mobfunk

Well after almost 25 years of loyal Acura/Honda ownership I have decided to join the darkside with the Germans.

I just traded my 2010 SH-AWD for a 2013 BMW 335i
Wanted to give the Germans a shot even though they come with the requisite headaches Honda owners never have to endure.
I have been on this forum for about 10 years now and would like to thank all those generous souls who helped me with my 2 year odyssey to get my beloved TL.
The car was really good to me and i loved her but sometimes its time to move on.

All the best fellas...

wreak

Good Luck, the 335 will be a blast when it's working but it's known to be a really unreliable car so I hope you opted for CPO with an extended warranty.

14SH-AWD

Big mistake buddy

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

no need to leave AZ. Many members that have moved on post in other parts of the forum like Car Talk.

S power

Every car manufacturers have thier fair share of problems. Ive had 5 bmw in in the past. Although there were hiccups , it was just a short fix and was done. Unlike these honda tranny with RECURRING problems after a fix. I thought i would give honda/acura another shot with this tl but this would probably be my last. I could live with failing sensors, gasket here and there. But main drivetrain or engine, that is the biggest pain of all.
Have fun with the bmw.

Takehold66

Congrats on new car! ^agree. no need to leave AZ. I still enjoy reading all the posts.

dainmezron

LEts get out of the singular experience and look at the same 2 cars compared using THOUSANDS of samples, and decide on overall reliability::

From Consumer Reports:






The BMW 3 Series





The Acura TL

omgitsspooky

Any particular reason why you moved on?

012TL-GLM

Enjoy OP, looks like a nice ride

mobfunk

I wanted to try something else for a little while. I have owned 6 Hondas in 25 years and wanted to see what else is out there. Also wanted to see all the fuss with the ultimate driving machine. I am impressed for sure but Acura still makes a heck of a fun car with the TL. It's taking me awhile to get used to the German interior controls vs Japanese controls I an used to.


I won't go away completely. I will still lurk in the forums here.

Yes I did get CPO. No way in h##l I was gonna buy a Bimmer without abb extended warranty. Got 6 years 100k bumper to bumper warranty.

gokhanturk

how do you compare BMW vs ACURA handling?

sockpuppet

Ten years a member, but only 35 posts...a man of few words. Nothin' wrong with that.

mobfunk

Actually on par but again I have only had the car a few days so havent really opened it up handling wise. I thought my SH AWD was rock solid when it came to handling.

The fun factor is definitely about 2x greater than my old TL due to the low end torque (almost full torque at 1300 rpm vs TL full torque at 3700 rpm)

JT4

Congrats OP, enjoy your BMW.. It looks good in the pic.

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

Why didn't you get a 5 series instead? I ask this from the perspective that size wise a 4G is on par with a 5 series. Size wasn't a priority, or never really a factor when you bought the 4G?

Did you have a problems with the 4G? Trans/oil burning?

mobfunk

I looked at the 5 Series but it felt like I was driving a boat. Plus I was really after performance so a lighter and smaller car with same engine (n55 - 300HP) made more sense. You can really notice the difference in size when parking in my garage as the BMW takes up about 15% less space than my TL.

As far as burning oil yes I had that problem but it wasnt too bad. Just filled oil as soon as it hit 15%. I had a 2003 TL and the tranny went at about 80k forcing my to buy the 2010 TL. I was starting to get the same feeling about my TL in the last month or so as tranny felt like it would slip just a little when pulling out from stop light.

Will miss her but having soooooooooo much fun in the 335. Car is quick as h##l. Only thing I miss is the subtle features on the TL. The soft close doors and trunk. The auto stereo volume adjustment on the radio when the vent fan speed increased. Little touches the Japanese build in that you take for granted.

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

Congrats on the new car. Don't look at it as the Darkside. Every car company has some sort of issues. I went with the 5 series only had it for 7 months now and can say i'm happy with my choice.

I have owned majority Japanese cars all my life. As far as Acura goes 3 Tl's and a ZDX. My 06 Tl stayed in the shop on my third year with it and the car had less than 50 thousand miles. My ZDX needed the torque converter replaced at 20 thousand miles and the cruise control went at 40 thousand miles. So 2 out of 4 Acura's had issues. I also have friends who owned Acura's that had issues also.

It's been a while. I'm not sure what contributed to his decision but even though they are similar in size they are totally different in price. Even a 3 series well equipped is thousands can end up alot higher than a TL/TLX etc.
An equally equipped 5 series cpo or just used will be more. A 3 series on the other hand in some cases will be closer in price.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

Congrats on the BMW.

If you're happy that is all that matters. Tons of people have left Acura for german. Acura can't get their shit together, so what do people expect?

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

So true i traded in the ZDX for a GS350 lease then went to BMW but test drove at infiniti before BMW. If the RLX came with AWD without having to get the hybrid i would've gotten the RLX instead of the GS. Now would i still have the RLX is another story.

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

Hey Jason, nice to see you're still around! From you comments on the RLX I gather you want AWD but don't want a hybrid system? Why not, what don't you like about it? You seem to change cars often so I don't see long term reliability being an issue for you?

Do you prefer the 5 over the GS? My friend has a 2014 GS F sport trim and loves the car except that he drives a lot in NYC and the wear + aggressive driving style forces him to spend a ton on maintenance parts such as brakes and oil changes. Other than that he likes it very much. Did you not enjoy your GS? If I were to stay in the sedan realm I think my next car will be a Lexus, Japanese cars are like Iphones to me at this point, they're intuitive.

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

Yes AWD is a must for me. It is the main reason i got rid of my last TL and went with the ZDX. I actually do not know much about hybrids in general but i do know that there were no decent lease deals on them and i def did not see many of them in the used car market if any.

I do change cars alot but it's usually reasoning behind it..

Now a day long term reliability is questionable across the board. I know people that have and had BMW's that still run strong needing very little other than scheduled maintenance.. I also know people with Acura's including myself that have had some serious issues with less than 50 thousand miles. Now lexus that's one company i could say there are very little negative things to say about their reliability.

I absolutely love the 5 over the GS i could not wait for my lease to be over, i did not enjoy the GS at all. I will say though you get more for your money with Lexus than BMW. I had way more features in the GS than the BMW. Features that i barely cared for or payed attention to but the fact they were there and for less money did make the switch a little harder. I was going to just go for the F-Sport but did not really feel a night and day difference with the car. I looked at the LS but was out of my price range.

Maintenance on that car wasn't that bad but was not cheap and that light came on religiously every 5,000 miles no matter what your driving habits are. Meanwhile BMW has 4 years/50,000 miles of free coverage for now (Heard that might change). I got brakes done and services done and did not have to pay a dime. I am now out of that original warranty and under the CPO so will see what happens moving forward.

If i do not encounter major issues with this car i do not foresee getting rid of it any time soon, unless i just end up coming into more money then i would go for the 6 Series Gran Coupe. I have a limit on how much i feel i should be paying for a car month to month.

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

Your GS was not an F sport trim? What didn't you like about the GS and what do you like more about your 5 series? What 5 series do you have? I assume an X drive, but what motor? Any aftermarket things done such as chip/tuning the 5?

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

Nope i had a loaded non F-sport. But did test drive the F-Sport so i am not just saying i did not like it just to say it..

I like the performance of the BMW over the GS..The 5 Series really feels like a very solid car thats planted to the road. The GS had this maybe not the right word but "GENERIC" feel to it..I honestly felt the older GS was spot on with the feel of the car.

If the GS was not in sport mode it was very unresponsive so i found myslef driving in sports mode most the time. It had the option for Eco/Normal/Sport. Shockingly contrary to popular belief and it might just be the model i had the BMW feels smoother. Thats not just my statement but from pasangers also that have driven in both cars.

I have a 2011 535i Xdrive. Only thing i have done to it is tints. I did recently visit the shop that did all the work on my TL to go over some things i plan to do in the future with the car though..He did mention something about adding more hp, but i was speaking more about cosmetics.

There are a couple of little things that i had to get used to the one main thing is the turbo lag.. I have never owned a car with turbo and thats a new feeling for me.

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

Gotcha. Tuning can totally remove turbo lag if it bothers you. You can also make just about as much power as you want on that motor, the only thing that will limit you is how much are you willing to spend. Also the more power the less reliability. Friend got a 335i to around 500rwhp on 85, the thing was a rocket, but couldn't be daily driven because it was too unpredictable reliability wise.

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

Yeah the shop mentioned that he was talking 400whp. It's something i will consider but i will have tons of questuions because this is my daily driver. Yes my wife has a car but most days we are going in two different directions and i would rather be on the side of the road if something happens than her if it came to that.

The Lag is not a big deal for me it's just a different feeling but the power is always there when i need it.

I will say this if you plan to change and stay in the jap market if you've considered Infiniti i would look at one of those. I went to them first and test drove the Q50 but it was a very narrow car for me i felt tight in the car like i was back in my 06 TL. I looked at the Q70/M37 since they made those cosmetic changes from the M37 but once again to new of a car over my budget.

Tony Pac

Congrats! beautiful car...enjoy!

wreak

I've been looking at the Q50's and surprisingly the interior dimensions aren't that far off the TL, but you do lose quite a bit of hiproom since the car isn't nearly as wide as the TL.

The funny thing I've found is that I'm finding it difficult to even find something I want to replace my TL with in the future. If I had an SH-AWD TL I'd probably not even bother looking but I just moved to an area where AWD is kind of a requirement during winter months.

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

I was in the same boat with my last TL . I had put so much money into customizing it I did not want to just get another one with SH-AWD because I would've put more money into that because I wouldn't want to drive it stock so I went with the ZDX..

The problem is the TL was an entry level car that went after the midsize sedans even cutting into their own RL's territory for less money. So now when you look to move on the cars that are similar in size and equipped equally are way more money.

4th gen TL maxed out loaded minus extra accessories sticker was like 45-47.. Some were getting it for less.. Your average mid side sedan starts in the 50's base..

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

I don't like infiniti interiors at all and generally don't like the exteriors either. The M body was the exception to that, but as you mentioned they're in a different price category. Other than Lexus, Audi is appealing to me.

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

Audi is def another nice option. I was eyeing a 2012 A6 when i was test driving but did not make it to the Audi dealer after BMW.

The one car i wish i would've done more research on that i noticed after my purchase was the JAGUAR XF R-Sport and S.. They offer alot for the price and are now carrying 5year/60,000 mile no cost scheduled maintenance.

But as most if it's totally up to me this will not be my last car.. There will be more coming out..But i would like to go a year or two with out a damn car note.

jtech316

exBMW owner. Just got rid of mine due to all the headaches. It was fun to drive though.

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

If you don't mind could you elaborate on what you mean by headaches??? Was the car bought new or used or CPO? From a independent dealer or a BMW dealer? How long did you have it? What BMW model?

jtech316

I had a 2003 z4 3.0. The car was bought used at a big dealership (not a bmw dealership) and had 10k miles on it. I bought it late 2004. It was a fun car to drive and felt solid. It started giving me problems 2 years ago. I just trade the car in after it blew a head gasket. I had the car for almost 12 years. Did normal maintenance on it through out the years and never really driven hard. It had 80k miles on it when i decided to get rid of the car. List of issues

1: top went dead due to rusted hydraulic pump (common issue in this car) after getting fixed, something on the top went out again.
2: driver side door stop unlocking with key fob
gas gauge stop working. forgot what the issue was but rember it was a pricey fix.
3: leaking radiator hose (which was fixed immediately)
4: leaking oil (which was fixed immediately)
5: ac went out
6: left head light went out (wasn't a bulb, ballast or fuse issue)
7: blown head gasket (last straw that made me sell the car)
8: well actually the final straw was seeing 3 deep key scratches on my passenger side door but that's not a bmw issue .

These are all the issues I can think/remember. Sold it off to Carmax and got more than i wanted for it. Picked up a 2012 TL fwd base. Hope this car treats me better.

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

You had that car a long time in today's standards anyway.. and that definitely was alot of issues..So you def have reasoning behind not going back. As opposed to others that they won't try the company or bad mouth it all off hearsay. I can't imagine though not running across issues over that long a period of time with any car. Not that many but some.

and good luck with the TL..

klf33

I am still running my 2000 TL with 296K Km (around 185K miles) owned it for 11 years, My wife has a 2006 325, which I drive sometimes that she owned for 5 years now and at 100 K miles.
My experience so far.
1 - It all depends on your age and preference, I am older, I get my thrills on corners on motorcycles, my car, I want comfortable and quiet, the TL wins here for me.
2 - She prefers the BMW handling and it does that.
3 - Maintenance wise, the engine on the BMW seems to be top notch with the Tranny, etc. but I gotta tell you, every year something goes out and causes a lot of money

klf33

sorry let me continue .. I am new here !
1 - A/C problems .. almost every year, all components fail one after the other, from tubes, to fans, to compressor (the most expensive).
2 - This is Canada with snow and summer cycles the streets are rough'er and her suspension went out, another big cost.
3 - the sensors for the cruise control another big cost
4 - The headlights ring flicker, like crazy, big cost , decided to ignore them as they are not a big deal
5 - The AC fan now decides its own speed randomly , could be infuriorating some times .

Compared to that, my car had only one time where an ignition coil needed replacement, a starter and that is it, in all 11 years, internally I never felt any problems .

But to sum it up, and this is the heart of the matter, I would be OK with her car if it was reliable, but she would never consider mine .

She is more into 'driving' than me, I really love my coffee in my car.. if you are in a BMW, you know what I am talking about .. seriously forget about having coffee in your car

JM2010 SH-AWD

I just can't imagine putting up with those recurrent and costly issues on an ongoing basis! I had a 92 Legend coupe that I sold when I bought my '10 TL. In 18 years, I replaced tires, plugs, water pump/timing belt (per the maintenance schedule) and a wheel sensor. Period.


So far my '10 TL has required nothing other than tire rotations and fluid changes. (Knock on wood). That is the kind of reliability I am accustomed to having - I just could not go the replace-a-set-of-components-a-year schedule, regardless of how well a car performed or looked.

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

That's a lot of issues....





The thing is that's not the case for all.. I have a friend who had a 05 7 series replaced the alternator at 90k miles then sold the car at 130k when the transmission started going. Have a friend who had a 05 Honda Pilot 130k miles transmission went along with radiator and other problems.

Have another friend with a 06 MDX at 50k miles her transmission went. Another friend had a 10 Tl and his torque converter went at 60k miles and other issues he did not disclose. Have a friend who had a 02/03 X5 who at 80k miles needed an alternator then suspension at 120k miles sold it to another friend that still has it to this day no reported issues.

I disclosed some of my issues earlier in this thread with 2 of my Acura's. I have a friend who had a 09 QX56 Infiniti who's transmission ended up with a leak with 60k miles . I also have a friend who had a 09 accord who's suspension went around 60k miles. Also my father in law has a 2010 Camry who's torque converter had to be replaced at 45k miles.


I also have friends, family and co-workers whom have all different types of cars that have had absolutely no issues other than scheduled maintance. I could go on for days. There's no perfect car company. Yes some companies are more reliable than others.

I'm not an advocate of any car company. I actually used to be a diehard Acura fan and nobody could tell me anything about Acura. And if they currently had something that I wanted I would still be the Acura guy that people knew me to be.

If I like it I try to get it and see for myself. There's plenty of different companies to fit whatever peoples needs, wants or budgets are.

wildrider

Congrats on your new ride. Nice choice!

Otherbmw

I have a 335 convertible and love it. I am also looking to finally ditch my e46 for a TL. I also have a MR2 turbo that I've owned since new and a Toyota Venza. While I love my BMWs there is nothing like Toyota reliability. I'm hoping when a get a TL it will be just as reliable!