16 years old!!
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2026 2:57 pm
My venerable E71 just passed it’s 16th birthday and celebrated by getting though another annual scare session (aka the MOT) with no advisories or faults. 
I don’t use it much now with the electric cars being available, plus diesel being £2.02 a litre is definitely a discouragement. It’s still our long-hauler though as neither the i4 or iX1 have the legs to get to the outlaws without at least one stop each way, whereas the X6 can just get there and back on a single tank (and favourable winds).
I have followed forum advice and just changed the oil & filter after 12 months so as to reduce the risks that the N57 engine has with timing chains. I did the air filter as well given it was 4 years old and starting to look a little shabby. That filter has to be one of the easiest jobs on the E70/71, unlike the nightmare job on the E53 M57 engine!!
I don’t use it much now with the electric cars being available, plus diesel being £2.02 a litre is definitely a discouragement. It’s still our long-hauler though as neither the i4 or iX1 have the legs to get to the outlaws without at least one stop each way, whereas the X6 can just get there and back on a single tank (and favourable winds).
I have followed forum advice and just changed the oil & filter after 12 months so as to reduce the risks that the N57 engine has with timing chains. I did the air filter as well given it was 4 years old and starting to look a little shabby. That filter has to be one of the easiest jobs on the E70/71, unlike the nightmare job on the E53 M57 engine!!