A rant!!

[StanF18]

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.

[BGM]

Originally Posted by StanF18

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.

Well to play devil's advocate to you playing devil's advocate: Honda and Toyota are not in the same market as BMW. Yes they are reliable but the performance, engineering and tech stuff is not as complex as on a BMW. I guess a better comparison would be to use MB, etc. But I agree and can contest as an almost 8 year owner that you take care of your car and it will take care of you. There are the extreme cases where mechanical meltdowns occur on some owners as bad luck but on the most part I think most are happy with theirs.

[The Cleaner]

Originally Posted by StanF18

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.

I'll play devils advocate advocate . Japanese cars Perform to a different standard, for example most are front wheel drive (less expensive to produce) they also use parts designed to deliver dependability/reliability over driving experience. Thats because to improve the driver experience you will have to make some design compromises to optimum reliability. Toyotas drive terrible, they have harsh suspensions average brakes and average material quality on the interior. Honda does a little better but they have higher repair cost and the automatic transmission will fail by 100k on many Accords.

A Subaru WRX is a great car but is noisy and rides like a truck. The toyota highlander feels light and cheap. Those are the only cars I have personal experience with but the point is to get to the ultimate driving experience you need to look past the ultimate reliability experience. A SATISFIED BMW owner like myself who has owned at least 10 BMW's is not buying the ultimate reliability machine, I am buying the ultimate driving machine and will accept the need for regular upkeep to maintain it. If I need the ultimate reliability machine I'll look for a manual Toyota corolla or Honda civic.

[Bimmer Ese]

From what I've seen (and dealt) with Japanese vehicles, the batteries do not last, shocks/struts leak/wear prematurely, weatherstripping tears easily and brake pads last around 30K.

Just my .02 pesos

[E61Silver]

It just seems like this board has a number of people that have purchased used high millage BMW's and then are surprised that the car needs repairs.


If you want a trouble free car buy a new one, if you buy a used expect that the car will need repair.

[ZsX5o3]

Originally Posted by x54.4blue

It just seems like this board has a number of people that have purchased used high millage BMW's and then are surprised that the car needs repairs.


If you want a trouble free car buy a new one, if you buy a used expect that the car will need repair.

I agree, and it's sad because it probably deters a lot of people looking into purchasing an X.

[realchef]

Originally Posted by StanF18

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.

I have friends with a couple of these eternal cars, Volvo, Toyota and a Honda. Here's the rub. When you get next to them or drive them there are always things they neglect but ride 'em out. And the ride, one feels liek a death trap, "but it has 200k and I don't do anything." Well, IMHO it shows on those cars. I have never personally seen a high mileage Japanese car that wasn't clearly showing it's age.

I have an 01 with 45k and any non Bimmer person swears it's 2 years old or recently new. (they do not know the tell-tale minutia you guys do) I think this is where the difference lies, it's the cost of maintaining it to a higher standard. Besides the fact that we are talking apples and oranges engineering wise. I would like to see one of those other cars cover the speeds, corners and distance of a BMW as regularly, if at all.

Mechanical systems break, regardless. You bought a higher dollar car and you should expect to pay a higher dollar on the maintenance.