Quote:
Originally Posted by clinkinfo
It's sad for me to say, because I've really loved the brand for a long time and still do enjoy the driving experience BUT, I've owned other brands as well over the same timeframe and the extent of the problems do not exist in my experience. The BMW's have easily had the largest and most frequent issues. More frightening, they are all having the same repetitive issues with similar components across the families cars.
And no, in my experience, many of the other brands do not have the same level of proprietary software "overlord" control. I mean, I can't change the battery without registration ...... really? I mean, really? I can't change a broken radio amp without computer "registration"....really? I mean, really? Come on BMW. And the Indy mechanic I have used at times when I can't do something is even complaining, saying he can't work on models after a certain year because he can't justify the $80,000 BMW wants for the software.
Look, If you're comparing Mercedes or Audi, then yeah, maybe the same nonsense exists. But the Chevys and jeeps and toyotas I've dealt with are not remotely in the same category for proprietary nonsense. And frankly, don't seem to have remotely the same level of issues.
And for those who want to drink the BMW marketing cool-aid, and want to tell me how the ultimate driving experience has "sophisticated and special" parts that only BMW should touch, or may be so advanced it causes some degree of failure to be acceptable, Don't bother. I'm an engineer, I've had all my cars apart, and love to work on them. But it also means I know that under the roundel lies nothing but a car with typical "car" components. There's nothing special underneath your bodywork, but if it makes you feel good to think there is, go ahead. But it's nonsense. These failures are not acceptable and are indicative or poor design, manufacturing, and/or quality control. It's really that simple.
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It's not that much better on the Japanese front. My 4Runner has had quite a few issues with it, the most major being the differential pinion bearing crush sleeve crushing a bit more and killing the pinion bearing. This is a common issues, and stems from Toyota saving a few bucks by using a thin crush sleeve instead of the solid pinion bearing spacer. The driver's seat only has a few motors that still work on it, things rattle all over it, and I have a rear axle creak that I just cannot track down.
These really aren't uncommon issues (in fact, the 4WD transfer cases seem so unreliable that's about all you see on 4Runner forums!), but the guys on Toyota forums have drank the Kool-Aid in a big way, and still proclaim their vehicles as super reliable. Nevermind that about half the production run of the 4th generation had MAJOR headgasket issues - like 40%+ failure rates. The guys that pay $3-4k for that fix still proclaim them as a reliable truck, and a headgasket repair at 90k miles is "normal maintenance." HAH!
I do think BMW under engineers some components for no real benefit, but I blame that on German engineers generally not being willing to admit when they really screw up. It's been a common theme in my engineering career. Thankfully most issues are "relatively" minor, but definitely annoying.