[BMW335icoupe]

It seems like you always here about how reliable the A4s and A6s are but never about the 335i. So are they reliable.

[spicytofu]

i heard different...

[Meeni]

I had a TT with the 1.8 turbo engine. The engine just never gave me trouble. Never. Everything else (interior trim, paint, etc) ended up falling appart. The VW paint didn't like south-east moist, it seems.

This is in sharp contrast with my BMW which gave me quite a bit of trouble, and mostly things that are "common". The car still runs strong and all, but maintenance budget has been steep (after CPO, that is, and the CPO clearly repaid for itself I must say). On the other end, interior trim and paint are not melting on this one...

[BMW335icoupe]

Originally Posted by spicytofu

i heard different...

Thats good!!!!

[sy2767]

I was reading somewhere (not sure of the source) that the DI 3.6 in the A6 suffers major carbon buildup much like the 335i........ again not positive on this.

[Bingobimmer]

The problem with "luxury" cars, both Audi and BMW, is that none of them have the best reliability and parts are not cheap at all. With all that said I haven't had any problems with mine.

[BMW335icoupe]

Originally Posted by Meeni

I had a TT with the 1.8 turbo engine. The engine just never gave me trouble. Never. Everything else (interior trim, paint, etc) ended up falling appart. The VW paint didn't like south-east moist, it seems.

This is in sharp contrast with my BMW which gave me quite a bit of trouble, and mostly things that are "common". The car still runs strong and all, but maintenance budget has been steep (after CPO, that is, and the CPO clearly repaid for itself I must say). On the other end, interior trim and paint are not melting on this one...

What kind of things did you have trouble with and how many miles are on your car. Good info though.

[ABerry]

Since I sold my E92 last week I can officially talk about my HPFP problems, or lack there of without jinxing myself. I got my 07 to 87,000 miles without a single failure, oh and I ran it with a quarter of a tank or less from 70-87k miles, so fuel level obviously has nothing to do with it.

that being said I had the dreaded 2007 turbo wastegate issue. It was strictly an annoyance with the wastegates rattling but BMWNA replaced both turbos and the problem never arose again. When they replaced the turbos they replaced my HPFP due to recall even though I said DO NOT (since I thought I had a luck of the draw and zero issues up till then) well after the replacement I still had zero issues. Whoever said early model E92's were more prone to HPFP did not drive my baby

[BMW335icoupe]

Originally Posted by ABerry

Since I sold my E92 last week I can officially talk about my HPFP problems, or lack there of without jinxing myself. I got my 07 to 87,000 miles without a single failure, oh and I ran it with a quarter of a tank or less from 70-87k miles, so fuel level obviously has nothing to do with it.

that being said I had the dreaded 2007 turbo wastegate issue. It was strictly an annoyance with the wastegates rattling but BMWNA replaced both turbos and the problem never arose again. When they replaced the turbos they replaced my HPFP due to recall even though I said DO NOT (since I thought I had a luck of the draw and zero issues up till then) well after the replacement I still had zero issues. Whoever said early model E92's were more prone to HPFP did not drive my baby

What did you trade it for and why

[spicytofu]

When you compare audi to just 335, you will hear a lot of problems with the 335. But when you consider all of Audi's lineup vs all of BMW's lineup, I feel BMW comes out better in reliability. Nether of them are as good as the average jap car, however. But like any car, its always a hit or miss...

[Kolyan2k]

All European have same shitty reliability

[Dark_Knight_335]

Originally Posted by spicytofu

i heard different...

They both have subpar reliability. After all, they aren't Infinities or Lexuses.

[kavadarci]

bmw is BELOW average reliability.if you are looking for reliability you should not have those three letters in your shopping list as bmw are NOT reliable.

[Sunny D]

Originally Posted by Dark_Knight_335

They both have subpar reliability. After all, they aren't Infinities or Lexuses.

I had a '09 G37 Sedan for three years, could not WAIT to get out of it. So many problems. High-pitch noise coming from the stereo which took Infiniti over a year to recognize and offer a fix. Warped rotors. Auto transmission issues that were solved by a software update a week before I got rid of the car. Not to mention terrible dealer service. In contrast, my '04 TL was a perfect car for almost 100k miles.

Bottom line, all cars break.

[Paisan]

Having been around the Automotive world for a while, I've found that Audi generally are pretty reliable, but their electronics suck at the 4-5yr mark. Also removing anything on an Audi requires the front end of the car and a motor pull. BMW may not be any more reliable but they have a better setup IMO for a DIY person.

-mike

[ccraig13]

Oddly enough Consumer Reports has the E46 M3 under it list of reliable used cars.

I would definitely say BMW/Audi/Mercedes have a bad rep when it comes to reliability. However, I believe a large part of that comes from many of their owners treating them like a Toyota. Yes, you actually need to maintain your BMW! Would it kill them to change their oil on schedule or at all?! Now I know that there are people out there that do everything they can and yet still end up with problems, but I don't think that's the common case.

My TT had issues with the turbo and a few other things, but I was the third owner, which is another thing many BMW owners have in common. Most of the time you have no idea how the previous owner(s) treated it...

I've got a mere 81k miles on mine ( bought it with 46k ) and so far so good, but only time will tell.

[Dark_Knight_335]

Originally Posted by ry335

I had a '09 G37 Sedan for three years, could not WAIT to get out of it. So many problems. High-pitch noise coming from the stereo which took Infiniti over a year to recognize and offer a fix. Warped rotors. Auto transmission issues that were solved by a software update a week before I got rid of the car. Not to mention terrible dealer service. In contrast, my '04 TL was a perfect car for almost 100k miles.

Bottom line, all cars break.

That is surprising- I usually hear good reports on the reliability of Infiniti and Lexus. After all, they are a Nissan and Toyota respectively.

[Michael Schott]

Originally Posted by kavadarci

bmw is BELOW average reliability.if you are looking for reliability you should not have those three letters in your shopping list as bmw are NOT reliable.

Audi reliability over the years has been worse than BMW I believe. In my experience with a 2002 A4 and now 2 E90 328i's the BMW's have been perfectly reliable with the only trips to the dealer for routine maintenance and a broken rear side window sun shade repaired in 5 minutes. My Audi was in the shop a lot, once for over 2 weeks and had 2 recalls.

[r3dbimmer89]

Originally Posted by Dark_Knight_335

That is surprising- I usually hear good reports on the reliability of Infiniti and Lexus. After all, they are a Nissan and Toyota respectively.

Infiniti seems to be more a hit or miss...Only Honda and Toyota aka Acura and Lexus are truly the bullet proof brands historically...

Audi can be really hit or miss as I know my step father has an A6 with well over 200k miles and its still going strong without any major problems. Modern BMWs are really consistent with problems. If one major problem plagues a particular model year then they all will have that same problem i.e. HPFP, Fuel Injectors, etc.

It seems older BMWs like E30s and E34s last forever as I see 20+ year old E30s and E34s almost every day.

[kavadarci]

Originally Posted by Michael Schott

Audi reliability over the years has been worse than BMW I believe. In my experience with a 2002 A4 and now 2 E90 328i's the BMW's have been perfectly reliable with the only trips to the dealer for routine maintenance and a broken rear side window sun shade repaired in 5 minutes. My Audi was in the shop a lot, once for over 2 weeks and had 2 recalls.

That is your experience and I appreciate that but that doesn't apply accross the board.
According to other sources (not individual opinions like mine or yours) BMW are below average. We can't change that, it is what it is. Not EVERY single bmw is bad but majority have issues which is why they are rated below average.
Older models seems to have had better reliability than e90 and up. It sucks and I own one but if someone asks me if they are reliable or not, the answer is NOT.
They have many other positive things to rev about but reliability is not one of them.

[kavadarci]

Originally Posted by ccraig13

Oddly enough Consumer Reports has the E46 M3 under it list of reliable used cars.

I would definitely say BMW/Audi/Mercedes have a bad rep when it comes to reliability. However, I believe a large part of that comes from many of their owners treating them like a Toyota. Yes, you actually need to maintain your BMW! Would it kill them to change their oil on schedule or at all?! Now I know that there are people out there that do everything they can and yet still end up with problems, but I don't think that's the common case.

My TT had issues with the turbo and a few other things, but I was the third owner, which is another thing many BMW owners have in common. Most of the time you have no idea how the previous owner(s) treated it...

I've got a mere 81k miles on mine ( bought it with 46k ) and so far so good, but only time will tell.

I would like to disagree with you as I maintain my bmw like any other car I've had in the pass. 5000km oil changes, everything replaced way before the recommended intervals. taken care as a baby, best of the best for it but still it's the worst in reliability comparing to the rest of the cars i have owned.
Proper maintenance is very important but when the machine is bad, it is bad.

[CAPSGOD]

No one buys Audi or BMW for reliability. If that's what you're looking for, Mercedes & especially Lexus will be better but then you're stuck with a boring car. I have actually heard that the M3 manual is the most reliable BMW.