I agree. My immediate family has had 3. I'll be buying my first BMW next year.

great cars once you have the all inclusive warranty.

after that it gets really expensive to replace parts

I've had a 325i and had some issues with them.
1. The radiator neck broke spewing coolant all over the road
2. Fuel pump shorted out and left me stranded on the side of the road for hours till a tow truck came
3. Water pump failed.
4. Numerous transmission failures cause by faulty solenoids; it was an auto.
5. Coolant sensor failing along with the brake light switch.
6. Not to mention dozens of electrical gremlins.
Most of these problems occurred after 60,000 miles though.

I don't think too highly of BMW's when it comes to reliability. The shops will rape you on repairs, but I'm a mechanic and did all those repairs in my garage. Parts tend to cost more than your Acura or Lexus counterparts. I love driving the car but sometimes it becomes a real hassle. I'd definitely consider getting an extended warranty if you plan on keeping the car for a long time.

Thanks for all the quick and detailed replies. I've got to convince my fianc

2000 M Coupe with 99k miles
-faulty wire in trunk, won't let remote lock work
-passenger window makes high pitch squeeking noise sometimes
-squel from drive belts, had to changed belts and went away 500mi later?
-passenger seatbelt buckle threw an airbag code
Thats about it from years of ownership

[QUOTE=y2ks2k,Jul 24 2007, 02:43 PM] BWM is the only German car that

'07 X3, took delivery in December, has about 7k on it, no problems whatsoever.
Most people tend to remember the bad and forget the good. We've had several BMW's in our family, scheduled maintenance and a clue goes a long way, neglect the car and it will cost you, just with any other car, foreign or domestic.

hardly an even comparison.

P-cars see a fraction of the mileage that BMW's see over their life span. a 4 year old P car with 20K miles better not have any problems compared to a 4 year old BMW with 60K miles.

for the OP, we've had numerous BMW's for the past decade. some new, some used....the used cars were bought with high mileage (1 x E34 M5, 1 x E38 740) - the high mileage cars needed work....all suspension (bushings, control arms, tie rods, etc.) related....typically $2K or so. the Guibo went on the M5, about 800 bucks parts and labour....other than that it was just "regular" maintenance.

i've also found that the heavier your BMW, the more prone to suspension damage it will be. we've had 4 x 3-series in that time, and they've been bullet-proof (meaning amongst their general great over-all reliability, no suspension issues either).

the suspensions are sensitive and it doesn't take much to put it out in a 4,XXX plus pound car. even the older BMW's still "drove" great....which is the benchmark of BMW.

i see you're looking at new cars, so you won't have any of these issues for a few years. and if you've taken care of the car in those first few years, you won't have as many problems down the road either.

personally, i'd buy a used or demo '07 335...you'll save a boat load off MSRP...you won't get the new car experience, but i'd rather save $6K....that'll make me feel better pretty quickly :).

I currently have a 2003 E46 M3 that's a little over 70,000 miles and it has been trouble free. It requires a fairly price 'Inspection" every 30,000 miles or so but has had no mechanical issues and it runs stronger than the day I got it. I also have a 2007 335i 6MT sedan and I've had no issues with it either but I just turned 5,000 miles. There have been some issues with the high pressure fuel pump in the 335's failing and I'm not 100% sure they know why at this point. They have changed manufacturers on the pump but it hasn't been long enough to know if the issue has been fixed. I have owned several other BMW's with no problems but I generally keep cars less than a year.

derryck,

as discussed in another thread, taking my M3 for an Inspection 2 on monday with only 42K miles on the clock...they didn't seem to have a problem with the "low" mileage over the phone....let's see what happens when i get there.

getting:

-I2
-brakes
-brake fluid (per BMW stipulation that it must be changed every 2 years regardless of mileage)
-window pulley is squeeling