Originally Posted by gdoan

No need to be sorry. Your opinion matters as much as everyone else's. I do appreciate all the on topic posts but, I also value the feedback such as yours.

I am a fan of the marque. I sometimes wonder and worry if I'm too willing to overlook what 'outsiders' might consider more serious flaws or quality problems because "it's a BMW." But, at the same time, I accept that some issues come with the territory, as it were. I like to think (bear in mind the confessed lack of objectivity above) that more attention is paid to the things I care about, like handling and driving dynamics, than say, too much focus on reliability. For example, the clutch on my '03 M5 is a piece of cr@p, from a durability perspective. I rationalize this (right or wrong) that BMW has to balance the design on a broad audience. There are enough of us that feel it's all about the driving experience (whether or not that's a bunch of baloney) and those who want more reliability or are simply looking for more of the 'mass-tige' (prestige for the masses...)

I don't go into this potential purchase blindly. As I mentioned in my original post, I believe, I have owned a few BMWs. I had few problems with them, too. My 740 went through a number of the 'expected' failures - radiator, radiator overflow, window regulator, etc. I read up on and knew about the issues before I bought the car (used). My E36 (318is) just about fell apart towards the end of it's life but, I felt like I got my money's worth. It, too, was purchased used and I'm not real certain of its (ab)use prior to me buying it. My daughter folding a wheel under it on a 180 spin in the rain didn't help, either... The M5, which I bought new, has been pretty darn reliable, considering. I had a few small issues under warranty, such as leaky power steering and some squeaks and noises. It only has about 26K miles on it and now I pray a lot! But, I also went into my M5 purchase assuming I was going to have to shell out $3K-$5K for a clutch at some point.

I appreciate all the feedback. The car I was looking at does seem, after getting all this feedback, to be overpriced. One of the reasons I initially tried to get them to bring the price down, not so much because I felt it was overpriced (I now know better), but more because I figured I was going to have to pump some money into it in maintenance and inevitable repairs.

Thanks!
Greg

2003 ///M5 Jet Black/Black, Sport (fair weather mauler)
Beastpower Sway Bar Brackets, Bluetooth, Aux Audio Input & all "plus" options except PDC

1998 740iL Arctic Silver/Black (daily trawler)
2003 Nissan Pathfinder LE Gold-I think/Tan (daily hauler)
2002 330Ci Jet Black/Tan (RIP)
1995 318is (Boston Green/Tan) (sold)