BMW advice

[CincinnatiFiero]

That's a rather blanket statement, Paul. Every manufacturer has its quirks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6RDVBHsCfg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mco77TK94GU

For sure, but I'd argue on average German cars are better built and last longer than American cars. I've never heard a 400k mile small block that just needed a headgasket. However this all depends on the owners. I've looked at 100k mile BMWs in "urban" environments and the owners see 300k mile cars online and assume that's a given and they are very lax about maintenance which drastically shortens the cars life. I've seen plenty of sub 200k Benzes and BMWs with spun bearings and no compression due to owner neglect.

I know my undying love of german cars annoys you, but I've yet to be disappointed and dads 04 lexus is already disappointing me.

VWs are a pain in the ass, I won't own anymore. The parts are as much or more than a BMW or MB and they are harder to work on and you don't get the badge clout which if you're paying far out the ass for some parts you may as well get some status.

On my 2000 passat the alternator is something like 10 hours flat rate. You have to drain the coolant, drain the trans cooler, and recover the freon. Then remove the bumper, core support, condenser, and radiator. Then to fill the transmission you need a special tube that punctures a plug in the top of the trans. Then you replace the plug. Also VW calls for the trans fluid to be pre-heated.

When I did my alternator we put it on a lift, unbolted all the motor mounts and lifted the motor so the alternator would fall out the bottom.

[Aaron]

I'm with you on the German cars, been nothing but impressed with my 525i. 248,000 miles and it's the most reliable car I've had. It's amazing that in Chevrolet's most expensive sedan in 1991, you couldn't reach the HVAC or radio. In BMW's cheapest 5 series, you had power seats, power sunroof, duel zone climate control that your arms could adjust, airbags, etc. I'd take the 40hp hit.

[The Dark Side of Will]

And with a 540, you'd be up 50 HP as well as having the option of a stick...

Assume you're talking about a Caprice of some type... Or a Lumina?

[Aaron]

I was thinking the Lumina, they are all pieces of shit though so Caprice will work too.

[The Dark Side of Will]

An LT1 Caprice was a decent muscle car (and autobahn stormer... the Police package cars could supposedly top 150 mph)... But those weren't around in '91.

[Aaron]

Not to mention they were, hell are, like every other Chevy. Great power train with the interior styled after a box with the durability of toilet paper in the rain and the ergonomics of a soapbox racer.

That sucks to hear about the Lexus though, a first generation IS250 was in competition with a E46 330ci for my next car.

[Emc209i]

I know my undying love of german cars annoys you, but I've yet to be disappointed and dads 04 lexus is already disappointing me.

Don't think that, because it's absolutely not true! Your lens is very important to me. In fact its because of you that I probably spend about two hours a week putting BMW's and Merc's under the "microscope". As you know I'm still seriously considering picking up a second generation GS4, and unlike the Fiero, I've done every last bit of possible research to be sure this is a car that was built by a serious company, and meets to serious reliability, form/function/performance demands, and comfort standards. Every time someone mentions the 540i, I think about you and your love for the Bimmer, and start doing an in depth head to head. And no lie, this happens, at the very least, once a week.

As you know, I dislike BMW interiors for the most part - I like some. I also am looking for a more comfortable ride characteristic. So naturally the 540i isn't the right choice for me. But that's ok, because the GS4 outperformed the 540i across the board back in '98, so I really don't feel like I'm sacrificing anything performance wise for a more comfortable ride and an interior I prefer. I also prefer the legendary Toyota UZ and transmission over the BMW's, again just a personal preference, but I think it's a more reliable platform and easier to service, and that's what I'm after.

On the other hand, BMW fanboys who are blindly intolerant of factual data and think they've reached fortune 500 and are better lovers because they bought a ten year old 3 series annoy the hell out of me. I actually went looking for some of these cock suckers, hoping to perhaps draw some perspective I was overlooking. As expected they were into BMW's for the badge, nothing more. One actually did mention road feel, that "rebadged Toyota's" don't give the same feel of being connected with the road. I actually thought about that. I can tell you how many cracks are in the road leading to our driveway, and I'm not exactly thrilled about admitting that, so again, I'm not looking for road feel, I'm looking for luxury and performance. I'm sure F1 drivers say the same thing about BMW's. I'm not racing. I don't give a shit.

I will certainly agree with you about American cars, I can't get into one without looking around and thinking about how cheap they are and that some sucker actually forked over MSRP for one. The Corvette is the only vehicle GM has ever built that actually gets taken care of by the engineers; aluminum chassy, reliable drivetrains, good instrumentation. It's intolerable that American's are allowed to get away with this, and then get bailed out when they get exactly what they deserve. I do agree that on the whole BMW's are much more reliable cars. But its a fact that BMW's spend a lot of time in service bays for all sorts of problems (mechanical/electrical/suspension), and that is a big reason I'm not that interested in them. Mercedes has really built some lemons in the past ten years, and we all here of course know why with the Chrysler buy and quality control. I really am sad about that, Mercedes can build such classy vehicles, but the ones in my price range suffer from chronic unreliability.

In short, don't apologize for being who you are. I know where you're coming from and why you enjoy what you do.

[crzyone]

Before I bought my last Cadillac I did a lot of research. I was town between a few of the luxury brands. I read multiple reviews, and the reason I didn't buy a BMW is because of repairs. I read there are a lot of issues with small things, like power window acutators, flimsy parts. Like they would nickel and dime you to death. The only complaint I read about the CTS is the arm rest was too short.

I'm sure BMW isn't as bad as I percieve, but this fall after my wedding I'm buying a CTS-V. Not sure if first or second gen yet since I stil love the first.

[Aaron]

Obviously the CTS-V is not really comparable to my car, as your car payment will be higher than my purchase price, but my car must be a freak. 248,000 miles, and there's nothing wrong with it, besides it needs front end suspension bushings. It's a piece of shit for sure, but there's really nothing wrong with it. Oh, cruise control doesn't work. My last 525 was completely perfect, just lacked power of course.

Girlfriend has a 325ix that was totaled from Katrina, and it's been a good car. So far all I've fixed on it was the taillight recall and the T-stat (75,000 miles).

So my personal experience has been very good with BMW's. And while fixing them, I was very impressed with the design. My next car will probably be the E46 330ci. Great style, great weight distribution, RWD, 6-speed, a chassis renowned for its handling, and that BMW inline 6 that doesn't know how to break, returns 31mpg hwy, and has decent power at 235 or so.

[Emc209i]

...and that BMW inline 6 that doesn't know how to break,

I suppose I consider spitting the cam cog bolts a "break". But again, that's me...

[crzyone]

Yeah, I am comparing the same year Caddy and BMW, that's just what I gethered from research. JD power rates caddy pretty high for initial reliability. Might be too new to see how well they hold up to very high mileage. I suspect the LS6 and LS2 will last a long time. They aren't exactly stressed.

[The Dark Side of Will]

My next car will probably be the E46 330ci. Great style, great weight distribution, RWD, 6-speed, a chassis renowned for its handling, and that BMW inline 6 that doesn't know how to break, returns 31mpg hwy, and has decent power at 235 or so.

Vorschlag built one of those into an AutoX car. They broke the engine. Multiple times. Crankshaft harmonics from sustained high RPM cause the retaining nut for the oil pump drive sprocket to back off, which causes and immediate and total loss of oil pressure. The details of what they did are someplace on http://www.Corner-Carvers.com

[Aaron]

Well mine won't be seeing prolonged high RPM exposure, but the BMW 6s have a good reputation for reliability. I'm not sure what to say, all of my experience with them has proven them to be reliable.

So I decided today to replace the O2 sensor, I figured it probably hasn't been done in a while. I picked a new one up for $78 and went home to replace it. Oh my fucking God. There's a lot of things that are really well designed on this car. The O2 sensor is not one of them. It is about halfway down the exhaust, and is located on the Y-pipe. It's on the top of the Y-pipe, squeezed between the Y-pipe and the body of the car. And it's pointed into the exhaust flow at a 30 degree angle. It is impossible to get to. So I removed all 4 exhaust hangers, and let the exhaust hang from the headers. Still couldn't get to it. I shit you not you have to remove the exhaust system from the car to change the O2 sensor. FML. That means removing the exhaust from the headers, so 6 rusted ass nuts, of which 3 can be accessed easily.

[Emc209i]

That sounds just like what I read about the 540i; pain in the ass to service.

[Aaron]

That can be said of any car though. Coincidentally, O2 sensors (There are 2 of them) on the 540 take about 10 minutes.

[The Dark Side of Will]

The 6 cylinder E34 O2's are definitely a pain.
I haven't seen the O2's on the 8 cylinder cars... could see those going either way.

[The Dark Side of Will]

I suspect the LS6 and LS2 will last a long time. They aren't exactly stressed.

For the Northstar, GM used a centrifugally cast grey iron instead of the nodular iron used for iron blocks. The liners are extremely hard and wear a long time. I @$$ume they would have done the same with the aluminum LS engines. The money difference between the N* and LS1 was in the casting method... Northstar blocks are die cast while the LS1's are sand cast.

[Series8217]

My next car will probably be the E46 330ci. Great style, great weight distribution, RWD, 6-speed, a chassis renowned for its handling, and that BMW inline 6 that doesn't know how to break, returns 31mpg hwy, and has decent power at 235 or so.

Vorschlag built one of those into an AutoX car. They broke the engine. Multiple times. Crankshaft harmonics from sustained high RPM cause the retaining nut for the oil pump drive sprocket to back off, which causes and immediate and total loss of oil pressure. The details of what they did are someplace on http://www.Corner-Carvers.com

Vorshlag put a chip in it that raised the rev limiter, then drove it at sustained higher-than-factory-redline revs and the motor broke. No surprise. I'm not sure why they thought BMW arbitrarily limited the RPMs on that motor. The engineers have good reasons for what they do.

I wouldn't be surprised if the cam cog bolt failure linked above was caused by someone doing the same thing.

This is the build thread: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh ... ?t=1342943

[Emc209i]

I wouldn't be surprised if the cam cog bolt failure linked above was caused by someone doing the same thing.

Afraid not, its rather common on E46's.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Aside from working Saturday morning wrapping up FRB documentation from the things that broke Friday evening and working this afternoon because a TWTA decided to turn itself off, I've been cleaning the block deck, head bolt holes, pistons and head deck in preparation for reinstalling the head with the new MLS gasket.

There is light pitting in the head deck surface just outside the fire rings... I have already worked on it a couple of hours with scotchbrite and a parts washer. I'll be polishing away with 1000 grit paper into the evening.

The head bolt holes were full of oil. It probably seeped in under the bolt head over 258,000 miles. Cleaning it out of the head bolt holes was enough of a PITA that I'm thinking about RTV'ing the nuts and washers on the ARP studs. I'm pretty sure I'll use blue loctite on the studs where they screw into the block.