Originally Posted By: ford46guy
Originally Posted By: edyvw
To the OP. Euro cars are very reliable, if you do proactive maintenance! Of all option most reliable is 3.0l engine in 328. I is naturally aspirated engine with good amount of power. 335i is the beast, and reliable but you have to make sure that HPFP was replaced and more importantly VANOS was done during recall.
They require BMW specd. oils that you can get in Wal Mart (Castrol 0W40). It is very easy to change. On N55 (335i) water pump is the biggest issue and I have not seen one making more then 60K with original water pump. Pump is electrical and BMW dealership will charge you upward of $1200 to change.
Most important with these cars (any Euro car) is to have good dependable Indy mechanic for stuff you cannot do yourself.
Do not forget also, the easier you drive these cars the more problems you will have.
I looked at some of these cars today. Take this with some salt...
Spoke to a salesman on a big used car lot who was an ex dealer mechanic and he said as much as I want to sell pick anything but BMW. He said they handle great, nice power but he said Lexus has great RWD/AWD cars, as reliable or even more than your Ford. Told me the Lexus LS/GS series and Town car were the most reliable cars made in the 2000s. And you don't need to goto the dealer for a battery either.
First of all, some of the BMWs don't even have a temperature gauge. He said if there is any cooling system issue you will see a red light and the engine will be gone in a few seconds. He said your Marquis has bars on the display, and a failsafe that shuts down cylinders, and those cars take original waterpumps and tstats to the boneyard. He said if buy a BMW change the thermostat and waterpump as soon as you get it home. Reminds me of the 85 box crown vic I had, no gauge. I told him that and he said that car could survive an overheat for a short period of time, not the BMW motor will be scrap metal.
He said there were customers who came back fuming with issues that cost more than what they paid for the car. He said I don't care if you are the best mechanic if you need an engine or transmission be ready to pay what the car cost used (the ones I looked at were in the 10K range). He said the only way he would buy a BMW is with a full warranty, maybe a CPO deal. He said if you feel lucky it is a great car, but if there are any problems it will be your worst nightmare.
He also said their V8s burn oil worse than the early Ford SOHCs, for the same reason. No excuse for that anymore.
Then he looked at the 98 grand marquis I came with and said there is nothing more reliable than that. He said we have some newer panthers you may want to trade up to.
He said, he said, he said... A whole lot of bullsh!t!
You don't need to go to the dealer for an E9x battery.
You DO have a temperature warning for water and oil. Yellow indicates there is a problem and you should pull over, red puts the car in low power mode and indicates an emergency. There is a warning for your thermostat, a warning for your water pump, a warning for your oil level and pressure, etc. It's a lot more reliable than the "idiot gauges" most cars have... They indicated mid way even if there is a thermostat problem.
Even IF you overheat the N52... It doesn't put it out of commission instantly like the old M54. And the ZF 6speed is a rock solid transmission. If you need to replace it, it is because you abused it, period.