Is BMW a good choice?

My 2007 328I has 127,000 miles. i replaced my 2001 325I in 2010 whihc had 176,000 miles. Both were bought certified. The 2001 was my sister-in=laws' leaser. I have a 79 320I which was a bit of a dog because BMW ( and many others) did not have the immediate success going over to the new emissions laws that Mercedes did. With that said, when they went to their new engines in the 3 series in 80-81, they apparently never looked back. IMO, Mercedces is still great, BUT they are not quite the company they were when they made all of those truly indestructible diesel sedans back in the day. Those engines may have been the only ones that were more durable than the basic small block GM or the OLD Volvo inline 4!!!!!
 
Metal Made Fox said:
Are they good cars?
Click to expand...

Mine was. I bought a new 325e in 1984 and drove it until 2000. Never had any probs with it, except that the odometer broke and I drove it for a couple of years like that. It had in the range of 230,000 miles when I stopped driving it, but with the broken odometer I never knew for sure. I found it to be a very reliable vehicle, and fun to drive. The only theoretical downside for me was parts and service availability, though that was never actually an issue as it never broke down. And when the road was snowy or icy, being rear while drive the vehicle wanted to do a 180. Battery was in the trunk for weight distribution. But it was a fine ride, and for the past 13 years its been decomposing in a barn. When I win the lottery, I'll have a full restoration job done on it.
 
ukknifer said:
Rich mofos. Wish I had your dilemma. Where is the poor guy crappy car thread? :)
Click to expand...

Instead of crapping on this thread, you could start a "Poor guy crappy car thread."

Mercedes, BMW, these cars cost twice as much as a similarly-sized Ford or Chevy, but they will deliver four times the miles, so they are a better value in the long run. My current 12-year-old Mercedes has 138,000 miles on it. Before taking the leap to MB, I had two Oldsmobiles. I drove each to 100,000 miles and, at 100K, each was physically and mechanically falling apart. My Mercedes, on the other hand, still looks great and runs like a top... a supercharged top. The exterior looks great; I still get people asking, "When did you get the new car?" The paint looks great. I drive it through the care wash about once a month and I have the dealer do the whole detail thing once a year, that's all. The interior is great. The seat I have sat on for 138,000 miles has a little bit of wear but will clearly go another 138K with no problem (Both GM seats were threadbare after 100K). And my mechanic says the engine is in great shape. (My last GM literally blew its head gasket and destroyed itself just after 100K; it had to be towed to the junk yard. People told me I was silly to buy a supercharged engine; "It's going to be in the shop more than out. It will wear out early." That engine has had zero problems. The dealer replaced one spark plug under warranty because it failed to fire... once. I thought that that was silly but they insisted, "Mercedes spark plugs do not fail to fire even once." Ok. I didn't even know it happened, but the car did and turned on its Visit Workshop light. Otherwise, that supercharged engine has been a delight to drive and perfectly-reliable.

My brother bought his BMW at the same time I bought my MB. I rode in it some months ago and it is also looking great. And he has had very little service costs either.

The one thing to be aware of on the Benz is that they don't oil drip plugs.... well, they don't have oil either. To change the Mobile One, you have to have a machine that vacuums the oil out through the top. And yes, you can buy these machines and do your own oil changes, if you want to. But what you can't do is take your Mercedes to the typical Quickie Lube place. The Service A oil change at the dealer is about $250. But, I actually think it's a good value because it's done by a real mechanic who gives the engine a through checkup. Oh, and they have very nice pasteries and fancy coffee drinks in the lounge.

So, if you keep your cars for a long time, you will actually find that the more-expensive car is cheaper in the long run.




Oh, and I had dinner a few months ago at one of Oregon's toniest restaurants. When I came out and asked the Valet for my car, he simply dashed across the drive way and pulled my car down off the trophy row. I hadn't even thought to look there, but there was my 12-year-old car between a Porsche and a Ferrari. It is 12 years old and it looks that good. And that was a cool feeling for me.
 
I would go BMW all the way. I have owned porches, audis, vws, hondas, jeeps, corvettes, acuras, Mini's, mazdas, fords....BMW has been my favorite.I currently have a 335i x-drive and love it. Stock 300 hp and with a tune easily go to 400+. If your not looking for speed the regular 328 is still an excellent car and the new ones are no slouch. They get excellent MPG have a fantastic warranty 5 years.

A bmw will be less plush than a Mercedes or audi but will handle better than most other cars (minus the porches...unless your talking about thoes POS boxers....if you want a Porsche get a real one)... anyways. Love my bmw. Get it.

I smoke sti's, evos older m3's (never raced a new one) and a e series AMG. I have minimal mods on the car but its still quick out the box, no doubt.

CEUUIIm.jpg
 
Gollnick said:
Instead of crapping on this thread, you could start a "Poor guy crappy car thread."

Mercedes, BMW, these cars cost twice as much as a similarly-sized Ford or Chevy, but they will deliver four times the miles,

.
Click to expand...


Meh, all comes down to the individual car, and how it's taken care of. If you don't take care of a car, it's not going to last 100,000 miles which today is pretty much a standard for any car IMO.

I've seen nice cars become big ole heaps of crap because of bad owners at 60,000, and I've seen sport bikes (particularly a Ducati Monster with 216,000 miles on it in California) hit high miles because owners take care of them better than their own children.


My father has several luxury cars that have all ticked over 150,000. Currently he is in a 2008 Lexus IS350 with 162,000 on it. While the car has been trouble free, its had all of its maintenance done (including replacing parts before they break) on schedule at the dealer, and maintenance sure isn't cheap on it either.
 
take this for what it's worth. I can only imagine the hate that is about to fly my way.

I'm a professional mechanic (woop de doo, right?) and in my experience, working on them AND owning a couple and my parents owning 4 or 5, BMW is one of the most unreliable cars period. Especially mid nineties through mid-early 2000's cars. German cars in general don't tend to hold up well when compared to american cars made in the last 5 years and anything from japan. If you must buy a BMW, buy a fairly new one with low mileage, and sell it within 10 years before things start to fall apart- particularly the interior and wiring systems. If I were going to dump around 40k on a slightly used german car, my ass would be in a porsche cayman S.

As far as german cars go, in my experience, I'd rank the reliability: Porsche (followed by it's parent company vw/audi) tend to be most reliable but are a pain in the ass to work on, Merc, BMW. I consider volvo a german car even though it isn't technically, and would throw it in equal to or just ahead of porsche for reliability.

HAVING SAID THAT, when they are working right or you get a good one that has zero issues and stays that way (rare), they drive like nothing else on the road. everything feels so refined and fluid, and they even have a particular smell that no other car has. I think it has something to do with the glue used in the interior pieces (all their plastics tend to be wrapped in a vinyl-like soft skin covering).
 
Last edited:
^ agree with this guy mechanically speaking I've seen many Chevy small blocks with 300,000 plus miles if a car is gone at 100k I'd call it junk
 
american21 said:
^ agree with this guy mechanically speaking I've seen many Chevy small blocks with 300,000 plus miles if a car is gone at 100k I'd call it junk
Click to expand...


Funny you say that, my father in laws 89 chevy longbed just died last week with 350,000 miles on the stock original 350 TBI. Just a stuck valve, not even catastrophic damage. He even drove the ol bitch home :)
 
I second that instead of getting a new bmw you could get a very lightly used Porsche! my coworker has a Carrera s that he has had since new and now has over 150k miles on it. It still runs great and that thing is crazy fast. I get to drive it to lunch sometimes :D
 
But what about the American muscle how do you just pass those
Click to expand...

I actually laughed. You cannot imagine how funny this is.

I have owned several American muscle cars; a 1968 Mustang California, a 1970 Dodge Challenger (440), a 1968 Dodge Dart (340/6 pak), Buick 1969 Stage 1. In the last 5 years I've driven multiple current versions; a Saleen Mustang, several Cameros, Dodge Challengers. The old ones (frankly) ride like trash, have horrible handling, and the brakes are seriously deficient. They need serious work to be able to get into any kind of "good" condition. They also required the most maintenance I ever put into any vehicles; back then I had to have two cars because one was always broke. Thank God they were so simple I could do the work myself. Understand these were not just daily drivers, but also used to race; at Irwindale in the brackets, on the 210 freeway (before it opened stretches were complete for years with mo legal access), etc.

In 1983 I went to Germany, where I lived for 4 years. That's where I learned that horsepower is nice, but it doesn't make a good car on it's own. I've driven from Nuremberg to Munich and never gone under 200 kph. Any of my old American cars would have blown to bit attempting that; and we got passed doing it; multiple times. That was in a car that at the time was 6 years old, had lots of miles on it, and was stock. My room-mate had his Dodge Charger over there. I hated that thing by the time we left. It was a big, soft, boat compared to almost anything else. And while he loved to take it on the Autobahn it was best under 100 mph because the front end always tried to lift at higher speeds.

(I love the Autobahn, even though it's hard to find totally unregulated parts now. The Sunday morning drive I did near Regensberg a couple years ago in a nice Audi S6 is going to stay with me for a long time.)

My current BMW has more power than my old Challenger, weighs 1000 lbs less, handles better, is much faster, and will go for hours at speeds of over 100 with no problems (it has). It also runs on a track fairly well in company, and still gets used as the daily driver. On long trips I can get 29 MPG. I took it on a 9000 mile road trip a couple years ago; went through 37 States in 6 weeks, just driving and seeing the country and some old friends. I had to get a 5000 mile service in L.A., but other than that not one single problem. I've never owned an American made car that could do that off the lot (and I've owned every major brand still in existance).

Muscle cars pander to guys who wanted one back in high school and couldn't make it happen, or kids who don't know any better. The only reason I wish I still had some of the cars I've owned is because I could sell them for a lot of money to people who aren't really going to drive them.
 
eisman said:
I've never owned an American made car that could do that off the lot (and I've owned every major brand still in existance).
Click to expand...

I'd agree with a lot you said, but have to poke you a little bit and say "You, sir, have obviously never owned a corvette.":D

While not as nice of an interior/sound system as the germans, the vette in my opinion, is superior in every other way. Better power/weight ratio with the LS2 or LS3 engine, nearly perfect weight distribution, room for biiiiig tires in back, chevy small block simplicity and reliability, cheaper maintenance, 27-30mpg highway capability, ability to work on it yourself easily with no special tools or computers, bullet-proof transmission in the t-6060, and on and on.

Yeah, its got a fiberglass transverse leaf spring... so what? It does the job PERFECTLY and handles like a madman, while saving a ton of weight over a more complicated suspension. The lack of tech is part of why the vette has my heart. It is so simple and yet so effective. There is way less to break. Not to mention the fact that they are nearly hail proof (a nice feature in Oklahoma) being made entirely of fiberglass. My 2010 corvette was one of the best and most reliable cars I've ever owned.

With the C7 corvette coming out now, with it's amazing materials and interior and upgraded engine, there will be absolutely no reason for me to ever own another german car. I'm trying to resist buying a C7 in a few years, as I really don't need it, but we will see how that goes :)

In short, if you have 25-40 grand and want a good daily driver sports car that will last a loooong time and outperform nearly all other comers, buy a low mileage c6 corvette. IF you can stand the fact that every 55 year old upper-middle class dude on the road drives one, haha.
 
Last edited:
Then you have guys like me who just wait for some high school kid to pull up in his dad's "American muscle car" next to me at a stop light... while I'm sitting on a motorcycle. :) Bye!
 
eisman said:
I actually laughed. You cannot imagine how funny this is.

I have owned several American muscle cars; a 1968 Mustang California, a 1970 Dodge Challenger (440), a 1968 Dodge Dart (340/6 pak), Buick 1969 Stage 1. In the last 5 years I've driven multiple current versions; a Saleen Mustang, several Cameros, Dodge Challengers. The old ones (frankly) ride like trash, have horrible handling, and the brakes are seriously deficient. They need serious work to be able to get into any kind of "good" condition. They also required the most maintenance I ever put into any vehicles; back then I had to have two cars because one was always broke. Thank God they were so simple I could do the work myself. Understand these were not just daily drivers, but also used to race; at Irwindale in the brackets, on the 210 freeway (before it opened stretches were complete for years with mo legal access), etc.

In 1983 I went to Germany, where I lived for 4 years. That's where I learned that horsepower is nice, but it doesn't make a good car on it's own. I've driven from Nuremberg to Munich and never gone under 200 kph. Any of my old American cars would have blown to bit attempting that; and we got passed doing it; multiple times. That was in a car that at the time was 6 years old, had lots of miles on it, and was stock. My room-mate had his Dodge Charger over there. I hated that thing by the time we left. It was a big, soft, boat compared to almost anything else. And while he loved to take it on the Autobahn it was best under 100 mph because the front end always tried to lift at higher speeds.

(I love the Autobahn, even though it's hard to find totally unregulated parts now. The Sunday morning drive I did near Regensberg a couple years ago in a nice Audi S6 is going to stay with me for a long time.)

My current BMW has more power than my old Challenger, weighs 1000 lbs less, handles better, is much faster, and will go for hours at speeds of over 100 with no problems (it has). It also runs on a track fairly well in company, and still gets used as the daily driver. On long trips I can get 29 MPG. I took it on a 9000 mile road trip a couple years ago; went through 37 States in 6 weeks, just driving and seeing the country and some old friends. I had to get a 5000 mile service in L.A., but other than that not one single problem. I've never owned an American made car that could do that off the lot (and I've owned every major brand still in existance).

Muscle cars pander to guys who wanted one back in high school and couldn't make it happen, or kids who don't know any better. The only reason I wish I still had some of the cars I've owned is because I could sell them for a lot of money to people who aren't really going to drive them.
Click to expand...

I think he was referring to American Muscle from this century.

I drove a C5 Corvette for 6 years , I sold it because it wasn't being using. I bought a Jeep Wrangler for the miserable NY winters but soon missed owning a sporty car.
I wanted something that would seat 4 people , so I got a 2011 BMW 328i.

Now of course I'm not saying that the BMW 328i and the C5 vette are in the same class, but in all the years I owned the Vette , I never reached it's performance limit.
But with the 328i I found it's handling limit the 1st week I owned it.

I owned a '68 Pontiac GTO back in the 70's and I have a 2011 Mustang now ( yeah I like cars , it's a more expensive sickness than knves) and the two cars are not close on any level. In fact dollar for dollar the Mustang is probably a better buy than the 128i convertible I just bought.

But to be fair is a 1970's vintage BMW as good as a modern one? My friends 1970's 2002 was a POS and so was his boss's Bavaria
 
texas gun person said:
Then you have guys like me who just wait for some high school kid to pull up in his dad's "American muscle car" next to me at a stop light... while I'm sitting on a motorcycle. :) Bye!
Click to expand...

I'm a motorcycle guy myself :)

here's my current and only bike at the moment. totally customized by yours truly. used to be a 2004 sportster 1200c
1374895_3439698247639_296370898_n.jpg


on a related note, i just got a letter from the DMV yesterday that said the 2006 honda CBR 1000RR i sold a couple months back has been impounded by highway patrol. hahahaha. guess the kid that bought it was a bit too speed-hungry.
 
Nice! I have a 2007 Shadow 600 that's going to be bobbed eventually. Such a awesome bike for a bobber in my opinion.

And a new to me CBR600RR. :)
 
I love Sportsters, but that's where the wife draws the line....no motorcycles. I used to drive a Kawasaki in the 80's , friend of mine opted for the HD Sportster.
One day we switched bikes and it was like an epiphany. I never forgot what it was like to drive a Sportster.
 
Gollnick said:
Mercedes, BMW, these cars cost twice as much as a similarly-sized Ford or Chevy, but they will deliver four times the miles, so they are a better value in the long run. My current 12-year-old Mercedes has 138,000 miles on it. Before taking the leap to MB, I had two Oldsmobiles. I drove each to 100,000 miles and, at 100K, each was physically and mechanically falling apart. .
Click to expand...

Any experience with Hondas and Toyotas? When you say falling apart, do you mean transmission, or other things?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top