Car Talk

[drcollie]

I drive a BMW & am under the impression most, if not all of my car was built in Germany. However, as much as I love my 3 series convertible, its maintenance requirements have been 1 thing after another pretty much every 6 months or so. In dealing with these issues & getting them taken care of, I've always requested OEM parts for the job. Some of these are genuine BMW & others, Bosch or whomever BMW sourced that particular part from. If I took apart the car piece, by piece even tho its VIN tag states "Made in Germany," I'm sure I'd find more than a few parts NOT from that country.

You should try owning a Ferrari or an Aston Martin if you think BMW's are expensive to keep on the road

BTW, did you know a Ferrari 599 uses a highly modified magnetic shock that are made by GM for the Corvette and tuned to Ferrari's spec? They last appx 15,000 miles on a 599 before they need replacement at a cost of $ 20,000 for all (4). Or that an Aston Martin Vanquish has a hand-made module on its SMG transmission specific to that model only and when it fails that's a $ 12,000 part as the replacement part has to be hand-made in England? Makes a BMW water pump and new control arms look cheap!

[sstarrx2]

I'm with Duane on this one too! It can always be worse. I too drive a BMW, and the OEM parts are expensive....but not Ferrari expensive! BMW issues for the most part come from third party parts like Bosch, who make their pumps. The engineering is solid though. Germans are very precise in just about everything they do, but they are not perfect! BMW makes some of the best motorcycles on the road too!!

[Asomer]

I drive a BMW & am under the impression most, if not all of my car was built in Germany. However, as much as I love my 3 series convertible, its maintenance requirements have been 1 thing after another pretty much every 6 months or so. In dealing with these issues & getting them taken care of, I've always requested OEM parts for the job. Some of these are genuine BMW & others, Bosch or whomever BMW sourced that particular part from. If I took apart the car piece, by piece even tho its VIN tag states "Made in Germany," I'm sure I'd find more than a few parts NOT from that country.

You should try owning a Ferrari or an Aston Martin if you think BMW's are expensive to keep on the road

BTW, did you know a Ferrari 599 uses a highly modified magnetic shock that are made by GM for the Corvette and tuned to Ferrari's spec? They last appx 15,000 miles on a 599 before they need replacement at a cost of $ 20,000 for all (4). Or that an Aston Martin Vanquish has a hand-made module on its SMG transmission specific to that model only and when it fails that's a $ 12,000 part as the replacement part has to be hand-made in England? Makes a BMW water pump and new control arms look cheap!

Lol omg, no I was unaware of those particular parts costing THAT much!! Geez, yea this whole time I've been telling anyone who asks "how do I like your car? Why didn't you just get a Lexus?" That I love how my car drives & its styling, but the maintenance is ridiculous on it!

I actually saw a brand-new Vanquish(still had paper tags) the other day on the road...he's got some not so fun maintenance bills to look forward to in a few years

[drcollie]

BMW makes some of the best motorcycles on the road too!!

Like these? (in my garage)




I've owned (7) BMW cars / SUV's as well. 535i, 740i, M3, 330i, 323i, X5, X4 (current daily driver). I've been a BMW CCA member since 1996 and active in autocross and track instruction. I do like the brand, but it has its quirks. On almost every BMW ever made the front control arms are shot every 80K miles and need replacing, and the cooling systems self-destruct at 100K miles as the plastic gets hard and brittle, then cracks out. Then there are the assorted sub-frame bushings to deal with on some variants and high pressure fuel pump problems as well, but for the most part the cars are solid, especially the ones with inline 6 engines (the V8's not so much). I do most the work myself in my garage so for me its usually just parts, and the only really tough job I had was replacing the Automatic transmission in the 323i working off a cold garage floor in the middle of winter. I'll always have either a BMW or a Porsche in the garage it seems. Or one of each! My business is furniture, but I'm a total gearhead at heart.

[Asomer]

BMW makes some of the best motorcycles on the road too!!

Like these? (in my garage)




I've owned (7) BMW cars / SUV's as well. 535i, 740i, M3, 330i, 323i, X5, X4 (current daily driver). I've been a BMW CCA member since 1996 and active in autocross and track instruction. I do like the brand, but it has its quirks. On almost every BMW ever made the front control arms are shot every 80K miles and need replacing, and the cooling systems self-destruct at 100K miles as the plastic gets hard and brittle, then cracks out. Then there are the assorted sub-frame bushings to deal with on some variants and high pressure fuel pump problems as well, but for the most part the cars are solid, especially the ones with inline 6 engines (the V8's not so much). I do most the work myself in my garage so for me its usually just parts, and the only really tough job I had was replacing the Automatic transmission in the 323i working off a cold garage floor in the middle of winter. I'll always have either a BMW or a Porsche in the garage it seems. Or one of each! My business is furniture, but I'm a total gearhead at heart.

If I drove/rode(dunno the correct terminology LOL,) a motorcycle, I'd think I'd like to look at some of the classic, American brands like Indian & Harley Davidson. You seem to know your stuff in this realm & I don't think you would've chosen BMW if they weren't anything but the best

I'd be interested in hearing your opinion on their vehicles compared to their motorcycles! And, if you knew anything about where BMW's sourcing their leather for their vehicles? That's 1 thing I've really loved thru owning 3 of their 330 & 335 convertibles: their leather has always had this very specific pebbling texture to it I've not seen on any other car. I personally like it. I know others prefer Mercedes' perforated leather seats, or Lexus, Range Rover, Jag, etc...

There's a few threads on the forum discussing automotive leather seats & Duane, I could've sworn you said Cadillac & Lincoln have the best leathers in a car you've seen? What's your opinion on BMW's choices? Do you have an actual leather seat on your BMW motorcycle, or is it their VERY convincing faux leather/pleather they use in their base model vehicles? Lol, as good as it looks & feels to the real thing...I dunno how they can charge $35,000 for a car with pleather seats? Once you're in the north of $30K range, what's the big deal in adding the leather option for $1,400?! Lol

[Asomer]

BMW makes some of the best motorcycles on the road too!!

Like these? (in my garage)




I've owned (7) BMW cars / SUV's as well. 535i, 740i, M3, 330i, 323i, X5, X4 (current daily driver). I've been a BMW CCA member since 1996 and active in autocross and track instruction. I do like the brand, but it has its quirks. On almost every BMW ever made the front control arms are shot every 80K miles and need replacing, and the cooling systems self-destruct at 100K miles as the plastic gets hard and brittle, then cracks out. Then there are the assorted sub-frame bushings to deal with on some variants and high pressure fuel pump problems as well, but for the most part the cars are solid, especially the ones with inline 6 engines (the V8's not so much). I do most the work myself in my garage so for me its usually just parts, and the only really tough job I had was replacing the Automatic transmission in the 323i working off a cold garage floor in the middle of winter. I'll always have either a BMW or a Porsche in the garage it seems. Or one of each! My business is furniture, but I'm a total gearhead at heart.

Omg, I just re-read your descriptions of the issues you've had with your cars & yep, I've dealt with the exact same on mine(currently '07 335cic that JUST this week hit 100K miles.)

My cooling system croaked @ the 80K mile mark: I thought I just had a slow coolant leak & took the car on a business trip to Dallas in the middle of a Texas summer. It overheated about an hour south of Dallas on my way home(3hrs to go till home!) Tried letting her cool down on her own before topping off the coolant. Tried that several times, it wasn't get but maybe a mile down the road before it red lined again. Yea, I had fried the engine, but it was salvageable to the tune of $4,750!! My local BMW mechanic, NOT the dealer is where I take my car for all its repairs & that's what they charged me to machine the heads, etc.

About a year after that, the fuel pump went kaput. That was another $1,888 job. Within the past 6 months, I've replaced the battery, passenger side Xenon headlight & ALL 4 brakes, inc calipers...I'm hoping to go at minimum, at least another 12 months before anything else pops up on that dashboard! Lol

I seriously contemplated moving to the X5 after my last 330i convertible, but I just LOVE the convertibles so much

Duane, what's been your thoughts on their SUVs: just as good as their vehicles?? Car & Driver claims the 1st generation of the X5 was not that great, but now: it's THE luxury SUV, unless you want to go the way of Range Rover.

Oops...this thread kinda got derailed

[drcollie]

I'd think I'd like to look at some of the classic, American brands like Indian & Harley Davidson

Perfect if you a motorcycle that is slow, overweight, has lousy brakes and can't corner without wobbling and dragging metal. Been there, done that. They look pretty and sound nice, though.

Car leather has to be finished leather - remember that pure aniline can't tolerate sunlight without fading. The very best care leathers (Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, Bentley) and Semi-Aniline. Though at one time Ford put a pure aniline hide in their King Ranch Series trucks with a baseball stitch closure. That was very bold of them, but they had some pretty good tinted windows on those trucks as well. Indian Motorcycles puts a pure aniline on their current bikes as well, when you see them on EBAY used they're all faded like mad...

Vinyl is much better on motorcycle seats than leather. If it rains on your pure leather seat, its going to be ruined.

We had a first Gen X5, it was not the best vehicle I've ever owned. BMW engineers came up with this unique tail lamp design in that early series, that did not have conventional tail lamp bulb grounds. When the bulbs burned out, there was some kind of arc corrosion through the entire lamp and in order to get working again you had to replace the entire tail lamp module and only OEM BWM would work $ 400 per side. That was annoying.

Tip: Don't keep driving a hot engine, that was costly. You blew your head gasket to have a $ 4,750 repair bill. When the engine is hot, pull over and call a tow truck. This will make you feel better about that cost though...in 2001 I was at Virginia International Raceway doing hot laps with other fellow instructors in this car, whose nickname was "Angelina". At the entrance to Turn 10 on lap 5 or 6, I was attempting to pass my buddy Shane at speed and during the downshift went from 4th to 1st instead of 3rd. We call that a 'money shift' and you will be the butt of track jokes for years to come afterwards. Why? Because the engine instantly revs to about 20,000 rpm and explodes in less than 1 second rendering everything useless. That bill was $ 17,000 for a new short block from Porsche, and they had to make the engine for me in Germany so the car was down for 6 months. Wife not pleased.



What you do if you want a convertible and a quality SUV is get the new Range Rover Evoque, which is now being made as a convertible and orders are rolling in on it. Mercedes has just announced it will be making its new GLC Coupe SUV as a convertible too. And BMW is sure to follow - probably on the new X2 platform which has not yet been rolled out.

[sstarrx2]

This was my bike before I totaled her in the NC mountains in 2010. Riding fatigued and one small error...bam! The 6 plates and 7 screws in my collarbone remind me everyday. I gave it up after that...but I do miss it sometimes.

[drcollie]

Nice ST! I've been 47 years on motorcycles, and worked my way through college as a mechanic for various shops, had a lot of bikes. Was nearly killed when I was 18 years-old by a hit-and run-driver and laid up for over a year and almost didn't back on after that one. Also had an 18-wheeler back up over me years ago when I was test driving a customer's bike after repair and he totaled that bike (I was rather nimble back then and vaulted clear). Cycles are unforgiving, you have to be sharp and on your toes all the time. I've always had three rules 1) Never get on a bike after a drink, not even one beer 2) Never ride fatigued or with borderline heat-stroke 3) Never assume the car/suv/truck sees you or even cares if they do. They are lots of fun, but far more risky than a car at the end of the day.

[sstarrx2]

Yep...those are good rules! I was always really good about assuming the other vehicles did not see me and always rode like they were out to kill me. That day I was riding with friends, that were more use to long rides. We were heading over to North Georgia from Charlotte and staying the night and coming back the next day. I had just got done riding up a mountain behind a semi...that really are not supposed to use those roads...they are too narrow. Too dangerous to pass...so we crept up that mountain for what seemed like forever. Once I got to the bottom of the other side I should have pulled over and taken a breather...but I didn't. If I had I may still be riding today.