Is 228,000 miles too high to consider a purchase?

Im looking getting a P38 as an occasional use car for my step son and girl friend.
This one looks interesting. http://eng.auto24.ee/used/2146163
But would the mileage mean Im buying a, short lived, dog?!
Cars over here tend to do mega mileages, but they are well looked after, and its rare to see rusty ones, even with our long Winters.
But how long lived is the BMW engine?
Any advice welcome.
Thanks Mark

As long as it has been maintained, they are very longlived vehicles....

The BMW M51 I6 Diesel is a strong and reliable unit, as long as it hasn't overheated as the heads crack quite readily in this case. The Radiators are a bit of a weak point with the top baffle inside being crucial to correct water flow through it...this baffle does tend to work loose!

FIP timing issues can cause hot start problems, but is easily solved by FIP timing adjustment, new chains or the workaround which is to fit a box of tricks to fool the ECU into thinking the engine is cold and not hot for 30 seconds during the start process!

As with all air sprung vehicles, the air bladders have a design life of 7/8 years so check these for signs of replacement or if they need replacing, negotiate on purchase price. A tired compressor feeding and air bladder leak will fail eventually, but the refurb kit for both the pump and the air valve block are cheap enough and easy to fit!

P38's rarely suffer rust and are considered the most rust proof Land Rover product made, which is quite a claim!!!

Electronics are susceptible to 'issues' and a good diagnostic device akin to the BBS Nanocom Evolution or Faultmate are a must to keep these vehicles in check.

The diesels mated to an auto box do seem sluggish until the Turbo comes on song, but the accelerator pedal does have a loooooong travel to it so give it a poke and she'll lift her skirt and scamper away willingly.

If it is sluggish to accelerate or on hills, check the pipe to the MAP sensor as these seem to split and the ECU doesn't get boost/manifold pressure information and defaults to a basic fuel map which is woeful!

If it runs correctly, drives nice, & the price is right, here shouldn't be a problem. Hopefully at that mileage most things would of been replaced a while back so you'll probably get a few years of trouble free motoring.

At that mileage everything that can go wrong will have at least twice. The price of €3,500.00, £2,500.00 or so, is well over the top for that year and mileage. At least by UK standards.

wammers said:

At that mileage everything that can go wrong will have at least twice. The price of €3,500.00, £2,500.00 or so, is well over the top for that year and mileage. At least by UK standards.

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and for that mileage someone has obviously put love and money into it and really wanted to keep her.... so what's made them change their mind now ? Its not the engine you want to worry about its everything else.

i did not even look at the miles when i bought the last one - that said, it was a) cheap, and b) sold as broken

i guess what i mean is, in my experience, there's plenty more than miles that kills land rovers

Hi All sorry took me a while to check back on this thread as Im usually on the Disco threads!
Thanks for the great advice
If shes not sold when Im back over there next week Ill take a look at her.
Prices are higher in Estonia, bit like they were in the UK 20 years ago!
If you start to haggle in a car showroom they look at you with a blank face and say "Ei" which is no!
Ill post any updates
Thanks Mark

Buy them a car that they can afford to fix if it go's wrong.

LOL Ill be the one fixing it! So its on my head!
Mark