Wanted: BMW repair cost horror stories...

no way. the 335 is a beast compared to the 328

Originally Posted by scb

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no way. the 335 is a beast compared to the 328

The *35s cars all still have fuel pump problems. Until BMW and Bosch lick that, I wouldn't bother. The 328i is plenty spry - people always want more horses than they'll ever use. I've been considering a 328i coupe for a daily myself.

Originally Posted by scb

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i have an 07 335 and my free maintenance runs out next week. extended warranty (gold package) is 3500 for 3 more years or total 70k miles. I think i'll take my chances without a warranty
Back when I bought my '04 330i CPO it was going to be $1k to extend the maintenance. Which I should have done. $3.5k is crazy though. As for horror stories, at 60k BMW charged me ~$500 for scheduled service. They said everything looked good. A couple weeks later I got a CEL and traced it to a hole in an intake hose (apparently a common problem). Makes me wonder if they even have anyone look over your car before taking your $500. For me, the German brands just aren't worth the price premium over the competition.

Originally Posted by dcg

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Back when I bought my '04 330i CPO it was going to be $1k to extend the maintenance. Which I should have done. $3.5k is crazy though.

extended maintenance and extended warranty are 2 different things

Originally Posted by epb

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The *35s cars all still have fuel pump problems. Until BMW and Bosch lick that, I wouldn't bother. The 328i is plenty spry - people always want more horses than they'll ever use. I've been considering a 328i coupe for a daily myself.


the fuel pump is covered for 10 years or 120k miles, so I feel ok about that. and it's not just the horses...it's the torque that makes the 335 so fun to drive

Originally Posted by scb

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extended maintenance and extended warranty are 2 different things

Good point; got confused since you started out talking about the free maintenance ending.

Does the gold warranty include maintenance, or is that extra?

Originally Posted by scb

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the fuel pump is covered for 10 years or 120k miles, so I feel ok about that. and it's not just the horses...it's the torque that makes the 335 so fun to drive

This is one of the few issues I've heard of with a modern BMW that will leave you stranded by the side of the road, and people often seem to wait days or weeks for pump replacements. The fact that they fix it for free doesn't detract from the hassles it will cause you.

Originally Posted by dcg

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Back when I bought my '04 330i CPO it was going to be $1k to extend the maintenance.

Warranties are cash cows in any business - selling you an extended service warranty indicates that the car would actually be a lot cheaper. Especially since a maintenance warranty wouldn't cover repairs.

You can find horror stories on any car - truth is modern cars are made well enough that serious issues are really few and far between, especially with a car that's been cared for properly. I've bought lots of cars that were supposedly nightmares to own, and either I'm incredibly lucky or people tend to exaggerate things. My money's on the latter.

Originally Posted by dcg

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Does the gold warranty include maintenance, or is that extra?

extra. $2k for 2 more years

Originally Posted by epb

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This is one of the few issues I've heard of with a modern BMW that will leave you stranded by the side of the road, and people often seem to wait days or weeks for pump replacements. The fact that they fix it for free doesn't detract from the hassles it will cause you.



i had my fuel pump replaced last year and it was done in 24 hours. i think it's a pretty quick fix these days.

I will say, shortly after I bought my '07 M Coupe (indep, not CPO -- they only made 1800, afterall, and less than 10 in the color scheme I wanted), I had to pay to have the motor mount bolts replaced WHILE UNDER WARRANTY. That really annoyed me -- BMW says it won't pay to replace any item that is not still attached to the car -- I literally asked the guy if my alternator fell off would they replace it, and he told me, flatly, no. $500 bucks. I was a little pissed.

~ H

The BMW scam that I know of was a friend's early '90s 3 series. Which involved the 'Engine Service Due' indicator and the fact he done his own servicing. He would do his own complete services as per the Haynes manual with my help as well, but the engine service indicator would stay on. Official BMW garage wanted nearly £100 GBP just to reset the indicator. He found he could reset the indicator himself just by touching a 5 pence resistor across some contacts, achieving the desired result.

My brother has been talking about getting a new car because he say's his BMW was the worst investment ever. He had it serviced regularly and he would still have issues with the computer costing him a ridicules amount of money every time. He also had a dent the size of a my palm on the passenger side door and the BMW dealership charged him $2,000. I am glad I never fell for the BMW trend.

Originally Posted by A Y

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If I were shopping for a 3-series, I'd get the 328 because it's significantly lighter than the 335, plenty fast, and cheaper to maintain. Also they don't make the sport wagon in anything but the 328 for the US.

--Andre

Originally Posted by Jokerman

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My brother has been talking about getting a new car because he say's his BMW was the worst investment ever. He had it serviced regularly and he would still have issues with the computer costing him a ridicules amount of money every time. He also had a dent the size of a my palm on the passenger side door and the BMW dealership charged him $2,000. I am glad I never fell for the BMW trend.

Just have to pay to play with the big timers...
Worth every cent for me.

Originally Posted by x26

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It's all smack talk unless you're talking N74.