Any past BMW owners here?

[bahasad]

I'm looking at picking up a used 328d to commute to work. Any thoughts on its reliability, I have no experience with bmw.

Haven't heard anything bad about the 2.0L diesel in particular, it's been in the E90 for a long time. Diesels should go on for a while.

Apparently some of them have had issues with Transfer cases.

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[Cardude99]

I'm just looking for rear or front wheel drive, don't need all wheel in Phoenix, so that should not be an issue for me. But thank u for the reply.

 

[JuRuKi]

I come from an E90 M3 and that car was a blast to drive. It was lacking in the lower end torque but it sure made up for it with HP in the higher RPMs. The biggest difference vs my GT/PP was how well it handled and how much lighter it felt. The M3 just turned effortlessly and felt really planted and balanced. The only reason i traded it in the M was because the DCT was acting up and i was out of warranty, if it wasnt for that i would have kept her for another couple of years.
Do I like my Mustang better than the M3? I doubt it, but for the price difference I cant complain. I paid 78k OTD for my fully loaded M3 and i paid 40 OTD for my stang.

 

[bahasad]

I come from an E90 M3 and that car was a blast to drive. It was lacking in the lower end torque but it sure made up for it with HP in the higher RPMs. The biggest difference vs my GT/PP was how well it handled and how much lighter it felt. The M3 just turned effortlessly and felt really planted and balanced. The only reason i traded it in the M was because the DCT was acting up and i was out of warranty, if it wasnt for that i would have kept her for another couple of years.
Do I like my Mustang better than the M3? I doubt it, but for the price difference I cant complain. I paid 78k OTD for my fully loaded M3 and i paid 40 OTD for my stang.

It's funny you wrote this - the E9x M3 was my dream car and I was looking into one before getting my S550. I just couldn't justify it anymore given the fact that all M3s are used (many of them heavily) with a lot of miles for the 35k i paid for my GT Premium Black Accent, not to mention the fact that they have rod bearing and throttle actuator issues. And the old interior from the E90s. I think the S550 with the Coyote matches the E9x M3 on paper, if not beats it.

With all your upgrades, is the S550 still a ways off from the feel of the M3?

 

[FranzVonHoffer]

I came from an e46 BMW. Definitely a quality downgrade but a lot of bang for the buck and the car has a lot of character.

It's funny you wrote this - the E9x M3 was my dream car and I was looking into one before getting my S550. I just couldn't justify it anymore given the fact that all M3s are used (many of them heavily) with a lot of miles for the 35k i paid for my GT Premium Black Accent, not to mention the fact that they have rod bearing and throttle actuator issues. And the old interior from the E90s. I think the S550 with the Coyote matches the E9x M3 on paper, if not beats it.

I dropped the e90 M3 off my shopping list for the same reason. Those TB actuators are $900 a piece and it's suggested they're replaced as a pair.

Rod bearings are a wear item on all M cars, in fact any car with a 9k redline will need to have them changed out around 80k miles. That actually didn't scare me as much as the TB actuators.

 

[Voo Doo]

Ordered a new 2012 BMW 6-Series Coupe....with the M appearance pkg. loved it but being a car guy, this was the 1st automatic I ever owned!! 3yrs of paddle shifters...then got sick of it. Should have kept it as they no longer make the 6 Series in a Coupe!

 

[phillybob232]

Yup, was a bimmer fanboy for a while. Traded in a 2011 335i M Sport for my S550.

Like others in the thread, I was out of warranty, and when I rolled over 70 miles I just got too worried about the expense of another breakdown.

My E90 repair experiences consisted of:
Oil Leak
broken Torque Converter
doors would occasionally just NOT close fully, constantly had lock/latch issues
multiple misfires (on a <40k mile car!)
HPFP broke
Fan/Thermostat broke

So I decided to get a lot more horsepower, in a brand new car, with a warranty. Trying to obtain the HP numbers we get in these GTs through BMW would've cost double. Though I do seriously miss the handling of the 335i, was just so much better. And parking was crazy easy. But ever since I did new springs and sway bars in the Mustang the differences aren't as big as they used to be.

 

[JuRuKi]

It's funny you wrote this - the E9x M3 was my dream car and I was looking into one before getting my S550. I just couldn't justify it anymore given the fact that all M3s are used (many of them heavily) with a lot of miles for the 35k i paid for my GT Premium Black Accent, not to mention the fact that they have rod bearing and throttle actuator issues. And the old interior from the E90s. I think the S550 with the Coyote matches the E9x M3 on paper, if not beats it.

With all your upgrades, is the S550 still a ways off from the feel of the M3?

In terms of speed the Mustang feels faster for sure and I still have long tubes sitting in my garage and have yet to try a tank of e85. Handling wise the Mustang is still not where i want it YET. I only have springs so far but considering sway bars in the near future.

 

[phillybob232]

In terms of speed the Mustang feels faster for sure and I still have long tubes sitting in my garage and have yet to try a tank of e85. Handling wise the Mustang is still not where i want it YET. I only have springs so far but considering sway bars in the near future.

Do it, it helps so frickin much

 

[luisinho93]

Came from E46 M3 with the DCT transmission. I had a blast driving that car and I wouldn't mind owning one in the future as just a little track car.

The previous owner didn't take care of it that well so I decided to sell it as it was a ticking time bomb. The handling on that car was just superb

 

[NightmareMoon]

I came to the S550 from an e46 325Ci, so naturally the S550 is a lot faster.

I bought the E46 used with almost 100k miles on it, replaced the shocks and control arms, and drove it for 5 years until the plastic bits in the engine bay started fragging. Basically, I drove it into the ground.

The mustang is bigger, faster, and sounds like a million bucks. I compete against newer BMWs in my autocross class, and we run similar times. The Mustang has more power, but the (2011/2013?) M3s handle a little sharper (or so I gather), still, I can usually beat them, so the S550 chassis is competitive, and a lot cheaper to own.

 

[w3rkn]

MagneRide makes BMW pointless.

Their chassis was the only thing keeping BMW in the game. Now the only suspension worth buying from bmw are set up by M-division.

Ford has better engines.

 

[fpa1974]

I owned and still do own a few starting with E36 M3 sedan, Z3 M coupe, E46 ZHP Sedan and a wagon etc. While interior quality is clearly better (especially on the older ones) reliability has been spotty but acceptable if you can do some of the work yourself. Handling, balance and the intangibles parts are really high on the ones that I have/had. Unfortunately nothing new they make really interests me - maybe the new M2 but not more than a GT350 that is Thus I decided to make a change. So far it has been a mixed bag - while the car is awesome initial quality was spotty to say the least. I really hope this works out in the long run because I do not not see myself going back with the current BMW car philosophy.

 

[accel]

I sold my e90. It was having so many reliability issues, that I was scared to drive it too far from home. It's not fun when you cant take your fun to drive car with you anywhere. Love turned into hate at some point. They are destroying the brand. Really sorry to look back and see how much resources and TIME was wasted by me on the car...

Still the brand is having some good following. Common knowledge is that you just have to take care of the car, pay attention to maintenance items and your BMW will be as reliable as other cars on the road. People do not realize that "maintenance" goes well beyond oil and typical wear items. You'll have to preventatively replace parts that last much-much longer on other brands if not lifetime. Preventative replacement will not make you sleep well, as the new part might serve you much less than the original and will fail without warning. And if you preffer to DIY some items, - be prepared, - they made sure you'll think twice before doing it yourself as that will not be easy.

 

[FranzVonHoffer]

I sold my e90. It was having so many reliability issues, that I was scared to drive it too far from home. It's not fun when you cant take your fun to drive car with you anywhere. Love turned into hate at some point. They are destroying the brand. Really sorry to look back and see how much resources and TIME was wasted by me on the car...

Still the brand is having some good following. Common knowledge is that you just have to take care of the car, pay attention to maintenance items and your BMW will be as reliable as other cars on the road. People do not realize that "maintenance" goes well beyond oil and typical wear items. You'll have to preventatively replace parts that last much-much longer on other brands if not lifetime. Preventative replacement will not make you sleep well, as the new part might serve you much less than the original and will fail without warning. And if you preffer to DIY some items, - be prepared, - they made sure you'll think twice before doing it yourself as that will not be easy.

All the BMWs use a high pressure cooling system which is why summer or winter your temp is always 220F. That's also why they have that ridiculous bleeding process when you flush the system. So the cooling systems are a weak spot that require very preventative maintenance. I think most of the other stuff except for rod bearings you can run to failure without too much risk.

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