Got Farfenugened

[cawimmer430]

But often one generation older, right? More time to work out bugs? And maybe because they're a lower-end brand, maybe some of the complexities are stripped back out?

No idea to be honest. Skoda's come pretty well-equipped but at a cheaper price than a VW with the same platform. Skoda is VWAGs value brand after all.

Skodas with DSG transmissions did and do suffer from the known DSG issues.

[ifcar]

No idea to be honest. Skoda's come pretty well-equipped but at a cheaper price than a VW with the same platform. Skoda is VWAGs value brand after all.

Skodas with DSG transmissions did and do suffer from the known DSG issues.

I thought real Europeans shifted their own gears. Lazy bastards deserved that!

[cawimmer430]

I thought real Europeans shifted their own gears. Lazy bastards deserved that!

They used to be. Manuals are still popular here, but more and more people are opting for automated transmissions in cars which used to be predominantly manual; BMW 3er, VW Passat etc.

My generation BMW 1-Series is still a common sight on the roads. Whenever I walk past one in the city I look inside to see the transmission. The overwhelming majority have a manual transmission. But on the newer, current 1-Series I get a 50-50 impression: 50% manuals, 50% automatics. This is just an observation on my part.

[Raza]

But often one generation older, right? More time to work out bugs? And maybe because they're a lower-end brand, maybe some of the complexities are stripped back out?

Maybe a year older, not a full generation though.  Some models, maybe.  Some are also different from the Volkswagen models, like the Superb being modified from the Passat with a longer wheelbase and stuff.

[AutobahnSHO]

Naw like 700

???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Is it easy to get to? You might can do it yourself...

[12,000 RPM]

The $200 in labor the other shop is charging is worth it to me. Plus since it's the starter I would have to do it in a parking lot with hand tools. No thanks. Waiting to hear what the estimate is but I feel like getting everything done will be about $1000-1200 which is reasonable given that we've had no repairs in 4 years.

[AutobahnSHO]

Waiting to hear what the estimate is but I feel like getting everything done will be about $1000-1200 which is reasonable given that we've had no repairs in 4 years.

That's not bad at all!!   That's like $30/month...  (not bothering to do the right maths)

[12,000 RPM]

Repairs came out to more like $1500.... and I had to do the vacuum pump delete and brakes on my own. Car is running 99%. Just needs a brake flush and rear pads.

[2o6]

I read that as "brakes delete" and I was super confused.

[12,000 RPM]

Lol no I love my wife. I probably did ~100 miles of testing to make sure shit was on the up and up before handing it back to her.

[MexicoCityM3]

My car had ignition coil issues, not injector problems. BMW issued a recall, replaced all four ignition coils free-of-charge and ever since zero issues.

The car is also 10 years old and out of warranty. Driven daily, driven hard and fast on the Autobahns and is holding up well.

Rode in a buddy's Toyota Auris Hatch last year. It might be more reliable overall, but it felt flimsy on the highway and built-to-a-price, and it certainly won't be as fun to drive as the 1er.

No matter what we tell people here the actual BMW ownership experience is, they'll keep being super afraid of it while spending craploads of money maintaining "reliable" brands.

Sporty here has probably spent more on his cars this past year than me.

There's MrH's lemoned Genesis too. But whatever, BMWs ARE a TICKING BOMB. Impossible to afford.

[12,000 RPM]

No matter what we tell people here the actual BMW ownership experience is, they'll keep being super afraid of it while spending craploads of money maintaining "reliable" brands.

Sporty here has probably spent more on his cars this past year than me.

There's MrH's lemoned Genesis too. But whatever, BMWs ARE a TICKING BOMB. Impossible to afford.

Anecdotes = useless. I am an extreme use case. I am like Sid from Toy Story. You cannot use me as an indicator of the typical Honda ownership experience.

Plus Wimmer had some pretty extreme and expensive repairs very early in the mileage cycle that had nothing to do with his usage. You seem to have forgot about your M5's gearbox pump, which was also not user error. And then there is shit like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5QE-X1EmM8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWxdaEJMTwU&t=1214s

I mean Honda has been making 100HP/L 8000 RPM engines since 1989 in cars ~1/5th the price with none of these problems. These are design issues, not user error or w/e. The repair I just did on the VW involved replacing a vacuum pump the car didn't need in the first place that wound up leaking oil with a metal plate and a tube. German auto makers just don't make great design decisions a lot of the time, and their customers wind up paying for it.

[2o6]

No matter what we tell people here the actual BMW ownership experience is, they'll keep being super afraid of it while spending craploads of money maintaining "reliable" brands.

Sporty here has probably spent more on his cars this past year than me.

There's MrH's lemoned Genesis too. But whatever, BMWs ARE a TICKING BOMB. Impossible to afford.

Have you priced out BMW parts versus Honda parts in the US?

[MexicoCityM3]

Anecdotes = useless. I am an extreme use case. I am like Sid from Toy Story. You cannot use me as an indicator of the typical Honda ownership experience.

Plus Wimmer had some pretty extreme and expensive repairs very early in the mileage cycle that had nothing to do with his usage. You seem to have forgot about your M5's gearbox pump, which was also not user error.

I mean Honda has been making 100HP/L 8000 RPM engines since 1989 in cars ~1/5th the price with none of these problems. These are design issues, not user error or w/e. The repair I just did on the VW involved replacing a vacuum pump the car didn't need in the first place that wound up leaking oil with a metal plate and a tube. German auto makers just don't make great design decisions a lot of the time, and their customers wind up paying for it.

After saying anecdotes are useless you post a few anecdote videos because that's what they are.

I haven't forgot about the M5's issues. I've spent less than 5K on that car over three years. And we'll, it's got a freaking exotic engine comparable to a Lambo/Ferrari engine of its time.

If we cannot use you as a typical owner, we'll, my cars (1M, E46) have spent easily 5-10.000 km each driven on track. I think that's a bit more extreme. And Wimmer's 1er has quite a few miles and gets driven at high speeds on the autobahn frequently. My M5 does too in our Mexican versions of the autobahn.

Every time someone mentions here a BMW as a possibility half the forum glues into panic about how broke the poor guy is going to become. Ludicrous.

[MexicoCityM3]

Have you priced out BMW parts versus Honda parts in the US?

Of course Honda parts would be cheaper. All I'm saying is every time Sporty (as well as many others here) consider a BMW it's OMG impossible. Then they go and buy something else and spend the same or more on maintenance.

[2o6]

All of sporty's woes have been self inflicted.


If he pulled this shit on a BMW it would have been 3x expensive to fix.

[r0tor]

If the engine stalls while driving and you deleted the vacuum pump - doesn't that mean you pretty much have not a lot of braking ability?

[2o6]

If the engine stalls while driving and you deleted the vacuum pump - doesn't that mean you pretty much have not a lot of braking ability?

Maybe the secondary vacuum pump? Many VW's have this to aid startup. It'

[2o6]

Also, Wimmer only has the US equivalent of about 91k miles. On a 2007 model year car, that's considered low miles.

[cawimmer430]

No matter what we tell people here the actual BMW ownership experience is, they'll keep being super afraid of it while spending craploads of money maintaining "reliable" brands.

Sporty here has probably spent more on his cars this past year than me.

There's MrH's lemoned Genesis too. But whatever, BMWs ARE a TICKING BOMB. Impossible to afford.

Agreed. I don't expect the BMW to have Toyota-like reliability, but it's not an unreliable car in the sense that there is something wrong with it every week and as a result has to spend time in the shop.

The ignition coil issues early on were solved when BMW finally sent out a recall and replaced them with products from a reliable supplier.

Over the last 70,000 km I've had no reliability issues except a malfunctioning tail light bulb (replaced in less than 10 minutes and all I paid for was the bulb [0.99 Euros]) and a cracked front windshield which had to be replaced for safety reasons.

[cawimmer430]

Plus Wimmer had some pretty extreme and expensive repairs very early in the mileage cycle that had nothing to do with his usage.

The car was still under warranty, so I didn't spend any money on replacing the ignition coils.

In fact the most I've spent on "maintenance costs" for the 1er comes in the form of the TÜV and emissions tests (yeah, you have to pay for that crap here) and general scheduled shop visits where oil, brake and power steering fluids are replaced (these fluids need to be replaced every two years for safety reasons).

Another thing which costs more than what I [don't] spend on mechanical maintenance is insurance. By far I spend more per year on insurance costs than on maintenance costs (fuel costs aside).

Also, for a 10-year-old car that gets driven hard on the Autobahn a few times a week she's holding up very well. No rattles or cracks in the interior, the suspension is still top notch etc. This is a good car.

[Soup DeVille]

If the engine stalls while driving and you deleted the vacuum pump - doesn't that mean you pretty much have not a lot of braking ability?

It doesn't hold enough vacuum on its own like all other cars without vacuum pumps?

[Soup DeVille]

Maybe the secondary vacuum pump? Many VW's have this to aid startup. It'

What nonsenseness is this?

Are you talking about the smog pump?

[cawimmer430]

Also, Wimmer only has the US equivalent of about 91k miles. On a 2007 model year car, that's considered low miles.

Mileage aside, age is also a factor in car reliability, is it not?

All we hear is that German cars are designed to self-destruct after 3 years. 

[12,000 RPM]

After saying anecdotes are useless you post a few anecdote videos because that's what they are.

I haven't forgot about the M5's issues. I've spent less than 5K on that car over three years. And we'll, it's got a freaking exotic engine comparable to a Lambo/Ferrari engine of its time.

If we cannot use you as a typical owner, we'll, my cars (1M, E46) have spent easily 5-10.000 km each driven on track. I think that's a bit more extreme. And Wimmer's 1er has quite a few miles and gets driven at high speeds on the autobahn frequently. My M5 does too in our Mexican versions of the autobahn.

Every time someone mentions here a BMW as a possibility half the forum glues into panic about how broke the poor guy is going to become. Ludicrous.

The issues in the videos I posted (E92 rod bearings and throttle actuators- did you watch?) are not anecdotal; they are design issues so prevalent the aftermarket has had to step in to rectify them. And there is nothing inherently exotic about the M5's engine, aside from its cylinder count and displacement. Again, mainstream manufacturers have been putting reliable ~8000 RPM engines in $25K hatchbacks for nearly as long as the M5 has been around. You look at most of BMW's engines since the 90s or so, most of them have had major design issues.

The only one who goes into a panic when a BMW purchase is brought up is you; you seem to take anything negative said about modern BMWs, no matter how true/widespread/evidence based it is, as some kind of personal attack. They are great cars but they have issues. And more importantly they are just cars man, it's not that serious.

[12,000 RPM]

If the engine stalls while driving and you deleted the vacuum pump - doesn't that mean you pretty much have not a lot of braking ability?

Where did I say anything about the VW stalling? And the brakes work fine, like I said I drove it for about 100 miles after I did the "mod". People do this mod on the 2.5s all the time.

[Soup DeVille]

Where did I say anything about the VW stalling? And the brakes work fine, like I said I drove it for about 100 miles after I did the "mod". People do this mod on the 2.5s all the time.

I think it was an "if" question. And it looks like the answer is "no."  You should get three or four full stops with the remaining vacuum assist even with the engine off. Just like most every other car.

[MexicoCityM3]

And there is nothing inherently exotic about the M5's engine, aside from its cylinder count and displacement. Again, mainstream manufacturers have been putting reliable ~8000 RPM engines in $25K hatchbacks for nearly as long as the M5 has been around.


The only one who goes into a panic when a BMW purchase is brought up is you; you seem to take anything negative said about modern BMWs, no matter how true/widespread/evidence based it is, as some kind of personal attack. They are great cars but they have issues. And more importantly they are just cars man, it's not that serious.

Ooooooooooo...keeeeeeey about the M5's engine. That'd be a great quote for my sig.

It's just the level of fear about BMW maintenance around here that is laughable.

[r0tor]

It doesn't hold enough vacuum on its own like all other cars without vacuum pumps?

I dont know - what position is the throttle and transmission in?  why does it exist in the first place?

[Soup DeVille]

I dont know - what position is the throttle and transmission in?  why does it exist in the first place?

Why does it exist? I can only assume there may be certain times when the engine doesn't pull quote enough vacuum, and VW went overboard. The pump is run off of a cam gear (another WTF), so it won't provide any functionality with the engine off anyways.

What would throttle position and transmission have to do with it when the engine is stalled?