TangoRed

Meh the M62 had leaky valley pan gaskets and oil leaks from everywhere. It's sad that the Range Rover's reliability improved when it received the Jaguar V8 vs. the BMW V8.

As for the M3/M5 V8/V10? I would run away due to possible rod bearing failure, especially on the V10.

dseag2

The greater the number of cylinders, the higher the cost of repair. V10 or V12? No thanks.

ARISTOh

iTrader: (3)

My 7 has the N54 motor.. Most expensive repair for me was getting the cylinders walnut blasted for carbon buildup around 85k miles. Costed me a little over $500 and I had it done at BMW. Everything else has been peachy. I love my 7

Stereorob

yes, I was basically insane for buying a 20 year old $1200 200k mile BMW, but I wanted to experience it. it was VERY short lived but hey you only live once right? I should change the title of this thread to "ballin on a budget, old cheap luxury cars and there stories"

dseag2

What is an N54 motor? I've never owned a BMW so I really have no idea. I'm a car guy, but I'm in a Lexus forum.

MattyG

One of the oldest debates in the history of the automotive world. Should I get a BMW or an Audi? Should I get the Mercedes or the Lexus?

Here's the rule: if you don't have $500-$1000 for a right-now repair on your ABM (Audi, BMW, Mercedes Benz) brand in your wallet, you shouldn't be debating this. You're talking to people who "churn" their cars every 1,2, 3 years. Not an accurate indicator.

Debates about N motors won't help you here. It's split-hair quality rabbit holes. Buy what you can afford and forget about the internet.

dseag2

I was only asking a question. I didn't know whether the N54 motor was an 8, 10 or 12-cylinder motor. Just trying to educate myself. And, BTW, I do have whatever money it will take for a right-now repair on my Audi. I pay my gardner more than $500-$1000 to replant my landscaping every season.

ARISTOh

iTrader: (3)

N54 is a twin turbo inline 6 cylinder.. Great motor

Hayek

So basically you're *****ing and moaning just because you bought nothing by thrashed junk and now you want to shift the whole blame to the Germans. It really begs the question: Was zum fick ist los mit sie?!

Crusher103

Lol Reading some of this stuff how many of you actually own a BMW product to even start talking about them?

No, the reliability improved when the got rid of the Rover V8. BMW did not start transplanting the M62 V8s into the Range Rovers until 2003 model came out. They used it instead of the N62 because it was a more robust and proven motor. If you look at reviews people are complaining about electronic hiccups more than motors breaking down. And rubber breaks down and leaks specially after around 7 years, let alone 15-20 plus years as old as most of those motors are, leaking oil from rubber seals is a invalid argument against them. How many 2JZ and 1UZ do you see on this site, "My cam seal started leaking", "My valve cover is leaking", "My rear main seal is leaking". By your argument they leak every where too right?

But really? Run from an M car? From consistently some of the best driver's cars period? They are performance cars and specialty performance cars with very high revving, high strain motors. They WILL need attention. There are a few LFA owners on this site go ask them about their repair bills when things do go wrong then come back and talk about an M car bills. In any case most of the blown motor stories come from either, bad maintenance or people absolutely beating on their cars. Kind of like the guy that blew a S2000 motor that only had like 60k on it, sounds like **** motor right? Until you hear he drove everywhere at 7000rpm.....yea i wonder why it blew?

lol sounds more like your just trying to bash BMW because of some internet horror stories you have heard. I will admit BMW has some **** customer service(im use to Infiniti customer services which is quite good) but its not nearly as bad to own as you make it seem. We own the notorious N62 BMW V8 and we are definitely not coming out the pockets every month for about $500 to keep it going. To be honest we barely do anything outside of oil and an occasional ignition coil.

That number is a bit low on average for somebody who does not maintain their own car you need to keep at least $3000 on standby every year for a BMW it a little less for Audi and Mercedes but again you are paying for labor not expensive parts. Usually you will not have to use 3G a year but have it just in case something does go wrong. Like my man and his rod bearings then you will need that money. Most of the time when you own a newer BMW you have a second car, so its not that much of an issue.

But you sir are very much correct.

geko29

Learn something new every day. Until now, I thought that the 740i had launched with the N55. Interesting that right as they were switching across the lineup, they introduced a brand-new model with the outgoing N54.

mikez

Wow you need to keep that much for on hand for BMW

I dont even incur that level of annual spend on my aston martin lol

Stereorob

I think I liked the old Benzes I had the most out of all the germen hoopties I had. the 560SEL lasted awhile. I had a 1972 450SLC with a 5 speed that was a blast to drive. really wish I had kept that one. also had a 2000 s500 desigo edition that was really neat a few years ago. that one actually ran perfect. only paid 1200 for it. reason being is that it was a beach car and had SEVERE rust, im talking soft floors holes around the sunroof where it rusted clean thru, and everytime I opened the doors pieces of rust would fall out. real shame with that one. black with the peanut butter interior. had a few diesel ones too. had a 1981 300D that was absolutely indestructible. not all my germen cars were bad. I had awful luck with the BMWs and Audis but the Mercs were pretty good to me

Crusher103

Yes for unforeseen break downs, this is for people who do not do their own maintenance. Especially with the an M car. Understand im not saying you will spend 3Gs a year for a BMW(if that were true nobody would own one), but in case something does go wrong to get that car back on the road quickly either have the money or a damn good warranty. Actual running cost are around $2-300 a year, for oil and minor issues, tires not included. But ask a 335i owner that is out of warranty how much a turbo replacement cost them parts and labor, it can get properly painful. The turbos do not cost much more than most OEM turbos but you have to drop the motor to replace them. Now tack on that your working on a German car. Most shops will not even touch that level of service. Unless you are doing it yourself buy as much Astroglide and KY jelly as possible.

Since you have an Aston, how much do you keep a side in case it does break? Unless it is under warranty and you do not really have to worry about it but if it isn't, its going to be a number that's maybe 3 to 4 times as high that i just said. Its a specialized high performance luxury coupe Boardering a supercar. Would you expect it to cost as much as a corolla to run?

Hayek

You might say it's safer to buy a Toyota rather than a BMW, but that's like saying that being a virgin is safer than going out at night, eating, boozing and ********. You only live once and you won't enjoy your life very much driving around in a Corolla or Camry, so live a little and get the Bimmer. Oh the Bimmer cost an arm and a leg to run? So what? If you want to play you've got to pay.

And by the way, it's not like an used Lexus would be much cheaper to run or more reliable, so this thread is, with the lack of a better a word and forgive me for sounding like Gordon Ramsay, absolutely ****ing useless.