Quote:
Originally Posted by Efthreeoh
I'd like to throw in here since I've been a BMW owner going on 27 years now, currently own 3 BMWs out of a total of 4, taken two of them past 250,000 miles (approaching 300K on the E90) and do all my maintenance and most all repairs.
And back in the late '80s and through 1997 ran an E30 at the same time as owning a '89 Acura Integra. On that point my wife was driving the E30 while I was driving the Acura. For about 30,000 miles or so she lived in Manhattan and commuted to Yonkers. The E30 lived in a underground garage (I should say buried) and she tried to maintain it at some dork gas station in Yonkers (who f'd up the AC and a few other things). At the same time the Acrua ran an easy life of 90 highway miles. The Acura reached 230,000 miles by 1997 when my wife bought a Z3 and I took over the E30. The Acura has a few problems, it ate left-side halfshafts for some reason, and had an issue with the igniter (that Honda later recalled and replaced mine for free and refunded the earlier repair).
The E30 had a few more issues than the Acura, but when both cars were at 230,000 miles (not together) the BMW was in far better physical shape, where the Acura's interior was worn and faded and had rust holes in the left rear quarter panel (they all seem to rust there). The BMW was worth putting parts and DIY effort, where the Acura was ready for "replacement of the appliance".
Now the Z3, currently at 170K and sitting on my lift with the front of the motor off for replacement of timing case gaskets, is one of the poorest built cars I've ever owned (and that includes Pintos). I've done more work on the Z3 than any car I've owned not counting my '99 F-150 (not Ford's best build years...). The Z3 interior build quality is terrible. The seat bushing wear out, the window bushings seize up. The plastic cracks and breaks if you look at it wrong. And the M44 is just a sieve. And it loses the cam position sensor every 7 years or so. The E90?, more reliable than the E30 and less problematic. But electric water pumps shouldn't die and cost $400 just for the part...
The Z4 was my first used BMW and came with a rattling throwout bearing, but I've driven it 11,000 miles since December and it's been trouble free (fingers crossed) so far.
So I guess my point is most BMWs are worth keeping because long-term they hold up well and are worth repairing where most cars at half the mileage are ready for a trade in.
|
I have owned 18 BMWs and totally agree with your last statement. However, I guess that I have been very fortunate, because I have NEVER had an unreliable BMW and I hope my M4 is that good.
I really have not had the same Z3 experience that you have. Had a 1997 2.8 Z3 and currently own a 2001 3.0 Z3 that I purchased new in December 2000. It has been a fantastic car and looks as good today as the day we drove it off the lot. It has been extremely reliable, is in the shop at the moment for an A/C issue. Other than replacing the top after 10 years, this is the only issue that I have had.
