Experience I'll never forget.

That's a fact, Stef. And....so would I!

 

I've already had one experience with German engineering - my 2000 Audi A6 Avant. Problem was, it already had 78k on it when I bought it, and then things started going wrong - clogged cowl drains (soaked the carpet); bad ABS control unit; timing belt (a $1,500 job) was about due; etc. And it seemed everything was at least $1,000 to fix. Excellent car to drive, though.....

 

Yup....expensive to own. That's why my nephew trades every 4 years. Everything is free for 4 years.

 

Yeah, thats the problem with Euro cars here, they cost a fortune to upkeep. I had a 82 505 Turbo GTD Peugeot and a 81 505 Diesel that I bought for parts. Just to change the oil was a 2 week wait for the $32 oil filter to be shipped from France. What a damn good runner it was though, infact it was a little rocket and with the full indi susp, it cornered like a dream. But you go over to Europe and they are as cheap and easy to maintain as our domestic cars., where ours cost a fortune to keep up over there.

 

We had to change the PCV on the 7. It was $800. The intake has to come off. I couldn't believe it. The same thing was a ten dollar swap on my '57 and I did it in the parts store parking lot.

But try to convince the love of my life that it isn't the best car she's ever had. We had a massive accident in her previous one, 65mph and head on into a rock wall after hitting an unmarked washout on the highway that threw us sideways and instantly into the rocks, and neither of us had a scratch. Airbags deployed all around, quite a ride as the car bounced and banged down the road. The day before a Coke truck hit the same thing and flipped over and was totalled. The highways department hadn't gotten around to either putting up signs or fixing it, and it had gotten worse since the day before.

So, she went right out and bought a second one a couple of days later. Great cars to drive. I do have to admit that the few maintenance things that we've paid for probably overall total less than what we have paid on our other new cars.

Barry

 

I have to disagree on the maintenance costs here. I agree that there is not a lot of easy-do-it-yourself stuff on these cars, and jobs considered easy on classics can turn out to be labour expensive on modern ones (like timebelt changing) but the frequency is also much lower.
Modern beemers determine themself (depending driving behaviour) when you have to go for a check up, but 20-25K miles intervals is normal. Think then about the advised oil change intervals on our beloved classic wagons......
Futher, even the 550 with 400hp+ is doing 20mpg average and almost 30mpg highway! On the wagon area, a 525 touring with 220hp (and performance to match or exceed most of our wagons in standard form) is almost doing 40 mpg highway! Even though fuel costs are not as high at your place compared to Europe (1.40/l or $8/gallon at this moment), think what you will save with that!
I have driven more then one of these higher end cars and even when they are older, they are very relaible even with more then 150k miles.

Even said all the above, the performance, fuel economy, gadgets, modern comfort etc can not make up for the absence of any kind of character. For me, they are pure commodities and don't stand a chance against any classic wagon, even with all its short commings!!

God, and I am driving a Subaru....

 

LOL....nothing rong with a Subaru, sen!

 

I can relate to your experience, last year I test drove a BMW 335xi and I must say I was astounded by it's performance! It not only accelerated at an amazing speed, but cornered as though it were on rails. GREAT CAR, but not good if you want to keep your drivers license...it just begs to get driven fast!!!

 

I'm in complete agreement, heritage. Could not agree more.

 

I'll keep my american cars thanks... Building my cutlass to go auto xing and go down the strip. Lets see how that goes, but geuss what? Even if it isn't exactly as good as that bmw, it'll cost me less a lot less, and I can fix it myself.

 

Well a little research on Consumeraffairs.com list 48 pages of complaints from BMW owners; from $1000 lost key complications( security system) to $1200 set of tires for some Europe models. Repeat warranty visits, exotic-electrical problems etc. must read to believe.
Dont shoot the messenger!
And the 13:70 et,, fair for a $30g more door,, considering the best tech that money can buy. I drove a car for 8 years to work that ran 13:80's with a carburator and a set of points!!!! some 30+ years ago. Thats as low tech as it gets. ( dont force me to tell what it was)
It wasnt a road racer, I didnt want that..

 

14:42 in a 70 Duster 340 and I had it for 12-13 yrs with one alternator replacement. I paid 2700+ brand new.
My wifes 02 six cylinder Maxima runs 14:63. No repairs with almost 100 thou.
The BMWs are way outta line on repair costs.....but I guess if you can afford one it doesn't matter.