OT Why BMW, why?

All my past cars have been bought used.

honda civic - got a free golfset with the car, replaced o ring on the ac lines that leaked freon after 1 month, problem free for the rest of the year with minimal repair thereafter. toyota rav 4 - zero problems for 2 straight years, though I personally know the original owner bmw 5 - bought as is with flat tires, missing fuel cap, stinky upholstery, faulty dashboard gauges, etc etc... But there's that BMW "prestige" when driving the car, people kept admiring the car over and over again, but at the back of my mind I hoped the car had repair and maintenance like my honda or toyota.

finally bought a new 07 camry last year, good car except for the @*$%& transmission. I'm still in this group, waiting for somebody to post what the solution is to the hesitation. Though Toyota case manager has already said repeatedly that it drives as it was designed to do.

I wouldn't buy a German car with YOUR money. (Been there, done that.)

And yes, I "get" German cars. German cars are the expensive, pouty, and high-maintenance mistresses of the road. Damn, they are a fine, fine ride...

....but then the maintenance and pouting kicks in.

At some point, without unlimited funds, you are at a decision point: continue the high-priced, high-maintenance fun, or go back home and enjoy your reliable Lexus wife of a car, patiently sitting there waiting for you to get over the midlife crisis.

Oh sure, she's not as sexy as the German car, and she doesn't handle at the edge like the German car. She's also not as fickle and high maintenance and pouty, and she agrees with you much more of the time. She's always there and never complains, and you come to realize there's more to life than a high-maintenance relationship with a pouty, high-maintenance woman--no matter how sexy she is or how fun the nights out with her can be. Because when she lets you down and demands more of you than you have to give, and treats you like dirt, you're standing there all alone outside the club, looking and feeling like an idiot.

Your Lexus wife would never, ever do that to you.

And the occasional fun night out isn't worth what you end up paying for it, both financially and in time wasted while you wait for the German car mistress to be in the mood to play.

Do this: start paying attention to cars with tail light and headlight problems. What brands of cars are you seeing? That's right--VW, M-B, and BMW. And pay attention to how old, or rather how new, those problem cars are.

The reality of electrical issues with German cars make Lucas electrics look reliable.

Now *try* to find a Honda or Toyota, either low brand or high brand, no matter how old, with non-working tail lights. Good luck.

It's a small thing, but it represents the reality of the situation. You want to buy a German car? Just buy a GM car. At least the money you're throwing away stays more inside the country--and you get just as reliable a car.

I've been through this recently with a late model BMW. The dealer service techs said that they had run into this before and their answer for this is to replace the entire wiring harness. To me that is absurd and doesn't really address the problems. After talking to some very knowledgeable people (automotive electronics design engineers), they had a similar experience, and tracked it to ground failures / intermittants. They mentioned that when the BMW techs replace the wiring harness they are changing the grounds as well and in turn that is what fixes the problem. I know that there are many ground points, but with the car I was working on, I tried to find as many as I possibly could, cleaned and tightened them and so far has been a successful remedy, far short labor and parts wise of replacing an entire harness. Maybe it could work for you.

They want you to feel like you're driving one of those jets you work on.

My wife wanted a BMW when we were married and I said "NO WAY!!!"

After we got divorced, she traded her Accord for a BMW. Guess what?!

She calls me every three weeks! "What's this mean? What's that mean? What should I do?"

BUY A CAMRY!!!!

Sell it to Jeff Strickland - he is a BMW fan!

I see Hondas and Toyotas with burned out taillights all the time. Around hear (Raleigh, NC), if you start counting dead cars on the side of the road, Hondas and Toyotas are now at the top of this pseudo-statistic. But then, around here, Hondas and Toyota cars are more numerous these days than Fords and Chevy cars (but not trucks).

But I do agree, German cars are not particularly reliable. My SO's son had a BMW. One day she was dropping it off for service at the dealer and I was giving here a ride into work. I got there early. While I waited, I was shocked by the number of BMWs being dropped off. They had three people just shuttling them to the back of the lot - and they were having a hard time keeping up. On the other hand, the Lexus dealer next door also had a lot choked with cars waiting for service. It makes me wonder why anyone would buy either brand.

Ed

Same here with one E39 and the current E46 convertible.

Re: OT Why BMW, why? Group: alt.autos.toyota Date: Thu, Jul 26, 2007, 2:53pm (EDT+4) From: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (EdV) All my past cars have been bought used. honda civic - got a free golfset with the car, replaced o ring on the ac lines that leaked freon after 1 month, problem free for the rest of the year with minimal repair thereafter. toyota rav 4 - zero problems for 2 straight years, though I personally know the original owner bmw 5 - bought as is with flat tires, missing fuel cap, stinky upholstery, faulty dashboard gauges, etc etc... But there's that BMW "prestige" when driving the car, people kept admiring the car over and over again, but at the back of my mind I hoped the car had repair and maintenance like my honda or toyota. finally bought a new 07 camry last year, good car except for the @*$%& transmission. I'm still in this group, waiting for somebody to post what the solution is to the hesitation. Though Toyota case manager has already said repeatedly that it drives as it was designed to do.

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I test drove an '07 when they first came out. I found the new trans too shifty. It was on flat ground in Fla , yet it kept hunting a new gear. The sales guy said it had an extra gear added?

I'll stick with my '01 if they are going to muck up the Camrys with added weight (mileage is down) and by making them bigger (longer, bulkier).

New Corollas are almost as big as my '01 Camry..

The 07 now have 6spd transmission on the V6 and a 5 Spd on the 4, these transmissions are first used on the 07, and there have been many negative reactions with the 2 types.

At first that's what I thought, since the car had more gears it would tend to shift more but overtime as I use the car it bugs me more than ever. As if I can already predict when the car will shift or not depending on the driving conditions.