Originally Posted by LVR

I'm feelin ya...

The wife and I are having this exact discussion at present. In the last 9 months, we've only been able to drive the 4.8is for a total of two weeks and even then it's only short trips because it has faults and can't go far.

Both it and the 4.4 are at the point where I am spending almost every weekend doing some sort of repair. I'm pretty handy and thanks to the folks on here have attempted a lot of things I wouldn't normally.

I'm getting sick of the fact though that every time I fix one thing, I literally get one day before something else appears and it's back off the road. I know they are all minor and known issues, but really, you just rebuild the suspension and then the radiator decides to sh$t itself?

The upside of doing the work yourself is that $330 for a radiator is cheaper than $1,000 at the local repairer (not BMW)... the downside is that it takes 1 -2 weeks for the part to come in and so it just has to sit there again...

The worst thing is that after all the work it's almost a well sorted and up to date maintained and low mileage car but over the last year I've hardly even driven it.

The problem is though is that BMW engineering really is garbage.

Buying new, in my opinion doesn't make any difference.

I remember back in 2006 when I bought my then brand new 4.8is and the rear suspension collapsed within 6 months of taking delivery and I had suspension inactive messages all the time.

Who woulda thought?

Also had automatic transmission issues with it slamming between gears, harsh down shifts, limp home, excessive oil consumption and many other issues.

The dealership were very unhelpful and I ended up on a first name basis with both the national service manager and BMW Australia customer service over 16 very frustrating months. After getting nowhere with them as they 'couldn't find anything wrong with it'... I went nuclear and sent a blow by blow account to the Directors of BMW in Germany.

Suddenly they were willing to trade my car in and I moved into an E70.

I look back at all the crap they gave me about there being no issues with E53 air suspension or gearboxes. They implied/said it was just me and I was the only one....

Then I read about issues with current twin turbo V8's and excessive oil consumption/$20k full engine rebuilds and think.... mmmmm

So we are having to move countries for work soon which means we need new cars....and the wife is adamant she doesn't want a BMW.... AT ALL....