tales about buying old beater luxury cars - BMW edition
#16
Lexus Champion
I've had a 2010 Audi A5 since it was 3000 miles old.....56K on the clock now and only issue was oil consumption which is a known issue and has been taken care (and they are still monitoring).....
ZERO other issues with the car.
ZERO other issues with the car.
#17
Lexus Test Driver
iTrader: (3)
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.
Lexus just carved out it's own place. If you have the money, you drive one or the other.
#19
Lead Lap
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?
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?
#21
Lexus Fanatic
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.
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.
#22
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.
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.
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.
#23
Pole Position
ROTFLMAO My thoughts exactly...
#24
Lexus Fanatic
#26
Yes, I was wondering about that as well. Maybe a 2000 BMW Z3 as a toy to use on weekends? But, if I bought one for $2k I wouldn't expect it to last without lots of repairs.
#27
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.
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.
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.
#28
Lead Lap
#29
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
its just something i can do that i have fun with. buying a $1,000 v12 bmw is like wiping your butt with hundred dollar bills. yes ive had all these cars at the end of there lifespan. top gear mention sounds about right. i like old luxury cars. whats amazing to me is that the $500 lexus can outlive the $1000 7 series, the $800 s class, and the $ 1200 A8. pretty amazing how it works.
#30
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.
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.
But the NA 6 cylinder BMW is what you what, if you are talking about DDing a BMW. Those N54s with their turbo and fuel pump issues lol. Here is the thing about the repair bills, they are a reflection of the car's price. A 90k BMW or even lexus for that matter. Its repair bill when things do break is going to be much higher than a 20k corolla. You just cannot expect that.