the right checkboxes for me.

[Lucky13]

55,000 miles is incredible, I have a 2014 M235 with only 8,600 miles in 28 months.

[MrBucket]

Originally Posted by Lucky13

55,000 miles is incredible, I have a 2014 M235 with only 8,600 miles in 28 months.

Seriously, I got my M235i exactly 3 months before he did and when I traded it in to buy my M2 on 8/29/16, it only had about 7,350 miles on it.

Dude sure does drive he hell out of his M235i, and I can't fault him for doing that. But one thing that contributed to the lower miles on mine is that I park the thing for the winter and drive my old beater 2001 Audi A4 with snow tires. That thing is a beast in the snow and will get me just about anywhere I need to go except if its unbelievably deep snow.

[EuroDude]

Lee, nice post. I'm curious to hear how the maintenance fluid changes go. Keep us posted.

[haffl]

Me too.

Will do.

[haffl]

It's a cherry in comfort mode and a focused speedy coupe when needed.

[OpenAir]

I'm in a similar boat as the op, 15 months into my ownership and I've racked up 27k. We take it everywhere!

[EEBreh]

Originally Posted by haffl

To all,

I purchased my White M235xi brand new back on 10/29/2014 and I've already racked up 55,500 flawless, trouble free miles. This is my only car and serves double duty as a daily work commuter (90 miles a day) and weekend cruiser. I have no intention of tracking it.

In this capacity the car has been phenomenal. The best vehicle I've ever owned. The AWD traction has been superb in all seasons particularly in the winters where I encounter long stretches of hilly roads commuting from Northern VA to Frederick MD every day.

My only mod (if you want to call it that) is an extra set of BBS rims with max performance summer tires. I use the OEM wheels w/winter tires from December through March.

As I plan to keep this car running over 100,000 miles, I just ordered the following parts from Bavarian Autosports for longevity:

-BMW front/rear M brake pads
-ZF Automatic transmission fluid
-Meyle pan and filter (more cost effective than the BMW offering)
-Bosch spark plugs
-BMW antifreeze
-Redline differential fluid
-AWD transfer case fluid

I look forward to getting service completed in the next couple of weeks.

Thank you BMW for building such a refined, sporty coupe at a manageable price point.

Happy motoring!!

Lee

Meyle is Chinese junk, I would have gone with a ZF pan or oem from bmwminipartsstore.

[Luminous]

Awesome, glad you're enjoying the car! I also just hit 52k miles in 24 months, what an amazing platform!

[jpnh]

Its great to hear from folks that are higher mileage drivers imho

[Lucky13]

Originally Posted by jpnh

Its great to hear from folks that are higher mileage drivers imho

My lease runs out next May and this reinforces why I need to go ahead and buy my M235 which will probably only have 11,000 miles by that time. I have a 2007 335 with about 60,000 on the N54 with the only issue being the hpfp recall and a couple of coils that needed replacement. Its been run pretty hard even though 60,000 miles is pretty low.

[DF]

Originally Posted by Lucky13

My lease runs out next May and this reinforces why I need to go ahead and buy my M235 which will probably only have 11,000 miles by that time. I have a 2007 335 with about 60,000 on the N54 with the only issue being the hpfp recall and a couple of coils that needed replacement. Its been run pretty hard even though 60,000 miles is pretty low.

You are at the tipping point for the n54

[haffl]

Originally Posted by EEBreh

Meyle is Chinese junk, I would have gone with a ZF pan or oem from bmwminipartsstore.

I understand your comment although I think it's a broad claim to state all of Meyle's products are "junk". For a basic transmission pan/filter, I'll take the calculated risk of going with Meyle which comes with a 1 year manufacture warranty.

If it remains durable for at least 3 years it will have served it's purpose.

Yes, I would have preferred the ZF pan but it was not available at Bavarian Autosports and I was placing a bulk order which allowed me to obtain a reasonable discount (no shipping costs and price matching). Also no sales tax since it's being shipped from NH.

Time will tell.

[Lucky13]

Originally Posted by DF

You are at the tipping point for the n54

Fortunately I have a good local mechanic that I trust and if all else fails Carmax isn't far away.

[overcoil]

For the coolant change do you purge the air out of the system by turning on electrics only with gas pedal to the floor - that gets the water pump to spin - overflow tank cap off.

do you plan on opening up block drain plug bolt?

and will you run straight distilled water for a few miles to flush ?

[Tpeterson]

Getting hard to something basic,like coolant
change, without knowing special techniques.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Glad you are still enjoying the car, post some pics

[eatsleepblink281]

Sounds awesome, just got a M235i in June and loving it.....just curious, you said 90 miles a day for work, how many days can you last till you need to refill gas?

Only thing I don't like about the car is the small tank

My commute to work is 45 miles a day but I need to get gas every 6 days, I do have stop and go traffic living in Houston but thought gas would be better on this car

[haffl]

I never let it get below a half tank so Im putting gas in my car on a regular basis. Every 2-3 days.

[haffl]

To all,

I had my 2015 M235xi with 56,000 miles serviced this past weekend.

All parts were purchased and shipped by Bavarian Autosports (no shipping or sales tax, based in NH). Total labor cost was $397.00 at my local shop.

Summary of completed services:

-oil/filter change (BMW OEM fluid, Mann filter)
-automatic transmission fluid drain and replacement of the pan (ZF fluid and Meyle pan)
-differential fluid replacement front and rear
-new Mbrake pads front and rear


Transmission Fluid
The transmission replacement was a partial replacement (5 liters). A full drain would require 8.5 liters and a machine to force out all of the fluid. My mechanic advised against a full drain and said it's okay to keep some of the original fluid in the system. The car was raised on a lift and allowed to drain naturally. He showed me a sample of the fluid removed and guess what? It was black. So yes you probably should change this fluid if you want to keep your car long term.

My mechanic noted the Meyle pan had "made in Taiwan" printed on it and from his observations there was no discernible difference between the BMW pan and the new pan installed which is sold by Meyle. It looks quality built and only cost $99 versus BMW's absurd inflated price of $360!

Differential Fluid
Easy service to complete and please note, the fluid was also black! My mechanic was surprised it was so dirty after only 56K miles (mostly highway driving).

MBrake Pads
My mechanic was able to reuse the original factory brake sensors so that saved me some money. My original pads were still within spec but I decided to have the new pads installed anyway and I'm glad I did. The stopping power and braking modulation is excellent. It feels like I'm driving a new car!

Post Service/Performance on the Road:
Having driven this car 90 miles a day to work for almost 2 years I think I'm qualified to comment that the services performed have made a noticeable difference. The engine feels more responsive and is buttery smooth! Particularly in Sport and Sport+ modes. I'm at 120 mph with deceptive ease.

My local mechanic didn't have the tools and/or knowledge of the M235xi to replace the awd transfer case fluid, change the coolant and replace the spark plugs. No big deal. I'm going to have indy shop New German Performance in Lorton, VA take care of the rest at a reasonable "non-dealership" price.

When completed, my total out of pocket expense (parts + labor) for all the services referenced above will be approximately $1500. The BMW dealership's quote was $3800-$4000. They wanted $1200 for the transfer case fluid replacement alone.

I think I've spent my money wisely.

I love this car like no other I've owned in the past. Looking forward to another 150K miles!

Lee