What Do You Get When You Buy A BMW?

Originally Posted by BobBNY

You may have driven a lot of cars..... but have you really "DRIVEN" the cars? I mean how many cars have you driven to end of life or near end of life? I have owned over 35 cars so far,mostly domestic a few Japanese, and driven close to 1.5 million miles. Some of these cars were real dogs, most were good quality, and a few were pretty good. But all but my WRX, Audi, and BMW were appliances. Simply put my current BMW is the full package. It handles well, performs well, looks good, is manufactured with high quality materials and to date has had flawless quality. This message is being typed after driving 450 miles back and forth from metro NY area to Boston today for a 2 hour meeting. The car made a potentially grinding 7 hour round trip drive a pleasure.

A car is more than the sum of it's parts. I have an old saying "when you dissect a frog... it's dead". You can pick anything apart. For a premium product its all about value. This is true for swiss watches, a hand made suit, a gourmet meal, and a premium automobile. You either get it or you don't.

I think you get it since you are in fact driving a 335. My recommendation is to quit worrying about the value philosophy and go out and enjoy driving your car.

BB

Originally Posted by Hemorrhage

I have not....not even my own. Too afraid of the car flipping over to push it to its limits, to be honest.
However, that's something I was also taking into consideration...performance.
My car is amazing at cornering.
Like I said...I've never pushed it to its limits, but I feel more confident cornering at higher speeds with my car than I do most.

Comparing the cost of a BMW to a regular car, one can only hope that it DOES perform better (cornering, slaloming, etc.).

The answer to your question right there. The performance, in every way. BMWs are a complete package and the sum exceeds the parts. Almost every other car on the road is a driving appliance. BMW is a driving machine. Whether it adds up to the ultimate driving machine is different for different people, but one thing is sure, it is not a driving appliance.

Originally Posted by MMME30W

50/50 weight distribution. Engineering staff that can design a suspension that is a joy to drive. Stiff chassis. Available with a 6 speed transmission as God und Herr Falkenhausen intended. Restrained Teutonic approach to interior and exterior design. Use of high-quality materials and OEM suppliers. Acceptable reliability. Motorsport inspired driving experience. Practical everyday features. A trunk. Innovative and competitive-to-industry electronics and gizmos.

Show me another car brand with that, I'll buy it. Hint: it ain't a Hyundai. Yet.

This

Originally Posted by Andrew*Debbie

Sometimes and it depends what you are comparing with.


As you already noticed, BMW uses high end materials in the interior. The new 1 series 5 door has some hard plastics but BMW isn't selling that model in the US. at least not now.

The N52 engine has a Magnesium block. I don't think any of the current motors have a Magnesium block though. In that power range, BMW switched from a light I-6 to a turbocharged I-4.

BMW uses better high grade steel to save weight. They also use a lot of aluminium. But other automakers do that too. BMW is even falling behind a little. The Jaguar XJ has an all aluminium body. The 7 series is mix of steel and AL. Jaguar-Landrover is moving towards all aluminium bodies for all models.

Rather than play catch-up, BMW is getting ready to build an all carbon fibre body production car. As far as I know they will be the first.

This

Originally Posted by charlesberry

I have an E46 330. It's a 2005 and it has 183,000 highway miles. I'm still STUNNED at how much fun it is to drive and well it handles. As for the repair costs, the E46 forum has pretty much figured out how to tear these cars down, and screw em back together. Yes I spend about 2k a year in DIY maintenance, but that includes tires. It's a feakin tank and when you hit the gas, it goes!! The wife is looking at a new F30 335 M sport, but as for me, I'm keeping my old trusty 330. Heck, I'm still cruising the ads looking for another low mileage 2005 330.

This. NO ONE gushes about an eight year old Toyota or Honda like this.

Originally Posted by Kamdog

I was making a left turn on a left turn signal, going into a street that had recently had its right lane widened into two lanes, and there were vans in both lanes, and, as these work vans like to do, both were edged into the roadway.

As I made my left turn, I saw a fire truck coming up the lane I was going to turn into.

Off the gas, slam on the brakes, and the car just STOPPED, right now. Lift off the gas immediately like that, and a BMW thinks you might be going into emergency stop mode and precharges the brakes and gets ready. Slam them on, and those big brakes with top notch pads, calipers, charging system, disks, and everything else just stops the car better than a lesser car does.

What it feels like and does at 50, it feels like and does at 60, 70, 80, whatever. We drove 750 miles in one day with very little problem, and were not physically broken up after the drive, and we are not exactly young, and we averaged 29 mpg on the trip. And I was always able to put the car exactly where I wanted to at every time. Up a long grade and need to accellerate? No problem, just depress the pedal. Set the cruise at 75? Doesn't matter if you are going uphill down hill, long grade, sweepers, bends, whatever, the car just handles it with aplomb.

A BMW's overall limits are just higher.

This.

Originally Posted by hellosopo

The biggest problem I have with "pretty much every newer car nowadays" is that they all understeer like crazy. If they have any amount of power (which they probably don't), they torque steer like crazy because it's likely FWD. Then you have the automatic transmission which is programmed for fuel economy. At least in my BMW I can choose a drivable automatic mode. The car has enough power to climb hills at highway speeds without hunting for gears. When I apply the brakes a bit going down a hill, it often downshifts to help slow the vehicle. I can get from 55mph to criminal speed in no time for passing, and the car is so solid and quiet that I don't even realize how fast I'm going.

Many of the features on a BMW also have refinements that make them a bit better than the typical offerings. That knob in the dash to direct the climate control for warmer or cooler air allows me to keep my upper body much more comfortable (it's much better than constantly fiddling with the primary temperature setting.) The climate control is typically powerful enough to keep me comfortable usually without blasting the air directly at me. The cruise control is not stupid and flooring the car at any small change. The gas cap holder actually works (this seems to be a difficult feature for some reason, though Ford has the best idea of getting rid of it completely.) There are a couple of small, removable, easy to clean grilles under the hood that capture leaves instead of letting them clog up the drains. I can turn on the parking lights only on the side of the car that is exposed to the road. It holds the brake for a couple of seconds on a hill so I can accelerate normally.

The bottom line is that the car has lots of little things that people don't really consider when purchasing a vehicle, but once you have a car with them you hate to lose them. It also has some things that are clearly over-engineered and totally unnecessary (runflat tires, electronic dipstick, windshield washer fluid level monitor), but I guess that's hard to avoid with German cars.

This.

Originally Posted by Hemorrhage

Hello,

For some time...I've been asking myself this. BMWs are very expensive cars. Are they worth the market price and high repair costs?

Pretty much every newer car nowadays is coming out with every feature...heated seats, nav, Bluetooth, power everything, turbos, etc.

I work at a Dodge dealership (for now) and I've had the chance to drive many, many cars and trucks.

It seems like they all compare to my BMW..yet, my BMW is double the cost.
I drove a Hyundai Genesis. It is smoother than most 5-series BMW's I've driven.

The only thing I can think of is the interior and exterior of a BMW. No doubt, they know how to make their cars sleek. The interior is nicer than 90% of the cars you typically see.

I don't know. What do you all say?

You have to look deeper than just how it looks. I'm an old man with a bad back that requires narcotics most days. For me it's all about the seats and they are exquisite.

From what I understand, the OP is afraid his car will flip over, he listens to his music on full the entire duration of his driving experience, he cant discern the difference in ride/inteior quality between a 335xi and a minivan, and did I mention he's concerned the car will flip taking an exit ramp?

OP, you really shouldn't be concerned with the performance of a car if you think for a moment you will flip it taking turns 99% of the general population takes at at least 10mph faster than stated. Perhaps you should consider what others have said and just buy a Charger or something that has enough oomph to pass on the hwy. If you aren't comfortable in the car and cant tell why its worth the extra money within the first 100 miles of ownership, you probably never will.

I think the simple answer to the question "What do you get when you buy a BMW?" is "Whatever you want to put into it."

For OP, I fear the answer is "A car." That's not necessarily a bad thing, and definitely what most people getting into a BMW think they're getting (notwithstanding those who answer "A badge"). For those who know what they're doing with a car, a BMW is something greater than the sum of its parts, and is in many ways one of the better cars on the road today. While it's not as fast as a Lamborghini, even the lowliest BMW for sale in the USA will outrun 99% of the other cars on the road. While it doesn't handle at the edge quite as well as a Porsche, it will still out-corner and out-brake 99% of the other cars on the road. BMW's are compromises, yes... but all cars are. BMW just happen to do it so well and so targeted that for a certain kind of driver they just seem absolutely perfect to the extent that we are willing to overlook the shortcomings of the car and just enjoy the experience.

I'm on my third BMW car (as my signature shows). There's a reason; I've never found a car that better fits my driving mission. I want a car that I can live with every day, that has creature comforts I can enjoy... but also will come to life when I throw it into a twisty mountain road... warn me with a squeak of a tire or a slight movement of the tail that I am driving on the edge of what the road can handle. The steering should tell me everything about every undulation of the road in front of me and respond in a manner that is so immediate that it seems as though the car has become an extension of me. I want a car that will make me grin as I goose the throttle; not because the car is the most powerful or fastest accelerating car in the world but because the car responds in a predictable, linear and enjoyable fashion while accelerating faster than most everything else on 4 wheels around me.

What do I get when I buy a BMW? I get the best possible compromise for what I am looking for in an automobile. I get my all-season commuter vehicle... my long-distance highway cruiser... my canyon carver... and I also happen to get a car.

very well put

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