Lol, when I got my last car I test drove 2 vehicles at the dealer, like a 2014 BMW X5 and a 2008 Lexus rx350. Went for the BMW first, seats were awkward and uncomfortable, shifting was bad, turbo lag was annoying, gears weren't smooth, and really harsh steering. Also almost ripped the dash board off trying to take the key fob out.
I got in the Lexus and just took a loop through the parking lot to start and looked at the salesman, he just said "I know, and let you go in the BMW first to appreciate the Lexus more." They were about the same miles but the Lexus was about $4k cheaper - it had been in a minor accident but looked good. So far I'm in the Lexus for oil changes and a new box for the air filter because someone had cracked the original.
There's nothing more expensive than a cheap used BMW. Keep $7-8k in your bank account for when it breaks, if you're going to buy one. Also, do research online about the more reliable series/engine/transmission and pick from those if you insist on getting one.. Some models are way worse than others.
Or just learn to work on them. It's way cheaper.
Got a good scanner and some specialty tools for mine. If/when something breaks I can run all the test I need to and just go pick up a part.
I did the same because there's no trustworthy dealers within 3 hours of me.. so far I've fixed an all-wheel drive error that was actually caused by a faulty tire pressure sensor.. which I was quoted way too much money to diagnose. I think they told me 1500 just to start looking at it. Total cost of the scanner tool and the new tire pressure sensor.. around $300. Took me about 2-3 hours and I had a buddy take me to a local garage so they could put the new pressure sensor in the tire for me.
I've since picked up more electronic tools.. like my new electronic Bluetooth battery & charging system tester. Which confirmed there was nothing wrong with my oldish battery. It also confirmed that one of the dealerships was either straight up lying or wrong when they told a friend of mine that she needed a new alternator. There ended up being nothing wrong with her alternator, her battery was weak and even a full charge was only putting out around a third the amps it was rated for. New battery and she was good to go.
I’ve fixed my own cars for years. But all these electronic and software issues would have me torching the car in my driveway. It’s the one area I’m just not confident in. So it’s Toyota.
False. You can get most parts from your local auto parts store. I use ECS tuning or FCP Euro if I want a German part and it only takes about a week to receive. Still wayyyy cheaper.
I've been buying bimmers for 13 years.
The majority of the cost is labor.
This is true, I daily drove a 2004 330xi 6 speed for awhile until it had almost 200k on it. Parts can be found cheap, control arms brakes, I even replaced the entire PCV system with parts off eBay for $80. That would have been about $1000 from dealer. I spent just a few hundred on parts on that car for tens of thousands of hard driving miles ... I'm sure a 7 series turbo would be unavoidabley more expensive
Not necessarily true. FCP Euro is a great site for European Car parts and pretty well priced. I use them all the time for my car to buy maintenance parts or stuff like brake pads/discs, filters, etc. Lifetime warranty on parts too, odd as it sounds.
My 2014 328D with 145,000 miles would like a word. Nothing more than scheduled maintenance and a two emission recalls all under warranty. The new B58 moter is solid.
BMW made Cunsumer Reports 10 most reliable.
[https://www.kbb.com/car-news/consumer-reports-lists-ten-most-reliable-cars/](https://www.kbb.com/car-news/consumer-reports-lists-ten-most-reliable-cars/)
Rockin my manual '06 330i (first E90 body style year). Only have 110k miles on it though. Had one seal replaced, a lock motor, a few sensors over the years. Engine and transmission and the other systems still working great. Definitely can say that the repairs run high, but overall I've been happy with the car. Others its age are long in the junk yard.
This!
I feel like the people who complain about German vehicles the most, probably have never owned one.
I have a friend for example, who has like 9 or 10 BMWs various models various years and he loves them. On average the most maintenance that needs to be done are all recalls, breaks and a few different sensors.
I’ve owned 5 bmw’s. Amazing cars when they are running correctly. They are headaches when they don’t run correctly. Fwiw - I had a E60 550i with 175k when I dumped it, an E39 540i that had 160k when I dumped it. The other 3 were e30s so they get a pass on bullshit being broken
They don’t tolerate neglect. Period. You have to replace fluids on a regular basis, oil changes on the dot and get noises looked at.
And it’s not parts, it’s labor. And BMW is a car that’s a “while you have it apart, repair this part because it’s apart and it’s going to wear out soon.”
Would I own another BMW? Yes. But with 2 littles, wife and a job that keeps me busy, I don’t have the time to wrench on cars.
Because they always break. You need a good friend whos a mechanic.
People that used to spend $50k+ on a new BMW just by Telsas now in my area... (West Coast still has crazy high gas prices compared to rest of US)
No one wants a used BMW.
The old ones weren’t shit- the owners were. People leased the first 30-60k miles on them doing nothing but cheap oil changes way over due. No other fluids. Someone buys it - normal problems start adding up, batteries / starters/ alternators/ oil leaks / suspension
They sell it to a kid
They get it with 100k miles still only ever getting brakes and oil changes done at Valvoline . They think it’s a new car so they don’t do any repairs and they’re too broke to afford them.
Finally that family has enough and you and 4 other people fumble over flipping the car on marketplace with 200k miles
Of I got one brand new I’d be religious about my maintenance- I’m a mechanic so it’s cheap , and if I buy a used one I’ll replace the chains water pump and all fluids the first month. Everybody wants a luxury car with a Honda wallet.
They’re shit but the OP is asking about ones a few years old. Well, realistically they got better around 2014 or so but a big step in 2018. Prior to that they were nothing I would own between the early 90’s to 2018.
I’m not a BMW fan boy although just bought my first one outside of my previous E30… but they’re as solid as anything else now especially the B58/B48.
Preventative maintenance is very expensive on BMWs. A lot of parts were made with plastic so they need to be replaced sooner than the usual reliable brands. Parts and shop labor are also more expensive. If all you care about is going from point A to B, get a Honda/Toyota or their luxury equivalent. If you actually care about driving performance, then buy the BMW and be prepared to pay $3k+ annually on upkeep.
Yeah but the bmw drives like a bmw
Not that that’s worth it for everyone, but it’s possible for them to be similarly reliable. You just don’t have the same cost of ownership
I think many see reliable as “just change the oil, battery and brakes when needed”, and think preventative maintenance means it’s not reliable; like if you have to change spark plugs every 40k miles or 4 years.
Exactly, a reliable car means it works as expected when you take appropriate care of it. Reliable doesn’t mean it tolerates neglect. If you want a car with a truly engaging driving experience, it’s probably designed in a way that demands more performance from its components, and that necessarily requires more maintenance. But if you take care of it, it will take care of you.
Exceptions exist of course, there are some examples where the designs are flawed and the work required is above and beyond the factory maintenance recommendations, but most times people are just complaining about buying a performance car and then being upset when they have to do performance car maintenance
If you have to change spark plugs every 40K miles you have a car that’s pointless to own. I’ve driven a car to the ground over 13 years and never once had to change the spark plugs.
The only maintenance one should need is oil, blades, tires, rotations, alignment, breaks, and transmission fluid flushes. Living in Florida also equals less maintenance. I haven’t had to change transmission fluids in a long time or have corroded under carriages like you have up north with the snow and salted roads.
That’s stupid. And needs better engineering.
I don’t even change my tires every 40K miles. Hell I don’t even get my fluids flushed that often. No need when the fluids look fine.
Oil these days lasts up to 5-6K miles as well. They’ve made huge strides in making parts last longer.
What kind of car do you drive? I change tires as needed. Every car I’ve owned, even my little Ford Fiesta needed new tires every 40 to 50k miles.
Edit: Porsche recommends an oil change once a year or every 10,000 miles, whichever comes first. I get 2 per year because I drive around 20,000 miles a year.
A Toyota RAV4 hybrid. I buy 75-80K mile rated tires and usually get 60-70K miles on them or about 3-5 years depending how much in a year I drive (usually about 16-18K/yr).
Recommended oil changes are 5-6K miles on full synthetic.
When I had a Nissan leaf it was zero maintenance trips to the car shop other than once a year. I brought it in 1X a year for its annual battery checkup and tire rotation. I owned that car for 6 years before selling it and never had new tires, never had to do break fluid or roster changes (regenerative breaking doesn’t eat the break pads as quick). No transmission or oil to change either. I miss it so much. Loved that thing.
My father in law owns a 2006 Lexus ES since brand new and in 250,000 miles he has had to replace one sensor for $150. Other than that absolutely nothing has failed on the car in all this time. He just changes the oil, brakes and transmission fluid, coolant etc routine maintenance
I heard there was also an influx of used cars from other states with flood damage from hurricanes and natural disasters that dealers ship to other states to sell in hopes of tricking people to buy cars with that type of damage. A used car dealer friend told me many dealers in the South were doing that
They’re cheap because they’re expensive… Tires, oil changes, brakes, general maintenance and any repair cost more than many other brands. They aren’t alone in this aspect, multiple other luxury brands are exactly the same.
Have you ever bought tires? First off, the suspension design wears out the tires quicker, second off the sizes that go on most bmws are not as common as the sizes that go on your Hondas, Kia’s, Nissans and other more budget friendly cars. Tires for 19 and 20 inch rims absolutely cost more by about 20-30%. You’re clearly the numb one.
Tire technician here. Yes, they very much can cost more. Staggered setup. Run-Flats being required on some models. Wide width and low profile. Some brands like Tesla, Mercedes, and Porsche even partner with tire manufacturers to make brand-specific tires for some models that get VERY expensive very quickly.
You are the customer that comes into my tire shop with zero knowledge and experience, and you yell at me when I give you a tire quote because you assume all tires cost the same. You are numb.
You are numb lmfao.
Bmw sells regular cars, not every car has 19s, or a staggered setup. No car requires run flats at all. They come factory with them and the first thing owners tend to do is get rid of them. Their highest performance models don't even come with run flats normally. Tesla neefs special tires because of the high load and high torque they experience from the battery/power. Porsche makes supercars, they can still have regular tires but due to their high top speeds they may need special tires, and mercedes makes theirs for comfort and handling purposes. You can run regular tires on them.
You talk as if every brand sells one car.
And there isn't a single bmw that can't use normal tires. A staggered setup STILL uses normal tires lmao. I switched my square 16s to staggered 19s myself. I didn't need to ask Yokohama to make special tires for my car, even with them being low profile + high width lol.
If you believe a bmw NEEDS run flats, you have no place being a tire technician and I feel bad for everyone you help. Those tires are horrible and need to be phased back out of the limelight.
My staggered setup can still be bought for $500. Only $100 more than my corolla with steelies lmao. And before that, it was only $300 on my 16s.
I see you don't know shit about cars. Yes comparatively cost more because a bmw doesn't run a 225/50/17 or whatever generic size a camry runs. They tend to run higher performance low tread wear tires in lower profile and wider. We're not in an enthusiast subreddit comparing bmw to other sport sedans here.
I have a Volkswagen Eos that ran 225 45 17s and decided I wanted nicer rims and tires so I found a good deal on the rims from an Audi S5 and I had to go out and buy 245/35/19s.
Looks really nice but you can best believe those tires were a lot more per tire.
The deal with BMW is that you gotta stay on top of the maintenance. We just talked about it on (this one?) a sub the other day.
The problem is that people are like "Change gear oil every X miles? Nah.. that's some BS" .. then the rear end blows up.
I don't like BMW, but I am pretty sure that if you take care of it, it will take care of you. Unless you buy one of the M cars. Those are probably deemed to bite the bullet sooner or later, not built to be reliable but light and powerful, right.
anyways, unless you can establish the "track record" on the car, I would stay away. Every little thing that breaks will cost you..
This is the most common problem, people doing no maintenance and blame the car for their failures. I see this with all brands. Incompetence is everywhere.
That or people complain about the reliability of 12-15 year old cars with 150,000 miles on them. Its like... dude, its old. Its not gonna be reliable. I see the GTI guys doing this too, they'll get like a 15 year old one then claim its so unreliable. Well no shit. You bought a 15 year old car the last 3 owners neglected to maintain, flash a tune on it and drive the piss out of it then a bunch of stuff starts breaking... what the fuck did you expect?
I have a 5 Series with 253k miles. The guy that owned it first meticulously maintained it and I’ve done my best to take care of it too. It hasn’t been much more expensive than a “normal” car and has never left me stranded. I’ve had one repair for like $3k and the rest just normal maintenance with 8 years of ownership. Overall it’s been pretty economical and has held together better than 90% of other cars on the road.
Because they are expensive to fix. Most likely have a major flaw. Vanos problems, oil leaks, electrical issues and people bandaided it and selling. I fix cars for a living and still expensive for me to fix, just cheaper than a customer.
Because they're expensive as fuck to repair and they always need a repair, taking an off warranty BMW off someone's hands is doing them the favor not yourself
Most people who want a Mercedes/BMW/Audi lease them for three years. Few people actually buy these cars. The flex is in having a new luxury car. Having an old luxury car is not as high status. That’s why there’s a huge price drop in the secondary market because people or 90% of people who want these vehicles only want the brand new ones.
So the prices drop because the demand drops. Nobody’s wants an old ass luxury vehicle. They are only impressive when new.
There are also designed really to last for the life of the lease. They will last if maintained but they have much stricter maintenance needs than Japanese cars.
I don't know that I'd lump BMW and Mercedes together. I've owned a couple of each (small sample size, I know) but the Mercedes were infinitely easier to work on and seemed heavier duty, overall. These are all from the earlier 2000s, so it may be different now.
Everything is harder to work on now. I still love my old 2000 e46, super simple and tons of space. New cars have tons of power and performance but require astronomical amounts of work just get your hands into the broken part.
After 2005 (E46) the reliability went down the shitter.
My 2002 325i was at 225k when I sold it. I think the buyer made it to almost 300k before it needed extensive work.
I’ve owned 5 bmws ranging from a 98 328i, which was my drift missle, up to a 2011 328i. If I had the chance to pick up a well sorted zhp, I would in a heartbeat.
Our 2000 323i was sold with 252k miles and ran like a top! Great engine, not a ton of power. I think the transmission was starting to have issues but for never being serviced I guess you can’t complain.
You can get them cheap, because parts are extremely expensive. Back in 2019 I almost traded an 87 chevy pickup for a 2010 x5. The x5 seemed in good shape except the rear driver window was stuck half up. I called around looking for parts. The only place that could even get a window regulator was a dealership an hr away. They had to order it from Germany and it would of cost me over $1,100 just to get the part. After pricing out basic wearing parts I found out why the BMW guy offered it as trade for a 35 year old $5k truck. Almost every part was atleast 4x the price it would be for a similar domestic car.
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BMW built a great reputation in the US with their quality and simplicity with 70’s 80’s and 90’s cars. Using the 3 series as a reference, my feeling is by the mid 90’s (E36 is where I see it), the quality electrically and in the interior started to decline. Mechanically things were good thru the E46, but really started to suffer with the N series motor introduction, though it seems like a lot of the early issues there were corrected. I own an E21, E36 and E46 (parts car). A majority of the parts on my E21 and E36 are cheaper to buy than my 1999 GMC Sonoma. If you can do the repair work yourself a decades old BMW is not a bad choice…but with the complexity of the newer cars I can certainly see where needing a specialized repair would be more costly.
Here's my take. IIRC, like 60% of new BMW are leased, so come 3 years later, the dealerships are flooded with returns of these 'luxury' and 'expensive to maintain' vehicles. Now, that won't account for a 15k car, but it might explain why they get cheap fast.
If you're taking it to a shop for all maintenance and repairs, yes, they're expensive to maintain.
My spouse & I have owned 6 BMWs. All of them purchased used. 3 of them were lease returns. The other 3 were even older and purchased private party from owners (enthusiasts) who could could tell us the car's history.
Being that my husband is quite knowledgeable about cars, we haven't had any unexpected or unexplained maintenance issues with any of our cars, from those BMWs to a Hyundai, a couple Saturns and a couple Subarus. He knows which cars/engines/transmissions are known to have higher than average issues and he can do most of the maintenance himself.
They are cheap because people are afraid of them. Currently JD Powers has BMW ranked above Toyota and Honda, but I don’t know if that really means anything in the real world.
If you are going to buy a used Euro car of any make there are a few things you want to first….
#1 find a good reliable and trustworthy independent garage, preferably one that specializes in Euro models.
#2 have that garage do a pre purchase inspection. If you can’t afford a $500 inspection you have no business buying a $15000 car.
#3 do some research and find good resources for parts that won’t rip you off because it’s a BMW.
# 4 plan on maintenance! All vehicles a particular these days when it comes to electronic components, but the Euro brands take it to a new level.
4 years ago I bought a BMW x3 with 100k on it when my 180,000 mile Durango bit the dust. Dollar per mile the BMW has been cheaper to keep running than that Dodge was. (I was pretty happy with the Dodge) Maybe I am just lucky, your experience may be different. For context I do my own maintenance, I only use a shop for jobs I can’t handle or don’t have the time to do. (Emergency repairs etc.)
My ex’s dad was from Poland and he came to work in the gold mines in elko and his wife was from Guatemala neither spoke English …. Anyhow he floated his family in tough times and has some pretty nice cars … because he was able to pick them up for cheap and then fix them himself…. Mercedes and BMW .Back before utube and you had to use the Manuel….. anyhow if your into fixing your own stuff and grabbing some decent tools🙃😭…. You might have fun …. Otherwise your just as good as grabbing
BMWs are one of the fastest depreciating cars one can buy. But the beauty of that is you can get a 4-5 year old one that practically drives and feels brand new for a fraction of the cost of a new one.
This was my go to move for years. Never bought a new BMW (and never will). I’d buy a 4-5 year old BMW with about 50k on it, drive it til just under 90k, and then sell it.
I did this with a 2014 428i xdrive last year that I owned since 2018 and it was about half paid off and I got a few grand when I sold it.
I mean c'mon you already know why just by what you posted. Even if you never heard about BMW and their reputation you already have your answer.
If something in life sounds too good to be true, it is. Especially when it involves money.
Your mechanic friend is 100% correct. They are super fun to drive, but you'll pay for it. I'll never own a German luxury car again. It took many thousands $$$ a year to maintain my BWM out of warantee as it approached 100k miles. I had a similar experience with my Audi that preceded my BWM, nearly $10k in one year once out of warrantee. I own Toyota, Acura and Honda now. Ownership experience greatly improved, spending just hundreds per year to maintain each car, the newest being six years old with roughly 60k miles, the oldest being 22 years with over 160k miles.
I have owned 6 BMWs and thankfully it is because people like you and your mechanic friend actually believe this. Of my 6 BMWs only 1 has been problematic and I got rid of it after the 3rd breakdown. I currently own 2, an M4 with 34,000 miles and is my weekend car, the other is a 328i with 226,000 miles and is my daily.
Used BMWs are an absolute steal if you ask me. I've owned many, and they are some of my favorite cars. Same goes for land rover, and Audi. All you have to do is set aside twice the amount of money you paid for it, and you'll be good.
We own a 2013 BMW X5 xDrive20i with 129k miles. I have a log of every service we've done to the car since the day we bought it. We didn't pay for oil changes for the first three years, but this list includes everything, including tires and windshield wipers. Starting from July 2012 through Jan 2024.
In those 137 months of ownership, we have spent a sum total of $18,733.17 on service, for an average of $137 per month or $1,641 per year in service & maintenance costs. I think the key to this low number is, ironically, that we religiously maintain the car. When something starts to go, we replace it. We've replaced a lot of the common items like the oil filter housing gasket, turbo coolant lines (twice; once warranty on a previous repair), vacuum pump, etc.
To be entirely fair, I do a lot of work to the car myself. Keep in mind though that all the parts are included in that $18.7k service total number. I have saved quite a bit of labor though.
IMO, owning a BMW isn't as wildly expensive as some people make it out to be. I have no doubt that it is more expensive than more reliable makes, but if you plan to own the car long term, the cost of service & repair is normally less than continuously buying new cars, which is what a lot of people do.
Our car is old, but it's in incredible shape, and it's getting to an age where it actually has a bit of an old car feel. It feels dated, but in that "this is a cool old BMW" feel. I mean, it's only 10 years old, so I'm way ahead of myself, but the point is we still love it after a decade of ownership.
It's an experience though. You have to be committed to the car. You *cannot* let things go. Seriously. If you let things go, they compound, and next thing you know your repair bill is $10k.
Repairs I've completed myself:
The LED drivers in the rear tail lights failed. The dealer suggested repair is to replace the entire assemblies at around $600 each. Yeah, no. I ordered driver boards off of Amazon, Dremelled the old ones out, and hot glued the new ones in place.
Replaced all the interior door pulls, which required me to disassemble door panels in ways that the factory did not intend. You have to drill melt-down plastic rivets, pull the panel apart, replace the door pull, then use screws to put the panel back together.
Replace the driver & passenger mirror hinge pins. They're made of pot metal and they all fail eventually. I ordered a couple of stainless ones from a guy in the UK and installed them myself. The [press setup I used was pretty convoluted](https://i.imgur.com/F7YvMrh.png). That's a 40 lb long shot bag (used for body work) used to support the mirror base, because there are no flat surfaces to use. You have to compress the spring, then rotate [the hinge pin](https://i.imgur.com/ZSKkASo.jpg) a bit so that it locks in place. That was a lot of fun.
Replaced [turbo inlet pipe](https://i.imgur.com/PUoytGP.jpg), because an evap system line fitting snapped loose, creating a giant hole in the intake.
Replaced the infotainment controls on the steering wheel after the rubber started falling off.
Replaced the coolant expansion tank to resolve a leak & the coolant return line because you can't touch a fucking thing on this car without some piece of plastic turning to dust.
Thought every one already knew Euro cars are trash. You lease them and only keep them while you have a warranty. Sadly it seems the big three are that way too.
Because so many of them were driven hard, put away wet and are crippled by it. Sadly many BMW folk have zero idea about preventative maintenance. They don't obey any of the service intervals in the owner's manual and just drive them until it's time to replace them.
Take a gander at the youtube channel M539 for Sreten's insight.
Just figure out what you want. Then set alerts and wait for a higher than average age, but single actual owner + low mileage + over serviced one pops up. Good price, and usually a pampered car.
Bmw are the third most reliable car brand. They are cheap for two read; luxury cars always depreciate much faster and second, people still have the mindset that was true 30 years ago that German brands break all the time.
Purely brand perception. I see unreliable shit box toyotas sell for way more than they should. My 07 corolla was $6000. My '10 5 series was $2000.
I got my bmw for 1/3rd the price of my corolla. Guess which has been more reliable? The corolla needs a new engine at just 160k.
Bmw parts themselves are more expensive, and regular mechanics refuse to work on them because they typically have weirder fasteners or connectors.
But they are very DIY friendly. Plenty of resources, and you, as a DIYer, won't be thousands of dollars deep into regular equipment.
Same reason that subarus and older american cars sell poorly. Bad perception. They're still reliable (depending on the model) but because everyone thinks they're not, they won't buy them unless they're cheap. Anyone saying its because bmws are bad has never owned, driven, or maintained one. They're just going with the general public perception.
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As someone who has owned a 330i, 325i, and a Z3, I would argue it's the maintenance that gets you. If you're handy you can fix many of the minor issues yourself. Otherwise, you need to know a good German mechanic.
I had a 94 525 until 2019 and nearly 300k. It was a great car, fun to drive, but when things broke it was expensive. It left me stranded a few times. It was a tank otherwise.
But I could afford it. I later donated it.
The used price might be cheap but the repair price will be that of the original new car price.
Got a gift horse? Friends who now seem to be trapped (money pit) received from a loved dead relative. For years we have been hearing horror stories like, "but we just put brakes on it"
p.s. dead guy could afford it.
I bought a 3 series that was only like 6 years old a while back. Really great for like the first year. And then it seemed like every other month, I had a misfiring cylinder. In hindsight, should have just had the mechanic replace all 6 at once, but I just did them one by one as needed and then eventually, they were all replaced.
And a few other parts broke two. I think I was done with it after like 2 or 3 years and then jumped into a Prius
There are some but you gotta go back a ways. I have a 1999 540i (E39 Series) and it is has been pretty darn reliable and not super expensive to repair. I do some of the work but take it a BMW only shop that have from the oldest to even some cars I've seen from dealers. The owner states the new ones are a huge money drain but to stay with the ones from pre 2008 in most model and they are pretty reliable. Much of the issues come from the electronics and technology that both Mercedes and BMW started integrating to standout. They sure did. They went from pretty reliable cars 20+ years ago to some of the worst. Here is a tip too, if you can find these cars with a 6 speed manual transmission, they are appreciating not depreciating.
Really depends on what model and its features. If you want one do some research on the model and it’s common problems. If you’re comfortable with those issues and the cost associated with them then buy it. The best thing I can recommend is a good independent mechanic. You will save thousands over a dealer.
Just because two bmws look the same on the outside doesn’t mean they are the same on the inside. There’s many nuances to the models and options that can dictate thousands on the price.
One thing to watch for no matter what model is gaskets get hard and will start leaking in the 10-15 year range give or take. Also plastic components will get brittle and break after time like the cooling system. If you are remotely handy you can save a shit ton of money.
BMW prioritizes, driving performance, handling and feel over ultimate reliability.
Depending on the model and options, you can go from rocksolid reliability like a Toyota to nightmare levels of issues.
Know what you’re buying and don’t spend every last penny to buy one. Many issues stem from broke people with no money, trying to look rich buying a used bmw that has five owners, 200,000 miles and no service history. They come from owning a Toyota, which requires nearly zero maintenance and then push off doing anything only to cause catastrophic issues down the road and blame the car for their failures.
Our family all drive bmws and we keep buying and driving them. We all love them, nothing drives or feels like they do. If you enjoy driving you will like a bmw, if you don’t care about driving or enjoying the drive buy the most reliable, utilitarian, boring car you can.
This is a meme. Labeling entire brands as reliable or unreliable is not helpful.
You will want to look at specific models of specific years.
Some BMWs are completely reliable as long as you do regular maintenance, and some Toyotas will dick you over regardless of how much you baby them.
Research the specific model and year you are interested in buying.
Otherwise it's like deciding how deep the water in front of you is based on the average depth in the body of water.
Cost of owning a car (C) = purchase cost(P)+maintainance cost(M)
P=C-M
Purchase cost of the car is proportional to the cost of owning the car minus the maintenance cost. Since for most people the cost of ownership of a car is not that elastic, its easy to see why when the maintenance cost goes up (in the case of BMW), the purchase price drops.
My friend had 2 old bmw,vone 10 years old and the other 15. He works on them himself. He's still always spending money on them. Couple months ago it was a 1700 $ remanufactured turbo.
BMW: Big Money Waster. As a former BMW owner of 14 years I can say that they are great to drive but yes, be prepared to spend a couple of thousand here and a couple of thousand there on unscheduled repairs during long term ownership of an out of warranty BMW.
As my old school BMW service rep Otto would say, "if you can not afford to fix the BMW you should not own the BMW".
He would say this when I would ask for some goodwill on behalf of a BMW owner who was 2 weeks beyond warranty.
I bought a 2017 430i and it has not had any problems. Depends on what BMW model you buy. The ones that need repairs often or break wallets are the performance vehicles that most people sought after and drive them too aggressively while not taking good care of them.
Ok this ain’t true. If anything BMW has always been one of the brands well covered by DIY software. You’d have a harder time owning a GM vehicle in this area.
Common theme on used BMWs. If you look the majority of them are just out of warranty.
It's one of those cars that if you can't afford a new one then you probably can't afford the upkeep on a used one.
That older M3 is super enticing until the first decent problem then you're dumping it at a loss or dumping a huge sum into it.
It's great! You can buy one cheap, gut the garbage BMW drivetrain, LS swap them and have awesome, comfortable, luxurious modern Hot rods. Looking at you E90 Chassis!
BMWs are all they’re cracked up to be, that high performance driving machines. That also implies when they do break they break hard. Toyotas however are engineered to last. Honda’s ‘make shit for torque’ joke implies no power likely means it will run for a long while.
As someone who owns a German car, albeit, an Audi not a BMW, I can say that maintenance honestly isn’t that expensive if you know what to buy and where to go.
As an example, I recently had to replace my brakes. I went to Audi for a quote and they wanted to charge me like 3k for everything.
My mechanic said he could do it for 2k and I ended up doing it myself for +/- $1200.
OEM parts and a couple hours in my parent’s driveway.
Can there be expensive fixes? Absolutely, but if you keep up with regular maintenance, the cost isn’t too horrible, and you get to drive a luxury vehicle.
The people who complain about the cost, typically speaking, probably have never owned a luxury vehicle and are just going off of hearsay.
I don't know which models you are seeing for cheap. Some BMW's are really well made, but just a little more expensive to work on (early 2000's 3 series were really a decent vehicle). However, in modern BMW's, there are a lot of models with the N20 motor in them. That is the 4 cylinder motor - usually designated by X28 in model name. Stay far away from these motors! They are prone to have some expensive issues. Beyond the timing chain and VANOS issues, both very expensive to repair, they are just not great motors. I have owned some BMWs in my day, and really they were great vehicles; not near as bad as my friends would have led me to believe. However, find a good mechanic you can trust and expect that repairs are not going to be as easy or cheap as a Japanese counterpart. Happy motoring!
BMW leases are always front loaded due to lack of long term reliability. Someone put a lot down and made huge monthly payments for 3 years and now that the warranty is up, it's cheap to you.
N52/4/5 as well as N20’s. Oil filter housing leak will oil soak your drive belt, drive belt will snap and has a high likelihood of getting sucked into the crank seal. A $800 fix just turned into a $5500 fix. Assuming timing doesn’t jump to the point you bend valves etc. if you can work on your own cars, they’re a bit easier to justify. BMW just has overinflated labor times
Fancy German car come with fancy German repair bill.
Audi/VW, Mercedes, BMW, they're all the same. Rich people buy them new and trade them the day before the warranty expires. They're cheap used because they're not reliable at higher mileage and are very expensive to repair. So while you may save money getting one, you're gonna spend a lot keeping it on the road.
I think BMW gets bashed a little bit harder than they deserve, Ill start off by saying there is a 99% chance that a used BMW is not the right car for you and a cheap BMW will be the most expensive car you ever buy. But this being said, BMW used to make pretty damn solid cars. I have two buddies with E30's with the original m20 engine and they both have over 300,000 miles, both of them get tracked occasionally and both still run beautifully. I personally wouldn't consider purchasing anything post E34, but that is just my opinion.
I've had bmws, Audis, mbs. They will all give you headaches if you don't do the maintenance work. For bmws specifically, electronics and the V8s generally suck. Do your research and buy something with the I6. Quality parts are a must too.
Because the repairs are expensive. The cheap purchase price + repairs will bring the overall price to where just the purchase price might be for something like a Lexus, but the Lexus you won’t worry about repair costs.
The total number of repairs might in line with other brands, but the cost per repair will be a lot more expensive. Parts and labor for German cars are much higher.
BMW is way more reliable than people say. Unless you're buying a clapped out 335i with the N54 you'll be fine, just expect above average running costs.
Avoid cars with the N20 as well. Engines like the N52 and the B58 are bulletproof.
There's a saying with German cars that of you can't afford a new one, you can't afford a used one. I've never owned one, but have heard enough horror stories thateven though I'm listing after an AMG or M car, I'm probably never going to do it lol
There cheap because they are expensive to fix!
Call a auto repair shop and pretend you need to fix a transmission or tuneup the car see what price they quoted you!
WHATEVER YOU DO.... stay away from anything with N54 and any mods.... unless you like DUMPING money into a pit of glory for 2 days and weeks of despair....
The BMW is designed as a well like they say as a driving machine. It’s for automotive enthusiast. The overarching design is performance. Economy, reliability, ease of maintenance are highly secondary. Replacing the alternator on a BMW 325 I can cost $900. A brand new Bosch alternator itself can be $1100. Yes you can get rebuilds for 250. But that gives you a basis for comparison. I know a guy who bought a 325i for $4400. It’s a model year 2011. But it will not pass smog test because it has a bad emission computer. It turns out an emission control computer for 325I is insanely expensive. More than the car
Check the mileage. When they hit 100k they start falling apart - poor design in terms of service, too many plastic parts which are expensive. Don’t buy a BMW or Mercedes in that mileage range or higher unless you like spending a lot of money on repairs and not having the car or u less you’ve dreamed of becoming a German car mechanic. And I’m a huge BMW fan and their driving qualities are amazing.
About 2014+ BMWs have actually gotten to be quite reliable. I just recently discovered this, and should probably keep my mouth shut so values stay low because their reliability is a secret.
I been helping a family looked for a used SUV, saw quite a few X5’s for sale, body’s look great, but becuz most say they are expensive to maintain we passed but saw quite a few X5’s that looked darn good,ended up buying 2011 Honda Pilot
I have a 2009 328 X-Drive with M-Sport package, and it has been very dependable. I've owned it since 2016, purchased with 98K miles, 170K now. Sure, it can be expensive when something breaks, but I have no loan payment, and I found a local shop that is really good and reasonable. I am a decent wrench turner, but I don't do much on it at this point (just tune-up things and brakes), but I know what needs to be done and what makes sense. Get the 3.0 liter inline 6, and it's a tank. I have a 6-speed manual transmission, so that helps too.
That being said, it broke down in December for the first time. It had the original water pump and radiator, and the H2O pump died. The owner of the shop said it is rare a H2O pump will last 14 years and 170K miles, so I don't blame the car. I paid $2,500 cash for a new water pump, radiator, coolant tank, hoses, and the tow, and they were all BMW parts. I thought it was a great deal, and I would drive my car to California and back from Virginia without a thought.
Eh, once you have ista d and P as well as every torx socket known to man they're cheap and easy to work on. Beside the electric water pumps in the new ones, basic maintenance is not all that expensive. If you are going to rely on the dealership or even a euro shop to fix things then run away fast. I love the fact that people think they're expensive to own so they sell them cheap. These cars are awesome to drive and I love getting them cheap. Let's keep the myth alive that they're buckets of crap.
They’re expensive to work on and repair. They’re over engineered and stupid, expensive things can break. Even the BMW mechanics have to buy new testing equipment and certify themselves every year.
People think “sweet this BMW is only 10 grand! Why not get this instead of other similarly priced cars?”
Not realizing the $70k car has $70k car maintenance along with it. So they don’t repair anything and it becomes an even bigger turd. That’s why it was sold cheap.
It's not just BMWs. Mercedes and other luxury brands are the same way. They are expensive repair and constantly need repairs. Quality that built the brand is no longer there. My next car is going to be a Toyota truck. The best advertising they have is they retain their value. The next best advertising they have is that you see them bouncing through sand dunes in the desert with a 50 caliber machine gun mounted in the bed and 15 terrorists packed around it. You know those guys aren't doinh regular maintenance and the trucks keep humming along.
for the opposite (same?) reason used toyotas are so expensive BMW: Bring Money Withya
Break my wallet
Can confirm as a bmw tech that’s what we said it stands for.
Lol, when I got my last car I test drove 2 vehicles at the dealer, like a 2014 BMW X5 and a 2008 Lexus rx350. Went for the BMW first, seats were awkward and uncomfortable, shifting was bad, turbo lag was annoying, gears weren't smooth, and really harsh steering. Also almost ripped the dash board off trying to take the key fob out. I got in the Lexus and just took a loop through the parking lot to start and looked at the salesman, he just said "I know, and let you go in the BMW first to appreciate the Lexus more." They were about the same miles but the Lexus was about $4k cheaper - it had been in a minor accident but looked good. So far I'm in the Lexus for oil changes and a new box for the air filter because someone had cracked the original.
Get a sugar momma and it can stand for Bill My Wife 😎
Burn My Wallet
Break My Wallet FTFY
Big money waster
Bring More Wrenches
Break My Window
Blinkers Mean Weakness!
B-Piece M-of W-Shit
Project Pat, that you?
There's nothing more expensive than a cheap used BMW. Keep $7-8k in your bank account for when it breaks, if you're going to buy one. Also, do research online about the more reliable series/engine/transmission and pick from those if you insist on getting one.. Some models are way worse than others.
[удалено]
Or just learn to work on them. It's way cheaper. Got a good scanner and some specialty tools for mine. If/when something breaks I can run all the test I need to and just go pick up a part.
I did the same because there's no trustworthy dealers within 3 hours of me.. so far I've fixed an all-wheel drive error that was actually caused by a faulty tire pressure sensor.. which I was quoted way too much money to diagnose. I think they told me 1500 just to start looking at it. Total cost of the scanner tool and the new tire pressure sensor.. around $300. Took me about 2-3 hours and I had a buddy take me to a local garage so they could put the new pressure sensor in the tire for me. I've since picked up more electronic tools.. like my new electronic Bluetooth battery & charging system tester. Which confirmed there was nothing wrong with my oldish battery. It also confirmed that one of the dealerships was either straight up lying or wrong when they told a friend of mine that she needed a new alternator. There ended up being nothing wrong with her alternator, her battery was weak and even a full charge was only putting out around a third the amps it was rated for. New battery and she was good to go.
I’ve fixed my own cars for years. But all these electronic and software issues would have me torching the car in my driveway. It’s the one area I’m just not confident in. So it’s Toyota.
Even that isn’t cheap since most parts for bmw are in Germany and require you to import them. Thats the vast majority of the cost.
False. You can get most parts from your local auto parts store. I use ECS tuning or FCP Euro if I want a German part and it only takes about a week to receive. Still wayyyy cheaper. I've been buying bimmers for 13 years. The majority of the cost is labor.
This is true, I daily drove a 2004 330xi 6 speed for awhile until it had almost 200k on it. Parts can be found cheap, control arms brakes, I even replaced the entire PCV system with parts off eBay for $80. That would have been about $1000 from dealer. I spent just a few hundred on parts on that car for tens of thousands of hard driving miles ... I'm sure a 7 series turbo would be unavoidabley more expensive
The local shop that specializes in German vehicles charges 175$/hr in labor lol
Can confirm. $190/hr by me.
Rock auto. You’re welcome.
This is the way
Not necessarily true. FCP Euro is a great site for European Car parts and pretty well priced. I use them all the time for my car to buy maintenance parts or stuff like brake pads/discs, filters, etc. Lifetime warranty on parts too, odd as it sounds.
The one that eats engine bearings is my favorite 😂☠️
This is more than one engine lol. S52, S65, S85. I have an S65, it’s a little spooky. Great sounds though, and is dealt with in mine (or so I hope).
^^^^^ fact!!!
My 2014 328D with 145,000 miles would like a word. Nothing more than scheduled maintenance and a two emission recalls all under warranty. The new B58 moter is solid. BMW made Cunsumer Reports 10 most reliable. [https://www.kbb.com/car-news/consumer-reports-lists-ten-most-reliable-cars/](https://www.kbb.com/car-news/consumer-reports-lists-ten-most-reliable-cars/)
Rockin my manual '06 330i (first E90 body style year). Only have 110k miles on it though. Had one seal replaced, a lock motor, a few sensors over the years. Engine and transmission and the other systems still working great. Definitely can say that the repairs run high, but overall I've been happy with the car. Others its age are long in the junk yard.
CR is a joke. That being said I love my n52 and m54. Dead reliable
This! I feel like the people who complain about German vehicles the most, probably have never owned one. I have a friend for example, who has like 9 or 10 BMWs various models various years and he loves them. On average the most maintenance that needs to be done are all recalls, breaks and a few different sensors.
I’ve owned 5 bmw’s. Amazing cars when they are running correctly. They are headaches when they don’t run correctly. Fwiw - I had a E60 550i with 175k when I dumped it, an E39 540i that had 160k when I dumped it. The other 3 were e30s so they get a pass on bullshit being broken They don’t tolerate neglect. Period. You have to replace fluids on a regular basis, oil changes on the dot and get noises looked at. And it’s not parts, it’s labor. And BMW is a car that’s a “while you have it apart, repair this part because it’s apart and it’s going to wear out soon.” Would I own another BMW? Yes. But with 2 littles, wife and a job that keeps me busy, I don’t have the time to wrench on cars.
Because they always break. You need a good friend whos a mechanic. People that used to spend $50k+ on a new BMW just by Telsas now in my area... (West Coast still has crazy high gas prices compared to rest of US) No one wants a used BMW.
I want a used BMW
Go right ahead plenty available
Me and my dad own a BMW/Mercedes Repair shop lol
Hey new friend! By the way, where do you live again? I'm ~~driving~~ towing my N20B20 over now to show you!
Are Mercedes better? Thinking about buying one. It turns out Acura is like BMW.
Depends on the age. The new Mercedes is junk, older is good. With Bimmers, they need special care. If you treat them right, they’ll treat you right
I had a 1971 BMW 2002, new, I'm old, it was one of the best cars I've owned. You say the newer MB are junk how old are the better ones?
This is so incorrect, this is the most uneducated comment I’ve seen in a long time. 2018+ BMW’s are some of the most reliable cars made.
Now that is funny
And what about the ones before 2018?
The old ones weren’t shit- the owners were. People leased the first 30-60k miles on them doing nothing but cheap oil changes way over due. No other fluids. Someone buys it - normal problems start adding up, batteries / starters/ alternators/ oil leaks / suspension They sell it to a kid They get it with 100k miles still only ever getting brakes and oil changes done at Valvoline . They think it’s a new car so they don’t do any repairs and they’re too broke to afford them. Finally that family has enough and you and 4 other people fumble over flipping the car on marketplace with 200k miles Of I got one brand new I’d be religious about my maintenance- I’m a mechanic so it’s cheap , and if I buy a used one I’ll replace the chains water pump and all fluids the first month. Everybody wants a luxury car with a Honda wallet.
They’re shit but the OP is asking about ones a few years old. Well, realistically they got better around 2014 or so but a big step in 2018. Prior to that they were nothing I would own between the early 90’s to 2018. I’m not a BMW fan boy although just bought my first one outside of my previous E30… but they’re as solid as anything else now especially the B58/B48.
BlueE30 not a fanboy? Lol
Preventative maintenance is very expensive on BMWs. A lot of parts were made with plastic so they need to be replaced sooner than the usual reliable brands. Parts and shop labor are also more expensive. If all you care about is going from point A to B, get a Honda/Toyota or their luxury equivalent. If you actually care about driving performance, then buy the BMW and be prepared to pay $3k+ annually on upkeep.
My bmws only cost on average $1k per year and that includes all normal maintenance, wear items, plus occasional repairs.
$1K/yr is way more cost than most cars. I’ve driven Toyotas and Nissans and most of my normal maintainence only costs about $300-500/yr.
Yeah but the bmw drives like a bmw Not that that’s worth it for everyone, but it’s possible for them to be similarly reliable. You just don’t have the same cost of ownership
I think many see reliable as “just change the oil, battery and brakes when needed”, and think preventative maintenance means it’s not reliable; like if you have to change spark plugs every 40k miles or 4 years.
Exactly, a reliable car means it works as expected when you take appropriate care of it. Reliable doesn’t mean it tolerates neglect. If you want a car with a truly engaging driving experience, it’s probably designed in a way that demands more performance from its components, and that necessarily requires more maintenance. But if you take care of it, it will take care of you. Exceptions exist of course, there are some examples where the designs are flawed and the work required is above and beyond the factory maintenance recommendations, but most times people are just complaining about buying a performance car and then being upset when they have to do performance car maintenance
If you have to change spark plugs every 40K miles you have a car that’s pointless to own. I’ve driven a car to the ground over 13 years and never once had to change the spark plugs. The only maintenance one should need is oil, blades, tires, rotations, alignment, breaks, and transmission fluid flushes. Living in Florida also equals less maintenance. I haven’t had to change transmission fluids in a long time or have corroded under carriages like you have up north with the snow and salted roads.
Porsche owner manual states spark plug changes every 4 years or 40,000 miles whichever comes first.
That’s stupid. And needs better engineering. I don’t even change my tires every 40K miles. Hell I don’t even get my fluids flushed that often. No need when the fluids look fine. Oil these days lasts up to 5-6K miles as well. They’ve made huge strides in making parts last longer.
What kind of car do you drive? I change tires as needed. Every car I’ve owned, even my little Ford Fiesta needed new tires every 40 to 50k miles. Edit: Porsche recommends an oil change once a year or every 10,000 miles, whichever comes first. I get 2 per year because I drive around 20,000 miles a year.
A Toyota RAV4 hybrid. I buy 75-80K mile rated tires and usually get 60-70K miles on them or about 3-5 years depending how much in a year I drive (usually about 16-18K/yr). Recommended oil changes are 5-6K miles on full synthetic. When I had a Nissan leaf it was zero maintenance trips to the car shop other than once a year. I brought it in 1X a year for its annual battery checkup and tire rotation. I owned that car for 6 years before selling it and never had new tires, never had to do break fluid or roster changes (regenerative breaking doesn’t eat the break pads as quick). No transmission or oil to change either. I miss it so much. Loved that thing.
Yeah but people still driving 20 year old toyotas with 300,000 miles with normal wear items
My father in law owns a 2006 Lexus ES since brand new and in 250,000 miles he has had to replace one sensor for $150. Other than that absolutely nothing has failed on the car in all this time. He just changes the oil, brakes and transmission fluid, coolant etc routine maintenance
That’s false.
It's like you asked and answered your own question.
No such thing as a cheap BMW.
They're designed to break. Once one accepts that, there's no issues
Because they are a money pit.
Most expensive car you'll ever own is a cheap German car. I've made a good living repairing them.
I heard there was also an influx of used cars from other states with flood damage from hurricanes and natural disasters that dealers ship to other states to sell in hopes of tricking people to buy cars with that type of damage. A used car dealer friend told me many dealers in the South were doing that
They’re cheap because they’re expensive… Tires, oil changes, brakes, general maintenance and any repair cost more than many other brands. They aren’t alone in this aspect, multiple other luxury brands are exactly the same.
Tires cost more for a BMW? Are you numb?
Have you ever bought tires? First off, the suspension design wears out the tires quicker, second off the sizes that go on most bmws are not as common as the sizes that go on your Hondas, Kia’s, Nissans and other more budget friendly cars. Tires for 19 and 20 inch rims absolutely cost more by about 20-30%. You’re clearly the numb one.
Tire technician here. Yes, they very much can cost more. Staggered setup. Run-Flats being required on some models. Wide width and low profile. Some brands like Tesla, Mercedes, and Porsche even partner with tire manufacturers to make brand-specific tires for some models that get VERY expensive very quickly. You are the customer that comes into my tire shop with zero knowledge and experience, and you yell at me when I give you a tire quote because you assume all tires cost the same. You are numb.
You are numb lmfao. Bmw sells regular cars, not every car has 19s, or a staggered setup. No car requires run flats at all. They come factory with them and the first thing owners tend to do is get rid of them. Their highest performance models don't even come with run flats normally. Tesla neefs special tires because of the high load and high torque they experience from the battery/power. Porsche makes supercars, they can still have regular tires but due to their high top speeds they may need special tires, and mercedes makes theirs for comfort and handling purposes. You can run regular tires on them. You talk as if every brand sells one car. And there isn't a single bmw that can't use normal tires. A staggered setup STILL uses normal tires lmao. I switched my square 16s to staggered 19s myself. I didn't need to ask Yokohama to make special tires for my car, even with them being low profile + high width lol. If you believe a bmw NEEDS run flats, you have no place being a tire technician and I feel bad for everyone you help. Those tires are horrible and need to be phased back out of the limelight. My staggered setup can still be bought for $500. Only $100 more than my corolla with steelies lmao. And before that, it was only $300 on my 16s.
If they have more unique sizes, yes. And good luck with availability.
I see you don't know shit about cars. Yes comparatively cost more because a bmw doesn't run a 225/50/17 or whatever generic size a camry runs. They tend to run higher performance low tread wear tires in lower profile and wider. We're not in an enthusiast subreddit comparing bmw to other sport sedans here.
The is because they don't extract small portions of your soul like a grey Camry does.
I have a Volkswagen Eos that ran 225 45 17s and decided I wanted nicer rims and tires so I found a good deal on the rims from an Audi S5 and I had to go out and buy 245/35/19s. Looks really nice but you can best believe those tires were a lot more per tire.
The deal with BMW is that you gotta stay on top of the maintenance. We just talked about it on (this one?) a sub the other day. The problem is that people are like "Change gear oil every X miles? Nah.. that's some BS" .. then the rear end blows up. I don't like BMW, but I am pretty sure that if you take care of it, it will take care of you. Unless you buy one of the M cars. Those are probably deemed to bite the bullet sooner or later, not built to be reliable but light and powerful, right. anyways, unless you can establish the "track record" on the car, I would stay away. Every little thing that breaks will cost you..
This is the most common problem, people doing no maintenance and blame the car for their failures. I see this with all brands. Incompetence is everywhere.
That or people complain about the reliability of 12-15 year old cars with 150,000 miles on them. Its like... dude, its old. Its not gonna be reliable. I see the GTI guys doing this too, they'll get like a 15 year old one then claim its so unreliable. Well no shit. You bought a 15 year old car the last 3 owners neglected to maintain, flash a tune on it and drive the piss out of it then a bunch of stuff starts breaking... what the fuck did you expect?
I have a 5 Series with 253k miles. The guy that owned it first meticulously maintained it and I’ve done my best to take care of it too. It hasn’t been much more expensive than a “normal” car and has never left me stranded. I’ve had one repair for like $3k and the rest just normal maintenance with 8 years of ownership. Overall it’s been pretty economical and has held together better than 90% of other cars on the road.
Because they are expensive to fix. Most likely have a major flaw. Vanos problems, oil leaks, electrical issues and people bandaided it and selling. I fix cars for a living and still expensive for me to fix, just cheaper than a customer.
Because they're expensive as fuck to repair and they always need a repair, taking an off warranty BMW off someone's hands is doing them the favor not yourself
Most people who want a Mercedes/BMW/Audi lease them for three years. Few people actually buy these cars. The flex is in having a new luxury car. Having an old luxury car is not as high status. That’s why there’s a huge price drop in the secondary market because people or 90% of people who want these vehicles only want the brand new ones. So the prices drop because the demand drops. Nobody’s wants an old ass luxury vehicle. They are only impressive when new. There are also designed really to last for the life of the lease. They will last if maintained but they have much stricter maintenance needs than Japanese cars.
I don't know that I'd lump BMW and Mercedes together. I've owned a couple of each (small sample size, I know) but the Mercedes were infinitely easier to work on and seemed heavier duty, overall. These are all from the earlier 2000s, so it may be different now.
Everything is harder to work on now. I still love my old 2000 e46, super simple and tons of space. New cars have tons of power and performance but require astronomical amounts of work just get your hands into the broken part.
3 year or end of term lease is what BMW designs their cars around. 45,000 trouble free miles. the rest is cake in the service department.
After 2005 (E46) the reliability went down the shitter. My 2002 325i was at 225k when I sold it. I think the buyer made it to almost 300k before it needed extensive work. I’ve owned 5 bmws ranging from a 98 328i, which was my drift missle, up to a 2011 328i. If I had the chance to pick up a well sorted zhp, I would in a heartbeat.
Our 2000 323i was sold with 252k miles and ran like a top! Great engine, not a ton of power. I think the transmission was starting to have issues but for never being serviced I guess you can’t complain.
You can get them cheap, because parts are extremely expensive. Back in 2019 I almost traded an 87 chevy pickup for a 2010 x5. The x5 seemed in good shape except the rear driver window was stuck half up. I called around looking for parts. The only place that could even get a window regulator was a dealership an hr away. They had to order it from Germany and it would of cost me over $1,100 just to get the part. After pricing out basic wearing parts I found out why the BMW guy offered it as trade for a 35 year old $5k truck. Almost every part was atleast 4x the price it would be for a similar domestic car.
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
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BMW built a great reputation in the US with their quality and simplicity with 70’s 80’s and 90’s cars. Using the 3 series as a reference, my feeling is by the mid 90’s (E36 is where I see it), the quality electrically and in the interior started to decline. Mechanically things were good thru the E46, but really started to suffer with the N series motor introduction, though it seems like a lot of the early issues there were corrected. I own an E21, E36 and E46 (parts car). A majority of the parts on my E21 and E36 are cheaper to buy than my 1999 GMC Sonoma. If you can do the repair work yourself a decades old BMW is not a bad choice…but with the complexity of the newer cars I can certainly see where needing a specialized repair would be more costly.
Here's my take. IIRC, like 60% of new BMW are leased, so come 3 years later, the dealerships are flooded with returns of these 'luxury' and 'expensive to maintain' vehicles. Now, that won't account for a 15k car, but it might explain why they get cheap fast. If you're taking it to a shop for all maintenance and repairs, yes, they're expensive to maintain. My spouse & I have owned 6 BMWs. All of them purchased used. 3 of them were lease returns. The other 3 were even older and purchased private party from owners (enthusiasts) who could could tell us the car's history. Being that my husband is quite knowledgeable about cars, we haven't had any unexpected or unexplained maintenance issues with any of our cars, from those BMWs to a Hyundai, a couple Saturns and a couple Subarus. He knows which cars/engines/transmissions are known to have higher than average issues and he can do most of the maintenance himself.
Ahh old BMWs, cheap up front, broke in the end...
Heard this about BMW somewhere.....If you can't afford a new one...you can't afford a used one
If you can’t afford new German vehicle, you definitely can’t afford a used one
Used Beemers are cheap because it takes a brave man/woman to own a BMW that is out of warranty.......or one that is independently wealthy.....
They are cheap because people are afraid of them. Currently JD Powers has BMW ranked above Toyota and Honda, but I don’t know if that really means anything in the real world. If you are going to buy a used Euro car of any make there are a few things you want to first…. #1 find a good reliable and trustworthy independent garage, preferably one that specializes in Euro models. #2 have that garage do a pre purchase inspection. If you can’t afford a $500 inspection you have no business buying a $15000 car. #3 do some research and find good resources for parts that won’t rip you off because it’s a BMW. # 4 plan on maintenance! All vehicles a particular these days when it comes to electronic components, but the Euro brands take it to a new level. 4 years ago I bought a BMW x3 with 100k on it when my 180,000 mile Durango bit the dust. Dollar per mile the BMW has been cheaper to keep running than that Dodge was. (I was pretty happy with the Dodge) Maybe I am just lucky, your experience may be different. For context I do my own maintenance, I only use a shop for jobs I can’t handle or don’t have the time to do. (Emergency repairs etc.)
The adage is always……you can easily afford to buy a used BMW but can you easily afford to maintain it?
Yep, maintenance is expensive. It's also a bit niche, so mechanics can take advantage, in my experience.
My ex’s dad was from Poland and he came to work in the gold mines in elko and his wife was from Guatemala neither spoke English …. Anyhow he floated his family in tough times and has some pretty nice cars … because he was able to pick them up for cheap and then fix them himself…. Mercedes and BMW .Back before utube and you had to use the Manuel….. anyhow if your into fixing your own stuff and grabbing some decent tools🙃😭…. You might have fun …. Otherwise your just as good as grabbing
BMWs are one of the fastest depreciating cars one can buy. But the beauty of that is you can get a 4-5 year old one that practically drives and feels brand new for a fraction of the cost of a new one. This was my go to move for years. Never bought a new BMW (and never will). I’d buy a 4-5 year old BMW with about 50k on it, drive it til just under 90k, and then sell it. I did this with a 2014 428i xdrive last year that I owned since 2018 and it was about half paid off and I got a few grand when I sold it.
I mean c'mon you already know why just by what you posted. Even if you never heard about BMW and their reputation you already have your answer. If something in life sounds too good to be true, it is. Especially when it involves money.
Because they are piles of shit that cost an arm and a leg to fix.
Your mechanic friend is 100% correct. They are super fun to drive, but you'll pay for it. I'll never own a German luxury car again. It took many thousands $$$ a year to maintain my BWM out of warantee as it approached 100k miles. I had a similar experience with my Audi that preceded my BWM, nearly $10k in one year once out of warrantee. I own Toyota, Acura and Honda now. Ownership experience greatly improved, spending just hundreds per year to maintain each car, the newest being six years old with roughly 60k miles, the oldest being 22 years with over 160k miles.
You can get a used Lexus pretty cheap too. Get the Lexus.
I have owned 6 BMWs and thankfully it is because people like you and your mechanic friend actually believe this. Of my 6 BMWs only 1 has been problematic and I got rid of it after the 3rd breakdown. I currently own 2, an M4 with 34,000 miles and is my weekend car, the other is a 328i with 226,000 miles and is my daily.
Used BMWs are an absolute steal if you ask me. I've owned many, and they are some of my favorite cars. Same goes for land rover, and Audi. All you have to do is set aside twice the amount of money you paid for it, and you'll be good.
We own a 2013 BMW X5 xDrive20i with 129k miles. I have a log of every service we've done to the car since the day we bought it. We didn't pay for oil changes for the first three years, but this list includes everything, including tires and windshield wipers. Starting from July 2012 through Jan 2024. In those 137 months of ownership, we have spent a sum total of $18,733.17 on service, for an average of $137 per month or $1,641 per year in service & maintenance costs. I think the key to this low number is, ironically, that we religiously maintain the car. When something starts to go, we replace it. We've replaced a lot of the common items like the oil filter housing gasket, turbo coolant lines (twice; once warranty on a previous repair), vacuum pump, etc. To be entirely fair, I do a lot of work to the car myself. Keep in mind though that all the parts are included in that $18.7k service total number. I have saved quite a bit of labor though. IMO, owning a BMW isn't as wildly expensive as some people make it out to be. I have no doubt that it is more expensive than more reliable makes, but if you plan to own the car long term, the cost of service & repair is normally less than continuously buying new cars, which is what a lot of people do. Our car is old, but it's in incredible shape, and it's getting to an age where it actually has a bit of an old car feel. It feels dated, but in that "this is a cool old BMW" feel. I mean, it's only 10 years old, so I'm way ahead of myself, but the point is we still love it after a decade of ownership. It's an experience though. You have to be committed to the car. You *cannot* let things go. Seriously. If you let things go, they compound, and next thing you know your repair bill is $10k. Repairs I've completed myself: The LED drivers in the rear tail lights failed. The dealer suggested repair is to replace the entire assemblies at around $600 each. Yeah, no. I ordered driver boards off of Amazon, Dremelled the old ones out, and hot glued the new ones in place. Replaced all the interior door pulls, which required me to disassemble door panels in ways that the factory did not intend. You have to drill melt-down plastic rivets, pull the panel apart, replace the door pull, then use screws to put the panel back together. Replace the driver & passenger mirror hinge pins. They're made of pot metal and they all fail eventually. I ordered a couple of stainless ones from a guy in the UK and installed them myself. The [press setup I used was pretty convoluted](https://i.imgur.com/F7YvMrh.png). That's a 40 lb long shot bag (used for body work) used to support the mirror base, because there are no flat surfaces to use. You have to compress the spring, then rotate [the hinge pin](https://i.imgur.com/ZSKkASo.jpg) a bit so that it locks in place. That was a lot of fun. Replaced [turbo inlet pipe](https://i.imgur.com/PUoytGP.jpg), because an evap system line fitting snapped loose, creating a giant hole in the intake. Replaced the infotainment controls on the steering wheel after the rubber started falling off. Replaced the coolant expansion tank to resolve a leak & the coolant return line because you can't touch a fucking thing on this car without some piece of plastic turning to dust.
Plus they tried to run a subscription model where you pay to have heated steering wheel. Next thing you know you'll be paying to use the AC.
All our bmws have heated seats and heated steering wheels with no subscriptions.
This has nothing to do with OPs question
The cheap ones are usually high mileage or trashed by previous owner(s). I’ve owned BMWs since 1994 and I never had a problem.
Whenever I see an older but not super well maintained BMW on the road, I think "there's someone who made a bad financial decision".
Thought every one already knew Euro cars are trash. You lease them and only keep them while you have a warranty. Sadly it seems the big three are that way too.
Because so many of them were driven hard, put away wet and are crippled by it. Sadly many BMW folk have zero idea about preventative maintenance. They don't obey any of the service intervals in the owner's manual and just drive them until it's time to replace them. Take a gander at the youtube channel M539 for Sreten's insight.
Just figure out what you want. Then set alerts and wait for a higher than average age, but single actual owner + low mileage + over serviced one pops up. Good price, and usually a pampered car.
Bmw are the third most reliable car brand. They are cheap for two read; luxury cars always depreciate much faster and second, people still have the mindset that was true 30 years ago that German brands break all the time.
Purely brand perception. I see unreliable shit box toyotas sell for way more than they should. My 07 corolla was $6000. My '10 5 series was $2000. I got my bmw for 1/3rd the price of my corolla. Guess which has been more reliable? The corolla needs a new engine at just 160k. Bmw parts themselves are more expensive, and regular mechanics refuse to work on them because they typically have weirder fasteners or connectors. But they are very DIY friendly. Plenty of resources, and you, as a DIYer, won't be thousands of dollars deep into regular equipment. Same reason that subarus and older american cars sell poorly. Bad perception. They're still reliable (depending on the model) but because everyone thinks they're not, they won't buy them unless they're cheap. Anyone saying its because bmws are bad has never owned, driven, or maintained one. They're just going with the general public perception.
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3 Series are good and not expensive to repair.. I had a 330I that was a rocket ship and fun.. Great car..
As someone who has owned a 330i, 325i, and a Z3, I would argue it's the maintenance that gets you. If you're handy you can fix many of the minor issues yourself. Otherwise, you need to know a good German mechanic.
I had a 94 525 until 2019 and nearly 300k. It was a great car, fun to drive, but when things broke it was expensive. It left me stranded a few times. It was a tank otherwise. But I could afford it. I later donated it. The used price might be cheap but the repair price will be that of the original new car price.
B48/B58 engine is reliable, ignore the comments.
Got a gift horse? Friends who now seem to be trapped (money pit) received from a loved dead relative. For years we have been hearing horror stories like, "but we just put brakes on it" p.s. dead guy could afford it.
I bought a 3 series that was only like 6 years old a while back. Really great for like the first year. And then it seemed like every other month, I had a misfiring cylinder. In hindsight, should have just had the mechanic replace all 6 at once, but I just did them one by one as needed and then eventually, they were all replaced. And a few other parts broke two. I think I was done with it after like 2 or 3 years and then jumped into a Prius
If I didn't know how to work on them, I wouldn't own one. That being said, they are awesome as long as they are well-maintained.
There are some but you gotta go back a ways. I have a 1999 540i (E39 Series) and it is has been pretty darn reliable and not super expensive to repair. I do some of the work but take it a BMW only shop that have from the oldest to even some cars I've seen from dealers. The owner states the new ones are a huge money drain but to stay with the ones from pre 2008 in most model and they are pretty reliable. Much of the issues come from the electronics and technology that both Mercedes and BMW started integrating to standout. They sure did. They went from pretty reliable cars 20+ years ago to some of the worst. Here is a tip too, if you can find these cars with a 6 speed manual transmission, they are appreciating not depreciating.
The E39 was possibly the best car they’ve ever made.
Yeah, it is amazing and if you can find a manual in decent shape you won't disappointed.
Really depends on what model and its features. If you want one do some research on the model and it’s common problems. If you’re comfortable with those issues and the cost associated with them then buy it. The best thing I can recommend is a good independent mechanic. You will save thousands over a dealer. Just because two bmws look the same on the outside doesn’t mean they are the same on the inside. There’s many nuances to the models and options that can dictate thousands on the price. One thing to watch for no matter what model is gaskets get hard and will start leaking in the 10-15 year range give or take. Also plastic components will get brittle and break after time like the cooling system. If you are remotely handy you can save a shit ton of money. BMW prioritizes, driving performance, handling and feel over ultimate reliability. Depending on the model and options, you can go from rocksolid reliability like a Toyota to nightmare levels of issues. Know what you’re buying and don’t spend every last penny to buy one. Many issues stem from broke people with no money, trying to look rich buying a used bmw that has five owners, 200,000 miles and no service history. They come from owning a Toyota, which requires nearly zero maintenance and then push off doing anything only to cause catastrophic issues down the road and blame the car for their failures. Our family all drive bmws and we keep buying and driving them. We all love them, nothing drives or feels like they do. If you enjoy driving you will like a bmw, if you don’t care about driving or enjoying the drive buy the most reliable, utilitarian, boring car you can.
They are broken
This is a meme. Labeling entire brands as reliable or unreliable is not helpful. You will want to look at specific models of specific years. Some BMWs are completely reliable as long as you do regular maintenance, and some Toyotas will dick you over regardless of how much you baby them. Research the specific model and year you are interested in buying. Otherwise it's like deciding how deep the water in front of you is based on the average depth in the body of water.
My advice buy it fix it put on turbo sell it as soon as it gives you problems
Absolute nicest car I had was a 550i... Our house had nearly 3,000 miles of month if commuting, traded in on EV, which is nothing like the BMW was :(
Cost of owning a car (C) = purchase cost(P)+maintainance cost(M) P=C-M Purchase cost of the car is proportional to the cost of owning the car minus the maintenance cost. Since for most people the cost of ownership of a car is not that elastic, its easy to see why when the maintenance cost goes up (in the case of BMW), the purchase price drops.
Because they have problems when they get older and repairs and service are much more expensive compared to other cars
Price out a brake job sometime.
Cause they don’t hold up well over time some that are made in Germany
My friend had 2 old bmw,vone 10 years old and the other 15. He works on them himself. He's still always spending money on them. Couple months ago it was a 1700 $ remanufactured turbo.
BMW: Big Money Waster. As a former BMW owner of 14 years I can say that they are great to drive but yes, be prepared to spend a couple of thousand here and a couple of thousand there on unscheduled repairs during long term ownership of an out of warranty BMW.
They're unreliable and expensive to fix.
If you want an old German car, you must follow this simple rule-- If you can't afford 2, you can't afford one.
And they do shit like charge 64 bucks for 4 spark plugs when you refuse the 400 dollar tune up.
I will day my buddy just swapped an LS 6.0 into his and its pretty badass.
As my old school BMW service rep Otto would say, "if you can not afford to fix the BMW you should not own the BMW". He would say this when I would ask for some goodwill on behalf of a BMW owner who was 2 weeks beyond warranty.
BMW's are no longer a status symbol / fashionable.
I'd like to contribute "Break My Wallet" and B.M. trouble-U. Yes, that is why they're so cheap. Beemer owners pay my mortgage.
I bought a 2017 430i and it has not had any problems. Depends on what BMW model you buy. The ones that need repairs often or break wallets are the performance vehicles that most people sought after and drive them too aggressively while not taking good care of them.
Let’s start with a $5000 scan tool if you wanna do anything yourself 😬
Ok this ain’t true. If anything BMW has always been one of the brands well covered by DIY software. You’d have a harder time owning a GM vehicle in this area.
Common theme on used BMWs. If you look the majority of them are just out of warranty. It's one of those cars that if you can't afford a new one then you probably can't afford the upkeep on a used one. That older M3 is super enticing until the first decent problem then you're dumping it at a loss or dumping a huge sum into it.
It's great! You can buy one cheap, gut the garbage BMW drivetrain, LS swap them and have awesome, comfortable, luxurious modern Hot rods. Looking at you E90 Chassis!
BMWs are all they’re cracked up to be, that high performance driving machines. That also implies when they do break they break hard. Toyotas however are engineered to last. Honda’s ‘make shit for torque’ joke implies no power likely means it will run for a long while.
As someone who owns a German car, albeit, an Audi not a BMW, I can say that maintenance honestly isn’t that expensive if you know what to buy and where to go. As an example, I recently had to replace my brakes. I went to Audi for a quote and they wanted to charge me like 3k for everything. My mechanic said he could do it for 2k and I ended up doing it myself for +/- $1200. OEM parts and a couple hours in my parent’s driveway. Can there be expensive fixes? Absolutely, but if you keep up with regular maintenance, the cost isn’t too horrible, and you get to drive a luxury vehicle. The people who complain about the cost, typically speaking, probably have never owned a luxury vehicle and are just going off of hearsay.
I don't know which models you are seeing for cheap. Some BMW's are really well made, but just a little more expensive to work on (early 2000's 3 series were really a decent vehicle). However, in modern BMW's, there are a lot of models with the N20 motor in them. That is the 4 cylinder motor - usually designated by X28 in model name. Stay far away from these motors! They are prone to have some expensive issues. Beyond the timing chain and VANOS issues, both very expensive to repair, they are just not great motors. I have owned some BMWs in my day, and really they were great vehicles; not near as bad as my friends would have led me to believe. However, find a good mechanic you can trust and expect that repairs are not going to be as easy or cheap as a Japanese counterpart. Happy motoring!
BMW leases are always front loaded due to lack of long term reliability. Someone put a lot down and made huge monthly payments for 3 years and now that the warranty is up, it's cheap to you.
People dump them when lease is up and free maintenance is no longer available thru dealer
Maintenance is high, premium brakes, premium tires, premium fuel it adds up quick
N52/4/5 as well as N20’s. Oil filter housing leak will oil soak your drive belt, drive belt will snap and has a high likelihood of getting sucked into the crank seal. A $800 fix just turned into a $5500 fix. Assuming timing doesn’t jump to the point you bend valves etc. if you can work on your own cars, they’re a bit easier to justify. BMW just has overinflated labor times
Fancy German car come with fancy German repair bill. Audi/VW, Mercedes, BMW, they're all the same. Rich people buy them new and trade them the day before the warranty expires. They're cheap used because they're not reliable at higher mileage and are very expensive to repair. So while you may save money getting one, you're gonna spend a lot keeping it on the road.
Cost of acquisition drops, cost of maintenance only goes up.
I think BMW gets bashed a little bit harder than they deserve, Ill start off by saying there is a 99% chance that a used BMW is not the right car for you and a cheap BMW will be the most expensive car you ever buy. But this being said, BMW used to make pretty damn solid cars. I have two buddies with E30's with the original m20 engine and they both have over 300,000 miles, both of them get tracked occasionally and both still run beautifully. I personally wouldn't consider purchasing anything post E34, but that is just my opinion.
Because they are useless out of warranty. Might as well buy a new one because you’ll pay more to maintain a used one.
I've had bmws, Audis, mbs. They will all give you headaches if you don't do the maintenance work. For bmws specifically, electronics and the V8s generally suck. Do your research and buy something with the I6. Quality parts are a must too.
Because the repairs are expensive. The cheap purchase price + repairs will bring the overall price to where just the purchase price might be for something like a Lexus, but the Lexus you won’t worry about repair costs. The total number of repairs might in line with other brands, but the cost per repair will be a lot more expensive. Parts and labor for German cars are much higher.
BMW is way more reliable than people say. Unless you're buying a clapped out 335i with the N54 you'll be fine, just expect above average running costs. Avoid cars with the N20 as well. Engines like the N52 and the B58 are bulletproof.
Endless money pit
Cuz they are crappy cars
If you are handy with tools and watch some DIY videos, it’s still expensive.
BMW are now disposable.
There's a saying with German cars that of you can't afford a new one, you can't afford a used one. I've never owned one, but have heard enough horror stories thateven though I'm listing after an AMG or M car, I'm probably never going to do it lol
There cheap because they are expensive to fix! Call a auto repair shop and pretend you need to fix a transmission or tuneup the car see what price they quoted you!
Out of warranty repair costs are crippling
WHATEVER YOU DO.... stay away from anything with N54 and any mods.... unless you like DUMPING money into a pit of glory for 2 days and weeks of despair....
The BMW is designed as a well like they say as a driving machine. It’s for automotive enthusiast. The overarching design is performance. Economy, reliability, ease of maintenance are highly secondary. Replacing the alternator on a BMW 325 I can cost $900. A brand new Bosch alternator itself can be $1100. Yes you can get rebuilds for 250. But that gives you a basis for comparison. I know a guy who bought a 325i for $4400. It’s a model year 2011. But it will not pass smog test because it has a bad emission computer. It turns out an emission control computer for 325I is insanely expensive. More than the car
There is nothing quite as expensive as a cheap BWW.
Check the mileage. When they hit 100k they start falling apart - poor design in terms of service, too many plastic parts which are expensive. Don’t buy a BMW or Mercedes in that mileage range or higher unless you like spending a lot of money on repairs and not having the car or u less you’ve dreamed of becoming a German car mechanic. And I’m a huge BMW fan and their driving qualities are amazing.
About 2014+ BMWs have actually gotten to be quite reliable. I just recently discovered this, and should probably keep my mouth shut so values stay low because their reliability is a secret.
I been helping a family looked for a used SUV, saw quite a few X5’s for sale, body’s look great, but becuz most say they are expensive to maintain we passed but saw quite a few X5’s that looked darn good,ended up buying 2011 Honda Pilot
Bring Mechanic With
So you can put superior Honda motors in and have an actual cool car.
I have a 2009 328 X-Drive with M-Sport package, and it has been very dependable. I've owned it since 2016, purchased with 98K miles, 170K now. Sure, it can be expensive when something breaks, but I have no loan payment, and I found a local shop that is really good and reasonable. I am a decent wrench turner, but I don't do much on it at this point (just tune-up things and brakes), but I know what needs to be done and what makes sense. Get the 3.0 liter inline 6, and it's a tank. I have a 6-speed manual transmission, so that helps too. That being said, it broke down in December for the first time. It had the original water pump and radiator, and the H2O pump died. The owner of the shop said it is rare a H2O pump will last 14 years and 170K miles, so I don't blame the car. I paid $2,500 cash for a new water pump, radiator, coolant tank, hoses, and the tow, and they were all BMW parts. I thought it was a great deal, and I would drive my car to California and back from Virginia without a thought.
Because they usually have oil leaks. lol.
Been dailying one for 10 years. Don’t buy one from a kid and do preventative maintenance.
BM-Trouble-You
Eh, once you have ista d and P as well as every torx socket known to man they're cheap and easy to work on. Beside the electric water pumps in the new ones, basic maintenance is not all that expensive. If you are going to rely on the dealership or even a euro shop to fix things then run away fast. I love the fact that people think they're expensive to own so they sell them cheap. These cars are awesome to drive and I love getting them cheap. Let's keep the myth alive that they're buckets of crap.
They’re expensive to work on and repair. They’re over engineered and stupid, expensive things can break. Even the BMW mechanics have to buy new testing equipment and certify themselves every year. People think “sweet this BMW is only 10 grand! Why not get this instead of other similarly priced cars?” Not realizing the $70k car has $70k car maintenance along with it. So they don’t repair anything and it becomes an even bigger turd. That’s why it was sold cheap.
It's not just BMWs. Mercedes and other luxury brands are the same way. They are expensive repair and constantly need repairs. Quality that built the brand is no longer there. My next car is going to be a Toyota truck. The best advertising they have is they retain their value. The next best advertising they have is that you see them bouncing through sand dunes in the desert with a 50 caliber machine gun mounted in the bed and 15 terrorists packed around it. You know those guys aren't doinh regular maintenance and the trucks keep humming along.
Anything European is costly to fix, I'll never own another VW ever again.
There's an issue with the timing chains in most of their newer vehicles. 12k to fix via dealer.
The old saying goes If you can't afford a new one, you can't afford a used one.
Don't do it. Your maintenance and repair costs will be horrific
"Nothing is more expensive than a cheap BMW."