Don't buy a BMW?

[JCH13]

This thread never fails to deliver. I needed a good laugh today.

 

[sdifox]

This thread never fails to deliver. I needed a good laugh today.

Go re-read inflate to sidewall?

 

[Yuriman]

Go re-read inflate to sidewall?

Sidewall is for wimps. I'm certain there's a healthy safety margin there. Inflate to max airpump pressure.

 

[jlee]

Go re-read inflate to sidewall?

Or this one

 

[sdifox]

Or this one

Where is the free tranny one?

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I loved my 2015 4 series but it was a lease. Beat the crap out of that car. It was fine when I had it but I didn't want to even think about what would have happened year 5 or 6.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Not sure what the hate is for. DCT's were a good idea but have, over time, proven to be less reliable than both traditional automatics and stick. Even a cursory google search shows ample evidence of this.

I'm a car guy but probably would have been caught off guard by this problem as well. The way the auto journo's portrayed DCT it was like the second coming of Car Jesus. Dogs and Cats living in harmony! Have your stick and auto together!

It was only after reading through some of this thread and doing the google fu that I learned DCT is the spawn of Satan. TridentT doesn't deserve the poking he's getting.

 

[Hans Gruber]

You always lease German cars and never keep them after the factory warranty.You always buy Japanese cars and taunt that financial advisor guy who says (Dave Ramsey) cut your credit cards in half. That is my personal philosophy.

 

[XavierMace]

TridentT doesn't deserve the poking he's getting.

Yes he absolutely does. Go reread his thread when he was still in the shopping phase. He was told not to get the BMW for multiple specific reasons. He bought it anyways, and has continued to complain (in this thread and others) about every specific issue he was told about in advance. There's also the fact that his 135i is 2 years newer than mine, has half as many miles (at his last mileage posting), and has had more issues than I have in a shorter timeframe. When you combine that with his many past comments about his driving style, you have no choice to reach the conclusion that's he's likely a major factor in his issues or at least the rate/interval they're occurring at.

In regards to the specific issue we're currently talking about, there's minimal reports from people reporting behavior such as he's stating and they all look to have resolved it with a reflash of the DCT. If he's gone to the dealer, explained the issue, and asked if the SIB has been performed (that was referenced in the threads he linked) and the dealers response amounted to shrugging, then he needs to find a different dealer.

 

[repoman0]

Yeah, I stand corrected. On my drive home from work I realized you never really downshift into first unless you've already stopped.

There's a (very) limited set of circumstances in which I will downshift into first ... one example is driving in second up a large hill, have to slow for whatever reason so clutch in, then ready to move again at ~8-10mph. Normally I start in second down to about 3-5 mph rolling but the hill means I'm asking a lot out of the car. So instead I double clutch to engage first at around 1600-1800 rpm, which is normally too high to shift directly without some painful synchro mashing.

 

[XavierMace]

Given how close the timing was on this I felt it was worth posting. Today marked the 3 year mark for my ownership of my 2011 135i. Total maintenance cost so far (including tires): $3,172. So far not nearly as bad as many would have you believe.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Given how close the timing was on this I felt it was worth posting. Today marked the 3 year mark for my ownership of my 2011 135i. Total maintenance cost so far (including tires): $3,172. So far not nearly as bad as many would have you believe.

How many miles?

$3k in 3 years if you drive 10k/yr is a different ball of wax than $3k in 3 years if you drive 25k/year.

In the first case it's not terrible, but it's not good either, unless you just decided to go for broke on some crazy-awesome set of tires. In the latter case, it's excellent.

 

[manly]

How many miles?

$3k in 3 years if you drive 10k/yr is a different ball of wax than $3k in 3 years if you drive 25k/year.

In the first case it's not terrible, but it's not good either, unless you just decided to go for broke on some crazy-awesome set of tires. In the latter case, it's excellent.

Run-flat tires for a typical Bimmer are about a third of his total cost. It's all relative of course. I might have spent ~ $3k on maintenance for the 17 years I owned my Honda Accord (including tires). But if you checked Edmunds TCO for year 5 *alone* of a BMW (first year out of warranty), you'll see (estimated) maintenance and repair costs already in the several thousands of dollars.

So through that lens, $3k in 3 years is not bad with average mileage (12k per year). As mentioned previously in this thread, I personally don't believe the Edmunds numbers.

 

[XavierMace]

How many miles?

$3k in 3 years if you drive 10k/yr is a different ball of wax than $3k in 3 years if you drive 25k/year.

In the first case it's not terrible, but it's not good either, unless you just decided to go for broke on some crazy-awesome set of tires. In the latter case, it's excellent.

Like I've said in other threads, BMW is never going to win awards for low cost of ownership. But neither are most other performance oriented cars. If all you're shopping for is an appliance to get you from point A to point B (and there's nothing wrong with that), a BMW is a bad choice. But so far ownership of an out of warranty BMW also isn't the financial suicide that most make it out to be. I'm at 86k miles right now and as some members on here can attest to, I drive it pretty hard. Like @manly said, tires are about a 3rd of my costs. My Lexus IS300 was at 100k-ish when I sold it and had probably cost me about half the maintenance costs in roughly the same amount of time with far cheaper parts. When I say far cheaper, I'm not talking about BMW tax although that's certainly a factor. I'm talking about quality name brand parts vs cheap stuff. I bought an OEM water pump, but cheap brakes, cheap tires, etc, on the Lexus. I could have easily shaved $800 off my BMW costs by buying cheap parts/materials.

$3k isn't great compared to your average Honda/Toyota. But those aren't what the car competes against. I'm still a huge Lexus fan, I'm probably going to pick up another IS300 as a cheap, reliable, second car. But I'm happy to pay the extra $500/yr maintenance for a car that's fun to drive. For the year/performance, the only thing Lexus has in the general ballpark is the IS-F which carries about double the sticker price. That covers a LOT of maintenance and/or upgrades.

 

[rh71]

I don't want to jinx myself but my X5 is 10 years old now and I still love it like the day I stepped in it. Still runs as tight and smooth as the day I bought it with very little to worry about along the way. I paid about $2700 for an extended warranty up to year 7 and that's about how much I ended up spending in claims up to that point.

 

[deadlyapp]

I don't want to jinx myself but my X5 is 10 years old now and I still love it like the day I stepped in it. Still runs as tight and smooth as the day I bought it with very little to worry about along the way. I paid about $2700 for an extended warranty up to year 7 and that's about how much I ended up spending in claims up to that point.

My boss had an X5 about the age of yours and just recently came out to his garage floor covered with oil. He's now got a new X5 since the repair bill was going to be something like 5-7k.

 

[TridenT]

$3200 is very little for 3 years with this car. It'd be enough for tires on mine at least. If you put it at about $800 for a set of four at ~15k/yr.

I've spent around $2650 for the first year. Can't recall exact numbers but the ballpark is about right. Something like $500-550 for water pump. (Did it myself) ~$160 for charge pipe. (Free tow and did the repair myself) $20 on bulbs. ~$130-140 on oil changes (again, diy - oil is about $26 for 5 quarts + $10 filters) plus the extra quart or two every few thousand that gets gobbled up or leaks out somewhere. $660 for the rears tires the first time. $220 the second time (Michelin warranty). ~$300 for the front. $600 for the flex disc and CSB and guide bushing. (Had to get someone else to do this) Oh yeah, forgot all the stuff I did right at the beginning like changing the air filter, spark plugs, and some other stuff.

Wouldn't doubt if I'm forgetting something that rounds it up to $3,000. The car has been very needy. Right now it has an oil filter housing gasket leak and a very slow coolant leak. Not sure where the leak is for the coolant. Can't detect it. The oil filter housing gasket replacement is very involved for this specific model and requires a very free weekend to get it done (which I don't usually have). Things like the extra large radiator fan, convertible bracing, and some other stuff make it a much more involved process than a 135i coupe. When I do end up doing it, I'll probably have to replace the accessory belt and all the pulleys (bye bye $200 and some more time).

 

[tcG]

You guys and your new cars crack me up.

I currently have 2 cars, a 1990 Nissan 300ZX and a 1993 Mercedes 190E. Both are luxury cars, costing $50k+ when new. 25 years later, the 300ZX was $2800, the Mercedes $3500. They required around $1000 each to bring them up to date on maintenance, and are now in good condition.

Insurance is cheap and both cars are at the bottom of depreciation curve. No problems.

The key is being patient and checking Craigslist religiously. It took months of searching to find each, but the reward is a well-maintained older car on the cheap.

 

[Ns1]

the real reason why you shouldn't buy a new BMW these days. Could they make this any douchier?

 

[tcG]

No way that's factory. If so that's awful.

 

[repoman0]

the real reason why you shouldn't buy a new BMW these days. Could they make this any douchier?

LOL is this for real?? What car is this?

 

[PricklyPete]

the real reason why you shouldn't buy a new BMW these days. Could they make this any douchier?

Haha. That is atrocious and unfortunately plays to a large part of their audience.

Sighhh

 

[Ns1]

No way that's factory. If so that's awful.

My friend leased a 5 series. That's how it came. That particular pic is from the Internet though because my pic is blurry as fuck.

 

[IEC]

There's a reason why I only buy "J" VIN vehicles.

 

[PricklyPete]

My friend leased a 5 series. That's how it came. That particular pic is from the Internet though because my pic is blurry as fuck.

Dear god. I am sure you can turn that off...but sheesh BMW. The brand has definitely lost its way in search of sales.