Hi i have a 99 m3 with just under 60k miles and it threw a check engine light about a week ago... I took it to the shop and they said my vanos is blown and i need to replace it. Is it possible that the Vanos would die at the mileage?

the vanos can die at that mileage. did they test the vanos with compressed air and activating the solenoid? activating the noid and listening for a click will tell you the valve is working. with that working, the compressed air will tell if the plunger is stuck or not.

most likely the solenoid portion went bad.
just bad luck it only made it to 60k