BMW Talk

[Zee09]

Was talking to my neighbor last night about his BMW's.
He usually has 3 to 4 in his stable the whole 17 years since he moved next to me.

His wife and two daughters drive them as well as himself. He was telling me how cheap after market
parts are.

He has two now with well over 400k miles. One is near 500k miles.He always buys used at about 70k miles or so.

He is not a auto mechanic but an engineer for Lockheed Martin.

The thing that gets me is they are always black and they always look near new. The interiors always look great too. Although he did say the newer ones are not made as well as the old ones.
Claims sensors are the big issues he has.

He will continue to buy them because he has the tools and experience.
About 8 years ago he bought a Volvo new. That did not stay around for too long.
You usually do not hear BMW and reliability in the same sentence.

 

[drtyler]

Many of the issues are generally known if you buy after a model has been out. Many have no such issues, other than leaking gaskets every 90k miles.

First hand owners are better about being truthful, rather than some dude talking about the one his cousin's buddy bought at an auction.

 

[mosaud1998]

Aftermarket parts? Like parts from Autozone or OEM parts?

Usually, Autozone parts, etc don't go well with BMWs or any german made car.

My 12 (almost 13) year old BMW looks newer than my mom's 11 Sienna and dad 13 Accord because it's got more "Modern" looks. LED turn signals, LED tail lights Xenon headlights, etc. Plus, the fit and finishing are more solid compared to Honda and Toyota. Even my mom's 17 E-Class feels cheap. So many creaking noises, hard plastic, and crap.

I have the N52 engine. From my research, it's one of BMW's most reliable inline 6 engines. There's a guy in the E90 forums that got 500k on his N52 328. Originally everything.

 

[dareo]

Some people like to gamble more than others...

 

[BMW Dom]

You have to be able to work on them. And there is a ton of info on forums. Also there are great websites like FCP euro and their YouTube channel.

 

[Tomioka]

It's nice to have the tools to make servicing them a breeze. I work on my aunts 04 BMW 325i and one of the must have tools is a fan clutch wrench/holder tool.

 

[Zee09]

Aftermarket parts? Like parts from Autozone or OEM parts?

Usually, Autozone parts, etc don't go well with BMWs or any german made car.

My 12 (almost 13) year old BMW looks newer than my mom's 11 Sienna and dad 13 Accord because it's got more "Modern" looks. LED turn signals, LED tail lights Xenon headlights, etc. Plus, the fit and finishing are more solid compared to Honda and Toyota. Even my mom's 17 E-Class feels cheap. So many creaking noises, hard plastic, and crap.

I have the N52 engine. From my research, it's one of BMW's most reliable inline 6 engines. There's a guy in the E90 forums that got 500k on his N52 328. Originally everything.

I'm sure OEM online as he buys nothing local.
And yes he does work on them often but he likes to he said.

 

[Quattro Pete]

The thing that gets me is they are always black and they always look near new. The interiors always look great too. Although he did say the newer ones are not made as well as the old ones.
Claims sensors are the big issues he has.

Mine's black too, with light beige interior. 19 years old now, with 120K miles. Interior still looks good. Exterior did look good until I stopped parking it in the garage a few years ago - a few winters outside did some damage.

And yeah, I've had sensor issues - coolant temp sensor, ABS sensor, etc, but many other things too.

He will continue to buy them because he has the tools and experience.
About 8 years ago he bought a Volvo new. That did not stay around for too long.
You usually do not hear BMW and reliability in the same sentence.

They're not perfect. And if you don't know how to work on them yourself, like me, they're not exactly cheap to keep on the road either. I've got a fairly long list of things that need to be done on mine, but if I let the indy shop do them, it would cost me 2x-3x what the car is currently worth, so I'm delaying the repairs. Hoping within a year I'll just get rid of it, although I've been saying this for years.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Aside from some orange peel BMW paint has always looked great. Rarely does one see a BMW with disintegrating clear coat. IMO the interior did go through a rough patch with the Bangle era 3/5 series where the coating on things like door handles would peel. Overall though BMW interiors hold up. That's part of the price premium.

 

[Zee09]

Mine's black too, with light beige interior. 19 years old now, with 120K miles. Interior still looks good. Exterior did look good until I stopped parking it in the garage a few years ago - a few winters outside did some damage.

And yeah, I've had sensor issues - coolant temp sensor, ABS sensor, etc, but many other things too.


They're not perfect. And if you don't know how to work on them yourself, like me, they're not exactly cheap to keep on the road either. I've got a fairly long list of things that need to be done on mine, but if I let the indy shop do them, it would cost me 2x-3x what the car is currently worth, so I'm delaying the repairs. Hoping within a year I'll just get rid of it, although I've been saying this for years.

Yes true. His never go to the dealer.
What gets me is they are not real careful with the cars but at 500k miles the interiors look really good.
Amazing.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Aftermarket parts? Like parts from Autozone or OEM parts?

Usually, Autozone parts, etc don't go well with BMWs or any german made car.

My 12 (almost 13) year old BMW looks newer than my mom's 11 Sienna and dad 13 Accord because it's got more "Modern" looks. LED turn signals, LED tail lights Xenon headlights, etc. Plus, the fit and finishing are more solid compared to Honda and Toyota. Even my mom's 17 E-Class feels cheap. So many creaking noises, hard plastic, and crap.

I have the N52 engine. From my research, it's one of BMW's most reliable inline 6 engines. There's a guy in the E90 forums that got 500k on his N52 328. Originally everything.

He probably means OE parts rather than Genuine BMW (ex, Bosch Plugs rather than BMW spark plugs)

 

[Wolf359]

Aftermarket parts? Like parts from Autozone or OEM parts?

Usually, Autozone parts, etc don't go well with BMWs or any german made car.

FCPEuro is great for aftermarket and OEM parts, they have a lifetime warranty on all the parts they sell including oil change kits. You do have to send the old parts back to them so the savings on oil wouldn't be as great as you think. For my Mercedes sometimes Mercedes parts that you know will fail after a few years like motor mounts might be better to get from them, otherwise if you buy discounted OEM parts from online MB dealers, they are about 25-30% off list price, the FCPeuro price is slightly more than that. Keep in mind that some local dealers like to charge more than list price. OEM parts from the dealer just have a 2 year warranty so you have to figure out if it's worth paying slightly more for a lifetime warranty.

Sometimes the local stores are ok, got a Bosch reman alternator from Autozone. They don't carry it the stores but I ordered it online and got it the next day. I guess the processed the order at 9pm at a city a few towns over from me and Fedex just delivered it the next day. Alternators have a lifetime warranty so didn't matter that I didn't get it from FCPEuro. Cheaper too with their discount code.

 

[LazyDog]

He probably has some resources about where to find solutions to the BMW cars just the opposite for me. I am a long therm Volvo owner and know very little about BMW cars, they all have their plus and minuses.

 

[sparky123]

Just bought a 2004 325i w/114k. miles. I was planning on doing all the preventative maintenance myself. I really question BMW's use of plastic on water hose fittings/expansion tank. Also, gaskets causing oil leaks on oil pan, oil filter housing and valve cover. Really....on a car w/listed for $37k couldn't some better and longer lasting material have been used? Overall, a classic but.....better do as much of the work yourself. One thing I will say though, the easiest spark plug change I've ever done. Not looking forward to servicing the CCV, Vanos or oil pan gasket. (These I might have to take to an experienced BMW shop.)

 

[OVERKILL]

Was talking to my neighbor last night about his BMW's.
He usually has 3 to 4 in his stable the whole 17 years since he moved next to me.

His wife and two daughters drive them as well as himself. He was telling me how cheap after market
parts are.

He has two now with well over 400k miles. One is near 500k miles.He always buys used at about 70k miles or so.

He is not a auto mechanic but an engineer for Lockheed Martin.

The thing that gets me is they are always black and they always look near new. The interiors always look great too. Although he did say the newer ones are not made as well as the old ones.
Claims sensors are the big issues he has.

He will continue to buy them because he has the tools and experience.
About 8 years ago he bought a Volvo new. That did not stay around for too long.
You usually do not hear BMW and reliability in the same sentence.

He right in that dealing with places like BavAuto and Blauparts, the parts are very reasonably priced for the most part. Sensors are indeed a sore spot with them, but BMW does revise these parts and the replacements usually have the deficiency that was present in the part that failed resolved.

I sold my M5 because I was offered a very good trade for it. It needed a whole new driveshaft and hangar bearing assembly because BMW doesn't use u-joints, and this is all sold as a set. This was a bit of a turn-off and I ended up selling the car, when I really shouldn't have, it was immensely fun to drive and I continue to miss it.

The interiors are indeed very nice. The leather they used on the M5 seats was thick and of very high quality and the seats themselves were extremely comfortable. Mine was sort of a "sport" trim, having brush stainless accents and conventional soft-touch dash and headliner. If you opted for the extended leather package you received a suede headliner (like my '16 SRT had) and other bits. You also I believe got wooden trim rather than the stainless.

VERY engaging and fun cars to drive, at least the era that I had (E39) and my sister's E46 330i Performance is also quite fun, though its body is starting to show its DD duty age thanks to the road salt and general harshness of the Canadian winters.

 

[OVERKILL]

Just bought a 2004 325i w/114k. miles. I was planning on doing all the preventative maintenance myself. I really question BMW's use of plastic on water hose fittings/expansion tank. Also, gaskets causing oil leaks on oil pan, oil filter housing and valve cover. Really....on a car w/listed for $37k couldn't some better and longer lasting material have been used? Overall, a classic but.....better do as much of the work yourself. One thing I will say though, the easiest spark plug change I've ever done. Not looking forward to servicing the CCV, Vanos or oil pan gasket. (These I might have to take to an experienced BMW shop.)

BMW's use of disintegrating plastic and rubber for gaskets and hoses baffles me. I've had 30 year old Ford hoses and gaskets hold up better! Ford was using silicone valve cover gaskets in the freakin' 90's! We sold our Expedition with over 200,000 miles on it that still had the original valve cover gaskets and they didn't weep or seep at all, whereas my sister's 330i has had the VCG done 3 times now and she still hasn't hit that mileage. She's also had her expansion tank replaced three times, the rad once and several of the hoses.

 

[Quattro Pete]

whereas my sister's 330i has had the VCG done 3 times now and she still hasn't hit that mileage. She's also had her expansion tank replaced three times, the rad once and several of the hoses.

This mirrors my experience as well.

 

[Wolf359]

BMW's use of disintegrating plastic and rubber for gaskets and hoses baffles me. I've had 30 year old Ford hoses and gaskets hold up better! Ford was using silicone valve cover gaskets in the freakin' 90's! We sold our Expedition with over 200,000 miles on it that still had the original valve cover gaskets and they didn't weep or seep at all, whereas my sister's 330i has had the VCG done 3 times now and she still hasn't hit that mileage. She's also had her expansion tank replaced three times, the rad once and several of the hoses.

It's just not them. Mercedes does it too, the oil cooler gaskets go too. Every car brand has their own quirks. Ford like to use a pinch bolt on their rear struts that tends to rust away so that it snaps and you have to get a new spindle or try and drill it out, that new spindle was $400, but the junkyard ones were $50, still a big hassle though. I've seen Mercedes bolts that still look brand new after 10+ years, they like to use Torx/External torx bolts which I guess are supposed to be better than regular ones. For some reason they can't do that with their lug bolts, they're all rusted away after just a few years.

I think high volume cars can have more engineering spent in the design and low volume cars just end up with a higher percentage of engineering done per car so just the price of the car doesn't necessarily translates to reliability.

 

[2EHA]

the issue with owning a bmw as a non-tech is always labor and general jobber unfriendliness (service info/parts sourcing). shops lose money, get angry and refuse to work on “eurotrash”. then you end up at bob’s foreign and domestic and get shafted by people who know what they’re doing.

i still made money running a hole in the wall shop greatly undercutting every indy willing to work on a bmw. i moved on to jaguar which suffers from an even bigger shortage of knowledge.

 

[meep]

I was a Volvo guy for a long time. You learn the vehicle the first go round and then it’s easy to handle the repeats with the others. There are enough rewarding characteristics for owning a bmw that the initial learning curve gets paid off by easier work on the others. I tried to “go bmw” after 3 volvos. I did. RWD, amazing road manners! Man the 328d was all over carmax and the little 328 turbo 4 was a delight to test drive…. But I could not believe the seats (if you didn’t spring for their comfort seats) and the windshield being right at my fingertips. Of course, coming from a Volvo, everyone else’s seats are sub-par but man I couldnt do it, and then got scared of their first generation direct injection. That’s when I discovered the Lexus GS, japans version of a luxury camaro.

volvo exterior rubber starts coming apart at 15 years, just like bmw. But their hoses seem to be far better, dual rubber layers even for coolant. They share a lot of small components such as valves, solenoids, canister parts and pumps, with bmw. We still have one, a 2004, and that interior is as silent as it was 10 years ago when I bought it. Bank vault.

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