dealership "car is to old to run well"

[DaveSmed]

And that is why I believe that BMW (and other manu's), pandering to the dealerships, does not rectify known design flaws or production compromises, and continues to use defective parts throughout a model's production run.

Might be some truth to that in a way. Some of the most ass-backward designs usually get dragged into the dealer since were usually the only ones who will touch the damn thing. That usually makes for a lot of gravy work.

[markseven]

Might be some truth to that in a way. Some of the most ass-backward designs usually get dragged into the dealer since were usually the only ones who will touch the damn thing. That usually makes for a lot of gravy work.

For example, E39's, 540's specifically, will need a new radiator expansion tank at 60K. The expansion tank is good for anywhere between 59K and 61K. Sometimes the plastic radiators go at the same time. A failed expansion tank and/or radiator will cause the car to overheat (obviously), possibly warping heads, possibly causing catastrophic failure. Why would BMW ignore the issue? Cause 60K is past the warranty period. How difficult would it be for Munich to redesign the expansion tank and radiator? What motivates BMW to ignore the issue? Gravy work. Changing the expansion tank, installing new coolant and bleeding the system... easily $400 in flat-rate labor, which should take an experienced tech no more than 1 hour to complete. Then there's the possibility that the overheating resulted in a damaged engine...

BMW Techs, am I way off base here? :-D

[mikeedler]

if every company made failsafe parts on everything, noone would need to buy a new car.

you need to look at the BIG picture. If BMW saves 10 dollars on ever radiator for every (say e90) and 1 million are made-- thats a huge savings. so think id they would replace all of those (OLD) cars radiatiors how much that would cost.

the parts companies also need to make the money off of these parts too.

[markseven]

if every company made failsafe parts on everything, noone would need to buy a new car.

you need to look at the BIG picture. If BMW saves 10 dollars on ever radiator for every (say e90) and 1 million are made-- thats a huge savings. so think id they would replace all of those (OLD) cars radiatiors how much that would cost.

the parts companies also need to make the money off of these parts too.

Hey Mike,

I don't expect fail-safe parts, but I do expect a radiator to last for more than 60K, especially on a $60K car. It's 'okay' for a non-essential to go bad, but not something that could leave you stranded.

Side Note
My wife's C240:
New suspension bushings
New dif seals
New trans oil cooler
New AC compressor (after 50K)
New dash cluster (after 50K)
New fuel gauge
New motor mounts (after 50K)
New rear sunshade
New glove box door
New front pass-side seatback
Every light bulb imaginable
Unacceptable on a $35K car.

All between 17K and 77K, and now there's a new clunk in the front suspension. We have the StarMark warranty till 100K. If we only had the standard warranty, I would be very upset. Ours isn't a lemon... all C240's suffer from poor build quality or inferior parts/supply chain.

I can't imagine people that didn't by the extended warranty...

[WillisE30]

BMW Techs, am I way off base here? :-D

You tend to oversimplify things and have a big hard on for generalization. Plastic cooling system parts do tend to fail sooner than they "should". However as Mike pointed out it's a dollars and cents thing at the factory. Cheaper plastic saves money and most of the testing prototypes are put through are lots of abusive miles. Time and heat cycling do interesting things to plastic.

And for what it's worth I've seen radiators on E39s go 100k. Just depends.

Mercedes C cars are shit though!

[markseven]

You tend to oversimplify things and have a big hard on for generalization. Plastic cooling system parts do tend to fail sooner than they "should". However as Mike pointed out it's a dollars and cents thing at the factory. Cheaper plastic saves money and most of the testing prototypes are put through are lots of abusive miles. Time and heat cycling do interesting things to plastic.

And for what it's worth I've seen radiators on E39s go 100k. Just depends.

Mercedes C cars are shit though!

Thank you for the very specific response

[Brinkley]

Basically I think just the materials used to put BMWs together here in modern times are cheap, the I have an e46 and it's amazing how much better the e30's build quality is. When my car is 20 something I don't think it'll be in as good shape.
I would never recommend a BMW to a "normal" friend or family member over say a Lexus/Toyota or Honda/Acura in GENERAL BMW's are not exactly known for reliability

[Farbin Kaiber]

...every new car in the sub 90K price range is shit. And, Furthermore, some +90k vehicles are uber shit. Ever see a Maserati Quattroporte shit out a transmission at 12k miles? 30,000 will get you a lego/tonka interior and squeeks/rattles after the first time you step on the brake pedal. It is a sad state of a ffairs when the Auto industry as a whole has gone from the "glory days" of coach building to this mass produced heart/soulless machines churned out in droves to command a sticker price containing the ever sales frendly "xx,995.00".

/end rant

[Huff]

Actually, there's a great Dealership here in ATL. Global BMW is awesome. A bunch of e30 guys work at the parts counter and will cut you a price on parts (if they can). So, since the parts guys being so cool, I would go to them first if I were to buy a new car. It's a shame that a lot people in the service industry haven't figured out that they MUST be nice to customers.

[markseven]

...every new car in the sub 90K price range is shit. And, Furthermore, some +90k vehicles are uber shit. Ever see a Maserati Quattroporte shit out a transmission at 12k miles? 30,000 will get you a lego/tonka interior and squeeks/rattles after the first time you step on the brake pedal. It is a sad state of a ffairs when the Auto industry as a whole has gone from the "glory days" of coach building to this mass produced heart/soulless machines churned out in droves to command a sticker price containing the ever sales frendly "xx,995.00".

/end rant

qft