btomcik

Over in the 4g TL forum, lots of people repeatedly say that BMW has severe reliability problems and that's one of the reasons why they bought a TL instead. Is anyone speaking based on experience - I doubt it.

I have yet to hear of multiple people having reliability problems with their BMW's. And I'm not talking their 1985 BMW that has problems nowadays.

I asked my dad about his BMW - a 2005 328xi sportwagon, and he said it has been a very reliable car for him. He has 125k miles and he said the only major repair was that the rear springs/shocks went out and he had to have them replaced. He leased a 2002 BMW 325i but that was for 3 years so you wouldn't expect problems at that point.

Thoughts on the true reliability of BMW's? No rumors or comments without some sort of personal experience please.

graphicguy

bt.....have had two BMWs, one a 325i and the other a 330i. While both weren't any more problematic than say a Chevy, it was the maintenance and parts replacement cost after the warranty and "fee maintenance" was over that will kill you.

Don't have to look too far to see that the 335i has some major issues with fuel delivery. Granted, those issues will be taken care of under the warranty. But after?

subinf

A guy I knew in college had a 2003 M3 and he had no major issues. He did have some electrical malfunctions but the dealer fixed those problems. I haven't spoken with him in a few years but I would assume everything is fine. General maintenance was quite expensive though.

acurazinetl

BMWs are great cars when under warrenty. I don't even know why anyone would buy one.. I used to own a 03 3 series. I leased it and once the lease ended i got rid of it.

Crazy Bimmer

I'd say its a hit or miss.

Some owners have zero issues where others have multiple issues. Its bound to happen considering how many BMWs are sold.

TL is still more reliable but i wouldnt say BMWs have severe reliability issues.

Pete2010

I think the recent fuel pump issues have turned some buyers off.... But if I was leasing, 335 all the way, hand it back in at the end of the term. But buying and keeping, TL wins.

I'd bet over the same period of time (150k miles), that Acura has a lower maintenance cost than BMWs. Not sure if that's true or not.

vas25tl

I agree. It's a total hit or miss. Also, a 745 is bound to have many more issues than a basic 3 series due the amount of electronic components in it.

I have a friend with a 97 528i with 240K on it and has had no problems in the last 80K. I just had a friend trade in his 02 525i with 106K on it because he spent $4700 in the last 1.5 years on repairs.

Eoanou

I think they say reliability issues but what they mean is maintenance costs are much higher. Check the labor rates at your local dealership BMW of Bridgeport is $130 and possibly higher and requires a $150 diagnostic charge before even checking out the issue on your car. Where as Acura of Norwalk is $105 and requires no diagnostic charge.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

a hit or miss

/thread

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

but if you are into leasing, who cares?

BMW > Acura in driving characteristics.

dallison

from what i hear, the 3 series is the most reliable. The 7 and 5 series have issues, more or less electrical ones.

tmnhs81

My friend has a 99 323i base model . Car runs good. I like the driving dynamics of BMW. It is pretty good, never left him stranded. Its just the one of gazillion sensors in the car that goes bad every once in a while..Brake sensors, transmission something sensor.

GIBSON6594

since I got a software update, my 335i has been rock solid

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Oh yeah, my gf's previous car was 04 325i with premium and sport package. I don't exactlly remember how many miles it had, but it was like 50k miles or something. It was running strong and solid til she traded it in. All she did was engine oil change every 10k, nothing else in terms of maintenaince.

MR1

All you can get is a small number of individual biased opinions from this relatively small sample. It is necessary to to seek out organizations that collect and analysis this information to get reliable unbiased conclusions imho.

The individual responses will be everywhere depending on how all terms are defined.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

That said, I have owned a 1998 CL 3.0 and a 2002 TL-S. My wife has owned a B7 2.0T A4 and 2006 A6 (current) and both of her Audi's were more reliable then either of my Acura's.

As far as I'm concerned as long as the car is under warranty, I have no concerns with any of the Germans. I would think twice about owning our A6 past the 100k warranty, however, I have never owned an Acura out of warranty either, so they're all fair game in my book.

For the ownership and driver experience (plus looks), give me German any day. I sold my '02 TL-S in 2005 and it's likely the last Acura I'll own unless I decide to pickup a pre-owned NSX as a weekend car down the road. But for newer cars, German all the way.

dom

Is the fuel pump still an issue on 08+ 335's? I thought it was only 07's that had the issue.

Yumcha

If you wanna play, you gotta pay.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Forgot to add, we have several friends and neighbors with 3 and 5 series BMW's ranging in years from 2006 to 2010 and none of them have had any real issues.

So overall is BMW going to be more reliable then Acura... very likely. But in the grand scheme of things you'll have good and bad experiences with every brand... even Acura. So just buy what you like and enjoy and don't sweat the small stuff

brizey

This.

Why would you want or care about anecdotes? The 10 to 20 responses you get here are going to have effectively zero correlation to any future experience.

There are two major sources of information for car reliability:

JD Powers works for the car companies by charging them licensing fees to use their logo and results in advertising. They also charge them for the results themselves.

Consumer Reports works for the consumer by charging consumers directly for the results.

I prefer CR because I think JD Powers business model is intrinsically flawed from a consumer's perspective, but other people trust them even though they are not paying for the results directly. Their results often are similar anyway.

F23A4

I'm gonna have agree with ^^ post.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Honestly I do not put much faith into CR. I know that whenever we sent in surveys, it was usually when we were pissed about a product and we wanted to warn others against buying something. We never sent in a positive survey, even when the positives outweighed the negatives. I can also guarantee we're not the only one's who do that... so even CR's results are likely scewed.

Just like car forums. Acura generally rates very high, however, go to the model specific forums on here and you'll generally see people complaining and listing problems much more then you'll see a random, everything has been fine for 50k miles thread.

I prefer personal experience or recommendations over any publication or website all day every day.

dom

I agree that one would typically only send a survey when they were pissed about something. But by using that logic, those companies and models that rate highly on CR reports are those that didn't get as many negative surveys. (pissed off people) If there are less pissed off Toyota owners compared to GM owners that doesn't it stand to reason that the Toyota is likely more reliable?

Crazy Bimmer

Yep the issue is still there although guessing a small % since BMW didnt send out a recall, they just extended the warranty to 100k miles.

dom

So after 100K you're SOL? Reminds me of a Honda tranny.

How much is that repair?

GIBSON6594

I think it's 120K, but honestly, how many 335 owners do you think are going to keep their cars that long?

Crazy Bimmer

Not sure the cost of the pump. Guessing at least over $500?

Forgot to mention BMW did come out with a newer version of the fuel pump a month ago? No issues as of yet from what i been reading.

So its not exactly like Acura's tranny issues. BMW actually did at least go ahead and make a new part.

dom

I was thinking in km's. 120K = 192,000 km's. I guess its reasonable to have to pay for that repair at that mileage.

But I'd rather see a company fix the design defect rather than simply extend the warranty.

EDIT: Just saw Jesals' post. Good news.

Rick_TL-S

Personal experience, they have been great cars to my family. We've been leasing them for 20 years and have had several 5s, a 3, & an 8 Series, all problem free.

Crazy Bimmer

Werd, but for the record i am not 100% sure. Im still reading up on it on the forums.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Definitely a logical conclusion.

But, it could go the other way as well... where people with good things to say sent in surveys but people with negative things to say didn't bother. My old neighbor in NY sent in surveys for all his appliances when they were good, but never bothered when they sucked b/c he didn't want to be bothered. I tried explaining that the bad surveys are the ones that really need to be sent, but he disagreed and only sent in positive surveys... so basically the opposite of me!

So for me, bottom line, I don't trust CR b/c I don't trust the general public to report on these things accurately. I'd rather take recommendations from friends or first hand experience/knowledge.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

I used to own a 535i a while ago. It was a beautiful car (white with a red leather interior-very rare), but it nickeled and dimed me to death. Little things would go out all the time.

The air conditioning went out and it would have cost more to fix the A/C than the entire car was worth...yikes!



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mrmako

i think asking around (current or previous owners) is a great way to do it. You will get biased views, but they are real, and the car being talked about is a representative sample. Not one that the factory makes available to a tester (magazine, website, etc...)

Crazy Bimmer

Guessing this was an 1980s 535i? Those were hawt.

jspagna1

That is of no surprise to me if you go to the Dealer, your definitely going to get screwed in labor costes for sure.
The fact is that the parts are going to be more expensive as well to replace just because it's a BMW or MB.
It's just like buying a BIG house. Nobody thinks about the maintenance costs(Heat,electrcity,air conditioning,etc.) and what about those property taxes. It just does'nt end with the purchase price of the home.

ghttf

after 3 years

Acura 5AT's stopped failing after 4 years (2005)...not a huge difference

Scrib

Costco

Scrib definitely had a "miss" in terms of reliability

Crazy Bimmer

Acura fixed the transmissions on the 2nd gen TL? So if i were to buy an 03 TL, the transmission wouldnt fail because its an all new system?

Or you just saying the transmissions stopped failing in the 3rd gen TLs? I wouldnt call that a fix for the 2nd gen TL owners...

kingofire

Here is one who hopes BMWs are reliable. Just finalized a deal for a 2010 Alpine White BMW 535ix and traded my beautiful 2009 Mayan Bronze TL.

I will say this, I have a couple of friends who have BMW's and as much as they like the engine, they have had electrical issues but all covered under warranty. They both advised me to keep this BMW under warranty otherwise fork over around $3000 on a extended warranty.
I have not owned a BMW before but the more I have dealt with the process of buying a BMW, I know that the new stance Acura has in calling their vehicles "smart luxury" it fits them to a tee. It truly is for a smart, savvy buyer. I just got bit by the "need to own a BMW bug" right now.

Knocking on wood that the 535ix is reliable and that I don't get stranded because my high pressure fuel pump decided to cough up a moth ball.