philooo

believe it or not... I own a 996 and an N63 BMW... I have to say that the BMW, luckily under warranty has been to the shop a fair amount of time. Mainly for small things but still a little annoying. The car is fantastic to drive but you read tons of horror stories about them. My car mainly had the valve seats replaced because of a leak causing over consumption of oil. When you would floor it, you could see a decent amount of smoke coming out the back. Nothing like diesel trucks but still for a car that price it should not be. The BMW CPO warranty has been good to me, but I think I'll sell it once it is over. Again a shame considering my 2011 X5 drives fantastically.. I am dreading buying anything else because I love it so much. About the battery charge, I had that too, but they updated my software and no problem anymore. the thing is that they used to keep the turbo water pump and fan on for a while after shut off, but they had to reduce that to help save batteries. I assume sacrificing a bit or reliability there as well. German engineering is beautiful....ly complex !

chsu74

Owned a 2011 550XI for two years. Could not get out of that car fast enough.

BMW made the best Lexus with the F10s without reliability. I did not have any problems with it during the two year ownership but it drank oil slowly and took it in for its CCP. Did I mention I was so glad to get out from underneath it?

Spinout

I currently own a 2010 E60 535 MSport (N54) w/93k miles (all mine) and I have nothing but great things to say about MY car. I see the horror stories on the BMW forums and I have not experienced any of that.

I've recently been considering moving on but there's' nothing out there I'd like more than my current car without dropping $80k (it's fast as hell, comfortable and handles very well for a sport sedan) so I'm holding tight for now.

Quadcammer

uh, what? Both the BMW and Mercedes v8s have serious timing chain guide issues that can cause some pretty major repairs if they fail. And when you're making 280bhp from a 4.4L v8, it should be pretty reliable. Lets not get into the nikasil issues either.

As for the non-sense about the 540i giving a run to the average 993, from car and driver, a new 540i took 14.1 to 100, which dropped to 13.6 when at 40k miles.

car and driver tested a 993 at 12.1 to 100.

Thats between 1.5 and 2 seconds slower. Thats an eternity in this contest.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...long-term-test
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...ad-test-review

Gulliver

Big fan of the E36 BMWs, but that's where my "like" ends for them. We put 150k on an '04 S55 AMG, it was stellar all the way, phenomenal car. So far -at least with "modern" stuff, I'm sticking with 911s and the AMG offerings. That said, most of my daily drivers are 45 or more years old.

m3driver

I'm dreading the day my E61 gives up the ghost, I love that wagon and sadly there is nothing comparable on the market to replace it. But like you I have experienced nothing in the terms of the stories you read about

dereifelfahrer

Sorry to disappoint all you BMW naysayers. I have an 08 N54 535i which I purchased new with every sport option offered that model year. I drive it like I stole it and have had zero replacement of anything except the run flats and windshield wipers. The oil is changed every 3000 still using the recommended Mobil !. I have owned 5 six Cyl. BMWs and have always driven them very briskly. They were all stick, except this last one with the expectation my wife would drive occasionally. Maybe it's my Uber scheduled maintenance regimen since I can say the same for all the rest of the brood.

hpuck

Another vote for BMW - I have a 2010 535xi M6 E61 wagon with the dreaded N54 motor and love this car - best I have ever owned. Wagons are falling out of favour unfortunately.

FRUNKenstein

I'm certainly not a BMW hater. We have 3 of them in the garage right now, including the '08 528xi I bought yesterday. I have had two 7-series in the past and they were good cars. Looks like I will wait until the 2014 models drop into the teens before I get another. So, see you in 4 years.

thebutterson

I have a coworker with a 2013 550i xdrive. I give him crap and call it a plug in hybrid because he has to keep it on a trickle charger. It's gotten much better since he got a special charger for it that is supposed to increase the health of the battery, but still, charging problems and battery replacements during servicing are real.

Not bashing BMW here. I have an E30 daily, E36 track car, and 2002tii. Former owner of another E30, E36 hatch, and E21.

Cuda911

Brands with the worst engine reliability:

10. Mitsubishi: Engine failure rate according to Warranty Direct: 1 in 59 (1.7%)

9. Volkswagen: Engine failure rate according to Warranty Direct: 1 in 52 (1.91%)

8. Renault: Engine failure rate according to Warranty Direct: 1 in 46 (2.13%)

7. BMW: Engine failure rate according to Warranty Direct: 1 in 45 (2.2%)

6. Peugeot: Engine failure rate according to Warranty Direct: 1 in 44 (2.26%)

5. Vauxhall: Engine failure rate according to Warranty Direct: 1 in 41 (2.46%)

4. Saab: Engine failure rate according to Warranty Direct: 1 in 40 (2.49%)

3. Mini: Engine failure rate according to Warranty Direct: 1 in 40 (2.51%)

2. Audi: Engine failure rate according to Warranty Direct: 1 in 27 (3.71%)

1. MG Rover: Engine failure rate according to Warranty Direct: 1 in 13 (7.88%)


Engine reliability - top 10 brands according to Warranty Direct:

1. Honda (failure rate: 1 in 344)

2. Toyota (failure rate: 1 in 171)

3. Mercedes-Benz (failure rate: 1 in 119)

4. Volvo (failure rate: 1 in 111)

5. Jaguar (failure rate: 1 in 103)

6. Lexus (failure rate: 1 in 101)

7. Fiat (failure rate: 1 in 85)

8. Ford (failure rate: 1 in 80)

9. Nissan (failure rate: 1 in 76)

10. Land Rover (failure rate: 1 in 72)

joseph mitro

for the BMW owners in this thread bragging about not having problems....just wait! it's coming...

my N62B44 V8 in my X5 required valve stem seal replacement at 100k miles. Yes, 32 of them. Needless to say, such a huge job that even the local Indy BMW shops didn't want to do it. So I did it myself. took 5 weeks. What else has failed on this 06? Brake booster, water pump, multiple oil seals, coolant hoses, window regulator, door handle carrier, LED headlight module......

the whole car is a f**king bomb. But I love driving it

I love the BMW driving experience but hate the reliability.

m3driver

I hate to say it but you are wrong, in fact you couldn't be more wrong. Yes just like every car out there BWM's have their fair share of problems and the myths that go along with them. The reality of the situation is that not all cars will have a failure, some make it through their lifespan without skipping a beat. As of now I fall into the latter category, and hopefully I stay there. I'm not sure what I would do if my wagon gives up the ghost as there is nothing on the market that is comparable I could replace it with. My 996 goes kaput, it gets an LS, my 535xi goes kaput, I have problems.

joseph mitro

LOL you're joking right? Or smoking crack.
what am I wrong about? that BMWs have reliability issues? Read the BMW forums. There's gobs of threads with "common failures" to expect.
My local BMW mechanic told me the newer BMWs have the worst reliability he's seen in years.
look at the stats posted above. BMW has one of the worst reliability ratings. you need to accept that.

dont' get me wrong, I love BMWs - i've had multiple E36s, E46 m3, E24, E30, E53. But the newer cars just suck for reliability.

VivG

Oh my god, yeah the S85 motor has some /legendary/ issues. As a proud 996 owner, that's a whole different level of crazy. Nooooo thank you.

But at full tilt, there's no other sedan in the world that sounds like an E60 M5. Like a goddamn racecar.