[crowdedhouse]

Hi Folks

Just declaring my E90 as the most unreliable car I've ever owned.(Jan 08 less than 8,000 Km on clock)

During the summer I had to be towed in - 'Full engine power not Available' warning on(and it wasn't joking either!) and didn't get it back for 4 days.Was difficult to find out what exactly was wrong with it 'turbo problem - cost of parts 9 euro LOL '

Now my Climate blower fan isn't working properly,only a very low speed,in fact I'm not sure if it ever worked properly,so at least one more day off work to sort it(nearest dealer in any direction is at least 50 miles)

I've been driving for over quarter of a century and only once had I ever to return a car to a dealer for repairs (other than routine service) and that was an 83 Fiesta !

I've owned Ford,many Hondas,Audi, VW was I just lucky or am I unlucky with the E90....either way I'm not impressed

[SixDegrees]

Originally Posted by crowdedhouse

Hi Folks

Just declaring my E90 as the most unreliable car I've ever owned.(Jan 08 less than 8,000 Km on clock)

During the summer I had to be towed in - 'Full engine power not Available' warning on(and it wasn't joking either!) and didn't get it back for 4 days.Was difficult to find out what exactly was wrong with it 'turbo problem - cost of parts 9 euro LOL '

Now my Climate blower fan isn't working properly,only a very low speed,in fact I'm not sure if it ever worked properly,so at least one more day off work to sort it(nearest dealer in any direction is at least 50 miles)

I've been driving for over quarter of a century and only once had I ever to return a car to a dealer for repairs (other than routine service) and that was an 83 Fiesta !

I've owned Ford,many Hondas,Audi, VW was I just lucky or am I unlucky with the E90....either way I'm not impressed

I thought the same of my MK5 Golf.... having owned VAG cars for almost 15 years (almost as many cars from the 4 brands) the MK5 was terrible.... well great car when it worked, but there was always something wrong, was in the dealers more times that I care to say.

Traded it for my E91, which has been great so far (apart from the RTFs).

I think sometimes we get a friday-afternoon car and it ruins the whole experience for us.

[Geckorazer]

I've had an E90 320d for 3+ years and have covered 80,000 miles in it.

I have to say it has been fantastic and I've never (touch wood!) had anything go wrong on it or it break down.

I think you're probably unlucky with the individual car as I think the E90 generally has a good reputation

[NFS]

Originally Posted by crowdedhouse

Hi Folks

Just declaring my E90 as the most unreliable car I've ever owned.(Jan 08 less than 8,000 Km on clock)

During the summer I had to be towed in - 'Full engine power not Available' warning on(and it wasn't joking either!) and didn't get it back for 4 days.Was difficult to find out what exactly was wrong with it 'turbo problem - cost of parts 9 euro LOL '

Now my Climate blower fan isn't working properly,only a very low speed,in fact I'm not sure if it ever worked properly,so at least one more day off work to sort it(nearest dealer in any direction is at least 50 miles)

I've been driving for over quarter of a century and only once had I ever to return a car to a dealer for repairs (other than routine service) and that was an 83 Fiesta !

I've owned Ford,many Hondas,Audi, VW was I just lucky or am I unlucky with the E90....either way I'm not impressed

I think you have just been spectacularly lucky in the past.

If I have read correctly you have experienced 2 issues in 9 months with the e90 both of which will be sorted under warranty. That's a niggle, but hardly a problem.

In 2 years / 40,000 miles with my car I have had 2 issues: A total idrive crash (fixed with a very welcome software update); and an air con leak (fixed and regassed under warranty).

I'd say that was about normal for a modern car with complex electronics etc.

[M3-FAST]

I would agree with NFS - a couple of faults is not that unreliable, although understandably annoying!

In my first 6 months of having the E93, the dealer had the car more than I did!

Had power steering failure at 450 miles (10 days old!) - took 4 weeks to get a new rack fitted.

Had Fuel pump failure shortly after that (took 6 weeks to get new pump!) - than had a whole variety of faults since then....CAN bus failure, AUX jack in armrest stopped left hand speakers working, creaking driver's seat (still creaks now!), clutch judder (new clutch fitted), roof sheel trims distorting, headlamp washers not retracting..... list is endless.

On a 40k 'prestige' car it is a joke. I do understand that mine is prob at one of the spectrum but still very annoying! It has only just hit 10k miles so does not even get hammered!

[NFS]

In an 'ideal world' there should be no faults on an expensive new car, but the reality is when any new complex product is introduced that failures will occur. No matter how robust the design and testing.

For that reason, regardless of manufacturer I would always avoid the very first run of 'new' products.

The worst issues I have read about on here relate to the first lot of new 320i engines, the first lot of e93 cabs and the very first e92 335i's

A few years ago I had one of the first 318i valvetronic engines, which predictably failed.

Best bet is to buy a car that has first released at least 12 months beforehand, that way most problems will have been ironed out.

[beemerbird]

I agree with NFS and redE93cab.

As annoying as any fault on a new car may be, together with the argument of more complex technology may create potential problems, for me a contributing factor in 'accepting' any faults is the dealers/manufacturers response and attempts in rectifying any faults. Unfortunately my experience with a new Ford Focus back in 2000 proved to be pretty disastrous both in the litiney of faults with the car and the dealers attitude. My 'relationship' with Ford ended permanently after this fiasco.

Whilst appreciating that the more 'up market' the brand, one is inclined to 'expect' less faults, this however would appear not to be the case. I do still believe however, that the overall 'life span' of the more up market brand will be greater than that of the more mass produced vehicle if owned and used in similar circumstances.

[COLSEN]

Originally Posted by NFS

In an 'ideal world' there should be no faults on an expensive new car, but the reality is when any new complex product is introduced that failures will occur. No matter how robust the design and testing.

For that reason, regardless of manufacturer I would always avoid the very first run of 'new' products.

The worst issues I have read about on here relate to the first lot of new 320i engines, the first lot of e93 cabs and the very first e92 335i's

A few years ago I had one of the first 318i valvetronic engines, which predictably failed.

Best bet is to buy a car that has first released at least 12 months beforehand, that way most problems will have been ironed out.

Here Here...
This is the best advice you can get! I ignored this advice and got one of the first new 320i engines... oooo I should have listened!!

[booforty]

Really sorry to hear this. I had a E90 for 3 years and it was faultless. I hope you get all your issues sorted soon

[Porscha!]

I agree that niggly problems can be annoying but you've had the car for say 10 months and had one engine management problem and your heaters aren't up to scratch, no way would I say your car was unreliable.

Hope you get the problem sorted soon anyhow!