Second hand BMW clocks nearly 1M miles – two trips to the moon & back

A SECOND-hand BMW has clocked up almost a million miles — the equivalent of two trips to the moon and back.

The 3 series tops the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s table of cars which have gone round the clock yet are still on the road.

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The stats show the upmarket model was clearly made to last — as one in five of the 562,000 BMW 3 series on the road have done more than 100,000 miles.

More than 6,000 of the German cars have mileages in the 200,000 range with another 100 in the 300,000 range.

Four of them have mileages in the 900,000s, with the most travelled having an odometer reading of 966,179 miles.

That is the equivalent of 40 trips around the Earth or two 480,000-mile journeys to the moon and back.

BMW, which has been making the 3 series since May 1975, is challenged in the durability stakes only by the VW Golf — 15 per cent of which have clocked up more than 100,000 miles.

The Vauxhall Astra is just behind on 12 per cent — but 17 of them have gone beyond the 900,000-mile mark.

James Ruppert, of website Banger­nomics, said: “The BMW 3 Series and the VW Golf are two high-mile legends that have been doing the business since the 1970s.

“What makes these models great is not just their proven durability but the style they bring to mundane mile-munching.

“Their tough and classy interiors are a great place to be.”