AJT123

Lol, nothing like BMW. They are literally seemingly designed to last the warranty/lease period, then it's game over.

Last week I went to Autozone to buy tire shine and washer fluid, there this guy with a broken down year or two old 550i on the phone whining about it. He had no idea what was wrong or what to do, and the Autozone guy sure as hell didn't know anything to do either. He literally sneered at me as I purposely parked my 15 year old indestructible LS right there next to him. I gave him a look right back. It was a Sunday so no dealer to drive to. People pay 80k for cars like this? I just don't get it. (And yes, I know, I need my front bumper cover resprayed lol)

coolsaber

While your experience may buck the trend, these myths are not made overnight. E83 transfer actuator issues due to plastic parts wearing out, E9X-F0X parasitic battery draw (eventually traced to a bad module), Idrive reboots, CA failure, water intrusion from the pano roof are some things that owners in and out of warranty have had to deal with.

Evident by sales numbers tho, BMW can do wrong tho. Bleeding edge tech, brushes poor reliability and high maintenance costs under the rug.

coolsaber

Back to the Supra Engine, I wonder what the real HP/TQ #s are since BMW tend to undervalue their numbers. I assume even the s58 is probs underreporting. Once those things come into light by third parties let the real tuning begin.

Stroock639

to be fair, that 550i is really awesome when it's working lol

i completely get why someone would want that car... something like that when you have a warranty and don't have to worry about additional out of pocket costs is awesome, once that warranty is up i'm getting rid of it though

i love my LS more than any other car but there are certainly times i wish it had a bit more bmw-ness to it, but then the road straightens out again and i couldn't be happier to be in my cushy V8 sports couch

like i said, when you're actually driving a serious bimmer like that, it's fantastic... if that's the MOST important thing to someone, there's few substitutes... but for the vast majority of times when you're simply just driving along, i'll gladly take one of mmarshall's buicks over a bmw

problem there is when you do feel like pushing it a bit, the buick is SO bad i just couldn't deal with that lol... in a place like the US with big open roads, what i want is a comfortable reliable cruiser with a strong engine that can take corners well if it needs to, but would rather just keep cruising along... aka the LS 400! (and E55 when i feel like making myself giggle like an idiot)


edit:

and speaking of V8 5 series, this is actually a pretty reliable car:

AJT123

Sure it is, hence the phrase when it's working. I wasn't comparing my old LS directly to a newish monster 550. If I wanted more sport I'd buy a '17 LS460 F-sport which is still no M package 7 Series but it's good enough sport-wise, and will still be stupid reliable.

I will agree that the E39 was somewhat "reliable" by BMW standards, but still hardly a car I would depend on. If people want to spend all kinds of money keeping BMWs running that's their prerogative for sure. And like I said, I'm a fan. I'd love an old E38 or E39 but not spending thousands a year to keep it on the road.

Stroock639

pretty much all turbo engines are underrated these days it seems

the mclaren 720s is "720 hp", but all dyno results seem to say that's more like 720 wheel hp

same with things like the C43 "AMG"

Stroock639

i feel also like bmw isn't totally to blame... a big reason people want a bmw is that they're often at the forefront of technology and have the latest gadgets as soon as possible, so it's only natural some problems will occur

i don't need the absolute latest high tech gadgets in my car, which is why i like how toyota generally waits for a technology to develop before making it mainstream

that being said, i'm sure stefan and susanne quandt can each forfeit some of their $25 billion to work on making the cars more reliable lol