How reliable is your BMW?
Discussion
So how reliable is your BMW? Regardless of age, mileage or model.
I've a 2004, 94k mile E46 318Ci Sport which I've had 2 years and 24k miles. It has been the most unreliable car I've known and, in the time I've had it there has always been something wrong with it - fix it and something else happens, fix that and something else comes up. Now, I know it's not a young or low mileage car but I had no idea I'd suffer like I have. I've never scrimped on anything either, correct servicing at correct intervals with decent parts and so on. It's had:
Oil leak from rocker cover.
Rear differential replaced - twice. I'll admit to having had a replacement unit which wasn't new so to be honest I knew there was a risk element.
Rear parking sensor fault.
Passenger airbag seat pad fault.
Rear springs (a weak point on the E46 anyway).
Suspension bushes which seem to be almost a weekly occurence.
Oh, and it's depreciated like a stone too. It's worth almost half what I paid for it (and I shopped around a lot before buying to ensure a good car at the right price).
It's on borrowed time now, as soon as I find something else I'm parting with it. I'd like another BMW but to be frank I'm scared now!
I've a 2004, 94k mile E46 318Ci Sport which I've had 2 years and 24k miles. It has been the most unreliable car I've known and, in the time I've had it there has always been something wrong with it - fix it and something else happens, fix that and something else comes up. Now, I know it's not a young or low mileage car but I had no idea I'd suffer like I have. I've never scrimped on anything either, correct servicing at correct intervals with decent parts and so on. It's had:
Oil leak from rocker cover.
Rear differential replaced - twice. I'll admit to having had a replacement unit which wasn't new so to be honest I knew there was a risk element.
Rear parking sensor fault.
Passenger airbag seat pad fault.
Rear springs (a weak point on the E46 anyway).
Suspension bushes which seem to be almost a weekly occurence.
Oh, and it's depreciated like a stone too. It's worth almost half what I paid for it (and I shopped around a lot before buying to ensure a good car at the right price).
It's on borrowed time now, as soon as I find something else I'm parting with it. I'd like another BMW but to be frank I'm scared now!
I've had an E36 328i Sport, E46 330ci convertible, now running an E60 535d. All have been very reliable, never let me down mechanically. My E46 developed a fault on the cruise control which stopped working then randomly started again 3 months later.
Do your research on the specific model/spec you want, buy a good one and they are very reliable I think.
Do your research on the specific model/spec you want, buy a good one and they are very reliable I think.
My dad had a 93k E36 318 saloon until 2009 and aside from usual maintenance the only failure I recall was n/s electric window. To be fair it was a base spec car with no electric rear windows so relatively little to go wrong.
99V E46 318Ci bought 1 year ago on 82k px'd last month at 92k has had rear subframe welding, front wishbones bushes, n/s arb droplink, 4 new tyres, n/s airbag reset new n/s headlight.
11 E90 318dM saloon 18k miles currently. Just coming up to first service after 6 months. No failures (yet!). Not even had to top up the oil.
99V E46 318Ci bought 1 year ago on 82k px'd last month at 92k has had rear subframe welding, front wishbones bushes, n/s arb droplink, 4 new tyres, n/s airbag reset new n/s headlight.
11 E90 318dM saloon 18k miles currently. Just coming up to first service after 6 months. No failures (yet!). Not even had to top up the oil.
Bit of a mixed bag for my E46 330i:
Xenon ballast unit went.
Had some random electrical bugs but they disappeared after replacing the dying battery.
Had it drop to 5 cylinders twice in 2 weeks, but been fine since changing the battery.
DSC pressure sensors initially playing up but now kaput.
Rear parking sensors playing up intermittently (still trying to solve this).
Thinking about it, it's actually one of the more unreliable cars I've owned, and certainly the least reliable BMW I've had. But all of it related to electrical rather than anything mechanical.
Xenon ballast unit went.
Had some random electrical bugs but they disappeared after replacing the dying battery.
Had it drop to 5 cylinders twice in 2 weeks, but been fine since changing the battery.
DSC pressure sensors initially playing up but now kaput.
Rear parking sensors playing up intermittently (still trying to solve this).
Thinking about it, it's actually one of the more unreliable cars I've owned, and certainly the least reliable BMW I've had. But all of it related to electrical rather than anything mechanical.
Fun Bus said:
Oh, and it's depreciated like a stone too. It's worth almost half what I paid for it (and I shopped around a lot before buying to ensure a good car at the right price).
I'd suggest two factors here:1. Anything that isn't a 60mpg/hybrid/boring euro hatch has depreciated heavily in the last two years.
2. As cars like this (7 year old BMW convertible) get older, they become more of an 'enthusiast' rather than just a 'wealthy' purchase. Enthusiasts typically want the best (most powerful) engine, highest spec etc. Yours is the base 'economy' engine.
Probably not that relevent to your situation, but I've had plenty of BMWs and they have been, generally, very reliable...
1975 1802...Had a persistant misfire eventually traced to a worn distributor advance plate. Other than that, no major issues.
1987 E30 320i...Company car and was always main dealer maintained...never had anything outside of the service schedule or a service part.
1983 E28 525i...Ran this for 100k miles as a tow car for my 02 racer...Had a few things let go...starter motor, alternator, radiator and rear driveshaft couplings...but never broke down as such and was, on the whole totally reliable.
1983 E30 318...Needed a radiator and a clutch, but nothing else...
1989 E34 530i...had over 250K miles on it when it got written off in a barrel-roll along the M4...but the only thing I ever replaced on it out of service was a viscous fan coupling.
1988 E30 325i...owned this for 5 years and 60K miles...It suffered from the (fairly common) fault where the injection loom multiplug gets water ingress and corrodes the actual loom wiring...a couple of hours with a soldering iron fixed it...Also had an oil leak from the oil filter housing relief valve O seal...10 mins and a 10p part to fix...Worst thing tat happened to this was the key snapping...fortunately not in the lock, but away from home...needed a bit of trickery from a gehius key-cutter tomake a temporary key!
1988 E30 320i Touring...This was the worst car, reliability wise...had a persistant and unresolved battery drain if left for more than a couple of days..also had a speedo sensor die...
1992 E34 525iX Touring...Bought very cheap and it did need a few things...Front CV joint and rubber gaitors, rear CV gaitors, tailgate wiring, sunroof mechanicals, and a few other odds and ends...however, it stopped being used as the oil pump and/or pressure relief valve failed and kept/keeps dropping the oil pressure at random...(a friend now owns the car and it is awaiting a new engine or a full bottom end overhaul).
My current cars are all pretty reliable...the E30 M3 very much so...I do <5k miles per year, but it has never failed in any major regard except when the engine span a big-end bearing on a trackday which resulted in a (much needed) full rebuild. Since then it has been used on trackdays and on the road without ever needing anything other than service...Having said that, it now needs an exhaust manifold gasket replacing...
My E36 328i is used daily doing around 15k miles a year (mileage is currently 194k) and it has been very reliable...It did develop a rocker cover gasket leak which resulted in bad running...also had a fuel pump pack up, an alternator and just last week a hose split that required an hour on the roadside to fix...mostly in a walk to buy a new jubilee clip and get some water.
1975 1802...Had a persistant misfire eventually traced to a worn distributor advance plate. Other than that, no major issues.
1987 E30 320i...Company car and was always main dealer maintained...never had anything outside of the service schedule or a service part.
1983 E28 525i...Ran this for 100k miles as a tow car for my 02 racer...Had a few things let go...starter motor, alternator, radiator and rear driveshaft couplings...but never broke down as such and was, on the whole totally reliable.
1983 E30 318...Needed a radiator and a clutch, but nothing else...
1989 E34 530i...had over 250K miles on it when it got written off in a barrel-roll along the M4...but the only thing I ever replaced on it out of service was a viscous fan coupling.
1988 E30 325i...owned this for 5 years and 60K miles...It suffered from the (fairly common) fault where the injection loom multiplug gets water ingress and corrodes the actual loom wiring...a couple of hours with a soldering iron fixed it...Also had an oil leak from the oil filter housing relief valve O seal...10 mins and a 10p part to fix...Worst thing tat happened to this was the key snapping...fortunately not in the lock, but away from home...needed a bit of trickery from a gehius key-cutter tomake a temporary key!
1988 E30 320i Touring...This was the worst car, reliability wise...had a persistant and unresolved battery drain if left for more than a couple of days..also had a speedo sensor die...
1992 E34 525iX Touring...Bought very cheap and it did need a few things...Front CV joint and rubber gaitors, rear CV gaitors, tailgate wiring, sunroof mechanicals, and a few other odds and ends...however, it stopped being used as the oil pump and/or pressure relief valve failed and kept/keeps dropping the oil pressure at random...(a friend now owns the car and it is awaiting a new engine or a full bottom end overhaul).
My current cars are all pretty reliable...the E30 M3 very much so...I do <5k miles per year, but it has never failed in any major regard except when the engine span a big-end bearing on a trackday which resulted in a (much needed) full rebuild. Since then it has been used on trackdays and on the road without ever needing anything other than service...Having said that, it now needs an exhaust manifold gasket replacing...
My E36 328i is used daily doing around 15k miles a year (mileage is currently 194k) and it has been very reliable...It did develop a rocker cover gasket leak which resulted in bad running...also had a fuel pump pack up, an alternator and just last week a hose split that required an hour on the roadside to fix...mostly in a walk to buy a new jubilee clip and get some water.
2002 E39 530D Touring 253K mls,
2 turbos, although one was changed under warranty as it only did 7000mls
Fuel Pump, passenger seat one
Rear Wiper Motor
Hedgehog
Aux Heater
MAf
PDC sensors
Battery
Due to Wear:
Subframe buses
Rear lower ball joints
Anti-roll bar links
Dampers all round
Air springs
Discs all round
All this over 6 years, I didn't think it was un-reliable until i started this list :-(
2 turbos, although one was changed under warranty as it only did 7000mls
Fuel Pump, passenger seat one
Rear Wiper Motor
Hedgehog
Aux Heater
MAf
PDC sensors
Battery
Due to Wear:
Subframe buses
Rear lower ball joints
Anti-roll bar links
Dampers all round
Air springs
Discs all round
All this over 6 years, I didn't think it was un-reliable until i started this list :-(
I have an E70 X5 which I have owned from new and will have had it four years next month....before that I had an E60 535d for three years and before that an E46 M3 for two years.
All of them have been very reliable...the X5 had an issue with the Comfort Access when I picked it up...that was sorted immediately and been no problems since. The E60 had a slightly tempramental iDrive which was fixed with a software update and the M3 had no issues at all.
Maybe I have just been lucky and I have owned the cars from new but the only problems I have had have been minor electrical ones and nothing at all mechanical which is the most important.
All of them have been very reliable...the X5 had an issue with the Comfort Access when I picked it up...that was sorted immediately and been no problems since. The E60 had a slightly tempramental iDrive which was fixed with a software update and the M3 had no issues at all.
Maybe I have just been lucky and I have owned the cars from new but the only problems I have had have been minor electrical ones and nothing at all mechanical which is the most important.
Fun Bus said:
S
I've a 2004, 94k mile E46 318Ci Sport which I've had 2 years and 24k miles.
I think it's an age thing - you bought at 5 yrs old just as many people are getting rid before they have problems.I've a 2004, 94k mile E46 318Ci Sport which I've had 2 years and 24k miles.
Fun Bus said:
Oh, and it's depreciated like a stone too. It's worth almost half what I paid for it (and I shopped around a lot before buying to ensure a good car at the right price).
It's on borrowed time now, as soon as I find something else I'm parting with it. I'd like another BMW but to be frank I'm scared now!
Especially if you bought it from a garage, you'll probably lose a similar amount to a nearly new one. After the initial drop, cars seem to depreciate on a straight line until they're about 8 years old.It's on borrowed time now, as soon as I find something else I'm parting with it. I'd like another BMW but to be frank I'm scared now!
Really, the worst thing you could do now would be to sell it. You've lost money on depreciation and spend money fixing it. You should hang on to ity and get some value out of it.
been driving bmw's for 10 years now, 3 series, 5 series, z3 and z4, in all those years I have only ever had 2 springs snap and a rear trailing arm bush fail.
I dont know if I would class broken springs as the cars fault, big wheels and speedbumps probably cause that.
So, my bmw's have been very reliable.
I dont know if I would class broken springs as the cars fault, big wheels and speedbumps probably cause that.
So, my bmw's have been very reliable.
2002 E46 325iA M-Sport
75k miles and has been incredibly reliable (even though it spends its days outside all year through), apart from the well-known airbag sensor problem and a broken windshield washer pump.
New front suspension arms, cooling system (waterpump, viscous fan clutch, pullies + belt) replaced and the regular maintenance is all.
75k miles and has been incredibly reliable (even though it spends its days outside all year through), apart from the well-known airbag sensor problem and a broken windshield washer pump.
New front suspension arms, cooling system (waterpump, viscous fan clutch, pullies + belt) replaced and the regular maintenance is all.
For me 100 %
Since 1986 I have only ever owned a 3 series and each generation of car from E21 to E92.
The only things I can remember was a failed water pump on an E30 316 a blow back box on an E30 318 and worn front bushings on an E36 328.
That amounts to 8 cars over that timespan 4 of which were bought new and owned between 1 - 5 years.
The only thing I can think I have been this lucky is none of the cars had +60k mielage and annual mileage has never been more than 10k.
even thought the cars have often been laid up for 4-6 weeks when working away from home.
Since 1986 I have only ever owned a 3 series and each generation of car from E21 to E92.
The only things I can remember was a failed water pump on an E30 316 a blow back box on an E30 318 and worn front bushings on an E36 328.
That amounts to 8 cars over that timespan 4 of which were bought new and owned between 1 - 5 years.
The only thing I can think I have been this lucky is none of the cars had +60k mielage and annual mileage has never been more than 10k.
even thought the cars have often been laid up for 4-6 weeks when working away from home.
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