BMW In The Top Three Most Reliable Cars in 2022?

[SW530]

Are things changing?

What are the most reliable automotive brands?

1. Toyota
2. Lexus
3. BMW
4. Mazda
5. Honda
6. Audi
7. Subaru
8. Acura
9. Kia
10. Lincoln
11. Buick
12. Genesis
13. Hyundai
14. Volvo
15. Nissan
16. Ram
17. Cadillac
18. Ford
19. Tesla
20. Chevrolet
21. GMC
22. Volkswagen
23. Jeep
24. Mercedes-Benz

[JimLev]

BMW #3, really?
Our 2016 Toyota Highlander that we bought new in Jan 2017 now has 113K on it. Not counting tires, pads, filters, oil changes, etc. I’ve spent a total of $160 on repairs that the dealer should have covered.

[SW530]

We have a 2011 Subaru with 77k on it.. it's went back for 2-3 recalls but never a repair. All I've done is brakes, tires, blades, bulbs, disposable stuff..

[ross1]

BMW #3, really?
Better than I'd have guessed

MB in the cellar? Audi # 6?
Please, Consumer Reports, define "reliable".
I never gave much credence to these ratings as the statistics are so easily manipulated.
Another thought of mine is that different buyers have different expectations and this skews the facts. Toyota buyers expect, and get, an appliance, so what if it a rust bucket a few years on. The Tesla buyer wants to be wowed and revel in the electronerderyness of it all so is likely to be as upset with a malfunctioning screen as a failure to proceed. BMW buyers, well who knows WTF they are after these days.

[TiesTorN]

I'm not even gonna comment about the placement numbers but BMW being higher ranked in reliability than MB is just not possible...

[BimmerBreaker]

Modern BMWs have become quite reliable, I'm not surprised at all. They've had 15+ years now developing and perfecting their turbocharged powerplants, which themselves were built off the backs of engines that were evolved with direct lineage all the way back to the late 60's. Thats over 50 years of I6 development...

Whereas on the other side of things a lot of other manufacturers have introduced clean sheet engine designs every few generations which are almost always plagued with some sort of issue(s) at launch. I think BMW's were historically not considered reliable because they had a lot of advanced tech - both engine tech and luxury features. Nowadays their engine tech has been evolved and improved and not only that but other manufacturers now need equivalent tech to keep up with emissions and economy standards and they havent had as long to perfect these technologies as BMW. And everyone has luxury features now so that side of things has become a level playing field. Even an average Honda has more luxury features than a base model BMW...

So to some extent one could view it as rather than BMW becoming more reliable, the average car has just become less reliable. Or more likely is a little of both being true

[MtnGn]

Old BMWs are relatively easy to repair. I wouldnt own anything newer than 2002 and expect to be able to repair it myself. We have had newer BMWs; all leased.

Our 2020 x3 is loaded. The dealer told me it has over 300 computers on it. In the first 36k miles, its had a number of computer glitches. None of these has seriously disabled the car, although it has left us in limp mode a couple of times for no discernable/ traceable reason. On those occassions, turning off the car and restarting has wiped the issue. But you can imagine the chagrin caused when it does this while driving down an interstate or highway. The other glitches have been radio functions, camera functions, etc. and those required a wipe of the software, a re-upload of related software and a reboot. Causation for these glitches has never been identified.

BMW service has also been spotty. We generally use the dealer where we purchased the car for all mechanical and maintenance related items. And those scheduled events have been handled reasonably well. However, 2200 miles away from home we hit the rub indicator on the front right brake pad. There were 2 dealerships within 45 miles of our location, in opposite directions. We were able to reach scheduling reps at both locations easily enough, but were never able to contact anyone in the service areas of either dealership. The scheduling reps were 3rd party and located off site somewhere. All they could do was triage scheduling and place us in a next-available appointment. Both dealerships could not schedule us within 2 weeks.

We had a maintenance contract that covers new brake pads and related disc work. We were never able to reach anyone at the actual dealerships who might be able to address questions regarding this maintenance contract or who may have been able to facilitate faster service than the over-2-week-wait provided by the scheduling reps. Ultimately, we took the vehicle to a brakes-plus style service facility who could neither turn the discs or source OEM discs; out of necessity, we replaced the pads on "un-turned" discs and have just dealt with the resultant squeaks.

Anytime we've had a failure of minor parts like lock actuators, or led lights, etc, the dealership places entirely new parts rather than waste the time and effort of repairing something that possibly been repairable. Reminds me of an Naval aviation tech I knew working in construction. I asked why he didnt go into aviation repair. He said he worked on an air craft carrier and that his MOS was to replace malfunctioning engines; anything wrong with an engine and they tossed the entire thing overboard, unpacked a new one and installed. This is like replacing the engine block everytime the valve-cover gasked leaked. They didnt have the time, training, or facilities to muck around in a used engine looking for sources of leaks. This meant he ONLY knew how to remove and replace engine blocks and that was not enough training for him to get a job stateside. He could have opted for additional, private mechanical training, but didnt have the inclination to do so.

The point of all of this rambling is that this seems to be similar to what I saw BMW do. These cars are so complex, they didnt bother identifying sources of glitches. They just replaced related software and hardware if necessary until the issue disappeared. Fast forward a few years when these autos are out of production cycle and good luck with analysis/ diagnositics/ repair.

These newer autos are basically considered disposable outside of their production cycle.

[ross1]

Thanks for sharing. I think your service story is indicative of an inability to to diagnose by some "techs". Perhaps BMW prefers to pay for experimental parts exchanging over time consuming real diagnosis enabling those with only modest diagnostic skills.
As for your brake issue the wear indicator is VERY conservative, you have thousands of miles worth remaining when these things come on.

[MtnGn]

As for your brake issue the wear indicator is VERY conservative, you have thousands of miles worth remaining when these things come on.

2200 miles in front of me and a paranoid wife, on the highway, with me driving, ahem, aggressively (to put it mildly). Id hoped the heat I knew Id apply to those discs while tearing up the interstate would seat the new pads. Not so. But the squeaks are only occurring while navigating in and out of parking spots so they are entirely tolerable.

[ross1]

2200 miles in front of me and a paranoid wife, on the highway, with me driving, ahem, aggressively (to put it mildly). Id hoped the heat I knew Id apply to those discs while tearing up the interstate would seat the new pads. Not so. But the squeaks are only occurring while navigating in and out of parking spots so they are entirely tolerable.

Squeaks are more likely the result of improper installation, not cleaning everything than improper bedding. Dismantling, cleaning and re-assembly could be all it needs. Perhaps a mismatch of pad material and rotor.
Reusing rotors ain't the end of the world as BMW would have you believe

[MtnGn]

Squeaks are more likely the result of improper installation, not cleaning everything than improper bedding. Dismantling, cleaning and re-assembly could be all it needs. Perhaps a mismatch of pad material and rotor.
Reusing rotors ain't the end of the world as BMW would have you believe

Thanks for the insight, Ross1.

We turn the car in at the end of the lease in another month or so. With the soft auto market in the tanking economy, Im thinking its not economically beneficial to buy it and sell it myself. ALthough a year ago, I could have done for profit with relative ease.

Interestingly, its impossible to lease a new X3 with comparable options to the one we currently lease; ongoing lack of sufficient computer chips for heads-up display and upgraded radio options the wife wants. Or so we are told. I think they are not providing certain options because this is likely the last year of x3 production for this model before an oncoming model overhaul. Pair this with the overhauled x1 they just came out with that represents the next stage in technical doodads in their autos.

Not having the options she wanted in the x3, we test drove the new x1. It was the first "overhauled" x1 in our state, and we were the first to drive it... they had to pull all the shipping protection for us to get in the thing, so we drove it before anyone at the dealership had an opportunity.

No more analog anything. Its one long digital touch screen interface across the dash. Not really my thing, but the wife (ten years younger) goes in for this sort of thing and the sales rep knows it. So the rep notified us as soon as it arrived. Not sure we will lease one. I prefer the ride height, and size of the x3 for our needs.

[KeysCoupe]

Even ranked at #3, which somewhat surprises me, I’m not sure I would want to own a BMW once the new-car warranty expires. My girlfriend usually trades her car (VW GTI) in about a year after the warranty expires. She’s about 2 years overdue now, but the current one (Mexican built) has proved to be near flawless, though I am prepping for another DSG trans fluid change. And VW is now ranked 22?
-Donny

[ross1]

Even ranked at #3, which somewhat surprises me, I’m not sure I would want to own a BMW once the new-car warranty expires. My girlfriend usually trades her car (VW GTI) in about a year after the warranty expires. She’s about 2 years overdue now, but the current one (Mexican built) has proved to be near flawless, though I am prepping for another DSG trans fluid change. And VW is now ranked 22?
-Donny

Not sure I'd BUY any modern car but rather lease it and not worry about disposal if it winds up with a rotten reputation/resale value.
Any statistics are worthless unless you also know the sample.

[328 Power 04]

To be fair, the BMW B38/B46/B48/B58 are phenomenal engines, so I can appreciate a fair rise in the reliability list.
Maybe they left all the V8s out?


And these cars do not have 300 computers, although it seems like hyperbole. They typically have 25-30 even in the most loaded cars that are not 7 series (which can have 40-50).

[MtnGn]

To be fair, the BMW B38/B46/B48/B58 are phenomenal engines, so I can appreciate a fair rise in the reliability list.
Maybe they left all the V8s out?


And these cars do not have 300 computers, although it seems like hyperbole. They typically have 25-30 even in the most loaded cars that are not 7 series (which can have 40-50).

He probably meant 300 individual processors, or chips. Regardless, the comment was dropped at the dealership by the BMW sales rep exactly as I quoted. Wife has every option available on the car.

[BimmerBreaker]

Personally I would not hesitate to own a new car well past it's warranty, I would just do my due diligence regarding what car I bought, buy one with a known reliable engine and drivetrain and avoid the unnecessary luxury features - especially those that add complexity under the hood. Ever worked on a fully loaded E60? Active steering, dynamic anti-roll bars... I'd avoid that kind of stuff. Overall I really don't understand the hate for new cars. Are they going to feel like an E39 or E36? No, and nor does an e36 feel like an e21. For a daily commuter car, the modern tech and comforts in a 30mpg+ package is appealing. Have a fun "analog" bmw for the weekends. Win-win

And modern cars are a little more complicated to work on, sure, but at the end of the day they are still designed to be maintained by the average dealer technician...

To be fair, the BMW B38/B46/B48/B58 are phenomenal engines, so I can appreciate a fair rise in the reliability list.
Maybe they left all the V8s out?


And these cars do not have 300 computers, although it seems like hyperbole. They typically have 25-30 even in the most loaded cars that are not 7 series (which can have 40-50).

Even if they included the V8's, those have become more reliable over time as they are on their third technical update last I checked. And also, how do they even define reliability? Is smoking "unreliable"? Because the main issues with the 8's cause smoking but they don't often leave people stranded. Plus they probably sell over 100 I4/I6 equipped model for every 1 V8 they sell so the statistics will still skew towards the more reliable powerplants. Even the top of the line BMW's are available with an I6 now