[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

BMW has made massive strides with reliability in the past 10 or so years. Per CR and many other publications, they are some of the most reliable cars on the road. Expensive to maintain, sure, but overall quite reliable and miles ahead of VW/Audi, Benz, Jag, and Rover. Not even the same ball game. Porsche still remains pretty solid though their Audi-based SUVs are bringing down reliability numbers.

My 2016 M235 (ordered new) was ROCK solid. Minus one ECU update in the spring of 2017, it never required a repair by BMW or myself. All it did on that car was basic maintenance/preventive maintenance. That car was so good to me that I just got a 2018 M2 to replace it. My buddy has a 2015 X1 and his wife a 2020 X5. He's owned those cars for 4-7 years. No issues. Another friend has a 2016 328. No issues in 7 years of ownership.

Years is not the metric, miles are. What miles were on these BMWs you mentioned? My 2006 E90 didn't have a failure until 130,000 miles (4 years) when the T-stat threw a trouble code. That's about 10 years for most people.

Of the 5 BMWs if owned, I find (found) all of them quite reliable. My newest is a 2008. My first was a 1989 E30 bought in Nov 1988.

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Years is not the metric, miles are. What miles were on these BMWs you mentioned? My 2006 E90 didn't have a failure until 130,000 miles (4 years) when the T-stat threw a trouble code. That's about 10 years for most people.

Of the 5 BMWs if owned, I find (found) all of them quite reliable. My newest is a 2008. My first was a 1989 E30 bought in Nov 1988.

I agree, years in the metric, not miles. Parts rot on the cars over time, especially plastics. I think BMW gets a bad wrap because people pick them up on the used market cheap, especially 10+ y/o ones, and then are surprised at the costs to fix and maintain them. Most any 8-10 y/o car will require a lot of maintenance at that timeframe, primarily suspension, brakes, valve cover and other common seals, and cooling system stuff. German cars just seem to be a bit more intensive than most.

There is no debate that BMW has stepped up its game with the overall life expectancy of it's parts including under hood plastics and electronics. Sure, there are some common failure plastics and stuff, but nothing like it was prior to the 2012-ish.

As I've learned with my 2016 M235 and my 2011 Cayman, if you're willing to DIY, these cars are not overly difficult to maintain. Parts prices can be 20-50% more than a domestic/Asian make, but if you're doing the labor, it's usually not crazy. I've easily saved $10,000+ doing all the work on my M235 and Cayman in labor alone.

[BlkGS]

Most of our cops slipped the Durango and went right to Tahoes. It's hard to beat the durability of a traditional frame for the severe use cop cars take.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

I agree, years in the metric, not miles. Parts rot on the cars over time, especially plastics. I think BMW gets a bad wrap because people pick them up on the used market cheap, especially 10+ y/o ones, and then are surprised at the costs to fix and maintain them. Most any 8-10 y/o car will require a lot of maintenance at that timeframe, primarily suspension, brakes, valve cover and other common seals, and cooling system stuff. German cars just seem to be a bit more intensive than most.

There is no debate that BMW has stepped up its game with the overall life expectancy of it's parts including under hood plastics and electronics. Sure, there are some common failure plastics and stuff, but nothing like it was prior to the 2012-ish.

As I've learned with my 2016 M235 and my 2011 Cayman, if you're willing to DIY, these cars are not overly difficult to maintain. Parts prices can be 20-50% more than a domestic/Asian make, but if you're doing the labor, it's usually not crazy. I've easily saved $10,000+ doing all the work on my M235 and Cayman in labor alone.

My 1997 Z3 was one of the first US-built BMWs at Spartanburg. The interior plastics on the early E36 really did suck, but strangely the engine/under hood plastics are really good. The M44 has plastics in the cooling system piping that are original on my 27-year-old car (I'm the original owner). The radiator is original as well. The camdrive box profile gasket began to leak some 20 years in, but it was an easy fix. The pan gasket is still leak free (must be that iron block). 🤣🤣🤣

My E90 went well over 200,000 before the pan began to leak. The Mickey Flange easily did 8 years and 200,000+ miles. Radiator made 350,000 and I only replaced because a deer strike tweaked it (it wasn't leaking). I think BMW gets a bad rap about reliability. But the thing is, you get them cheap, repair the common issues and have a great car with 200,000 miles left in it.

Pick up a 15 year Toyota, and it's been through three college freshmen by then.

[Bumpinjeep]

If anyone wants to know real world reliability with Jeep, here's my experience
1. 1997 Grand Cherokee (ZJ), had the 4.0 motor and was bulletproof. The only issues that stemmed were from my idiotic modifications like lifting it, tires, bumpers, and taking the thing off road. I'm positive had I kept it stock, it would have ran 250K miles without a hiccup.
2. 2014 Grand Cherokee (WK II), had the 5.7 Hemi and had a few recalls when it was new (this is because it was an updated model in it's first year (LCI in BMW speak). After the bugs all were sorted out, it was bullet proof for 50K miles and I would imagine it would have ran for the foreseeable future without issues.
3. 2024 Wrangler 4Xe (JL), I've had it a month and a half, no issues, have about 1100 miles on it, dealer filled it up when I got it and i've filled it up once, this thing just doesn't use gas and it's awesome. Fun to drive, exceeded expectations. Can't comment on reliability.

[ShocknAwe]

Consumer Reports is still around? That's groundbreaking. I thought their readers were all dead.