Quote:
Originally Posted by AstonMartinNY
I heard all German cars are pains... why? lol
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IMO, it comes down to the engineering philosophy of how to accomplish the essential and non-essential functions of the vehicle. The German cars tend to be "over engineered" in many ways/items which do not necessarily equate to more durability/high performance, and generally specify a quality level of materials which may be higher than other designers use.
But not necessarily to any benefit beyond a talking point or a pride in the elegance of the component.
For example, a friend here had owned Honda's for two decades. Always preferred manual transmissions, and always got 150,000++ trouble-free miles out of the clutches and actuating mechanism. Recently bought his first VW Jetta TDI with a manual trans and burned the clutch out in 68,000 miles. The German higher performance clutch will not take the abuse of improper downshift technique (ie, not matching RPM to the next lower gear via throttle), which he had never learned or utilized in his Honda Civics. I drove with him after the clutch work was completed in the VW, and the man never used the throttle on his downshifts. My advice to him was to sell the manual VW and get an automatic transmission car ... he's an MD and isn't going to learn how to drive properly now.
I shudder to think of what the service life of a clutch would have been for him in a BMW. I used to see folk drive like him blow out BMW clutches, esp on the 5-series, within the first 12,000 miles or so. The marginal increase in performance of the BMW spec'd clutch over the Honda clutch simply wasn't an advantage for their driving needs.
And so it goes with many other aspects of the German cars ... electronics that can do more and are technically superior, but without a net benefit unless you appreciate the detail incremental improvement.
IMO, the last of the BMW's that were simpler, sturdier, and more reliable ended in the early 1970's models, but one is dealing with cars with much less "luxury" features than modern production. That's why clean 2002 models are somewhat collectable as daily drivers, but you don't see many Bavaria's or 2.8/3.0 CS coupes ... the higher end cars were problematic and expensive to maintain. Limited production added to the cost; for example, the rear muffler assembly for a Bavaria was reasonable, but the design for the CS added several inches to the overall length of a comparable muffler ... at over double the cost. You could tell when somebody "cheapied" the exhaust on a CS when the tailpipe tips ended about 8" in front of the rear bumper, underneath the car.
It would be a pretty rare early 320i or 318i that would be in daily driver condition today that didn't require a lot of ongoing maintenance. Later year models got more complex and fragile while delivering much more luxury, better A/C systems, and performance, but at a cost.
One of my sons bought a 635CSi with about 80,000 on the odo a few years ago. Thought he got a deal on a rust-free, clean straight one-owner car at $2,000. Between suspension, electrical, electronics, brakes, climate control, valve job, rotted radiator, falling apart rubber components, and other mechanical items that absolutely needed attention to make the car roadworthy ... he was looking at spending over $20,000 on this car with him doing most of the work himself and sourcing the parts at essentially wholesale price points through the direct importers selling to the public. Despite an exceptional exterior and interior cosmetic condition, virtually none of the car systems worked except that the engine did start and run OK and the transmission (which had been overhauled already) were satisfactory. But the car was pretty much useless ... no functional A/C, no heater (the core had failed and hoses blocked off). He put over $4,000 into the car before putting it up for sale. The extra set of winter wheels with good snow tires were the item that sealed the sale for him to a buyer at $1,500.
I've often fondly remembered some of the fine driving experiences I've had in many 3-5-6-7 series BMW's, with my euro 745i probably being the strongest performer and fun to drive of the bunch. But every time I look around at what's in the marketplace today, I am reminded of why I sold them all through the years and have only kept a few of my 2002's. Foolishly sold my last '72 tii and one car that a client of mine had built up for autocrossing that was pure fun on the street, along with my last 2.8 Bavaria, when I moved out of Colorado.
Keep in mind that I'm in the trade, have professionally worked on BMW's since the late 1960's, have all the tooling and specialty tooling to perform my own maintenance, buy my parts at wholesale ... and I still cannot justify keeping virtually any newer BMW on the road for a transportation car. If you have to pay a pro shop to keep your older BMW on the road, you'll pay dearly for the experience ... if that's worth it to you, then so be it.
PS: I've previously posted the experience of my cousin in MD who'd driven Honda products for the last 30 years, with manual transmissions and 180-200,000 mile longevity with minimal ... per manufacturer spec'd ... dealer maintenance.
Two years ago, she decided her last Accord was worn out and it was time to get a new car. She priced new Accords and two year old BMW's off-lease, and the driving experience in the Bimmer's swayed her to a "gotta' have one of these decision". Bought her first bimmer, a 3-series with less than 20,000 one-user local miles. In her first 18 months and 20,000 miles of driving, she has spent far more money on routine consumables and maintenance than she did in any Honda over 200,000 miles of driving. On top of that, she now has to buy premium fuel for the BMW, which adds to the increased expenses and higher insurance premiums. Having now bought a BMW and experienced the realities of ownership, she recognizes that the BMW does nothing more for her transportation requirements than did her Honda's. The "fun" factor of driving the BMW wore off for her in the first few thousand miles, and the cost of having that available for her has and will not be of any value to her. In my experience with many customers over decades, that's not an uncommon outcome. I'm not picking on BMW's here ... the same experience has held true for many other clients who ultimately came to realize that the BMW performance edge over the cars they were driving wasn't usable or worth the cost per mile and downtime that came with the cars. YMMV.
PPS: my cousin had to buy her first set of replacement tires for her BMW. Sticker shock ensued; specialty size tires for the car means limited choices and high cost.
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