The Breitling Watch Source Forums

these BMW lemon discussions seem to pop up from time to time, told my lemon story in an older thread,
- surprised to read here some current 7s apparently seem to have similar problems.

My BMW love affair started in the mid 70s (no youngster here) with the car that put BMW on the map as a "driving machine" manufacturer, a 1600ti, followed by the wonderful 2002tii (still remember this one fondly). Then a 320i, next a 320i Alpina, my first BMW to act up crazily, with the driver's seat ripped out of the floor while accelerating - a safe one next, a relatively boring 525i.

But then the lemon of lemons, a 1991 735i with totally crazy electronics.

After many, many problems it finally broke me when it started acting up on a drive from Vienna to Budapest, turning on and off lights & wipers at will, at the end locking the car and windows & refusing to open, with me and two customers locked inside.

Had to drive it to a BMW garage on the way - at least my window was half open so I could communicate with the mechanics. As we could neither open the doors with handles, keys or remote, we had to crawl out through the sunroof at the end.

Being quite tall, not the slimmest person on earth and far from a Huodini, this was among the least dignified moments of my life; got rid of this lemon immediately.

BMW still builds some of the greatest cars on earth and I admire their corporate success - just not brave enough to drive one again

Fred - My 740i was a few years back as it was a '99 model, so while my electrical gremins weren't anywhere near as bad as yours (so they'd obviously improved things over the years), they clearly still weren't quite fixed.

On a related point I over-heard two 'arm-chair experts' talking about cars over lunch yesterday and one of them said that, "running a Porsche 911 is cheaper than running a BMW, including parts and tyres". (Errrrr, how is that exactly? Considering the 911 has much bigger and wider tyres for a start. ). His mate asked why that is, to which he replied, "Well, BMW's always break down, don't they".

As I said above, I really don't get where these urban myths come from as not one of my BMW's has ever broken down. Even when the 550's EMS shut down a cylinder to protect the engine when the fuel injector was blocked, it still allowed me to drive it home and then on to the garage for a warranty repair.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

well, since I moved to Range Rovers neither the price nor the weight of tyres can surprise me anymore -
these were definitely cheaper w/ my BMWs.

I continue to get the impression that the big offenders when it comes to BMW problems are the 7 series. That's the vehicle where they bring out their latest technological innovations, and as Tomcat mentioned, we may love later developments but the initial feature offerings can be rough. Most of the recent horror stories deal with the 7. Ironically enough, I got my old XJ8 in part because it was more reliable than a big Mercedes or BMW. (Also a complete fool for Jag styling) The air suspension demons eventually came, but that was the only problem I ever had. 5s and 3s, so far as I have known and heard, have been solid and I too know guys with the '99-'03 5s who insist they will drive them until they fall apart. One of the best proportioned and driving cars ever.

Fred, I do have to ask, since the thread is really now about BMW quality and reliability, about your leaving the brand for Range Rover. Here in the States, I think the Range Rover is considered the least reliable of them all. They are about the last vehicle model I haven't owned out of fear for reliability. (well, ok, there was an '05 Maserati sedan at the MB dealer last month that made my knees shake a little, but...)

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Scott

AP Royal Oak 15400, silver
Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Classic Cars
Vintage gold Corum
Rolex DJ 36 TT, oyster dial, oyster/smooth
Baume & Mercier Riviera 200m, silver dial/aquamarine bezel
Breitling Superocean 57, rose/stainless

Scott, Range Rover reliability was a mixed bag, first two ("classic") good, one lemon, one so so, the current great - that V8 Bi-Turbo engine is quite excellent.

first car after the electronically lunatic 7 - thought things just could not get worse - was a XJ6, proved to be ultrareliable, in comparison.

will be interesting to see how Range Rover reliability and build quality will hold up with the current production booms, they seem to look at doubling output ....

a Maserati Quattroporte has always been on my list, another car I am not brave enough to own.

Mercedes wins for sucky customer service. I have an ML500 and an AMG S55, the ML500 had an issue with the battery and the heat warmers stopped working. The dealership gave me a loaner car, called me at work and told me that the battery was around $200 and to fix the seats was around $800, then something with the suspension for around $1,000, total bill came to around $2500. I told him to just change the battery only, I took it to my local mechanic, who owns a couple Mercedes, he told me the issue with the seat warmers was minor (charged me $20 to fix) and the suspension I paid $600 for - quite the difference!

Anyway, the reason they are horrible is Mercedes called me and told me I needed to return the loaner, I told them I had to return it on the weekend unless they wanted to wait until I left work, the guy gave me an attitude and told me that I just am having a battery changed and I am keeping their loaner for now 5 days, while I am only supposed to have it three. I told him, well, you called me on day three and left me a voicemail with the repair cost, the next day you didn't return my call, and now you are arguing with me?!!!

ALSO - I had bought BOTH Mercedes from that dealership! I'm done venting now.

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End of Discussion.

The visual made my day. I definitely wish you took photos (or add a photo of your face to that thread with face photos....please!)

I also owned a BMW 735i, no electrical issues, but a problem with the exhaust, then the transmission. Have three cars currently, the Jaguar XJR, never had any real problems with it, but I don't drive it much (maybe 1,000 miles a year - if that).

Next car will be a BMW 760li (not new, most likely 2006ish).

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End of Discussion.