How many are over the "Beeemer" thing?
 

I'm wondering if the culture of BMW owners, uh I mean drivers, has changed. I changed to "drivers" because so many are leased......

I've never bought a car because of image or status, but rather for its quality, durability, comfort, drive-ability, economics...... Several times I refused to buy a car because even though it fit my requirements, I had problems with its image or status, mostly related to past experiences. For example, upon getting my 95 530i stick shift, I immediately noticed that other drivers would speed up to prevent me from merging onto the freeway or to change lanes. I would be shown drivers'middle fingers when passing or honked at when stopped to parallel park.

Though I'm an American, I've always had more of a European sense about cars. This explains almost comically, why I've owned two Peugeots and an Alfa, to mention a few. With respect my current car, a 2007 328i wagon, I need a smaller wagon for my business that is suitable for 250-450 one way trips on the highways of California several times a year. I don't care for the handling characteristics of SUV's, particularly in high winds, so a wagon it must be. The choices of quality smaller wagons are few.....Subaru, Audi and BMW are about it so far as CPO choices (though the Mazda 6 would be perfect, except they were too rare in 2010). We've had good luck with my wife's Saabs, but in 2010 it was not the "ideal" time to buy and I don't like Volvo. VW makes a couple good ones, but since there is a BMW dealer 5 minutes from my home, it became my target car.

Target car indeed.... There have been many times when I wish I'd used it for target practice. Other than it's excellent performance my BMW is a stinker. It's numerous problems should be an embarrassment to the brand....here are the major ones:
31,000 miles the automatic door locking system failed...the night I purchased it...on my anniversary....failed when the valet brought the car after dropping $400 on a lovely dinner
31,000 miles....somehow, some way, BMW's expert CPO crew MISSED the grinding left rear wheel bearing..warranty.
31,050 miles on..I noticed that while wearing polarized sunglasses one cannot read the radio display...Somehow nobody at BMW knows about this though it's all over the web...more fun...my Blackberry Storm2 that supposedly worked with the on board hands free system didn't work properly...(It works fine with my Samsung Galaxy).....
50,000 miles or so...the tube for the windshield washer leaks....two weeks earlier and it would have been covered by the first part of my CPO warranty, but now it's almost $400...ha ha...hey, none of my cars ever had that fail, not even either of my Peugeots...
54,000 miles...electric water pump failed...covered by warranty with $50 deductible....
58,000...the left outside mirror adjustment range no longer allows proper adjustment...another $50 warranty repair...it's been going on for a while...

Anyway, most of these problems are not expected regardless of how much research one does....do I have a lemon? Maybe, but honestly, compared to most of the cars that I've driven over my lifetime for about 700,000 miles, this dog is by far the most disappointing.... I am at times embarrassed to tell people what I drive lest they stereotype me as one of them Beemer drivers....

Sorry folks, it's just a car and not a very good one at that. Fortunately it's got good resale value and as soon as the warranty is up it's going to the pound. Watch your knees on those cup holders, will you?

Okay, I know, my leased Mazda CX-7 spoiled me... 36,000 miles, after initial software issues, never in for repair, never needed brakes and only needed one tire when turned in at lease end...comparable gas mileage to 3 series too....
:thumbdwn:

The "Beeemer thing"?

What's a Beeemer?:dunno:

What's a Beeemer?
 

It's a Beemer with an extra E for Ego

Cool story bro.

Nice rant, sorry to hear. My 2007 E91 was trouble free.

Advice: Sell the beamer (sp?) and buy something more reliable, innovative and stylish. Perhaps something like a Honda Fit, or perhaps larger like a Ford Escape?

:rofl:

I thought Beemers were the motorcycle line and Bimmer were the automobiles?

Your gonna get a good lashing for your story, but I will agree. Might be filled with technonlogy, but its poorly executed and built cheap for weight savings. Kinda like the Apple of automobiles..... Its ours and you cant modify it ( I will use the radio being the gateway for vehicle functions as an example). Windshield weatherstrip that dry rots after 2 years, rear window regulators that break waaaaay easy, lifter tick bla bla bla. These are basic automotive parts that should not be an issue early on with an "advanced engineered car". Defend it all you want, it is what it is.

I have one because I enjoy the driving experience it offers. I work in Germany a couple months every year and get to drive the autobahn daily. Got me hooked on day one. Now I cant drive that fast here of course, but still enjoy the handling euro cars offer. The price of that experience is $1000 headlights, $400 window regulators, battery registration....
OP, your right, but still love my 330i.

PS. People had issues with a BMW in southern Cali? I fly into Burbank and sitting at the dropoff looking at cars seemed like 80% were BMW is some shape or form. That is a lot of middle fingers flying around!!!! :)


Sorry to piggyback your observatons, wanted you to have a supporter.

Yep, but not just BMWs (Mercs get it too). It's not too bad here on the westside (only Audi and Priuses act that way), but in the surrounding areas it can get pretty tiresome... and the weekends when it's sunny and those a$$es want to go to the beach.

Bimmer.
Sorry for your problems. You've had more than your share and I know it's frustrating. I've driven BMW's for quite a while and have had next to no problems. Ceretainly no more than the Toyota's I drove prior to BMW. Maybe it's time for you to move on. Good luck with whatever you do...

I feel your pain, I have always owned Toyotas, then 5 years ago bought a Triumph TR6, because my cousin let me drive his, and it was fun, so I got one, also because I could work on the car myself, repainted it, rewired it, rebuilt the engine too. its also a convertible and not too many on the road so I always get noticed. I always like BMW;s mainly the older ones. then my brother in law showed up with a volvo hard top convertible and since I like convertibles I started looking for a hard top convertible and ended up zeroing in on the 335I Hard top convertible, I was always under the impression that BMW made really great, dependable cars. So I found a 2007, checked it out and purchased it thru car max last November. No issues yet, but I got to tell you If I would have signed up for this forum before I bought the car and read all the issues and expensive repairs that some have gone thru, I probably would not have purchased the BMW. So far I have felt lucky that I have had no issues but then I only drive the car on the weekend and only have had it for 3 months. The triumph is now a start up cruse around the block, early morning drives, summer kind of car plus my insurance wont let me drive it but 3500 miles a year and I cannot use it as a daily driver either, so thats why I got the BMW plus I wont have to ever replace a soft top on it. Well thats my story, at least I can sell the BMW and get most of my money out of it, the triumph is another story, I dont want to add up the receipts that I have spent on the triumph got to be in the 50K range over 5 years

Hondo

also as a side note. maybe its just BMW owners or me but I always fix anything that goes wrong with a car, but I bet most people that had all those problems would only fix what they had to to keep the car on the road, and the minor things, like the door locks not working, or the mirrors they would not bother with it, I got a brother in law and all his car look like crap, dents, cracked windshields, windows dont work, seats dont move, AC broke, doors dont open from the inside Etc and he could care less. but then he who has the ****test car has the right of way

Hondo

I think most people you find here fix things when they break.

Also, all car message boards are going to have people complaining about problems (no offense OP). People that don't have problems usually don't talk about it.



Sent from my Nexus 7 using Bimmer App

No me.

I got both.

Bike [Beemer] and car [Bimmer]

Gotta have some way to discriminate in conversation.

"Beeemer" is what people who don't own 'em think it's cool to call them. Kind of like people who have never been within 10 feet of a Porsche who constantly refer to them as a "Porsh".:)



It is annoying as hell, but a futile battle to attempt to correct.

To OP: My dad had multiple experiences in a '95 540i (bought new) such as you describe. He has numerous times queried me about getting the same type of reactions from other drivers and honestly, maybe it's just a difference of location, but where I live, the 3 series cabrio isn't particularly annoying to other drivers. Every once in a while I'll get somebody who baits me a little but when I don't bite it's a non-event. Sorry to hear your E91 has been such trouble. At almost 25K my '09 328i has had a few minor (and I mean really minor in the scheme of things) issues related to the retractable top. Other than that the engine, drivetrain, and standard electrics such as windows and door locks have been rock solid. It eats batteries like their going out of style, but part of that is my fault, so I'm not going to completely blame BMW, just needed to learn what to do and not do.

Bimmer..Owned 5 of em with less than half your issues on your one.If i wanted reliability I would get a Lexus.

To;dr I lease and enjoy the car.

You are comparing a new Mazda to someone else's used second hand BMW in terms of reliability? Buy new and take care of it, then you might have grounds to make a comparison.

Just the other day I was trying to change lanes and almost got run off the road by a beat up old van that sped up and wouldn't let me change lanes, and I could see the driver cursing at me for even daring to make an attempt to get in his lane. Then today, I got cut off by a Toyota SUV that had been sitting behind me for a while when he finally decided to not only flash his brights at me, but proceeded to go around me and cut me off without signaling. Mind you, I was abiding by all traffic laws, so I'm not sure what the deal was. Bad luck, or just the nature of the beast when driving a BMW amongst non-BMW friendly drivers? I don't know... but I feel your pain.

Sorry about all of your maintenance issues, I wish you better luck in the future.

I have had both and have not had reliability issues with either (other than my well documented RFTs, OEM shock, NYC roads nightmare).

Actually now that I think of it my 92 Lexus SC300 had a timing belt failure at 30,000 miles (repaired under warranty). The 335i is in the shop now getting the brake pads repaired under the (extended) maintenance. The 750 is still pretty new but has also been trouble free.

CA

Crazy, getting cut-off happened to me twice this week. I never noticed such blatant discourtesy (not to mention inches from high speed wreckage) in previous years of driving my current car or any car. The highest-level defensive driving techniques are back in order...

you bought it with 31000 on it if the car wasn't taken care of I'm not surprised things went sour quick.from what i understand BMW's are not bought for reliability or cheap upkeep maintenance .sorry to hear your issues hopefully you have better luck next time

Sent from my XT557 using Bimmer App

In addition to the Mazda, the Hyundai Elantra Touting is smaller, but it doesn't look like it's being sold for 2013.

Sorry about the E91. Mine has had less than stellar reliability, but it didn't have an Evil Previous Owner, so I just have myself (and BMW) to blame. If you buy another used Eurocar, a pre-purchase inspection by an independent shop that knows the marque might be advisable.

I won't buy the new E31 because BMW is importing them with automatic transmissions only, so the reliability is a moot point.

My E91 has been about as much fun to drive as a station wagon can be, that's why I bought it.

when you go with a used/preowned, even CPO, you are always taking a gamble.

chris