Just rolled over 100K miles...my take on BMW

On 11/20/2007 7:53 AM, snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com went clickity clack on the keyboard and produced this interesting bit of text:

Cars are made by people and people make mistakes. Every car company, without exception, has produced lemons. It happens. I've owned 2 BMWs, a Dodge, a couple of Oldsmobiles, a Buick, two Hondas and a Toyota. I've driven many more cars. Of those, I had more trouble with the Dodge, both Olds and the Buick. (The only time I was happy with the Buick was when I was rear ended. I couldn't even see any damage and the Honda that hit me didn't fare so well.) In any case, the best car I've ever had was the BMW I currently own, a 1994 530i. The only thing I don't like is the gas consumption. (I wish it had a smaller engine, but it was what I could get at the time.) I've had some problems, but no car is problem free. It handles better, it feels better and drives better than any other car I've had. In short, I do not regret buying it and it has over 150,000 miles on it. (I've put on about 45K on it.) I'll be happy to buy another BMW when this one is ready to go, but the way things look, I wouldn't be surprised if it went another 150K.

What is this car you're referring to? And what kind of transmission does it have? Aside from the fact that it's a BMW of some kind, we don't know anything about it.

--scott

Signed A Cadillac Salesperson.

wrote

How often was the oil changed in that tranny? Or is it one of those "lifetime" fills, in which case the lifetime for this tranny was 86k miles. :)

Jokes aside, I do agree that while not complete show stoppers, some of the electrical gremlins on these cars can be irritating and costly to fix if you're like me and can't stand if something is not working as it should, no matter how benign. And I'm at only 40k miles right now.

Pete

How's that? A Cadillac? LOL! Wouldn't have one!

The auto trannies they put in these cars are proven pieces of crap. By far, this was my biggest expense.

Take a gander at the countless case stories at this link. My experience was VERY similar. And BMW has behaved shamefully.

I'd say you've got a f-u-n future.:)

I must admit I expected a much longer post, with some supporting information and details about the model/year etc. Its a bit of knee jerk reaction.

I think this is the way most mfr are going (not just cars), it is what people want (when they buy a car), just not really what they need. A good name for reliability only goes so far for sales and companies that put too much effort that way go to ground eventually.

We have a 1997 323i (96K miles) and 1995 Volvo 940 SE Turbo estate (138K miles) between us. The BMW has several breakdowns and failures, including alarm system, some engine sensor, MOT failure on ball joint, no-compression start problem, ABS sensor failure. It is pretty rediculous to have these sort of problems in a car built in the 90s there is just no need and easy to avoid for the designer, unless they are experimenting with cost reductions.

The Volvo on the other hand comes from a company who's reputation for reliability was well known, but it was about to go under because of it (at the time), galvanised body! metal ball joints! RWD!. They changed to the more popular light/cheap/FWD rubbish everyone else was making and the difference is clearly apparent to anyone buying older cars (compare a 95 940 with say a 98 850/V70), however it has allowed them to stay in business.

In order to make a really good handling, nice looking, fast, long lasting car it costs alot more and takes longer to develope. Most people want the latest thing, trendy and are not prepared to pay enough to sustain a company providing a real quality product. Also of course most companies do their best to cover up reliability problems so buyer are not really informed.

Finally I would say that in many areas a well designed long lasting car/transmission/ball joint etc cost pretty much the same as a bady designed one. Most of these problems are results of design experimentation and lack of testing. It is possible to have your cake and eat from a function/unit cost point of view it just takes more engineers time.

The world is broken and it is isn't getting any better.

-- Tony

wrote

That's for sure. In the last year alone (12k miles) my 530i has cost me $4k in maintenance and repairs. Then again, I never expected this car to be ultra reliable and completely trouble-free. If I wanted something dependable and boring, I would have bought a Toyota. Although judging by the latest rankings, even Toyota's quality is slipping nowadays...

Pete

Which cars, what transmission?

I mean, personally I would suggest that ALL automatic transmisisons are pieces of crap, but that's another story altogether.

--scott

12K? Doesn't the warranty cover stuff? Or do you mean you drove it 12K last year?

Wow, that's horrible.

Did they CHANGE their transmissions after the 2000, 2001 years? IE I"m thinking of buying a 2004 325i...would that be a mistake? OR did they get the message and improve the transmission.

I couldn't tolerate huge expenses...I drive a Corolla with 180K miles on it (12 years old) and have NEVER done anything to it other than change fluids, etc.

"Roscoe" wrote

I drove 12k miles last year. The car has 42k miles right now. The car is not under warranty as it is 5 years old.

Pete

unless you have a unquenchable desire to "drive" - to "feel" the road... pass If you just want a car to drive around for 180k, don't buy a bimmer.

You have to WANT it and appreciate the driving experience SOME of the BMW collection (most) gives a driver. Many people don't "get it"... for them, there is no point spending the money on a BMW then whine every time something is not perfect. Unfortunately, BMWs do have some issues... I have had 4, all had their own issues, but the good FAR outweighed the bad, even my 20 year old 325e and my

22 year old 535im were INCREDIBLE to drive, but a few things didn't work properly anymore... Still, both were safer, more enjoyable and more fun to drive than any alternative.

I love driving, driving fast, etc. But under 100K for a transmission? That's not a minor repair.

Maybe I'll buy an Acura TL or something. I wanted rear wheel drive though. I'm hoping they chnaged their transmissions by 2004.

Unless you have a unquenchable desire to "drive" - to "feel" the road... pass If you just want a car to drive around for 180k, don't buy a bimmer.

You have to WANT it and appreciate the driving experience SOME of the BMW collection (most) gives a driver. Many people don't "get it"... for them, there is no point spending the money on a BMW then whine every time something is not perfect. Unfortunately, BMW's do have some issues... I have had 4, all had their own issues, but the good FAR outweighed the bad, even my 20 year old 325e and my 22 year old 535im were INCREDIBLE to drive, but a few things didn't work properly anymore... Still, both were safer, more enjoyable and more fun to drive than any alternative.

Oh gee, another one. Are you Bubbles's boy/girlfriend?

BTW, this BMW crap about "ultimate driving machine" is bullshit that only people like you swallow.

Sorry that's been your experience. My 2001(purchased 7/2000) e46 330Ci just rolled the 100K mark. I did 37K of that 4 years ago in one year. Problems? Drove the car some 3000 miles moving from the east coast to the west. I think I averaged 33 mpg on the highway. No need for a hybrid.

Problems?

1. Faulty Tail light.
2. Replaced slightly leaky water pump.

Both were within the 50k/4 year service period so no cost whatsoever.

And for those wondering, it's a 5 speed manual transmission. Who the f*ck drives an automatic anyway. Automatic drivers aren't drivers, they're passengers.

The tail light issue is actually very common... I have replaced one, but see MANY other posts about error messages/defective bulb/taillights. I had to take apart the driver window switch and clean the contact for it to work one day... (5 minutes) My good FAR outweighs the bad