[onewhippedpuppy]

Dan, I think any BMW motor will go 200k+ IF taken care of. I've seen a few E39 540s with 200k+, but there's quite a few E34 540s with that mileage and still going strong. My old 540 is back up for sale with 165k and no mechanical issues. I think the lack of super high mileage E39s is because they're still pretty new, I haven't heard of any common catastrophic mechanical issues on the E39 540. They're damn good cars, I think if you drove one you'd really like it. If you can find one nearby, even if it's too expensive, take it for a test drive.

Honestly, when it comes to BMWs I greatly prefer the enthusiast owned car with high miles and lots of maintenance vs the low mileage car owned by a moron. It's like Porsche, maintenance is everything. The same things break at the same time (relatively speaking), so it's great to get a car with more miles that has these issues addressed.

Really, this goes for any european car. Except for needing a new blower motor, my 226k 15 year old Saab is more reliable than my wife's SRX, not to mention it burns less oil and leaks less fluid. Kudos to Saab, FU to Cadillac.