Debunking the myth, BMWs maintenance are expensive.

[SSSnail]

are you ever going to say anything good about a BMW or bad about another car company that contains a shred of actual evidence or fact?

"That doesnt count, its a dakota, a honda would cost more to do that to:

OK? what honda? I have worked on tons of civics, parts are usually a dime a dozen, accords too!

what phantom problems with MB's?

what things on a BMW are easier to do than what domestic?

the innaccurate shitty generalization BS is getting knee deep??

Relax, take a deep breath.

People are generally saying that BMWs are expensive, unreliable, blah blah. I offered contrary evidence.

You said "parts are dime a dozen", go back and reread the thread on my answer to that.

What inaccurate generalization BS? What have I said that are not true?

You want examples? YOU CAN'T HANDLE EXAMPLES!!!!

Here are some - a)cousin with E300, electrical problems, in and out of shop like lunch. A few problems not fixed (pardon me for not remembering whether it was airbag or something with drive control). b)cousin, S500, same shit. c)Friend, C32 AMG, problem with TSC can't be fixed by dealer, left the car there for a week (other problems are mostly his fault, I won't mention, but it cost him $8K to fix). d)audis (rofl) try doing anything relatively major without dropping the engine. Oh wait, how's that O2 sensor replacement going? How about timing belt? Bawaahahahahahaha...

Amongst my friends and acquaintances, I know 2 performance shop owners, a few mechanics, a body shop owner, a manager of a large audi dealer, a few smog technicians and shop owners. I hear and seen enough from them.

I've already said enough good things about BMWs, I'm not saying that they're the shits, and you should go get one. All I'm saying is that maintenance on a BMW is not as expensive as the illusion that one was lead to believe.

Let's look at some actual numbers, shall we? How much does it cost for you to do an oil change, and how often?

One more thing, you said I'm "lucky" that my car hasn't fallen apart. How is it luck? If all I did was maintain it?

 

[alphatarget1]

Why do you need to replace the radiator on a 4 year old car?

 

[Vette73]

Why do you need to replace the radiator on a 4 year old car?

Because its a BMW and its very reliable.

 

[SSSnail]

Why do you need to replace the radiator on a 4 year old car?

Who did? Do you read? Did you read?

 

[PricklyPete]

I just changed the cooling system on my '99 a4 a few weeks ago and it honestly wasn't that bad.

waterpump ($50)
thermostat($15)
upper/lower radiator hoses($80)
coolant temp sensor($10)
$155+gaskets

Also while I was in there I changed the timing belt.

My brother has had his a4 for a few years with really no horror stories and thats what made me buy one. I love it.

Impossible! It was an Audi. It must have cost you 10x that and taken you all weekend. Admit it! If anything I've learned from this thread is that Audi clearly sucks. All the proof you need is in the OP/comments. Stop bring your anecdotal evidence here. This thread is full of fact only.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Holy hell!

"What are you working on this week?"
"Porsche clutch."
"What else?"
"Don't have time for anything else."

26 hours*$80/hr shop rate (potentially a lowball)=$2060+parts. I wouldn't be surprised if you went through a Porsche autotrader and every 944 said "perfect car, just needs a new clutch!"

Oops, I mis-remembered. It's 24 hours shop time, not 26. Still, not good.

Well, that's the early Turbo models. The later turbo models have a two-piece crossover pipe so you don't have to remove the manifold to un-bolt the crossover pipe from the turbo which takes the shop time down to "only" 20 hours. The non-turbo cars require a mere 16 hours.

The mechanic I go to charges actual time and not book time though, so thankfully the clutch job on my early 944 turbo was "just" 17.5 hours of labor, but these guys are extremely good and have been working on 944s since the cars came out. If the shop ever goes out of business I'm screwed.

And yeah, it's not uncommon to see a 944 listed for sale that "just needs a new clutch". Peter Egan mentioned the same thing about Jaguar E-types before they had become collectors items. In the '70s he said you could pick up a used E-type for a song because no-one wanted to replace the clutch.

ZV

 

[SSSnail]

Impossible! It was an Audi. It must have cost you 10x that and taken you all weekend. Admit it! If anything I've learned from this thread is that Audi clearly sucks. All the proof you need is in the OP/comments. Stop bring your anecdotal evidence here. This thread is full of fact only.

Audis have just recently gotten ridiculously expensive (and for no good reasons), along with it the ridiculous new designs of engine and its configuration. Try something newer, there's some ridiculous nonfactual generalization BS for you...

A joke to lighten up the mood. A mechanic that used to work at an Audi dealer went to fix Lambos, the old friend and ex-manager talked to him and said "man, life must be better for you there". The mechanic then said "heck no, before I just have to deal with cocks, now I'm dealing with a bull wearing four cock rings". Before, he only had to drop the engines for most of the jobs, now it's EVERY JOB. Not really a joke, but it's true.

 

[jtvang125]

Alternators (all remanufactured, same brand)

05 Lexus IS300
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...xus&model=IS300&vi=1434824&pt=01468&ppt=C0330

05 Acura TL
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...=Acura&model=TL&vi=1430829&pt=01468&ppt=C0330

05 Infiniti G35
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...1431975&forcedVehicle=true&pt=01468&ppt=C0330

05 BMW 330CI
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...BMW&model=330CI&vi=1431327&pt=01468&ppt=C0330

 

[SSSnail]

Alternators (all remanufactured, same brand)

05 Lexus IS300
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...xus&model=IS300&vi=1434824&pt=01468&ppt=C0330

05 Acura TL
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...=Acura&model=TL&vi=1430829&pt=01468&ppt=C0330

05 Infiniti G35
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...1431975&forcedVehicle=true&pt=01468&ppt=C0330

05 BMW 330CI
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...BMW&model=330CI&vi=1431327&pt=01468&ppt=C0330

That's great, now go to RockAuto Parts (site someone in this thread suggested) and look at the same parts (NEW, not remanufactured) on all of them and come back with price.

Oh, while you're at it, look up ignition coils too yeah?

 

[Zargon]

Relax, take a deep breath.

People are generally saying that BMWs are expensive, unreliable, blah blah. I offered contrary evidence.

You said "parts are dime a dozen", go back and reread the thread on my answer to that.

What inaccurate generalization BS? What have I said that are not true?

You want examples? YOU CAN'T HANDLE EXAMPLES!!!!

Here are some - a)cousin with E300, electrical problems, in and out of shop like lunch. A few problems not fixed (pardon me for not remembering whether it was airbag or something with drive control). b)cousin, S500, same shit. c)Friend, C32 AMG, problem with TSC can't be fixed by dealer, left the car there for a week (other problems are mostly his fault, I won't mention, but it cost him $8K to fix). d)audis (rofl) try doing anything relatively major without dropping the engine. Oh wait, how's that O2 sensor replacement going? How about timing belt? Bawaahahahahahaha...

Amongst my friends and acquaintances, I know 2 performance shop owners, a few mechanics, a body shop owner, a manager of a large audi dealer, a few smog technicians and shop owners. I hear and seen enough from them.

I've already said enough good things about BMWs, I'm not saying that they're the shits, and you should go get one. All I'm saying is that maintenance on a BMW is not as expensive as the illusion that one was lead to believe.

Let's look at some actual numbers, shall we? How much does it cost for you to do an oil change, and how often?

One more thing, you said I'm "lucky" that my car hasn't fallen apart. How is it luck? If all I did was maintain it?

I didnt mean to imply that you are 'lucky' it didnt fall apart. I simply meant that I would expect you to not have major problems because you do your due diligence on maintenance. I quoted good luck, because some of it is, every car maker in the world makes lemons, duds, friday cars, whatever you want to call them.

If everyone did that, most cars wouldnt go to the dealer for 4 digit repairs unless it was a recall item. I havent worked on any newer MB's, just older ones and there were the pigs shit for reliability except when my friends dad forgot to check the oil, for about 4 months when it had a slight drip leak and seized her up something special.


the generalization comment wasnt directed at you FWIW, the talk of the jag and 944, single cars with an issue being representatvie of the whole makes line of cars for all of history is well, silly.

or using the OEM tire price post to say its costs alot.


for the record, the 2005 civic non si/hybrid steering pumps are 100+core, much less than 175.

but hte 05 IS300's is just a bit cheaper than the 330, like 5 bucks


but the 05 caddy cts and lincoln ls pumps are under 100 bucks.

just some food for thought.

I do agree that they arent THAT MUCH more expensive to maintain, but I still think they are going to cost more than their domestic same class counterparts is all

I'm not super antiBMW by any means, I would probably kill someone to get my hands on a clean E30 M3

 

[PhoKingGuy]

So whats the point of this thread? We should all drive mid 90's civics because the parts are cheap?

 

[halik]

Impossible! It was an Audi. It must have cost you 10x that and taken you all weekend. Admit it! If anything I've learned from this thread is that Audi clearly sucks. All the proof you need is in the OP/comments. Stop bring your anecdotal evidence here. This thread is full of fact only.

Sunset audi has thermostat on salve for $13

Some things from the dealer are ridiculously expensive though - the secondary air system rebuild kit for my car is ~400 something bucks.

 

[DivideBYZero]

It's not only the parts, due to the engineering behind them (and like Porsches) as well sometimes a 2 hour job on a chevy is like 4-5 on the german car.

I know the 944 Turbo has an insane time for a clutch replacement.

The 944 had a transaxle, so it's not really fair to compare, but I understand your point.

 

[StageLeft]

What I'm saying is, it is expensive, but relative to much everything else it's not. A HONDA in my example was one of them. The perception is that a Honda or Toyota will cost less in maintenance is not entirely true.

Yes, it is true. In almost all cases if you kept a typical honda/toyota or BMW for some number of years the Honda/toyota would cost much less in maintenance. In general the BMW will break more often, its parts will cost more money and its labor will cost more money.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Yes, it is true. In almost all cases if you kept a typical honda/toyota or BMW for some number of years the Honda/toyota would cost much less in maintenance. In general the BMW will break more often, its parts will cost more money and its labor will cost more money.

You cannot say this with any authority, however, as you have never owned the makes in question.

:awe:

 

[StageLeft]

You cannot say this with any authority, however, as you have never owned the makes in question.

:awe:

Of course I can. Why do I need to own a BMW to make this argument? That's silly. In general a Lamborghini Gallardo will require more maintenance events than a Honda Civic.

There, now go ahead and say I cannot way that with authority because I've never owned either one.

You are tacitly implying that if I had owned one I could extrapolate my own personal experience with a single automobile to cover a vast swath of other ones.

 

[StageLeft]

BTW Edmunds has a cost of ownership calculator. Comparing a 2005 infinit G35, 2005 325i, 2005 Acura TL, and 2005 Honda Accord the combined maintenance and repairs I got were, respectively:

$5458, $11589, $8348, $7303.

In actual fact the maintenance for the BMW was not that bad. Maintenance is oil changes, tires, etc. The repairs, however, were egregious and much more than twice the next vehicle in cost.

There is a reason why everybody thinks BMWs are expensive to maintain and it's because they are.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Of course I can. Why do I need to own a BMW to make this argument? That's silly. In general a Lamborghini Gallardo will require more maintenance events than a Honda Civic.

There, now go ahead and say I cannot way that with authority because I've never owned either one.

You are tacitly implying that if I had owned one I could extrapolate my own personal experience with a single automobile to cover a vast swath of other ones.

It's no more silly than making stuff up, which is what you are doing and presenting as fact. That is epic sillyness. Then moving to Lambo's Vs Honda means you're just reaching too hard and will probably strain something, like your brain.

 

[KIAman]

You cannot say this with any authority, however, as you have never owned the makes in question.

:awe:

I own an 05 civic ex and an 06 330i sedan. So far, the civic has been much more expensive to maintain than the 330 because of free maintenance. But after the warranty and maintenance end, I know it will be much different.

Non maintenance related items for civic so far
1. Upgraded front rotors and brakes because wife drives like a maniac - $260
2. Peeling interior door handle front passenger - $45
3. Passenger side mirror ripped off from pulling out of garage - $220
Total Miles: ~91,000

Non maintenance related items for 330i so far
1. Milky chrome window trim - free (if not, around $300)
2. Peeling interior armrest area - free (if not, around $350)
3. Lost my nav dvd - $20
4. Upgrade computer about 10 times - free (if not, $250 per flash)
Total Miles: ~80,000

 

[StageLeft]

It's no more silly than making stuff up, which is what you are doing and presenting as fact. That is epic sillyness. Then moving to Lambo's Vs Honda means you're just reaching too hard and will probably strain something, like your brain.

Stop it, you're better than this.

 

[thescreensavers]

I DIY almost anything on my car but my parents don't want me touching the lease lol.

On my moms Audi Q7

Front Rotor/Pads 22k miles 890 bucks
Rear Rotor/Pads 25k miles 830 bucks
4 tires gone at 25k miles 720 bucks
Battery went bad at 21k miles 350 bucks
9 quarts of Oil needed = $120 per oil change

Warranty work
All 4 door handles broke(the button on them)
Side view mirror not working.
Bluetooth system not working, had to re flash the comp for that.
Rear Sunroof clip broke 3 times.


Needless to say my dads not buying a German Car any more lol.

 

[StageLeft]

I DIY almost anything on my car but my parents don't want me touching the lease lol.

On my moms Audi Q7

Front Rotor/Pads 22k miles 890 bucks
Rear Rotor/Pads 25k miles 830 bucks
4 tires gone at 25k miles 720 bucks
Battery went bad at 21k miles 350 bucks
9 quarts of Oil needed = $120 per oil change

Warranty work
All 4 door handles broke(the button on them)
Side view mirror not working.
Bluetooth system not working, had to re flash the comp for that.
Rear Sunroof clip broke 3 times.


Needless to say my dads not buying a German Car any more lol.

haha. $350 for a crappy battery, wth? And I say it's crap because it's obviously OEM and only a crap battery would have died in 21k anyway so now they have another crap one. $60 from Walmart buys a battery, $350 is lotsa money.

Also burning through rotors and pads that quickly unless she's taking it to the track something is wrong.

 

[DivideBYZero]

I own an 05 civic ex and an 06 330i sedan. So far, the civic has been much more expensive to maintain than the 330 because of free maintenance. But after the warranty and maintenance end, I know it will be much different.

Non maintenance related items for civic so far
1. Upgraded front rotors and brakes because wife drives like a maniac - $260
2. Peeling interior door handle front passenger - $45
3. Passenger side mirror ripped off from pulling out of garage - $220
Total Miles: ~91,000

Non maintenance related items for 330i so far
1. Milky chrome window trim - free (if not, around $300)
2. Peeling interior armrest area - free (if not, around $350)
3. Lost my nav dvd - $20
4. Upgrade computer about 10 times - free (if not, $250 per flash)
Total Miles: ~80,000

Interesting, but your Nav DVD should be more like $200, not $20, and that is simply your fault not the manufacturers, and the Computer upgrades are 1) Not necessary 2) You can do them yourself in 4 minutes.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Stop it, you're better than this.

Meh, I'm enjoying myself.

 

[BW86]

I DIY almost anything on my car but my parents don't want me touching the lease lol.

On my moms Audi Q7

Front Rotor/Pads 22k miles 890 bucks
Rear Rotor/Pads 25k miles 830 bucks

wow - that sucks considering you can get Q7 rotors for ~$120