German/ European cars

[suicidekings]

I owned a E90 335i, I picked it up at 60k miles and was just outside of warranty... It was hands down the worst car I have ever owned.

Don't get me wrong, the car was strong, fun, refined... you know, the ultimate driving machine. The problem was the car was never at its full potential.

The engine is a great engine, just everything attached to the engine is garbage. When I fixed one thing, the next would fail, after that was fixed, another thing would fail. It constantly had warning lights on, water pump failed, intercooler tubing blew out, never had a car that went through almost every single bulb, turbos were screwed up, that's what I can recall off the top of my head that caused the biggest headaches.

 

[Almo]

60k?!?!?

 

[suicidekings]

60k?!?!?

yeah, I thought for sure it had plenty of life left before giving me headaches.

 

[TooFast98Cobra]

I had a 12 x5. Was a great suv. The warranty covered brakes and every thing. Except hoses and tires. Warranty ran out it needed a battery. Over $500 because the delership has the ecu tool. My buddy has an m5 v10. Wont drive it anymore because of the dreaded rod b. curse. Nice cars but SELL or trade in when warranty is up.

 

[GM Nitemare]

I own an 2011 M3. It has 50,000 miles on it. I haven't had anything go wrong with the car yet. Other than having to replace my battery. The rod bearing could become an issue if you start it cold, and drive it to red line several times. Warm up the engine and you're good. At least I have been.

 

[AustinSN]

I'm in an interesting position because I don't own and don't want to own any German vehicles but my fiancee enjoys them and I'm somehow now caught up in this mess. Her family is big into German cars and just through them I've had plenty of "German engineering."

It's not just the reliability aspect, it's the nightmare of doing half the work. So many specialized tools that a lot of the dealers don't even keep around anymore.

She had an E39 M5 that was actually really sweet and surprisingly reliable. It had like 160K miles on it but it drank oil bad and when it needed a clutch we obviously decided to do it ourselves. We ended up having to drill out the flywheel bolts because the specialized tool BMW uses is just barely bigger than a T55, which a lot of people say will work. They took it step further and integrated the flywheel bolts into the dual mass flywheel, so you can't replace a stripped bolt, you need a flywheel. So what could have potentially been a $300 clutch ended up being over $1000. We got the cheapest DMF we could find at $700, which was actually $400 less than her cost at BMW (employee). With the concern of the VANOS issues and the intermittent electric gremlins that would kill the car at stoplights during the rain/after a car wash, we let that one go for pretty cheap.

Their E36 has just about every common problem you could imagine and for the short stint it lived down in Texas, it destroyed the dash and a pillars (warp). As of now this one is still running and while it does run, it's not a nice car. I think it has around 130k miles which isn't bad but considering the amount of work put into it, my Camry is an absolute daisy.

Her older brother bought a slightly wrecked E39 M5 (just bumper) and repaired it. It actually ran and drove but it needed suspension work around the entire car and the power steering went and it needed a rack (around 100k) miles. He traded that for an E60 M5 that had a bearing failure, but the previous owner had replaced it with another engine with the upgraded bearings, which promptly failed right after. So he put a rebuilt S85 in it and after a lot of work got it running pretty decent. From there it seemed like it was going to need a transmission and with constant dash lights that one went to a dealership for a nice profit.

This is the short list, as there were more BMWs, 3 minis and a few Audi's in the mix too.

Also, my moms 08 C300 was a POS too.

I'm good with American and Japanese cars.

 

[TooFast98Cobra]

I could never understand how the low oil light came on every 6 months and the dealership would just add a Quart and away u go. Lol every bmw

 

[GT Premi]

If it's CPO with a warranty, go for it. If it doesn't have a warranty, make sure you have some deep pockets. I had a brand-spanking new 550i Sport, and the engine wiring harness had to be replaced after a couple months of ownership.

 

[tones_RS3]

I wish I could afford a 2018 Porsche GT3. I would buy one in a heartbeat.
What a gorgeous car.

 

[raustin0017]

Purchased a new 2009 M3 while I was in Germany. Followed the recommended break-in procedures/driving to the letter. After the 1st service was accomplished at 1,200 miles the service rep told me all fluids were changed to include the transmission and rear end, top off the nitrogen in the tires, and he removed the 155 speed limiter. "You removed the speed limiter?" "Yes." "What is the top speed now?" "I don't know...you go find out." I simply loved the DCT mated to a 4.0 liter V-8 sound when it pulled up to 8,400 rpm. Had the car for 5 years with ZERO issues. Never in the shop for even a minor rattle. The most impressive driving car I have ever owned. I love the raw energy of my GT500...but wish I could have kept the M3.

Expensive to maintain? Yes...it's a BMW. Want cheap Mx? Purchase a Chevy Malibu but then you own a Chevy.

 

[Georgie]

Great cars with a warranty

I don't agree... if you like spending time going to the dealer in a brand new car your efin crazy!

Some of my buddys work at a BMW dealer and told.me about numerous new cars with blown turbos or dead batterys and so on.

I own a 2001 911....Amazing car. Also older German cars pre 97 are great. Its funny how I love my american muscle even tho my heritage is austrian/german...

 

[Coiled03]

My problem is, I'd like a performance sedan, BUT....

I ****ing hate CTS-Vs, and SHOs, and you'd have to pay me to drive anything from FCA. What's left from the domestic companies?

 

[Georgie]

My problem is, I'd like a performance sedan, BUT....

I ****ing hate CTS-Vs, and SHOs, and you'd have to pay me to drive anything from FCA. What's left from the domestic companies?

Why do you dislike CTS-V ??? That's a sweet car and i think also came t-56!

 

[HEMI LOL]

I'm with him, their shitboxes. fast sure, but GM, really enough said.

 

[Coiled03]

Why do you dislike CTS-V ??? That's a sweet car and i think also came t-56!

I find them ugly as all hell. I can't wrap my brain around the fascination people have with them beyond the HP numbers.

 

[03Sssnake]

Why do you dislike CTS-V ??? That's a sweet car and i think also came t-56!

Fit and finish sucks in most GMs. We have a few regular CTS sedans as company cars ...2012/13 models. The interior trim and molding is falling off of cars with 45-50K miles. Though I will say they are very comfortable and nice to drive. I doubt the CTS-V is going to be any different when comes to trim problems and door seals /stripping falling off the car.

 

[IamRacerX]

My problem is, I'd like a performance sedan, BUT....

I ****ing hate CTS-Vs, and SHOs, and you'd have to pay me to drive anything from FCA. What's left from the domestic companies?

Remember the SS is built in AUS. The quality is much better than GM US imo

 

[Wizzy]

The bomb factor is what makes these things exciting, have myself 98 E55 wagon with 341k on it, no major flaws in my ownership.

Looking to upgrade to 2003 Biturbo S600, now those things have some amazing expenses if something happens to break

 

[OneSlowV]

C63 AMG and be done with it


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[GodStang]

My Daily driver is a 2011 335d M-Sport. Not many other cars even close to it. 4 door, sporty, 30-40+mpg, handles great and has 425lb/tq stock and can easily get to 550rwtq with deletes and tune and maintains 40+mpg hwy. Lots of features and nice interior.

The down fall? Every sensor in that car has a short life span. The price on parts is insane. FRPS for a Ford $50. FRPS for this car $400. I got so sick of replacing sensors I just adjusted the steering wheel so I don't see the CEL anymore.