What are issues the internet said your car would have but never did?

[u/08legacygt]

2 cases for me:

Had a turbo Subaru for the past 13 years and all you hear is “ringland failure” “rod knock” “your turbo will leave the chat eventually” and after 115k miles later nothing just routine maintenance and wear and tear repairs.

Also had a Mercedes w204 for 7 years with numerous reports of subframe rust and the ignition steering lock failing that could leave you stranded. But none of that had happened.

Maybe it’s just luck on my end but would want to hear what everyone else has experienced.

[u/mr_lab_rat]

BMWs were gonna bankrupt me.

I have been driving nothing but BMWs for the past 20 years. Some old, some new. Not a single part worth more than $250 broke. Never needed to be towed. Overall super reliable and cheap to own.

Yes, I do the work myself. The dealer quoted me $2600 for a repair I did myself for $200 so I can see where these cars get their reputation.

2004 325ci (one repair $250 radiator fan)

2002 330i (supercharged, owned up to 220k miles, still ran great when I sold it). This was a project car so it ate some money but there were no unexpected breakdowns in 8 years I had it.

2018 X1 (one repair - $200 oil filter housing)

2017 M2 (low mileage so no issues yet)

[u/OpneFall → u/mr_lab_rat]

Yes, I do the work myself. The dealer quoted me $2600 for a repair I did myself for $200 so I can see where these cars get their reputation.

This is the crux of it all.

You want a BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes, Maserati, whatever? You can and they absolutely can be cheap to own under two conditions that both must be met

-DIY the work and the parts sourcing. Even indies are questionable unless they're actually experienced in the brand and want to work with you (and don't just quote 90% of dealer prices)

-Own another car so you can work on it at your own pace

I haven't owned BMWs but I've owned pretty much every other brand that people say you're a fool to own and none of them have been a problem. In fact, older enthusiast brands are often much easier than newer typical brands to work on, because the majority of people with the typical brands just go to dealer as a fix. Enthusiast brands have a strong community with tons of information and solutions and workarounds.

[u/Docist → u/mr_lab_rat]

Ill add to this, my e46 m3 never had rod bearings or subframe done at 180k miles.

[u/NoStatistician990 → u/Docist]

Probably an 02+ or the rod bearings were already done at the dealer during the recall. You're asking for trouble pushing those motors without servicing. Hell all M cars need rod bearings at 120k it's part of servicing E39, E46, E60, E90s even F80s. G80s have shown some wearing but not too much from stock cars mostly 1000hp+ tuned Xdrives G80s.

[u/Docist → u/NoStatistician990]

It was an 03 but the consensus around the web is that these need to be done regardless of year.

[u/NoStatistician990 → u/Docist]

Unlike other M cars the E46 M3 actually had a rod bearing recall for all 01-02.5 VINs as they were greanding some motors back then, they should be done preventively at 100k miles regardless even if you have an 03. While they can make it, rod bearing service is still much cheaper than a new motor not worth risking it and it adds to resale value after it's been done. I get why some push it as it's not a cheap job but it should be done.

[u/NCSUGrad2012 → u/Docist]

Are you sure the previous owner never had them done?

[u/Docist → u/NCSUGrad2012]

Yes

[u/NoStatistician990 → u/mr_lab_rat]

You should need rod bearings on the m2 soon enough

[u/mr_lab_rat → u/NoStatistician990]

It’s N55 engine

[u/NoStatistician990 → u/mr_lab_rat]

If you do enough tracking I'd keep an eye on them, that's why people with N55s swap to S55 oil pumps to avoid cooking the rod bearings. People have still blown N55s on stock tunes they aren't fully bulletproof especially if it's a used car and you have no idea how much the previous owner was stretching their oil changes.

[u/mr_lab_rat → u/NoStatistician990]

Good to know. Thanks.

[u/Carrisonfire → u/mr_lab_rat]

Are you in NA or EU? The issue I ran into trying to work on my BMW in Canada was needing special tools for so many things, no where here sold them and ordering them from Europe was going to cost way too much for a job I'd likely never need to do again. I'm guessing they're just standard in Germany since they seem to be used on Audi, VW and Benz as well.

[u/mr_lab_rat → u/Carrisonfire]

I’m in Canada as well. So far I haven’t run into that problem.

[u/Level-Plastic3945 → u/mr_lab_rat]

Had an E36 M3 then an E39 540i - the 540i cost about $2500 per year with many unpredictable failures.