OT: Dissatisfaction with BMW: E90 and E46?
09-21-2007, 02:53 PM
#31
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Cars under warranty, enough said! Nobody said it was a small rattle.
09-21-2007, 03:31 PM
#32
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I have an '01 330i. Moderate amount of troubles: water pump, overflow tank, powers steering lines, vacuum leaks. Currently throwing some intermittent codes that indicate a vacuum leak is back. I love driving the car. Currently have about 85,000 miled on it. It has all the luxury and convenience my 993 doesn't.
09-21-2007, 06:53 PM
#33
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I firmly believe the pre-2004 BMWs are wonderful/reliable cars.
My take is that BMW had always been a 'sports' orientated car designer/manufacturer, until the early 2000s. Then they decided that 'luxury' is a better marketing angle than sports (ala MB and Lexus). Their interpretation of luxury is gadgets, LOTS of gadgets (idrive, active brake lights, active steering, adaptive turn signal stalk, and a million other acronyms). Unfortunatley, their electronics and software people are nowhere as skilled as their mechnaical design people. So they have all these newfangled gadgets that are half-baked at best and don't work most of the time. That's when their reliability rating took a dump. Worse yet, all these electronic interferences insulate the drivers from the real driving experience, which was the one factor that built brand loyalty through the years.
That's when BMW lost it IMHO. Luckily as dumb as Bangle is, he dared not mess with the 3 series (that much), so the 3 series remains an incredible car.
Just my 2 cents.
CP
My take is that BMW had always been a 'sports' orientated car designer/manufacturer, until the early 2000s. Then they decided that 'luxury' is a better marketing angle than sports (ala MB and Lexus). Their interpretation of luxury is gadgets, LOTS of gadgets (idrive, active brake lights, active steering, adaptive turn signal stalk, and a million other acronyms). Unfortunatley, their electronics and software people are nowhere as skilled as their mechnaical design people. So they have all these newfangled gadgets that are half-baked at best and don't work most of the time. That's when their reliability rating took a dump. Worse yet, all these electronic interferences insulate the drivers from the real driving experience, which was the one factor that built brand loyalty through the years.
That's when BMW lost it IMHO. Luckily as dumb as Bangle is, he dared not mess with the 3 series (that much), so the 3 series remains an incredible car.
Just my 2 cents.
CP
are better choices but we miss the great cars of the past.
Joseph
09-21-2007, 08:59 PM
#34
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I firmly believe the pre-2004 BMWs are wonderful/reliable cars.
My take is that BMW had always been a 'sports' orientated car designer/manufacturer, until the early 2000s. Then they decided that 'luxury' is a better marketing angle than sports (ala MB and Lexus). Their interpretation of luxury is gadgets, LOTS of gadgets (idrive, active brake lights, active steering, adaptive turn signal stalk, and a million other acronyms). Unfortunatley, their electronics and software people are nowhere as skilled as their mechnaical design people. So they have all these newfangled gadgets that are half-baked at best and don't work most of the time. That's when their reliability rating took a dump. Worse yet, all these electronic interferences insulate the drivers from the real driving experience, which was the one factor that built brand loyalty through the years.
That's when BMW lost it IMHO. Luckily as dumb as Bangle is, he dared not mess with the 3 series (that much), so the 3 series remains an incredible car.
Just my 2 cents.
CP
My take is that BMW had always been a 'sports' orientated car designer/manufacturer, until the early 2000s. Then they decided that 'luxury' is a better marketing angle than sports (ala MB and Lexus). Their interpretation of luxury is gadgets, LOTS of gadgets (idrive, active brake lights, active steering, adaptive turn signal stalk, and a million other acronyms). Unfortunatley, their electronics and software people are nowhere as skilled as their mechnaical design people. So they have all these newfangled gadgets that are half-baked at best and don't work most of the time. That's when their reliability rating took a dump. Worse yet, all these electronic interferences insulate the drivers from the real driving experience, which was the one factor that built brand loyalty through the years.
That's when BMW lost it IMHO. Luckily as dumb as Bangle is, he dared not mess with the 3 series (that much), so the 3 series remains an incredible car.
Just my 2 cents.
CP
We currently own 6 BMW's and they have all been very reliable cars. That said, I have made it a point to avoid the new Bangalized designs which I personally see as a dilusion of the marque.
The new M5 seems like nothing more than an overpowered European Cadillac to me - and an ugly one at that.
The pre-Bangle designs such as the E39 and E46 - especially in their M variants - are excellent cars which in my experience have been very reliable given the level of performance they are capable of.
09-21-2007, 09:03 PM
#35
Had an E46 325i touring and it had some issues, but we put like 90k miles on it as a family car.
Had an E46 330i cab as a DD and it was a hoot and I loved it. Traded it for an ordered M3 cab-- big mistake. The E46 M3's engine is ... odd. Also the cab version of the M3 was less fun to drive than the 330i version. It felt like a boat and shouldn't have been called an M3, IMHO. Yuck.
Porsches ever since. But I have a fond spot in my heart for the blue and white roundel.
Had an E46 330i cab as a DD and it was a hoot and I loved it. Traded it for an ordered M3 cab-- big mistake. The E46 M3's engine is ... odd. Also the cab version of the M3 was less fun to drive than the 330i version. It felt like a boat and shouldn't have been called an M3, IMHO. Yuck.
Porsches ever since. But I have a fond spot in my heart for the blue and white roundel.
09-21-2007, 11:06 PM
#36
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I had a '99 E46--actually two, since the first went back as a lemon with a CEL that the Montvale engineers could never resolve, but it was cool to get 10k free miles when it was replaced. While both cars had serious delivery defects (second one was delivered with a cracked ring), the car really fit me like a glove, and I traded it in only when it needed tires, suspension, and a clutch at 140K. It was reliable and spirited and I even got great mileage, though I had alot of stupid repairs over the years (repeatedly replaced various control arms and bushings and also a big AC repair). I really enjoyed driving that car and overlooked the extra maintenance.
The new E90 turbo is faster than spit, obviously a more engineered car, and so far, no build defects, but it's somehow cold, the suspension can be busy, and it's ergonomics don't fit me as well. And I think the run flats are absolutely stupid. Still, it's a heck of a car. (yeah, these are "little violin" complaints).
The new E90 turbo is faster than spit, obviously a more engineered car, and so far, no build defects, but it's somehow cold, the suspension can be busy, and it's ergonomics don't fit me as well. And I think the run flats are absolutely stupid. Still, it's a heck of a car. (yeah, these are "little violin" complaints).
