Are BMWs as reliable as Honda/Toyota?

[Outnumbered]

Since I don't need my 4x4 anymore I was looking at selling my Jeep and getting a 1999 or newer used BMW with low miles (under 50k). How reliable are these cars? I have never owned a German car. A buddy of mine had a 2000 Audi A6 and it was taken back as a lemon. But that is the extent of my German car knowledge.
Thanks for the help.
OL

[rivercrazy]

I know the 3 series BMW's are pretty reliable. But as you go up the chain they become more problematic. They are having horrific problems with the 7 series (mostly with the computer stuff).
IMO they are not as reliable as Toyota (Lexus) or Honda (Acura).

[Outnumbered]

Originally posted by rivercrazy
I know the 3 series BMW's are pretty reliable. But as you go up the chain they become more problematic. They are having horrific problems with the 7 series (mostly with the computer stuff).
IMO they are not as reliable as Toyota (Lexus) or Honda (Acura).
I was looking as a 3 series. 323/328 It would be a work car for me.
Thanks

[carbonmarine]

Hello No..... Ya know, Consumer Reports just came out and said certain American Auto Mfr's are rivaling Japapnese Auto Mfr's these day's... and europe has fallen behind in all servicable product areas....
Rick32

[Hermosa]

I have a newer 750 tht has a standing appointment in the shop, it's always down and out. I had a 1992 735i that I sold just a year ago that was awesome, most reliable car I had owned. The 750, that's another story...

[NastyOne]

I cant say anything about the 3 or 5 series, but my dads 7 series would just shut down for no reason all the time. Most expensive pice of shit ever. Plus they dont allow you to cut the rotors so when you need new pads you have to go the full nine yards and its like $1200. And something about the transmision... its like a sealed unit so when its time to change the oil, no can do. You have to get a new trans. (something like that)

[bigq]

My wife drives the 525i, but it is a 94 85000 mi with only the water impellor needed changed. The straight 6 they have will go well over 200,000 miles. Great power also. I think the new ones will be having issues for a couple years, it is a total redesign and they need to work out the kinks.

[roln 20s]

Its tough for anything to beat the reliability of a Honda, especially the new ones. We (my fam) had a 1987 Honda Accord that we sold for 2500 about 2 years ago, it had 270K miles. It still ran good, just the alignment was off wearing the tires wrong and affecting the ball bearings. Not too bad for a 14 year old car when we got rid of it. Plus the resale on Hondas is awesome
Both my roomies drive accords, one is a 1991 4 door, its got 150K on it, and he barely knows how to change the oil, so it definately must be the car. The other roomie has a 1993 4 door wagon (yes the chicks dig it) with nearly 140K, and it runs real strong. No complaints from me about any Hondas. Numerous friends have the same Honda they got when they were 16, approx 7 years ago, and they are perfect.
I love the BMW 3 series, I think they look awesome. Talk to Tobtek, he's a BMW sales manager (i think). He'll give you the low down...probably :D
Roln 20s

[LOWRIVER2]

My wife has a 00 323 with 52,000 on it. Only problem was an a/c hose leak at 46k. Reliability is fine, but the parts are much more expensive than jap cars. A lot of BMW owners buy the parts via the net and catalogs and then have their mechanics use them. I've been told the 2.3 was the most reliable of all of thier motors. It's a pig off the line but runs very nice on the highway. Those cars handle great out of the box with the factory sport pkg. option.
I'd sell you ours but it's promised to a neighbor in next few months.

[PowellScooter]

I just sold my 735i with 235000 miles on the clock and had only to have maint. type repairs done. My previous 3 cars were also BMWs and I racked up many miles on each with no trouble. My wifes current driver is a 500sel Mercedes and there again nothing other than maint issues. I am a svc writer at a Ford dealer so I take a little better care of my stuff than the avg. consumer but I am way sold on German cars. Heres how I put it compare a 10 yr old Ford or Chevy to a 10 yr old BMW or MBZ and look at how stuff still fits and works on the German cars compared to the US stuff.
Powell(german cars,american motorcycles)Scooter

[HOSS]

My wife is stuck on the 330i. Sport package. You can now get this package with an auto trans. We looked at Infinity and the Z cars (I want the Stang) but she loves the 330i. At least she doesn`t want a gas guzzling Rover anymore.

[spectras only]

Originally posted by PowellScooter [/i]
I am a svc writer at a Ford dealer so I take a little better care of my stuff than the avg. consumer but I am way sold on German cars. Heres how I put it compare a 10 yr old Ford or Chevy to a 10 yr old BMW or MBZ and look at how stuff still fits and works on the German cars compared to the US stuff. Scooter, I have a 96 mustang GT conv with 85K miles on it. Other than the cracked composite intake [ 7yr warranty on it] which is finally replaced with the improved alu water crossover ,I never had any problems.Didn't even replaced a single bulb yet. My friend is a BMW/mercedes mech ,he's got a 7 series beemer with a leaking radiator at 46K kilometers . Whats up with that? You take care/maintain any vehicle and you'll have less issues with it . I'll take a new stang with a cammer engine any day.

[Ziggy]

Well, I grant that the newer 7 has been a bit of a problem in '02 and some of '03, it hasn't been mechanical problems but rather programming problems with all the gizmos. It seems that they have worked out the real issues on this car and have little to no problems with 04's.
All the other models have been extremely fantastic. There are alot of other good cars on the market but hardly any that can compare to the out of the box driving capabilities of our BMW's.....even the folks that have had problems with their 7's still say the car drives better than anything else.
BMW's in-line 6 can hardly be beat, and the fit/finish of the overall product is long lasting.
Yeah, I'm a BMW dealer....be happy to answer any questions.

[Kilrtoy]

No,
but they sure are pretty!

[spectras only]

Ziggy, a friend has a 94 318 5spd droptop .To date there isn't a single prob with it. In the old country a few friends had 327 roadsters from the late 30's .I would love to have one of those, or the Z 28 retro of the 58 507 .

[quiet riot]

I don't know if you're interested but wifey and I looked at some beams and finally went with a lincoln ls. The 3 series was a little small for us with 2 kids and we found a great deal on the factory certified ls's. You can pick up one for around 20k (ours = v8, sport pac, 22k miles, all opt's) and they have a 7yr/75k bump to bump warranty. We just found a local dealer that had the recertification program (we were looking at an excursion there, decided we didn't need 2 big gas pigs.)
The lincoln ls is a very well balanced car, nearly 50/50 weight distro and good traction control system that can be turned off to have fun. The all alum v8 only has 280hp and a 5 spd auto which is a downer, a stick or a few more ponies would be nice. I was a little skeptical of a ford (lincoln) with all the gizmo's it had but figured since its covered for 7 years that we would chance it. No problems so far and we're pretty happy with it.
jd

[Essex502]

Interesting you should ask..
Bought a 540IA for the wife in 2000 and since then she's put 75K miles on it. Two items failed - an A/C switch ($75 and 10 minutes work to replace) and the coolant level sensor ($49 and 1/2 to replace most of which was figgering <sp> how to replace it).
The Honda Civic I bought for myself to commute in 2001 has been in the shop 2 times - one for a rattle in the driver's side door and for grinding in the front passenger side brakes. This is in about the same 75K miles but in two years time.
The moral of the story? We've driven both cars hard and both have been excellent rides.
Note: The BMW's are expensive to have serviced. Buy new and get the servicing done for free like we did.
The cache of the BMW's cannot be equaled by the Honda's.

[Just Tool'n]

Being a previous owner of 3 BMW's, they are great cars & would buy again. I usally kept them till around 100k, which for us was 7 years. The most that was fixed on any of the 3 was a busted radiator. I was out of town at the delta party when the wife called & said it happened. If I were at home I would of had a new plastic tank put on it. But when you are away having fun, money is not the object.

[RiverRatMike]

BMW? Bring More Wrenches!

[throttlejunkie]

We are on our 4th BMW. We currently have a 2004 525, great looking car , drives awesome. However, its been in the shop 4 times already in less than 2 months. The flat/low tire warning light keeps coming on. I think they may have finally resolved the problem after replacing sensors and 2 wheels. Other than that, it's a bitchen car to drive.

[Ziggy]

Originally posted by throttlejunkie
We are on our 4th BMW. We currently have a 2004 525, great looking car , drives awesome. However, its been in the shop 4 times already in less than 2 months. The flat/low tire warning light keeps coming on. I think they may have finally resolved the problem after replacing sensors and 2 wheels. Other than that, it's a bitchen car to drive.
This has been one of the quirks...reprogramming seems to finally be correct for this issue plus they've found that if the spare tire valve stem is not pointing towards the right rear 1/4 panel it gets a false indication too.

[throttlejunkie]

Originally posted by Ziggy
This has been one of the quirks...reprogramming seems to finally be correct for this issue plus they've found that if the spare tire valve stem is not pointing towards the right rear 1/4 panel it gets a false indication too.
Interesting, thanks for the info.

[BajaMike]

I've got a 528i and I love it (fast, smoothe, quiet). The new ones are covered for all scheduled maint and repairs for 50k miles. If you get a used one, get a "certified" one from the dealer and it's covered for 100k miles/6 years from original sale.
The "Sports Package" gives you better wheels, slightly stiffer & lower suspension and better seats. The premium stereo/cd changer is well worth the money and sounds good.
:)
Mike

[Outnumbered]

Thanks for all the info!

[Flying Tiger]

My sister just sold her BMW.
240.000 trouble free miles, and never put a dime in it except scheduled maint., and most of that cost the dealer picked up to get her to walk through the showroom.
She bought the BMW after she had a 4 wheel steering Honda,, that Honda bought back after all 4 wheel steering Honda owners had to get insurance through assigned risk programs.
Seems the 4 wheel steering liked to tag the car in the lane next to you when you made a left turn.
All car companies have a stinker someplace in their line.
Cars and trucks these days seem to be either outstanding, or a POS. One extreem or the other.

[Outnumbered]

Originally posted by Flying Tiger
My sister just sold her BMW.
240.000 trouble free miles, and never put a dime in it except scheduled maint., and most of that cost the dealer picked up to get her to walk through the showroom.
She bought the BMW after she had a 4 wheel steering Honda,, that Honda bought back after all 4 wheel steering Honda owners had to get insurance through assigned risk programs.
Seems the 4 wheel steering liked to tag the car in the lane next to you when you made a left turn.
All car companies have a stinker someplace in their line.
Cars and trucks these days seem to be either outstanding, or a POS. One extreem or the other.
TPC has gone undercover I see:D .
Why the name change?

[MagicMtnDan]

Don't buy USED German cars unless you have money to burn on very expensive repairs (and potentially lots of them). If you're gonna buy German:
1. Buy NEW
2. Sell or trade them in before the warranty expires
3. or, buy an extended warranty
The two best auto manufacturers in the world are Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura. Those you can buy used.

[Flying Tiger]

I got a new net provider and computer.
When I re registered, I blew the new email address so I had to change my posting name it to get a password.
Flying Tiger was the name of a powerful hangover drink at a bar called Bali Hai in Micronesia near Truk lagoon.

[TOBTEK]

IF you get a C.P.O BMW at say my dealership (or any) BMW this month is giving FREE the first two monthly payment on a 48mo or 60 retail purchase, or on a lease as well. next month it goes down to one free payment. The bonus is on a CPO car from a dealer you get the 6yr or 100,000 factory backed warranty, and now you can get 6yr or 100,000 miles full maintenance. Which includes brakes, rotors, oil changes, insp one, and two, pretty much ALL maintenance except gas, tires, battery, tire rotations, and allignments.......so get two free payments, get a 100K warranty included at no extra cost, then get the 6/100 maintence........so if it needs pretty much ANYTHING you DO NOT pay!....sounds like a good deal.
OH yeah....dont forget about the 1.9%, 2.9%, and 3.90% FIXED % rates on these cars....
There are some excluded cars...such as M5's and some convertibles......PM me for details IF interested....Toby

[Three Days Only]

The wife has a 2002 BMW, never had one problem ever. It is by far one of the best vechiles we have ever owned. Her lease is up and she has looked and test driven everything else out there, and is going to buy another 5, after driving it she just wont drive anything else.