LOL.... Attack of the Squirrel Cage! FTW.... that's a far cry from the engine block!

 

And when do chains stretch? Oh - they don't....

 

It happens. Actually it's rather common on diesel engines with timing chains. All I can say is... dont follow 10-15k mile oci's!!

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1425846

 

In any manual worth publishing; it is defined as a wear limit not a stretch limit. Pins and rollers wear. Metal that stretches FAILS in a big way except for perhaps fasteners which are designed to stretch.
Just because they (link) don't know the difference, doesn't make the content correct.

 

Based on my understanding, the chain rubs against something (dont remember exactly what) which causes shiny spots on the chain and a ghastly whining sound of impending death. Lots of BMW owners with the turbo 4 cylinder were experiencing timing chain guide failures between 70-90k miles. If you got to 90k with one of these engines on the original guides you were considered lucky. They were purposely made out of plastic... can you imagine?

BMW's V8 and inline 4' s are a nightmare due to deliberate flaws like this one. The plastic then somehow makes it's way to the oil pickup screen and nearly destroys the engine by obviously messing up the oil pressure. I was very lucky to buy a BMW with the naturally aspirated inline 6 engine built just one year before these garbage turbo 4's came out. That was a solid car - their inline 6's are built to a much higher standard as far as long term reliability is concerned.

now the biggest problem with BMW's engines are the electric water pumps after 2006. Brings the oil temperatures to just shy of overheating on even a somewhat warm day for a cleaner burn and emissions purposes. This obviously isnt an ideal condition as far as optimal performance is concerned and unfortunately, gaskets, seals, spark plugs and ignition coils around the engine suffer as a result. When I pulled the plugs out of my 528i at 70k miles they looked very bad, esp the ones closest to the firewall. If BMW designed better quality parts around their inline 6 engines , limited the amount of complicated plastic electronics and programmed the engine to run at a normal temp, would be just as good as any quality Japanese engine built to run well and last long.

 

Everyone and their brother uses various forms of *plastic* guides for chain tensioning and/or chain guides. It is the standard. Why the story.... Guides protect the chain from wear. Guides are not metallic.

 

BMW's are garbage. Ask my co-worker, he's already replaced his head gasket and changed his failed valve guides before it even reached 100K on his E90. No offense intended to BMW owners and enthusiasts

 

so why would the other bmw models not have chain guide failures? I swear someone told me that they are not supposed to be plastic.

Great - another Lexus/Toyota owner who has zero personal experience with another brand and simply uses the experiences of ONE other example he sees in his close vicinity to judge the brand as a whole.

 

Yet another person who doesn't even know anything about me and assumes I have never owned a German or other car brands. I'm 52 years old, I've owned multiple German cars, and they are mechanically challenged, money pits. In other words I am glad I finally got smart enough to realize owning European cars is not the best way to spend your hard earned money. I would buy any Toyota/Lexus with 100K plus miles over ANY German car that has 0 miles, because frankly, the Toyota/Lexus would still be running in 10 years

But I am not here to get into an argument with anyone, so I will end this discussion here

 

FWIW, I've owned BMWs (and still do) for 20+ years. 3/5/7 series. I'm also a 19 year veteran board super mod for the largest BMW message board. I've worked on these cars myself, replacing almost every weak point on them, so I have a lot of first hand experience DIYing these cars.

The simple truth? BMWs drive amazingly, but their reliability is a farce. On all my Lexus/Toyota.. pretty much NOTHING has to be replaced. All gaskets, seals, hoses, etc. are pushing original or close to it. I have 20 year old/200k 4runner still has almost all original seals and gaskets and not a single leak. Same for my IS. The problem is with the quality and amount of plastics that BMW uses. These plastics/rubbers are notorious for becoming unpliable and leaking after only a few years. I had a $105,000 750i a few years ago... let that sink in for a second. Within 2-3 years (around 60k miles), my turbo coolant lines started leaking. My Oil Recirc pump started leaking, fuel injectors needed to be replaced. My extendable seat thigh bolster just snapped off one day as the plastic gears inside it cracked in half. Notice the trend, almost all failures are due to plastic/rubber issues. Meanwhile, my Toy/Lex cars are just humming along, including my mom's 98 LS400 with 200k miles and not a single issue.

Also, BMW owner's definition of wear/tear items are in a different galaxy than Japanese owners. It's very common around 100k miles to replace all cooling system parts (radiator, expansion tanks, hoses--all made from plastic), alternators, power steering pumps, AC Compressors, suspension bushings, etc. These are items that would be unheard of on a 100k Lexus. But you gotta pay to play I guess and boy are they fun cars to drive! And I'll always have one in my stable.

It's not that they use plastic/rubber that's the problem, it's just the quality of them... I don't get why they can't get them to last as long as Japanese ones.

 

Thank you for that information. I totally agree, the driving experience and handling is amazing. I've owned several VW's (Rabbit, GTI), and I've owned Mercedes. I have a lot of friends and co-workers that own everything from Audi's, Alpha, and BMW's (3, 5 and 7 series) including my Help Desk guy who owns an E90, and the one thing they all have in common...they are in need of constant mechanical repair. When I bought my first Toyota (1995 Corolla LE), I experienced something completely new....my cars never needed to be repaired outside of routine maintenance. Besides my 2010 IS350, I have a 2006 Camry SE V6 with 150K, and a 2013 Toyota Sienna with 135K. I finally had to change the radiator last year in my Camry and fix a minor power steering leak (a pipe needed changing), but other than that, none of my Toyota's have ever had so much as oil leak.

Anyway, my intention was not hurt anyone's feelings. If a person likes BMW's and does not mind spending money on keeping them going, I salute you!

 

You're very balanced with your replies. I straddle both worlds since they don't overlap too well. Each brand provides a different set of benefits.

Truth is, a Lexus owner would never go into a BMW message board and say that any Lexus is a better driving vehicle. But likewise, I can't imagine a BMW owner coming to CL.com and saying that their cars are equally reliable or better. LOL. That's just not the case.

Funnily, for the first 2-3 years, they're usually no too bad and have very minor issues. That's the average time for a lease. However, push it out 4+ years and things will take a turn for the worse in BMWs.

 

Alot of it boils down to which BMW model you're talking about. Anything with the older V8 or 4 cylinder from their lineup is truly garbage. The older turbo 335i's were decent but still had problems. However... Any 328i, 528i from like 2011 or older with the naturally aspirated 6 cylinder is a very good car. As reliable as a Toyota? No. But if you buy the right one you're not going to have to worry about reliability.

There are a handful of owners on e90post with 300,000 miles on their 2007-2011 328i. Many of them never even had to do anything but standard maintenance. An abused car is much more likely to be a money pit from ANY manufacturer.

Then you got the 6 cylinders from 2005 and older which were not only quite durable and long lasting, but far easier to work on than anything made after 2006.

 

At 19 I bought a e39 with 200k miles for $1500. It has a $500 sound system and 20 inch rims. I said **** it. Even if it blows up just the rims and the system to me is worth almost as much at the car.... 60k miles later. I hadn't done one oil change or fixed one thing. Only thing I did was change the tires. I didn't want to spend $0 on it for maintenance and said once it breaks it breaks. The transmission started slipping and there was 16 CEL codes. Yet it never ever left me stranded. I ended selling it for $1400

 

16 cels? For what? Slipping trans is due to neglected pan filter/magnet/fluid service.