cammo45
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What mileage can a 2.5 M51 Diesel engine do if maintained properly?
2.5. BMW Diesel engine mileage
- Thread starter cammo45
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Datatek
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Certainly 250K but may need a FIP overhaul.
cammo45
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Thanks Datatek, About 3 years ago I problems with my FIP then I found a Vauxhall Omega Hearse in a local scrapyard and it had the bmw m51 Diesel engine in it and it had only done about 40k miles. I bought the FIP for £100 and fitted it in my P38, great job, car runs great now and to date the car has done 130k miles and I was hoping to keep it going as long as possible without any major engine overhauls. I was just curious as to how many miles these engines can do when maintained properly, mine doesn’t do any hard towing or off roading and gets well maintained so I’ll keep it going as long as I can as I don’t like the idea of having an electric car.
Datatek
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Both mine have done more miles than yours one on 137K the other just shy of 150K.
You may need to do the cam chains & sprockets at some point. The 150K engine had been very badly maintained and the chains probably need doing but it runs fine.
cammo45
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I’m only doing about 5K a year now so I’ll just keep it going and I have the time to work on it to keep it right. Love it when it’s going well.
Jon Dor
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Slightly off-piste, but my BMW530D did north of 260k miles in under 3yrs.Only failure was lift pump and, for some undetermined reason, a fried ECU.
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Yes, the M51 was one pf the best engines BMW have made. Regular oil changes and it should do 200k easily.
RangeRoller dt
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Regular oil changes, look after your cooling system and good dose of redex now and again should go for long time
worst thing you can do is fit a powerbox. May seem great day1 but 6 months down the line you will be sorry
worst thing you can do is fit a powerbox. May seem great day1 but 6 months down the line you will be sorry
Datatek
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If the M51 is is one of BMW's best engines, the rest must be unbelievably crappy. It's by far the worst diesel I have ever owned, no bottom end torque and bad vibration periods, under specified timing chains, crap leak off pipes and a FIP that has a short service life.
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That may well be the case, although the tuning in the P38 had Land Rover's magic touch. The manual isn't bad to be honest except when towing in first gear on hills. First could do with being lower but other than that it is quite sprightly and pulls like a train. The auto is definitely sluggish.
Datatek
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Apart from the lack of bottom end torque, masked to some extent by the torque converter, I wouldn't say the diesel is sluggish. Compared to my manual 4Track or my manual Hyundai, it's quite quick, compared to my auto Pajero its a rocket ship. My complaint is the level of vibration at certain revs, positively agricultural.
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Definitely sluggish compared to the manual. I was surprised by the difference. I kept feeling I had to floor the auto to make it move. The 4.6 is a lot more effortless. Makes you wonder what. 4.6 hooked up to a manual box would be like.
RangeRoller dt
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It goes bang lol. It’s definitely agricultural but far more refined than a defender and more capable of higher cruise speeds. Doesn’t drink whole lot even at full chat which is nice. 1st does seem strangely long and you have to get momentum up before slapping it in 2nd. This is probably due to the fact it’s geared down with the big tyres which you don’t notice too much as you would with other vehicles.
Henry_b
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