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      03-29-2011, 01:25 PM   #1
Radioactive
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Former/present BMW owners other than F25

I'm interested to know your experiences with reliability issues concerning BMWs. I was ready last week to pull the plug and order a new X3. On Thursday my wife, who drives a 2010 535i called on her way to the airport to tell me the “engine malfunction” light came on. The time she made it to the airport the car was sputtering and screeching. The dreaded fuel pump. Before this car we had a 2006 525i with a couple of issues and my daughter's 2004 325i has a interior sunroof door that is defective plus other issues over the years. All cars were purchased new and maintained. Where as my present Ford Freestyle and former Jeeps were almost trouble free. Then to top it off, their BMW's “premium” service departments seem to be only concerned that you give five stars on their surveys.

I think the car is absolutely beautiful in any color and it fits exactly what I'm looking for. I'm just concerned based on my experience and some of threads on this board that I'll be stuck someday out in the American southwest desert in the middle of nowhere. I know every car manufacture was some problems. I just hope this is not a 1960's Jag/MG situation.

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      03-29-2011, 01:28 PM   #2
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I wouldnt worry too much, millions of happy BMW drivers cannot be wrong!
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      03-29-2011, 01:36 PM   #3
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For now, I have the opposite story. Both of my Ford cars had trouble that required extensive maintenance, always after warranty (3yrs here) and in at least one case impossible to diagnose.

My BMW so far has had no issues. I hope not to jinx it by posting here though
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      03-29-2011, 01:53 PM   #4
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I have had 3 different BMWs over the past 3 1/2 years and have had only one minor warranty item (a fuel tank sensor needed replacing). Included in the 3 was a 2008 535xi with the N54 engine and I had no HPFP issues in the over 22,000 kms I drove it.

All this is anecdotal evidence however.
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      03-29-2011, 02:05 PM   #5
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I've had my 2006 330i for 5 years and never had any trouble with it. Very reliable experience for me.
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      03-29-2011, 03:05 PM   #6
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This is my 3rd BMW. Never had any serious issues. A few minor things like radio and wind noise, but that's it really. I've been lucky though. Some people seem to have problem after problem.
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      03-29-2011, 04:28 PM   #7
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i've had a z4 for 6 yrs and a 525 for 2 yrs and counting.

on the z4, other than replacing rear springs (which is a known issue), it's run beautifully w/o any issues. the 525 however has had more work done (inlet manifold etc) but was ex-fleet and high mileage hence not unexpected.
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      03-29-2011, 04:29 PM   #8
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At 64,000+ miles our 2009 X3 has been virtually trouble free.
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      03-29-2011, 04:35 PM   #9
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I've owned 5 BMW Products since 1999 and still have 4 of them with another on order. I'm very satisfied with the reliability, and thrilled with the way they drive!
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      03-29-2011, 04:39 PM   #10
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I have a '07 335, and although it has been fairly reliable, the HPFP did need to be replaced at 45k km (28k miles). Thankfully it was covered under warranty (10years for the HPFP now).

Other issues I've had (all fixed under warranty): some trim needed replacement and rear suspension bushings needed replacement.

I consider all this acceptable in the grand scheme of things. My wife drives a Civic that has had the transmission replaced and power steering pump replaced, and Civics are supposed to be the epitome of reliability.

I believe BMWs are just as reliable as any other car on the road, albeit with much nicer amenities. Hence, I have ordered a new X3 to replace the Civic.
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      03-29-2011, 07:32 PM   #11
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I had my 325xi for 8 yrs prior to this X3. Aside from scheduled maintenance and maybe one or two sensor malfunctions (minor), I never had an issue with that car. And to top things off, it drove like a dream.
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      03-29-2011, 08:44 PM   #12
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I have an 05 X3 with 173,000 miles. It has been very reliable, so far. This is the 4th BMW I have had since 1995, they have all been good, but each just a bit more reliable than the previous.
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      03-29-2011, 09:08 PM   #13
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This is my 5th -- 6th if you count the Mini. No problems.
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      03-29-2011, 10:07 PM   #14
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Thanks everybody for your input, especially stlgirl since one of your threads really got me thinking. While our home is in San Diego, CA. My wife works in the bay area of northern California, hence the commute to the airport. She picked up the car from the dealer in Mountain View and unlike our experience in San Diego the dealer was outstanding. They had a loaner waiting for her and fixed the fuel pump and did maintenance in one day. Kudos! All she could say was “I love this car”, “It drives like a dream”, and “I could never get rid of this car”. In the meantime I happen to be by the local BMW dealer and wouldn't you know it they had an X3 in sparkling bronze. The exact color I've been considering. So I hope to place the order this weekend! Thanks again.
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      03-30-2011, 09:45 AM   #15
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Until January 2011, I had a 2004 325i for nearly 7 years. I bought it new and maintained it very well. I baby my cars, likely due to the German obsession with cleanliness that is in my DNA (my father wouldn't even let us chew gum in his car). Anyway, not many problems in the 7 years I had the 325i.

Radioactive, I did have a moonroof issue with my car in that it would get caught when opening/closing. This happened about 5-6 years into owning the car and they had to replace some clips on the moonroof track. After that, it worked well. Only other "issues" were not really issues, but more regular maintenance.

Love my new X3 and have not experienced any problems so far *knock on wood*
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      03-30-2011, 02:39 PM   #16
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This is my second... The first one, my wife's 2006 X5 E53 had a/c problems twice, one compressor (at age 1) and evaporator (at age 4). The master fuse blew up (w/o apparent reason) at age 3. At age 5 (and one month) the ABS module and transfer module went down, the reason I bought the F25, was quite expensive to fix. I had all sort of minor issues, mostly due to the bad shape of roads here, not attributable to BMW.
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      03-30-2011, 08:04 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sblove View Post
Until January 2011, I had a 2004 325i for nearly 7 years. I bought it new and maintained it very well. I baby my cars, likely due to the German obsession with cleanliness that is in my DNA (my father wouldn't even let us chew gum in his car). Anyway, not many problems in the 7 years I had the 325i.

Radioactive, I did have a moonroof issue with my car in that it would get caught when opening/closing. This happened about 5-6 years into owning the car and they had to replace some clips on the moonroof track. After that, it worked well. Only other "issues" were not really issues, but more regular maintenance.

Love my new X3 and have not experienced any problems so far *knock on wood*
sblove, as in Santa Barbara? German plus SoCal, the home of hot rods, customs and car design studios! I have the same car obsession!

The moonroof in the 325i did experience a high failure rate and in fact was redesigned in future models. But even private BMW mechanics want over $500 to fix it. So now she was a "manual" sunroof.
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      03-31-2011, 06:53 AM   #18
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Replaced steering rack on my 5 series E60 which is a know issue under recall(warranty expired) Control arms replacements on 3 series E46, another know issue under recall. Otherwise pretty reliable and fun
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      04-01-2011, 12:24 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Radioactive View Post
sblove, as in Santa Barbara? German plus SoCal, the home of hot rods, customs and car design studios! I have the same car obsession!

The moonroof in the 325i did experience a high failure rate and in fact was redesigned in future models. But even private BMW mechanics want over $500 to fix it. So now she was a "manual" sunroof.
Yup, Santa Barbara. No place quite like it
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