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:
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: