Falcondrivr

I'm reasonably good friends with the service manager at our local Porsche, BMW, Audi, Rover dealership. I asked his advice about purchasing an E39 M5. In terms of maintenance dollars, he said to expect a "multiple" of what it costs to properly maintain a 911.

BIG smoke

Premium cars, have premium expectations.
On the above "buy a Lexus, Acura" comment?
My worst car experience? Of the 35+ plus cars I've had in my driveway?
My wife's 2oo7 MDX elite. In 55,ooo miles. Five shocks, 2 under recall, 2 picked up by the dealer after an epic battle, one additional one that I battled the price down. $12oo per shock not installed.
One headlight bulb. ZENON. 18 month old car. Light bulbs covered under one year.
Bulb - $495 plus six hours of shop time at $140/hr.
Plus another 2-3 thousand dollars of non covered work. Bushings, end links, etc.
would I buy another??? maybe. But I'm liking my gently used X5 currently. Purchased a 7 year 160,000 km extended warranty. I won't be in another Honda product for a while. I have had 6. Five good, one bad.
No matter the brand, every manufacture has its issues.
My motto, buy the simplest car you can live with.
Air cooled seats? Lane departure mirrors? adaptive cruise control? These are all items that will stuff the dealerships or you indiy's pocket.

Best car? 2000 ford explorer. 290,000 kms. Paid $240 for it. No expectations, three years later, 365,000 kms. It has exceeded every expectation. Bought it for a friend at the cottage.

iammulva

Lots of good points. Parts wear out and/or break over time. The simpler the car (i.e. fewer electronically controlled anything), the better. Most cars have something that is prone to wear or failure (different for each). Do your research and you'll find out what those things are for the car you're looking for. I had a 2006 530 for four years which was totalled at around 70k but didn't have many problems up to that time. Had a 1997 540 before that. Several radiators replaced and eventually the tranny at 130k. If you're handy and you buy a "simpler" car, you should be fine I think. Just helped a friend replace strut and rear suspension components on his 2001 530 yesterday. Normal wear/tear -- preventative maintenance. Took a while, but doable. Would have been quite expensive at the dealer (but when is that NOT true)?

Kalashnikov

+1 on Acura/Lexus from me.

Acura TL/Honda Accord is the top car percentage wise with mileage over 200,000 miles.

I am spoiled by my 2003 TL-S. 202k miles now, everything works, car runs like a beast.

TheMule

I currently have a 2011 328i (47,000 miles - wife) and a 2004 330ci (42,000 - son) and recently sold a 2009 M3 (60,500 miles).

328i has been a really good car so far, however, it's in for a warranty check before the warranty expires and the dealership found a few items that would add up to around $3k if I was out of pocket (AC has to be replaced). I really have no complaints and it has been a pretty steady "get in a go" car.

330ci has been a pain in the ****. The absolute worst cooling system on the planet. I finally got so fed up with replacing adhoc items that I told the mechanic to install an entirely new system from top to bottom. Not to mention, brakes, rotors, tensioners, idlers...blah blah.

M3 was a blast to drive and a total monster on the road. Biggest complaint, the battery will discharge in a couple of days of sitting. You have to keep the battery on a trickle charger if you're not going to drive it. Dealership told me this is normal for M's and 7 Series and the car should be driven 25 miles per day to keep the charge up. Didn't see that in the manual. AC had to be replaced, just the like 328i, luckily under warranty. I honestly think there are way too many electronic dependencies in the car.

KNS

Most BMW technicians will tell you that the E36s, E46s, E39s and others from that era and prior are pretty well built and long lasting (for a BMW). It's all the models built since that have become extremely complex and costly to maintain out of warranty.

I've got 174,000 miles on my E46 and it has been very reliable with me doing 100% of the work on it so far. I'll have to replace it someday and it most likely will not be a newer BMW.

KNS

I was at the BMW dealer not long ago and I noticed many of the new cars parked out on the lot had little solar panels sitting on the dash and plugged into the vehicle to keep the car from dying. Way too much electronic nonsense, prospective buyers should be asking: "How quickly will my new car die if I let it sit for a few days".

BIG smoke

I am spoiled by my 2003 TL-S. 202k miles now, everything works, car runs like a beast.[/QUOTE]

You are spoiled with your dry, 8 inches of rainfall per year. . . >1" per month.
Me 31 inch of rain per year, plus average 45 inches of snow in Toronto. No wonder your car has lasted so long. Just change the oil and go. No sand and salt on the roads, no frost heaves, no seasonal pot holes. Half of my city streets are closed for construction. Half the people are on holidays, with half the roads up.
School back in two weeks, I'm sure construction won't be finished. Expect complete mayhem.

Falcondrivr

Big Smoke, Never buy the first year of any car, never fly the "A" model of anything. 2007 was the first year of that MDX series. I've got an "05 with 150,000 miles that has only had fluid changes. It's been daily driven by my 18 YO since she turned 16 (and THAT"S use.) It's bulletproof.

That having been said; the Acuras have no personality, or excitement. They are reliable cars for people that want to drive an appliance for transportation and not think about it. A washing machine on wheels.

Marty111

my daughter has an 02 530I with approximately 250,000 miles. Drives great with just routine service needs. My son in law drives a 08 525 I with 175,000 and all he has had to do was routine service. My daughters car was originally my wife's and I believe the engine runs better than new. My neighbor has a ten year old six series that he has no serious issues. Maybe a small sampling but from my experience these cars run better as the age.

USMC_DS1

We had the older BMW's: 540i(e39), M3(e36), z3, and x5. All driven well beyond 100K miles except for the z3. The z3 and m3 were solid but the 540i and x5 spent way too much time in the shop... so irritating my wife swapped the x5 for a Lexus GX. Talk about a washing machine on wheels. A 3 series w/o the fancy electronic "features" should serve you well if you're trying to minimize your out of pocket maintenance cost.

hankcah

Currently in a 2007 335i. (128,000 miles and climbing) It has the dreaded N54 engine but isn't as bad as what you usually hear. Was only left stranded with waterpump/t-stat issue, but after being on the forums, I knew it was coming. $1k repair bill. (500 parts / labor is pretty intensive according to Pelican and everywhere else). Had a window regulator break, and was $120 part, no biggie, did it within an hour. Kept up on preventative maint, and had the gaskets done (valve and OilFilterHousingGasket), along with the famous Walnut Blasting to the valves. After the valve cleaning, it ran like a brand new car.

Only thing wrong now is the steptronic shifter is intermittent, but it's an electrical wire. But the paddles still shift for me manually, which is fine.

I test drove a 2009 997 911 Carrera (non-s) and getting into my BMW after the test drive, I wasn't disappointed/bummed out. The steering is very tight like the 911. It felt just as fast on the highway, but the 911 was a tad more stable at 100mph. The only thing was that the 911 was naturally aspirated vs the 335i's twin turbos. But to say they are the same isn't true.

If you want near 911 performance get the 335i. But compared to the 328....I'd rather have an e46 330 with ZHP package. I don't think I'd touch a 328i.

A BMW with 100k miles, and has extensive maintenance records and no stories are really the best. I recommend knowing what BMW you want, knowing what's prone to fail, and then look for it. See if it's been maintained especially that specific part.

If you do go with the 335, then make sure the wp/t-stat we're replaced, and that it has the oil cooler built in. I believe 2008s are identical but with oil cooler. I always leave a quart of oil in my car, and it's nice to have the electronic oil gauge. I don't see how people dislike the oil gauge, you can check your oil levels while driving.

Just my take.

Ben Z

I was a long-time BMW enthusiast. I had the following: '83 528e, '85 535i, '87 325i convertible, '92 325i sedan, '97 528i, '99 740i. Each one was worse than the previous in terms of reliability. If any of them had not had a warranty I would've spent a fortune on repairs. The best of them was the '92 325i, and the only one I kept past 40,000 miles. I had it to 93,000 and 11 years old and in the end sold it to a mechanic because at retail prices it needed more in repairs than it was worth in resale value. The last one, the '99 740i, had to be flat-bedded 5 times in the 3 years I owned it. To top it off the local dealer was abominable, horrible customer service. When they changed the body style in '04 and put in i-drive, I switched to Mercedes. Our '03 E-class (a first-year car and one of the first to arrive on these shores) is almost 12 years old and has almost 120,000 miles on it, runs as smooth as the day it was new and has not needed any really major repairs. It is also worth considerably more on the market than a similar-priced/aged/mileage BMW so the overall cost of ownership has been remarkably mild. Old Mercs also seem to retain more "panache" than BMW's. BMW's are great driving cars when they work right, but can be a real nightmare to maintain. Perhaps the newer ones are better but I'm done with them.

aaks38

Have a 2007 328xi. The E90s are great cars with a good balance of solid engine performance, braking handling and awesome steering feedback like the 911. Bought mine many years ago at a great price and had 79k on it at the time and have put 25k in the last 3 years. I had to replace many of the suspension components, brakes and cv boots between 80-100k but this is common on many vehicles if you want to properly maintain them. Theres nothing like driving a BMW when its working properly. I enjoy driving mine when im not in my 997 and figured if i spent 15k and get 100k of miles on it, its worth it. BMWs hold up well and dont fall apart as they age as the build quality and materials are solid. They are prone to certain electrical problems but this is common with Audis and Mercs too.

ogun228

Why the BMW bashing? Our cars are no different, full of electronic gizmos that can go bad. Just check the numerous treads on extended warranties, horror stories on M96 and M97 engines, fuel pumps that go bad on 997 etc... Stop it! We love our brand but that's no excuse for dissing another.