Wanted: BMW repair cost horror stories...

[jim_n]

My friend was just telling me how his check engine light on his M3 e46 never goes out. He takes it to the dealer they charge him a few hundred and it comes back on within a couple days or driving. He's been in and out 3 or 4 times now and they never seem to fix the problem. Clearing the pcm, reflashing, replacing sensors, nothing seems to work. Not many independents want to work on it either. He's going to email me a list of codes so we can try and tackle it ourselves. probably in over our heads though. Anyone else have check engine light issues??

 

[phreak]

Mine has been on for the past month. The code it gave me was something about running lean and I'm 80% sure it's an o2 sensor that is faulty. I'm not gonna mess with it until next time I'm already under the car. Nothing really can get worse and unless I want peak performance running slightly lean is not even a bad thing. In fact, I may see better gas mileage as a result

 

[spertia]

I've heard that these cars are pretty notorious for having "sensitive" check-engine lights. The light has intermittently been on with both of my BMWs over the years, even though there haven't been any serious problems or malfunctions with either vehicle.

 

[AgentQ]

Hit a curb in a 335xi two weeks ago while dodging a deer. Effed the frontside suspension, came out to a cool $7k.

 

[HeRVy]

Everytime mi Mercedes goes to the mechanic it cost me about $1000

It fails once a year more or less...

My other car, a Subaru, is more reliable

Next time gonna buy Lexus

 

[rocks]

Am I the only one with an older bimmer that is trouble-free? In the last 4 years my check engine came on once and that was for a thermostat that was stuck opened. Had the code read at autozone for free and replaced the thermostat myself and it was gone. The only other lights that have popped up in my dash is bulb out warning when they fail and the oil pressure sensor when that failed. 124k as of today and still hauls, maybe it's because I let it rip everyday. Then again, that's not it, there are others with E46 Non M's that have surpassed 300k miles and still running strong.

 

[slider07]

I have a 2002 325i with 76k miles on it (mostly my wife's car and she works from home, hence the low mileage). I have had very few problems - mostly a couple of electrical issues with the tail lights which was an easy fix. Great car - replaced tires and battery and had regular maintenance and that's it. Still feels great to drive though of course it lacks the power of the newer cars.

I have found it to be highly reliable and fun to drive. Not as much fun as the e46 M3 I had for a time - that was a blast.