Originally Posted by MattyG

Exactly. The internet is one thing, owner experience is another, and of course CR, JD Power are yet another. But there is no reason to get tribal about some sort of online ideas about what is a good car or not. The German cars do have soul and passion. Anybody who has driven one knows that instinctively.

Lexus just carved out it's own place. If you have the money, you drive one or the other.

Originally Posted by Stereorob

ive had HORRIBLE luck with BMWs

ive always had toy cars along with my Lexus LS's, im not rich so i buy high mile older cars to play with, very cheap and either dump them before they blow up or dump them before anything bad happens.

for a brief, very dark and terrible time in my life, i got a 1988 750IL, which well was, everything terrible and bad that everyone says they are. then again a few years later, then a 1996 750iL (just like the one Tupac died in) thinking it would maybe be better than the 88, besides i only paid $1000 for it that car i swear wanted to kill me, all kinds of issues with the steering, and i eventually got in a horrible accident, hitting a tree and was ejected thru a closed moonroof. (i hot the glass so hard and fast it didn't break my neck) besides a concusion and picking glass out of my scalp for a year after, i wasn't too badly hurt (very very lucky i should be dead), well, i decided i wasn't through punishing and abusing myself and got a 2002 bangle butt 745Li, ive had 59 cars, and used to buy high mile hoopties cheap all the time to play with. both BMW 7-series were spectacular and total failures. the 745Li was so bad that after spending a stupid amount of $ trying to keep it running (actually broke down on me and left me stranded on the side of the road the day i bought it) the final straw was when the entire electrical system failed and caught on fire under the dashboard. i pulled it to the side of the road, quickly snatched the tag off of it, and just walked away and let it burn. only BMW i had that was worth a GOD DAMN was my 1983 635CSi, and even it didn't last very long. i really really like the feel of old bmws, but they just don't work out for me and ill never buy another one.

ive always had a Lexus as my main car, and always some germen POS as a toy car. seems like they never end well. ive had BMWs, Audis, Jaguars, Mercs, and a VW, they all failed spectacularly and never lasted very long, especially the Audis and BMWs. dear god i have some horror stories but me and BMW just don't mix at all

stay tuned for Merc, Audi, and Jaguars.. how bout you guys?

Originally Posted by ARISTOh

or both

Originally Posted by UDel

I have been temped to buy some older German performance or luxury cars but horror stories like the OP keep me from doing it. I know a few people who have done it and none of the results ended well when it came to reliability and cost of maintenance except in a few cases, those that I remember were a Porsche 944 and 968 that turned out to be pretty reliable, guys bought them pretty cheap with mostly cosmetic damage and after getting everything right cosmetically for not too much money they ran pretty good though neither had anywhere near 100K miles. I wanted a E39 5 series and talked to a few people who owned them and they convinced me not to get one unless I wanted to dump a lot of money and time into it for repairs and preventive maintenance.

I agree with everyone else though, buying very high mileage "hooptie" cars for very cheap is never going to end well, especially complicated German cars.

Originally Posted by coolsaber

I can understand the title of this thread if you purchased a brand spanking new Bimmer and had the crazy issues you seem to have, but come 59 hoopties later you complain about the reliability of a brand of low $ end of life vehicles lol. YUP nope

Originally Posted by bitkahuna

yeah i'm sure a $1000 '96 750iL isn't going to have problems.

Originally Posted by 97-SC300

In what way is a POS $1000 junker considered a "German toy car"? In what sense was it a toy? It sounds like it barely drove at all.

Originally Posted by Crusher103

The key is make sure you can do most of the maintenance on the car yourself, research is your friend. Contrary to popular belief BMWs are made to be serviced so its engineered into them but just bolts and how things are held down in a few areas are a little different and require different tools(for example ignition coil held down with a torkz bit). But a basic set of tools with an assortment of torks bits and you are essentially do just about everything outside of Vanos. Find a properly maintained car with records and somebody who did not abuse it just because it had an M badge on it and you have almost nothing to worry about.

Are there horror stories? Yes, a friend of mine lived through one with a V10 powered M6 and the SMG transmission, lets just say his repair bill can buy most of the cars on this site. So if you are buying an BMW M, Benz AMG, Audi S/RS model car, be handy with your tools.

Originally Posted by mmarshall

My thoughts exactly. Don't buy a sow's ear and expect a silk purse.

Originally Posted by Aron9000

The thing with BMW is to stay with a six cylinder. They have never made a reliable or cheap to own V8, there are just way more things that break and cause issues, both on new and old ones. The V12 engines are even more sketch IMO. I don't know about the M3 V8 or M5 V10, but if those cars had the SMG gearbox, you do not want to own them, that gearbox is a real pos.

Its so weird with BMW's, the more expensive the car was new, the less reliable it is and the more issues it has as time goes on.