Transmission Reliability

[willgabriel]

Originally Posted by JCL

BMW never said the transmission would last 150,000 miles. If they wanted to make the transmission last longer, they would simply put a larger and heavier transmission in, add some redundant systems to monitor it, buy sensors and actuators with a lower failure rate, essentially taking a NASA approach to MTBF. The problem with that is that the vehicle would be heavier, slower, less sporting, and more expensive. All of those are going against the philosophy of what they are selling, which is good performance at a certain price point.

I buy new BMWs, and replace them every few years. Others buy 100,000 mile BMWs and worry about transmission failures. Here's the problem: Every policy settlement and gift that BMW gives to those owners well out of warranty makes my next BMW more expensive. If the next vehicle BMW designs is heavier and slower, that is a negative for me. If the price goes up to improve the reliability (and reliability usually costs money....) then the purchase price goes up. I accept the reliability that I paid for. It isn't perfect. I could get much better reliability by trading off other factors, but I choose not to.

I vote against all of the above so-called improvements, and will continue to vote with my wallet. I shouldn't have to pay for other's unrealistic expectations. I don't wish a transmission failure on anybody, but I don't see why I should have to pay for a failure that someone else experiences out of warranty, simply because they feel wronged. If it is under warranty, and hasn't been abused, BMW must fix it. If it isn't, buy an extended warranty and don't expect future BMW purchasers to pay for your loss.

I am openly laughing at the naivety/willful ignorance that has you believing a "performance" SAV can't have a transmission that SHOULD last at least 150k miles, AND that BMW didn't expect their transmission to last that long from the beginning at the $60k+ price point. BMW transmission are not put under that much stress when compared to other similarly-priced SUV/SAV's that they need to be built more cheaply or lighter to preserve price and/or performance. You go on drinking that Kool-aide if it makes you feel better though ... you and Quicksilver can share a gallon of it as you both have been duped.