Agreed with all.
But just to play Devil's advocate and make it interesting, how then to explain the Hondas and Toyotas that "take a lickin' and keep on tickin'"??
I'm not even talking about the well-maintained ones. I'm talking about multiple missed oil changes, 250,000 miles on the odometer, and clueless owners, and yet time and again: THEY are the ones enjoying their brand's reputation for durability and reliability, while us Bavario-philes keep running to our indies and dealers for stupid sh#$. Headlight condensation, hatch rattling, CV joints, water pump, A/C blower, squeaks, rattles, leaks, and so on and so forth. Most of the Honda owners don't even know who their service rep is, while we are ALL intimately acquainted with ours. As much as I love my X, I wouldn't fault anyone for "bitching and moaning" about their X. BMW needs to aspire to both the ultimate driving experience AND the ultimate reliability experience. I do not see why they cannot institute more stringent quality control on their assembly lines, especially after certain issues are identified as problem areas on specific models.