Apologies for the long and somewhat rant-like post. Please take what I'm about to write as a genuine opinion from a frustrated owner.
So I've had my 435i for close to 6 months and it has roughly 7000 miles on it. The car is incredibly great to drive, amazingly comfortable and sounds fantastic. We just came back from a 2000 mile 7 day road trip where I did 100% of the driving and I never got tired or worn out. Brilliant car dynamically, fantastic engine, 8 speed auto box is essentially perfect. I love the heads up display, and the active cruise is the best feature on any car I've ever owned, period.
That being said, I have to vent a bit on BMW's interior quality. It's flat out bad. Maybe my car is one of those 'last shift on Friday' cars. The interior has developed about 6 separate intermittent and annoying rattles, and a couple of severe constant ones as well. The car has been in the shop for a total of 3 weeks since new for this and other issues (other major issue was electronic cooling fan failure). Some of the rattles are not fixed yet, the worst one being related to the ski hatch between the rear seats.
Coming from a C class that had 15,000 miles when I sold it, I am deeply disappointed with BMW's interior quality. The interior finishes just are not up to the same standard as Mercedes. That car never had a single squeak or rattle the entire time I had it. Some specific things I dislike about the BMW:
- Cup holder lid that has to be removed and stashed - cheapness personified. How about a hinged lid? The one on my Merc was hinged and nicely damped.
- Center console storage bin lid - again cheapness personified. Cheap feeling latch, no damping so it just falls shut.
- Use of cheap looking glossy (or matt if you order it) plastic trim as highlight details on the dash and doors.
- Cheap-looking silver-painted plastic on the steering wheel and gearshift surround, where other brands normally have nice brushed aluminum
Overall the interior is symptomatic of a company that doesn't understand or doesn't care about surprise and delight (it's a thing in product design). This is not some opinion from someone who kicked the tyres on some cars at a dealership, I've owned both cars for considerable periods and paid from them out of my own pocket. If it was just the finishing that was poor compared to other luxury brands I could forgive it. But a car should not sound like it is falling apart after 5000 miles. I will probably have one more go with the dealership trying to fix the ski hatch rattle, then just live with it after that.
At this point I don't see myself staying with the BMW brand next time I lease a car. Very disappointed.
So I've had my 435i for close to 6 months and it has roughly 7000 miles on it. The car is incredibly great to drive, amazingly comfortable and sounds fantastic. We just came back from a 2000 mile 7 day road trip where I did 100% of the driving and I never got tired or worn out. Brilliant car dynamically, fantastic engine, 8 speed auto box is essentially perfect. I love the heads up display, and the active cruise is the best feature on any car I've ever owned, period.
That being said, I have to vent a bit on BMW's interior quality. It's flat out bad. Maybe my car is one of those 'last shift on Friday' cars. The interior has developed about 6 separate intermittent and annoying rattles, and a couple of severe constant ones as well. The car has been in the shop for a total of 3 weeks since new for this and other issues (other major issue was electronic cooling fan failure). Some of the rattles are not fixed yet, the worst one being related to the ski hatch between the rear seats.
Coming from a C class that had 15,000 miles when I sold it, I am deeply disappointed with BMW's interior quality. The interior finishes just are not up to the same standard as Mercedes. That car never had a single squeak or rattle the entire time I had it. Some specific things I dislike about the BMW:
- Cup holder lid that has to be removed and stashed - cheapness personified. How about a hinged lid? The one on my Merc was hinged and nicely damped.
- Center console storage bin lid - again cheapness personified. Cheap feeling latch, no damping so it just falls shut.
- Use of cheap looking glossy (or matt if you order it) plastic trim as highlight details on the dash and doors.
- Cheap-looking silver-painted plastic on the steering wheel and gearshift surround, where other brands normally have nice brushed aluminum
Overall the interior is symptomatic of a company that doesn't understand or doesn't care about surprise and delight (it's a thing in product design). This is not some opinion from someone who kicked the tyres on some cars at a dealership, I've owned both cars for considerable periods and paid from them out of my own pocket. If it was just the finishing that was poor compared to other luxury brands I could forgive it. But a car should not sound like it is falling apart after 5000 miles. I will probably have one more go with the dealership trying to fix the ski hatch rattle, then just live with it after that.
At this point I don't see myself staying with the BMW brand next time I lease a car. Very disappointed.