BMW - The Ultimate Driving Delusion?

TrickyWicky

motorguy wrote: »

Just bemused by some of the dross people put on here to justify their prejudices.

I actually drive a golf.

You drive a golf yet think you're good to comment on why i've known a few beemer drivers who prefer french cars?

Get real. Thats like me telling you that Cadburys make better chocolate because your mate fred says that Mars is crumchier than Nestle.

motorguy wrote: »

With VW's being so reliable, i'm thinking of putting all the money i save on repairs into making a home made car for the weekends like you have.

VW reliable? Some yes but I've heard of many VWs doing unpredictable things over the years. IF you want a truly bullet proof engine then get a volvo.

JustinR1979

TrickyWicky wrote: »

VW reliable? Some yes but I've heard of many VWs doing unpredictable things over the years. IF you want a truly bullet proof engine then get a volvo.

Could this be down to the numbers involved?
Not many Volvo engines compared to VW. The 1.9 tdi for example, must be in a dozen different cars.
That was designed for over a million miles.
Have had 3 of them, seem to take the miles nicely.
But I agree, VAG isn't the be all and end all of reliability as people think.

motorguy

TrickyWicky wrote: »

You drive a golf yet think you're good to comment on why i've known a few beemer drivers who prefer french cars?

Get real. Thats like me telling you that Cadburys make better chocolate because your mate fred says that Mars is crumchier than Nestle.

I told you what i drove currently. Not the cars i've had in the past. I've had loads of BMWs and my son and wife drive them. I prefer them over Audis (whats the point unless you go for a top end 3.0i quattro or something) and Mercs (i'm a bit too young for them to appeal just yet). Quite like Jags. Had a few of those.

As i said back on my first post on the first page of BMWs "That said, they do tend to drive better than most of their rivals and with the right spec, are a nice place to be. I dont think anyone really believes the "ultimate driving machine" tag line, its just their advertising gimmick."

TrickyWicky wrote: »

VW reliable? Some yes but I've heard of many VWs doing unpredictable things over the years.

That was tongue in cheek. Its less than 2 years old and has had a water pump and engine wiring loom fitted under warranty because it kept randomly cutting out. Decent enough car, but i bought it because i liked the economy and the anonymity of it, not because i perceived it in any way to be "extra reliable" (which is just as well as it turns out). Its just an average grey golf.

TrickyWicky wrote: »

IF you want a truly bullet proof engine then get a volvo.

Hmmm. With the peugeot 1.6 diesel engine they fitted? :eek:

OR Peugeots 2.0HDI engine in it that lunches floating flywheels?

No i dont think so.

Iceweasel

Well I've just arrived in Valenciennes in France having left the south of Austria yesterday morning.

Stayed overnight in Nuremberg.

It's been a very enjoyable 2 days in my Ultimate Driving Machine.

Several Alpine Passes and then around the Rossfeld Ringstrasse hill-climb course.

A bit of fun with a touch of opposite lock on some of the damp hairpins.

Note for the young folks - opposite lock is now called 'drifting' apparently - I've been doing that all my driving career - just in case they think it's a new invention like the 'interweb.'

From Nuremberg to Valenciennes was a 8 hour 30 minute trip - took a good bit more than the Sat-Nav thought at first due to road-works and accidents, but I still managed a good run on some stretches at between 85 to 90mph. On occasion I did up the rate to around 120mph but it was a bit tedious having to brake down frequently for all the Dutchmen overtaking each other with their twin axle caravans.

Of course there were stops for eating, drinking, and shopping - as this a pleasant travelling experience - not an endurance race.

I drive according to the conditions rather than the speed limits - a bit like the UK pre 1966.

AndyGb mentioned having an E28 528i back in 1982 - I've still got mine - the fastest 4 door saloon car in the world when it came out.

I bought it new in 1982 and picked it up at the factory on June 20th .

Zero to 62mph in 7.4 seconds, 184BHP a fantastic machine back in 1982.

But that's not the BMW I took on holiday for the last 3 weeks - oh no - my car of choice for todays European journeys - an E90 320D M-Sport 6-speed auto.

And guess what - zero to 62 in 7.4 seconds, 184BHP - a fantastic machine for the driving I do and the conditions/price of fuel etc.

The 32 year old E28 is a weekend-tinkering, veteran toy these days.

With the E28 I was lucky to get 20mpg driving it hard - with the E90 I get over 54mpg.

From the Croatian border with Serbia all the way to Aberdeen on 3 tanks of fuel.

I wouldn't have much more pleasure if I had an imaginary M3

I got pretty annoyed to be told that folks with the entry level 320d and such were not 'real BMW enthusiasts' - but what the hell - what do they know?

I've always bought vehicles I like for my own reasons - not to impress others - simply to enjoy driving them.

I've also got a 16 year old M-Benz Sprinter van and I enjoy driving that too.

So it's 'Yahboo Sucks' to those who don't like BMWs - I don't care.

thescouselander

colino wrote: »

thescouselander, you appear to have had the worst Friday beemer going. I have had dozens of BMWs through my hands and while they are heavy on brakes, bushes and tyres, that tends to be because they are driven more enthusiastically and when replaced by decent parts (now very, very cheap) are good as oem.
The vanos fault is much rarer than a lot of car magazines would have you believe and is always down to poor initial servicing that prematurely wears the seals. Replacement on the 3 series is easy and quick too.
I agree the handbrakes are surprisingly limp in comparison to the service brake, and I've heard too often, from BMW techs in particular, "it's down to them nearly all being autos, so who needs the handbrake!"
Only common airbag problems were passenger side pads going wrong for no good reason. or multi-user cars having the wiring under the drivers seat displaced. On the demister? Sorry you were unlucky, I've yet to found a broken one.
Such a shame to write off a marque by experiencing one duff one.

Perhaps it was a Friday afternoon job but others I know who have owned BMWs seem to have also had a lot of trouble. You're correct on the air bag problem in that it was the passenger side occupency sensor.

A few of my other gripes with my BMW are around some of the driving characteristics it had. For example in wet weather the brake cooling ducts seemed to channel water onto the brake discs meaning the brakes would not come on immediately when the pedal was pressed. This seemed to happen at between 40-60 mph and was very unnerving when driving in the wet.

Another thing was with the "drive by wire" throttle which seemed to have a mind of its own. I could press the pedal down and the power might come on very quickly but on occasion the car could hesitate which didn't inspire confidence when needing to pull out quickly. I drove a few other cars of the same model and they all seemed to do this.

The car did have its good points though. Other than the hesitation problem the engine was excellent - very smooth with plenty of power and not even that heavy on the fuel.

Unfortunately I'd think very carefully before buying another one though as my experience was very bad.