Why own a BMW!!!!

[alxy]

Dear all!!

Im planning to go for a beemer abt next 2 years which i currently doing some homework abt this ride......As my concern, beemer is famous of maintenance high & often require replacement & repair....why such a good or expensive car, owner still have to forge out huge money to repair? even normal used like toyota, honda would not often have techincial prob....

Let say a used unit beemer abt year 03 or 04 abt the range of 130k - 150k(3 series E46)......with this price range, we can opt for a new camry, honda & etc which give us less headache....even a used honda or toyota gives us less headache.....im currently using a toyota ride.....so in future wana try a continental car........

Mayb guys here can share the thought & doubts which what brings ur mind into owning a beemer???cheers

I had same thoughts as you about 3 years back. Ended up with a spanking new Honda Accord 2.4 after all those considerations and what-nots. Now I have a E46 325i and a E60 530i sitting at home. 'Nuff said........ :rock:

 

[kshapawi]

Spending is not necessary bad as long as its "well spent".. and we all here know we did..

hahaha.. yeah we did..even pocket only left habuk but we satisfied. hehehe:rock:

 

[initialM]

For me very simple its the Ultimate Driving Machine:smokin:

 

[pussy]

From a racer view, most standard BMW 3series are:
over-refine (very little NVH)
too forgiving when you make mistake ( no oversteer)
numb steering (no road feel),
soft suspension ( can't feel bump on the road)
Old-tech Multilink rear suspension (good for comfort, bad for cornering)
And many more.

Something I won't want on my race car.

TB, i find your Statement quite appalling of what you have bought and driving now..

Looks the above statements suits a Japanese Honda Accord..
not a BMW...

so it means that the standard 3 series you are having is what you dun want on your car ? But you are driving it ? suppose your e36 is having the multi link ? you hate also ? then you should have bought a e30 e30's have rear trailing arms....

But tell me if the steering of your e36 is better than the e30 on better grounds ? or a e46 ? or a e90 ?

Dun forget, the e36 is the offset from the Iconic e30 and it's M Stable..

 

[Kaiza635CSI]

I dont agree that all mercedes benz's models have cheaper maintenence. What about the Classic Merc's the parts sometimes hard to find, when they are rare they are expensive. from personal experience before i started driving my 635CSI, i was driving W107 83 500SL, and the W... 85 380SEL, these cars are not cheap to maintain. yes the older mercs have less electronics and not too much hassle with that. but mechanically i was paying about roughly the same for my 6 and these mercs. The thing with Bmws there is a thin line between Love and Hate! You hate it because it gives u problems. You love it because its a real drivers car and you can have fun with these cars.

The New Honda accords are nice, but to me its a waste of time. I just did project with my bosses company where we had to evaluate sales and services teams from Honda on the all new accord, and we had to compare to the new 2.0, 2.4 Camry. and the current 2.4 accord. And let me ask u would like to have a car that u can control or a car that controls u?? In these cars i felt lifeless, bored, felt cheap. i'd rather get beat up old bmw then a jap car any day.

At the end of the day I will stick to my Bmw, i'll love it one day and hate it the next.

Anyway Between Japanese and European cars its a whole different league.

Just my opinion!

 

[Kaiza635CSI]

Turbology, if you want that kind of feel, why dont u try driving my 635csi. it maybe old but u want to feel the road, and all that. Oh it will bite u right in the ass.

The fact is the older the car the more problems u may encounter depending on how well u maintain ur car right? If you cant maintain then maybe u should decide slowly.

 

[stan001]

I was "poisoned" when my friend was driving down to singapore from KL and half way ask me if I wanna drive his E46 323i. After that experience, there was no turning back and finally got myself a E46 325i last Sept.

Enjoy the drive the most at night with less cars and sometimes with the sunroof & windows open to feel the air outside. A real feeling of freedom on the road.

Nothing beats this kind of feeling.

 

[kshapawi]

I can bet ya that most of us was poisened by somebody and was tempted ever since with the sheer driving pleasure of the Ultimate driving machine.....:rock:

 

[pussy]

I can bet ya that most of us was poisened by somebody and was tempted ever since with the sheer driving pleasure of the Ultimate driving machine.....:rock:

i was tempted when i was 14 when my cousin had bought a 323i and i hop on it for a taxi ride.. double the years now, i do have one now, abit from a few modifications...

 

[alxy]

Put it another way, extreme example: back in the days when I had a Waja, i was not even willing to spend RM50 to fix a broken door handle. Thought in my head was "#%%$%$ if I'm gonna spend a single cent more on this %$%#$ piece of junk". Yet I thought nothing of spending RM5K initially to get my 325 up to speed.

I don't think we can contest that a Jap car in the long term will have absolute lower maintenance cost. But to me, I consider the fun/cost factor. BMW has the Japs beat anytime anyplace anywhere!!!!!!

All boils down to heart vs head.....where do you stand?

 

[DerekKuah]

After all reply, i believe the Ultimate drive pleasure is the key of owning a bimmer.....
actually maintenance or repairing is the key for owning any car, but for bimmer is more higher. When comes to major repair, it really cost a bomb. Its just like to own a BMW is very easy, but to maintain the Bimmer, i believe is the hard thing.....
hence, i have frens that sell off their bimmer due to the hectic repairing cost. My frens commented, when buy a used BMW, first u need to cater few thousand to sent workshop for maintenance before first ride....Is that true?

Somehow the reason for me to getting a bimmer, is not for performance factor, its more on prestige & self upgrading satisfaction.....My first car was a used wira(7 years), after 9 years old sold & get a new altis 06', hence now being driving its till now 08'......

Btw, what u guys commented will financially steady to own a bimmer?

 

[turbology]

TB, i find your Statement quite appalling of what you have bought and driving now..

Looks the above statements suits a Japanese Honda Accord..
not a BMW...

so it means that the standard 3 series you are having is what you dun want on your car ? But you are driving it ? suppose your e36 is having the multi link ? you hate also ? then you should have bought a e30 e30's have rear trailing arms....

But tell me if the steering of your e36 is better than the e30 on better grounds ? or a e46 ? or a e90 ?

Dun forget, the e36 is the offset from the Iconic e30 and it's M Stable..

That is correct. The handling and ride are better with coilover suspension and tower bar front and back. But the steering feedback is still lack of what I call "responsive and immediate".

I drove E46 before, but is more refine than a E36. Cg is higher too and cornering is poorer due to heavier weight.
I never drove a E30. But this is going to be the next car I am going to get if I am buying another BMW.
trailing arms ? lol... I want Double Wishbones !!

Kaiza635CSI: bite me right in my ass ? I would like to drive a car like that.
Z3, Z4, new 650ci, 750i, E46, E90 335i, X3, X5, 540i ... I am still disappointed
Z3 2.4 is slightly better.

 

[turbology]

DerekKuah : sorry for stealing your post. I find BMW give better ovarall package. Yes, a Toyota Camry drive you from point A to point B, but you don't get the "woo" and "waa" of a BMW.

For example, my friend always says "Wah, you drive a BMW (e36)". My respone, "your bloody new Vios can buy my 2 bimmer".

Higher repair cost ? Well, I believe those driver ,who claimed other cars don't cost as much to repair, DOES NOT send their car to Authorized Dealer for service. It they do, the cost is relatively equal. Go ask how is the original water pump from BMW, and how much much is a original water pump for Proton. You will be surpirse

 

[cempaka]

For spending a few k after buying a used car, it can happen, but that can happen with any used car you buy. If you pay a bit more for a well maintained one with service records you should be ok, but if you are getting a typical "bargain" from the classifieds with no records, yes I would expect to have to spend some money on repairs. But go and buy a same year honda accord and you'll also probably have to fix cv boot/axle, gearbox, absorbers etc. BMWs aren't like protons, you cannot drive them around limping along with half the car rosak and why would you want to?

Unfortunately a lot of people don't care/can't afford the regular preventative maintenance and so they put it off until something finally breaks or wears out and there's a big repair bill for the resulting damage. Either that or they have an incompetent or unethical mechanic that rips them off. These are the two main reasons for BMWs bad reputation when it comes to maintenance.

That's why it's difficult for us to give you an exact figure on how much per month etc to spend on a BMW. If you are willing to travel some distance for a recommended mechanic, are hardworking/lucky enough to find a well maintained example, and willing to replace things before they break it is less. If you just get whatever one from a dodgy used car dealer and take it to the nearest workshop with a bmw sign on it, and use each part till it disintegrates it could be much more.

Finally, to be honest, if you only want BMW for the prestige, and not the driving pleasure, I recommend you buy Camry/Accord. You can have prestige (in this country only, everywhere else in the world nobody would give a second look) without so many maintenance concerns.

 

[cempaka]

And that is another reason it is silly to compare BMW maintenance with Toyota and Honda. In the rest of the world, Camry/Accord are in the same class as Proton Wira/Waja. Only in this country due to the stupid tax are Camry/Accord considered "executive cars". Compare BMW to Lexus maintenance, doesn't look so bad anymore.

 

[astroboy]

Camry/Accord? I would rather keep my 1995 13 years old Perdana which I recently sold for RM19k to make way for my E90..

 

[syahruln]

It's love bro... once I've fallen in love with my bmw, there is no reason. Takde duit nak maintain, pergi carik duit. Takde parts, pergi cari parts. Tak jumpa juga parts, import dari luar negeri. My car is very old, but whenever on the road, I don't really bother any other new cars around me. Mau cucuk gua, gua boleh cucuk balik, no problemo.

If you need reasons to own a bmw, most probably you shouldn't own it. Better follow your financial advisor's advice It's the driving experience that counts... if you don't enjoy driving it, better get other cars. If you enjoy driving it, you wouldn't care about it's maintenance cost. For such a driving pleasure, there is no regret for me :rock:

 

[alxy]

Cars should not be seen as an investment or something that makes sense financially. if you think that way, then probably the BMW is not for you. I see them as a hobby or passion, albeit an expensive one. If you're trying to find a logical financial answer to your question, then don't bother. You'll get nothing but passionate answers from our fellow BMW fanatics...

 

[Kaiza635CSI]

Hello kete hang Judm, jan cakap banyak.....:thefinger::rock:

It's love bro... once I've fallen in love with my bmw, there is no reason. Takde duit nak maintain, pergi carik duit. Takde parts, pergi cari parts. Tak jumpa juga parts, import dari luar negeri. My car is very old, but whenever on the road, I don't really bother any other new cars around me. Mau cucuk gua, gua boleh cucuk balik, no problemo.

If you need reasons to own a bmw, most probably you shouldn't own it. Better follow your financial advisor's advice It's the driving experience that counts... if you don't enjoy driving it, better get other cars. If you enjoy driving it, you wouldn't care about it's maintenance cost. For such a driving pleasure, there is no regret for me :rock:

 

[MSport]

DerekKuah : sorry for stealing your post. I find BMW give better ovarall package. Yes, a Toyota Camry drive you from point A to point B, but you don't get the "woo" and "waa" of a BMW.

For example, my friend always says "Wah, you drive a BMW (e36)". My respone, "your bloody new Vios can buy my 2 bimmer".

Higher repair cost ? Well, I believe those driver ,who claimed other cars don't cost as much to repair, DOES NOT send their car to Authorized Dealer for service. It they do, the cost is relatively equal. Go ask how is the original water pump from BMW, and how much much is a original water pump for Proton. You will be surpirse

I used to drive a Toyota Camry. Just found it was boring..... nothing interesting. Yes, it brings you from point A to B. Suspension absorbs everything, cabin quite well insultated (first few times i accidentally cranked the engine again thinking I forgot to start it)

Confession: I actually did a test drive about 5 times with AB & SA (over 12 months) before settling down with my E90. Each time they had some promo, I would go and KPC. Nothing like the UDM !! :rock: