What happened to BMW?

[nortncom]

A colleague I work with has a 2007 335 coupe with 68k miles on it. He came to me earlier today and told me his power steering was leaking and asked if I would take a look at it for him. I assumed it was most likely the hose coming from the reservoir (being a BMW), but to my surprise, it happened to be much worse than that.

The steering rack was pissing power steering fluid all over the place, and I really felt bad having to tell him about it. Upon further inspection of the car, I noticed it has a coolant leak coming from somewhere near the front of the engine bay. Moreover, the damn car does not have a dipstick for the engine oil:confused--WTF is that?

What really is disappointing about the whole situation is the fact that he really loved this car. He and I would sit around and talk about how great BMW's are to drive and what not; unfortunately, he is about to get married and is really worried about having to spend a lot of money to fix this thing (rightfully so), which is making him want to lose faith and trade it in.

What I do not understand however, is that my car is going on 17 years old and does not leak anything. It is almost like BMW built "better" cars many years ago. I mean you can easily work on older BMW's with basic hand tools and get by just fine. Now days, they don't even give you an option to check your own oil. In my opinion, a vehicle now days should be relatively issue free sub 100k miles (other than routine maintenance), but a coolant leak and a bad steering rack sub 70k miles is ridiculous. This is what gives BMW's a bad name, and I wish they would go back to making user friendly cars. That is the end of my rant lol.

[Nohjoxu]

I agree with you almost completely.

Although I would question the legitimacy of the co-worker. The BMW could of been abused this whole time and you could be blaming the child :(
Poor thing, someone get it into protective services immediately so someone can adopt her. Preferably, me.

[jmo69]

Most of the people that bought cars like his new, wouldn't have known what a dipstick was if it poked them in the eye. My e46 has the dipstick but also has a low oil indicator, the precursor to no dipstick.

[Rudolph320i]

the older cars werent that user friendly, yes there was way more space to get your hands in there and work but there were still torx and allen bolts all over everything. there are times when even my e30 infuriates me with how something was put together. and also, my e30 has a low oil indicator, they have had that light for many years.

[Kody]

I agree, it's retarded that the newer ones don't have a dipstick. I would never trust a computer to tell me my oil level.

[Mac8008]

the 335 has been plagued with mechanical issues. when you compare a late model bmw to an e36, the e36 is antiquated like a dinasaur. Cars like the 335 that push the engineering envolpe should be expected to be less reilable. Way too many variable to contend with and everything relies on ECMs rather than old fashion mechanical workings like the e36.

[r33p04s]

Me thinks this one was abused but yes BMW has become a very techy car company with no use for old fashioned human error

Sent from my thumbs to your eyes

[Nomade30]

I agree, it's retarded that the newer ones don't have a dipstick. I would never trust a computer to tell me my oil level.

I'm pretty post E28 time the only BMW model without a oil level sensor is the e36.

[slocar]

I'm pretty post E28 time the only BMW model without a oil level sensor is the e36.
Well ... e30 too, but you could consider that to be the same generation of car as e28.

e32 and e34 had it.
e38 and e39 had it
e46 had it ...

so yes, you would be correct.

:buttrock

[thompsanne]

when you compare a late model bmw to an e36, the e36 is antiquated like a dinasaurhttp://www.aele.info/11a.jpg

[nortncom]

the 335 has been plagued with mechanical issues. when you compare a late model bmw to an e36, the e36 is antiquated like a dinasaur. Cars like the 335 that push the engineering envolpe should be expected to be less reilable. Way too many variable to contend with and everything relies on ECMs rather than old fashion mechanical workings like the e36.

I completely agree that the E92 is light years ahead of the E36 in terms of engineering. I am not necessarily comparing the two vehicles either in terms of engineering per se, but when the E36 (especially the later models) was new they were pushing the engineering envelope as well. We, as consumers, should not expect a very expensive sports coupe (or any performance oriented car) to be inherently unreliable because of its fancy technology. If a car company--in this case BMW--wants to go down that road, then they should make it reliable for the consumer and their reputation.

I concur that this car has probably been driven hard on occasions, but that is what these cars are made to do right? I mean who wants to spend 50k+ on a performance oriented vehicle, that might just have multiple expensive complications from being flogged from time to time? Do not get me wrong, I love my BMW more than I probably should, but what happens in the future when we want to upgrade to something a little newer? If the E9X are going to be this finicky and sensitive, I could not imagine attempting to own one in 10 years lol. Not to mention, I will NEVER own a vehicle without a dipstick because I am not going to rely on the computer to tell me if my oil is low.

[jagerking]

Nothing "happened" to BMW. It's more than likely that your friend, or the PO of the car hasn't done any maintenance to keep things up. If you drive any car hard and neglect the hell out of it, it will break. Once again, it's almost a cost of ownership issue here. If you buy a 50k (new) car for 28k (used), and then shake your head when it needs $1500 worth of work after being on the road for 8 years, you simply should own a car that costs less, and costs less to fix. Everyone (enthusiast) on this forum dumps hundreds (if not thousands) every year to maintain, upgrade, and upkeep our cars. Why should your friend's car be different? Because it's newer?



I agree, it's retarded that the newer ones don't have a dipstick. I would never trust a computer to tell me my oil level.

I agree with you to a degree, but I want to point out something I read on here a few years ago..."People might think that we're trusting our cars to new technology (in the form of computers checking your oil level), but there was an outrage many years ago when cars with an electric starter motor became the standard, and replaced hand-crank-start engines."

[hakentt]

Newest BMWs don't even have hydraulic power steering. Fact is all NEW cars have more plastic and more cheap electronics that can go bad, crap aluminum blocks, crap window regulators, they got to cut corners somewhere

[Nomade30]

All you people complaining sound like old farts that hate change. The only problem I have with new cars is full electric steering, this could end up very bad.

[nortncom]

It's not that I hate change, it is more that I hate how BMW is straying away from their roots as a no nonsense drivers car. All these new electronics that can (and will) go wrong, are making cars less fun to drive and less reliable. Like others have mentioned--all electric steering is not only dangerous, it really should be illegal lol. My co-workers 335 even has a device that shoves the seat belt forward, so you don't have to reach around and grab it.... This crap just adds weight and future complications. Hell, the new M5's will even synthesize the sound of the engine and play it through the speakers.... How awesome is that? Not.

[slocar]

It's not that I hate change, it is more that I hate how BMW is straying away from their roots as a no nonsense drivers car. All these new electronics that can (and will) go wrong, are making cars less fun to drive and less reliable. Like others have mentioned--all electric steering is not only dangerous, it really should be illegal lol. My co-workers 335 even has a device that shoves the seat belt forward, so you don't have to reach around and grab it.... This crap just adds weight and future complications. Hell, the new M5's will even synthesize the sound of the engine and play it through the speakers.... How awesome is that? Not.

You're forgetting that BMW doesn't build cars for you and me and the rest of the guys in the e36 section of bimmerforums. They build cars for people who buy them new, not people that buy them used ... and who has money to fork over for a brand new BMW? Middle aged to older people, and for their hard earned money they want things. Who's going to buy a 50k BMW in year 2012 that isn't loaded with technology (however unnecessary it may be)?

Device that shoves the seat belt forward? Yeah, Mercedes had that in the early to mid 90s, so if anything BMW is behind when it comes to that.

Sure, it's extra things to break, but I am almost certain they wont break that much during the warranty period ... and once the cars are out of warranty those who bought them new will simply trade them in and buy another new one, so to them (and to BMW), it doesn't really matter.

[nortncom]

I completely agree that they are not building cars to make enthusiasts happy lol. It's just that with all this engineering that has went into somewhat useless crap could've went into important things. For example, cooling system system issues. The 3 series is STILL plagued with water pump failures to this day. I mean twenty plus year of this being a serious issue, and they are still failing under a 100k miles lol.

[slocar]

I completely agree that they are not building cars to make enthusiasts happy lol. It's just that with all this engineering that has went into somewhat useless crap could've went into important things. For example, cooling system system issues. The 3 series is STILL plagued with water pump failures to this day. I mean twenty plus year of this being a serious issue, and they are still failing under a 100k miles lol.
There's only so much you can do when designing a water pump. Still has to have a seal, bearing and it sitll has to have some sort of impeller ... it turns millions of times; it will wear out, no matter what the car is.

[joey79]

Kinda funny how some people refuse to "rely on a computer" to tell the oil level, yet have no problem relying on a computer to tell them their speed, rpm, engine temperature, coolant level, fuel level, oil pressure, etc, etc, etc.

[nortncom]

There's only so much you can do when designing a water pump. Still has to have a seal, bearing and it sitll has to have some sort of impeller ... it turns millions of times; it will wear out, no matter what the car is.

Of course it will wear out in time, but for it to do so sometimes under a 100k miles is ridiculous. I mean how many Japanese vehicles do you hear about having water pump failures under a 100k miles? It's almost unheard of. I know it's apples to oranges, but my family had an early 90's sentra with a quarter million miles and never had a water pump--should have no doubt, but fact of the matter is that it kept going.

As for as the oil level sensor--when does it warn you? A quart low, two, three? For example, when you change your oil there is still going to be a small amount left in the engine;consequently, how much new oil do you decide to add? Do you under fill because you don't want to chance overfilling it, or do you add what the car will take, and really chance overfilling it? Why would you want to trust a computer to tell you when your oil is low? I mean the coolan sensor is buffered to all hell in our cars, so when it tells you it's too hot you are already screwed lol.

[slocar]

Kinda funny how some people refuse to "rely on a computer" to tell the oil level, yet have no problem relying on a computer to tell them their speed, rpm, engine temperature, coolant level, fuel level, oil pressure, etc, etc, etc.

A little different. An engine with no oil is scrap ... if that sensor malfunctions and doesn't tell you that you're low, it's a done deal.

If the speedo, tachometer, engine temp, coolant level (which I don't rely on ... I still check it myself), fuel level etc are not reading right, what's the worst that happens? You run out of gas, walk for 10 minutes, buy a can and come back and continue on with your life.

[joey79]

I would consider a malfunctioning temp gauge potentially fatal to an engine.

[Automaticftp]

They got fat . . .

[nortncom]

They got fat . . .

That pretty much explains it as well

1 series=3 series
3 series=5 series
5 series=7 series
7 series= school bus lol

[E36ic4Me]

I don't necessarily agree. I own a new Z4 and it hasn't experienced the slightest issue. It is fast, handles amazingly well, is reliable and very well built.

That being said, I have heard over and over that the 335s are prone to issues and visit the shop often. I have only heard this about the 335, not the 328.