328i or nay.

[swooshdave]

I've been busy since I posted this and ran. I expected to find a few responses but WOW! Georges post convinced me to look away. My '99 Silverado has enough doodads that don't work. Fortunately the cruise and ABS do.

Thanks.

If you can get something with lower miles and newer they are some of the most fun cars to drive.

[Dilliw]

If you can get something with lower miles and newer they are some of the most fun cars to drive.

Concur.  I think Kim bought another car today so I can choose between her 328 with 84k or keep driving my 12 Mazda3 hatch with 125k.  KBB is about the same for both at $6500 and the only service that hasn't been done is the brakes on the Mazda.  I've decided to keep the 328 and take it to about 130k before selling it.

Thread drift but the brakes on the Mazda have been a puzzle.  Checked the pads at 90k and there very little wear.  They passed inspection on the last oil change too.  One day they will wear I guess...

[Tom]

Wait......BMW makes cars???   

[wymple]

Over on a Fiero forum (yes, I have one) there is a fellow who goes by BMWGURU. He owns a high dollar European car repair shop, keeps one bay for his Fiero hobby. He has told forum members to NEVER buy a BMW without running it past him. Some are great, some have SERIOUSLY expensive design or quality flaws. Cranks & such. There are extremely expensive repairs involved a lot of the time. Try leaky valve covers that become a 1200 dollar job. That is a small problem in BMW speak.

[pauldaytona]

Funny how Americans look at european cars, we look at USA cars as technical dinosaurs.

[sign216]

Last year I considered a BMW 3 series.  I wanted a used 6 cyl sedan w manual transmission, and BMW was one of the few marques still making "sport sedans."  Went with a used 2006 Mazda 6, one of the last years Mazda still had the 6 cyl w a manual.  Bought it because it's book value was almost half of what BMW goes for. 

Had the Mazda for one year.  It has 110,000 miles and in the last year it's had two major repairs at $1k each.  I'm still happy because the initial price was dirt cheap.  And $1,000 repairs for a BMW are considered minor (ouch!).  If too many more repairs then I won't be happy.

The Infiniti I had before, was better though.  It didn't need too many repairs, and they were reasonably priced.  I let it go because at 150k miles I thought it was getting old.   Probably should have kept it to 200k miles.

[Xlratr]

Funny how Americans look at european cars, we look at USA cars as technical dinosaurs.

"We?". Speak for yourself Paul! There are quite a few US cars I'd like to own and I was really happy with the last Dodge I had.
I tend to agree with most of the sentiments expressed here regarding cost of ownership and it fits to my own experience. :-(


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[pauldaytona]

Well can't talk from own experience with German cars, driving Volvo last 18 years.  I have a V70 diesel now, now at 380.000 KM and 15 years old, I own it for 10 years now, the car runs great, It still runs and looks great. In 10 years, one time a fuel pump broken and one dash repair, the year I have seen  to have it all. The two repairs were 700 euro together. For the rest normal maintenance. Engine and gearbox never opened. 
Just considering getting a German car, BMW 220i active tourer or VW sportsvan. Don't drive that much anymore and tax for Diesel is high here.
 

[Tobit]

In general, carcomplaints.com is your friend.

Then look for forums on the make and lurk for a while, reading up on common issues.

Just my .02.

Tobit

[Tusayan]

I would personally choose something different than a 328i, for me there are just too many reliability issues with BMWs and they seem to crop up on every model.  At a certain point and with other choices its not worth the hassle or financial gamble.

The German manufacturers have been able to maintain their prior reputation for reliability in the European market but not in the US.  I think the reasons for that are (1) The cheaper German cars sold in large volume to the European market are typically more reliable than the more expensive German cars that sell in the US, (2) The European automotive press, and the German press in particular, is heavily (some would say ludicrously) biased towards local products and (3) Japanese cars and others are heavily taxed and Europeans don't have the same basis for comparison with non-European products that exists in the US.   My German relatives for instance are completely unaware that Honda is a high volume car manufacturer.

The Europeans are a bit more realistic about the relatively low reliability of BMW motorcycles in relation to their competition, because the factors above are less true for BMW motorcycles.  Even the Germans often 'get it' that BMW motorcycles don't really have world class reliability.  In reference to the German lack of understanding about American cars, you'd think that Cadillac having held the record for the fastest sedan around the Nurburgring would have sorted them out some years ago, but again there is a huge and irrational bias in Germany plus lack of experience.   

(edited to correct spelling)