BMW scare stories

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I had few BMW cars in past, nice cars to drive but had a lot expensive problems. I had e46 and e90 chassis.
Last 2006 e90 had evaporator blowing white dust in cabin issue. Was manufacture issue and BMW did not want recognise problem. I been quoted £2500 for repairs as it did involve dashboard removal. In the end after hours of research online and proving that Denso manufactured part is main reason, BMW agreed to cover labour cost £2250 and I had to pay £250 for part. 5 days they had my car in workshop, no curtesy car or apologies for inconvenience.

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And to balance this, we have had several BMWs over the years, the current one is our "lifeboat" bought about 10 years ago its a 1998 3 series compact (hatchback) with a gorgeous 1.9L 16V engine which is a gem.
The car has been serviced regulary by our local (and very good) BMW specialist, it has only ever had service items repalced and one cam sensor and two weeks ago a front ABS sensor (£90 fited), thats it, nothing else. It has AC (unusually for this age), ABS, EW and BMW alarm system.
Its been an absolute gem for 130K miles.......oh yes, and the bodywork shows absolutely NO sign of rust at all! Are you reading this MB?

But some are crap! ;)
 
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In terms of Engine failures (as opposed to overall reliability) the numbers from Warranty Direct show a bit of a trend:

Engine reliability – Top 10 brands according to Warranty Direct

01. Honda (failure rate: 1 in 344)
02. Toyota (failure rate: 1 in 171)
03. Mercedes-Benz (failure rate: 1 in 119)
04. Volvo (failure rate: 1 in 111)
05. Jaguar (failure rate: 1 in 103)
06. Lexus (failure rate: 1 in 101)
07. Fiat (failure rate: 1 in 85)
08. Ford (failure rate: 1 in 80)
09. Nissan (failure rate: 1 in 76)
10. Land Rover (failure rate: 1 in 72)

Engine reliability – Bottom 10 brands according to Warranty Direct

01. MG Rover (failure rate: 1 in 13)
02. Audi (failure rate: 1 in 27)
03. Mini (failure rate: 1 in 40)
04. Saab (failure rate: 1 in 40)
05. Vauxhall (failure rate: 1 in 41)
06. Peugeot (failure rate: 1 in 44)
07. BMW (failure rate: 1 in 45)
08. Renault (failure rate: 1 in 46)
09. Volkswagen (failure rate: 1 in 52)
10. Mitsubishi (failure rate: 1 in 59)

Audi and BMW score worst engine failures rate | Biser3a

Or put another way. Even a die hard MG fan who owned various MG over the years would be unlikely to experience an engine failure. I'd still rather be a Honda owner though :)
 
data from 2007

Interesting, but that could of course be a reflection on the complexity of the engineeering the mileage and type of motoring they are asked to do? In some ways modern cars are so complex it's really only [ as the figures imply] a matter of time. :eek: In addition the type of failure and subsequent cost of repair is also important and here the labour rates and cost of spares and proprietary nature of the engineering/software also plays an important part. What would be more reassuring of course would manufacturers putting their money where their mouth is and extending their warranty to 5 to 7 years like some Korean manufacturers. I guess owners can do this now at a cost of course by extended warranties. By the sound if it it might be worth while on a Mercedes if the figures are to be believed! OR IS THAT JUST THE AGE PEOPLE STOP SERVICING THEM PROPERLY?;)
 
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And to balance this, we have had several BMWs over the years, the current one is our "lifeboat" bought about 10 years ago its a 1998 3 series compact (hatchback) with a gorgeous 1.9L 16V engine which is a gem.
The car has been serviced regulary by our local (and very good) BMW specialist, it has only ever had service items repalced and one cam sensor and two weeks ago a front ABS sensor (£90 fited), thats it, nothing else. It has AC (unusually for this age), ABS, EW and BMW alarm system.
Its been an absolute gem for 130K miles.......oh yes, and the bodywork shows absolutely NO sign of rust at all! Are you reading this MB?

But some are crap! ;)

I am convinced the key to your experience is related to the date car was manufactured =1998------- = much simpler engineering= much less to go wrong
 
Re VAG 2.0 TDi engines, most of these engines with the faulty injectors have been replaced by VAG Group garages now and I've not had any bad experience with them.

We sold 2 VW Tourans 2.0TDi's last year, both on 07 plates...one had 314,000 and the other 340,000 miles and they were both going strong. One had had a new turbo and head gasket the other just a turbo during their lifetimes. The one on 340,000 has now crept upto 380,000 and its been plain sailing for the guy who bought it.
 
I am convinced the key to your experience is related to the date car was manufactured =1998------- = much simpler engineering= much less to go wrong

And probably the fact it's a petrol engine, albeit at the time the "performance" version.
 

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