Anyone have experience owning a BMW?

[Radke]

My son is contemplating buying his first car, and has been looking at older BMW's, something in the early 1990 range, mostly 318I.

Anyone here have any experience owning a BMW in this vintage? I'm particularly interested in hearing about the reliability factor.



thanks

[CATCH AND EAT]

Not my pic for a kids first car when it comes to reliablity. Fun cars to drive, lots of power (maybe to much for a first car ). Lots of electronics to worry about for a 16 year old rig. Good luck.

[freespool]

C&E is right, if you are good at your own maintainance, it would be a fun car, if your paying someone else to do it, nope, it ain't worth it.


If your serious about buying the car, pay somebody that's qualified to check it out, might save you a ton of heartburn later.



salmon hugger

[jvp]

check the consumer report there are a few that have had some isssues due to new designs.

[Ethical hunter]

The one thing I always check out on any vehicle I am interested in owning is the parking or emergency brake. You would not want your kid parking at a Sharis' only to have it roll into another vehicle while dining.

EH

[ReelAttitude]

I have a mercedes 450sl roadster, the only reason I can afford it is, I do my own work and the parts costs are still a KILLER

BMW's are in the same class & price range

hope your well off

[Cool Texan]

My wife had one for 8 years or so. Never had a problem, loads of fun to drive. We'll own another one at some point.

[RODACTION]

I would not go with a BMW (model and year) for a first car, in the event it becomes in need of mechanical repair it is going to become rather pricey. The are famous for electrical problems and are does not help it. If your okay, with the possablity of spending 2x or 3x the amoumt of a like repair on a given same year and size car in a Toyota, Honda, Nissan ect, then your okay. Neet cars BMW's are, but they can cost alot of money to maintain and keep on the road. Flip side is you could buy it and it could be a great car. My choice would be something else, I am trained in this field Good luck, first car

[MattPark]

2 friends of mine have 89 325i's. The only reason they can afford to drive them is that I can work on them. Parts are not cheap ($250 for a set of plug wires), and they aren't easy to work on compared to Japanese cars of the same era. I work on cars for a living and I won't touch anyone else's BMWs, too big of a PITA. It's like you have to have intimate knowledge of each individual car to even begin to troubleshoot problems.

Lot's of power is the last thing that comes to mind, 318's are gutless and the 325's are only slightly more powerful when compared to similar cars of the same year.

I'd try to get him into something like a Honda or Toyota.

[reelfine]

I own a 2002 525i. It's my first BMW and I will NEVER own another.

I take obsessive care of my cars and boat and have never owned a bigger piece of #$!#$ that this car. The car has 40,000 miles on it and I just took it in for:

- fan broke down
- needs oil service ($280!!! because of some magic piece called a "microfilter"... uh, yeah)
- alternator is shot
- rear brakes are shot
- rear lamp is out... for the 4th TIME
- replaced instrument cluster (LED's out)

The thing is just a junk pile. My next "luxury" vehicle will be Japanese.

[Thumper]

Anyone here have any experience owning a BMW in this vintage? I'm particularly interested in hearing about the reliability factor.



thanks

I've owned 2002s and 318s. Used BMWs have perhaps the least reliability of any popular vehicle. Why on earth do you want to create that kind of headache?

Get a good Japanese used vehicle.

[Radke]

Personally I'm a Japaneese bigot (meaning I love Japanese cars).

I have a friend who owned a pretty new BMW and finally sold it because they tired of spending 400-600 a month on the repair of the day.

I only posted this to see if others had a different set of experiences than I knew of. You have confirmed my gut feeling.

Believe me, I'd love to point him to a Subaru, Honda, Nissan, Mazda because I have faith in Japanese cars. I just need to convince a head strong 19 year old.

thanks all for your thoughts

[skahorse]

I owned a '93 318i. 128,000 miles, good power (Better than the '97 Honda Civic I drive now). Parts do typically cost a little more, but from my experience, not as much as some have been saying on this thread. ( Here's some "racing" spark plug wires for $70 for an '87 325., and alot more on there for cheaper.)

I can't say I didn't get into a little trouble in that car though. I was 19 at the time, about 7 years ago now. Insurance will most likely be a killer though.

I still wish I had that car. Actually wish I had newer one...

--Skahorse

[MattPark]

Parts do typically cost a little more, but from my experience, not as much as some have been saying on this thread

I don't like to do things twice. Sure, I can buy a couple sets of those wires for what I can get them from the cheapest place in town, but if and when a problem arises, I don't have time to wait around for parts. I have found parts like that on ebay that aren't a familiar brand aren't the highest quality. I can't have a car sitting for 4 days waiting for a set of ebay plug wires of questionable quality.

I also have parts delivered on a daily basis, so I order parts from one place usually. Make the call, the parts arrive. I don't have time to look around all day for the best deal.

I don't know if you think $70 sets are cheap, 90% of the sets I buy cost half that for name brand parts.

In all reality, the shops people are going to take their BMW to don't buy their parts on ebay, they will use the dealer or a local store. The buyer will pay the higher cost of parts and labor. If they can do the work on their own or with a buddy and buy the parts on ebay, the repair costs aren't as high, like my example in my original post.

The bottom line is, the cars aren't as reliable or inexpensive to maintain as other vehicles, so it's probably not a bright idea for someone to have one as their first car.

[wishin]

Mid-90's VW Jetta's are great first cars. Cheap to buy, cheap to maintain, and decent gas mileage. We've been through a couple as first cars for our kids.

Major consideration when looking for an inexpensive car for the kid's first car - air bags! Be careful, there are a lot of nice cars, in an attractive price range, without air bags. We felt it was important for our first time drivers to have them.

[Radke]

Major consideration when looking for an inexpensive car for the kid's first car - air bags! Be careful, there are a lot of nice cars, in an attractive price range, without air bags. We felt it was important for our first time drivers to have them.

thanks for that reminder, I could not agree more. I was looking at a car from some on line service last night, it said it was lower than average for safety, and no air bags. That was all I had to read. He may be headstrong, but I still kind of like him!!

[Wolf EEL]

BMW means bring more money. Owned one, unless u can wrench have plenty of money.

[DAB]

I don't have one but I have a friend that has a wife that talks, talks, talks and wont shut up. BMW= Big Mouth Woman
DAB

[negoc8]

Worked on BMW's for four years, two local dealers. Gotta pay to play! I would not consider that year and mdl a good first car.
MI

[Buccaneer]

We have a 1990 535i (wife's car)and now have about 120,000 miles on it. It's a geat car in terms of handling, comfort, fit and finish. It has literally saved our lives with it's handling ability in avoiding accidents. It has been pretty reliable with a few exceptions. I can't keep front brakes on the darn thing (I think its due to the way my wife drives--same problems with her previous cars) but new rotors and pads aren't really much different in price than previous vehicles (just replacing too often). The fan clutch went out which is no big deal to fix yourself except the fix requires a BMW special tool/wrench (I ground one of mine down to fit). Cooling systems are notorious problems in BMW's and mine is no exception. And Oh, seems all the do-it-yourself stuff requires a "special BMW tool #...." You might stop by Powells Bookstore and look through a shop manual to see what normal maintenance entails.

My mechanic says the 3.5 liter straight six will go another 200,000 miles. I don't think I'm going to keep it that long.

We are looking at a new Honda!!!

[sinker]

I'd go look around at Schucks website and see how much normal wear and tear parts are compared to others, alternators, water pumps, brakes.

Don't bother looking at ebay for parts, when that sucker needs a part he won't be waiting for an auction to close and then to get it shipped. He's going to be going to the local parts store.

Steer him towards a Corrola or something along those lines. Not a "cool" car but a pretty wise choice in the long run.

[ET]

What he really wants is a white, 4 door, 4 cylinder, Toyota Camry...... He just doesn't know it yet.

Who is paying for this vehicle? Do you have any leverage?

[Norski]

I hope he has a good paying job, B-M-W ===BUST-MY-WALLET.

[scottishsetter]

Get him a '97 toyota Celica (generic) put low profile tires on it for handling and let him 'maintain' it after that.
You can look up BMW Forums like bimmerfest for his exact year desired; but BMWs would not be a good kids car to restore.$$,$$$$.00

And say Hello to Doug for us in Beavercreek/LeGuin.

[C-lice]

Mt wife has a '97 328i. Most of the time it's a fine car. But when things do go south on it (twice in 30,000-35,000 miles) it is spendy to fix.

She likes it. I personally don't see that it's as good of a car as the Accord she has previously. But it makes her happy...

For a kid's first car, no way. When it breaks down he'll need to borrow yours.

[Ken Drifter]

BMW never............

[Mark Vickers]

I'm laughing at all these posts. I guess I'll just pile on here. We had a 1995 BMW 325ia. I'll never own another BMW again. Why? Lots of various electrical problems (dashboard lights flickering, lights burning out regularly, computer not working right, etc). Also had a number of mechanical issues such as powersteering problems. Fixes were ghastly expensive. Just to make clear, this car was extremely well taken care of and had low miles. There were quality problems...

I understand your kid wanting the "prestige" of owning a bimmer. Believe me, there are lots better choices.

[CATCH AND EAT]

So, has your son made the big decision????????

Buy a toyota, he will be much happier.

[Radke]

No choice has been made yet.

He needs help from his ma and I in order to complete the purchase. I think that the joy of owning a beemer will soon fade once the problems start occuring. In good faith, I can't let him do this.

What we decided to do was get him a reliable car, most likely Japanese. Let him drive it for a while, later on if he wants something we can't support (emotionally), he can sell what he has and get what he wants with his own money, and deal with the issues once they arise.

He isn't a mechanic. He really can't afford to fix the thing if it breaks. What is the sense in buying the thing to begin with.

thanks for the input guys (and gals).

[hot wire]

I had a 98 528I and ended up owning it till it had 80k miles. The trick to these cars is that they are truely for an owner that LOVES to drive. If you look at driving like its a have to, don't buy one of these. If you LIKE to drive,....DEFINETLY buy one! It is a driver's car. You will never drive a car that is as effortless to drive as a BMW.

But, it does come at a price. It will cost you more...again, the smiles you have while driving one is where the pay-out comes from. :grin:

Tom

[1pump]

The trick to these cars is that they are truely for an owner that LOVES to drive.

My girlfriend bought a Benz, with my blessing. If that thing didn't drive so nice and look so damn good doing it, I'd dump it in a heartbeat. I thought I was a pretty good mechanic until I got stuck with it. Maintaining German cars is a humbling experience for an automotive egotist such as myself. Every part is expensive, every repair time-consuming and technically demanding. What's really crazy is that I'm thinking about buying another one for myself. That's what happens when you get hooked on autobahnburners. Automotive masochism, I tell ya.
They're not for everybody. If you want to drive the snot out of something for 100,000 miles with no maintenance, buy a Camry or an Accord. If you want to really drive, go with a bratwurst burner. But not if you're thin of wallet.

[Mark Vickers]

HewesFisher and 1pump, you guys have it nailed. I really enjoyed driving our BMW. I distinctly remember a fantastic drive up to Prince Rupert in BC as being one of my most memorable drives ever.

There are some other options out there that are a lot of fun and have pretty good reliability. For instance, consider the Mitsubishi Evolution or the Mazda Miata/MX5. The Miata has a little bit of a reputation as a girly car though.

While we're talking about fun cars to drive, I'll hijack this thread just a little... I've fallen in with a group of guys that own and drive some crazy expensive cars. The BMW is a pale comparison to a Gallardo or F430. And if you think the chicks dig a BMW, you should see the attention you get with an exotic.

[Nor Cal Drifter]

Not good for reliability. Around here BMW stands for "break my wallet." Had a friend take hers in the other day for a couple of minor issues - $900. Try a Honda or a Toyota. Good luck.

[Jennie@ifish]

I know that dogs love to chew the bumpers off of them if you leave them in the garage overnight.

Jen

[Paddler]

I own a 2000 528i with a manual transmission and sport package. It will do things you just can't believe. I get 32MPG on the freeway, and it has been okay reliability wise.

Of all things, the steering rack leaked fluid, and needed replacement at 45K miles. BMW originally told me that since the car was out of warranty, they couldn't help make it right. I kept making noise, and finally got them to buy the part ($1100), and I paid for labor ($258). The reason I remember the labor cost ids that I will ask for that beck when I buy a new one. In BMW's defense, the part was made by ZF, not BMW.

Over all, it's a awesome car. I change my own oil for about $45, it has the original brakes, etc, and I havn't really done anything to it. It's comfortable, quiet, yet sporty, and the steering is surgically precise. For a kid, though, it's hard to fault buying a Toyota for overall reliabilty. But that's like driving Tupperware.