What would you rather buy? A used car or a new one?

Soul_Glo · 01-07-2015, 01:18 AM

Something that I have been pondering... read a few posts on the US boards here that now the N52 engine is nearing 10 years of age or more there are known issues.

Would you rather buy a car for example with an N52 engine? Or would you take the plunge on a new one?

The reason I ask is that some of the newer offerings from say VAG are a bit troublesome at times. I brought a VW Polo 6R last year and the DSG box went within 5000 miles. My neighbour brought a VW Polo with cylinder activation (think it is a TSI variant) and he has had three trips to the dealer because of trouble with the cylinder activation (ACT?) technology.

So your opinions... random banter etc if you are bored or have a view on this...

djgandy · 01-07-2015, 03:48 AM

N52 is pretty solid no? The M54 was too. Things of course go wrong, but they are generally well known problems and easier and less costly to fix that on modern engines.

I believe most BMW 6cyl blocks are fairly solid, even the N54, it's the advancements that add poor reliability. Turbos are costly to replace (N54), and injectors are expensive for DI engines (all newer engines). For that reason some might consider the N52 favourable over the N53. Less to go wrong.

Soul_Glo · 01-07-2015, 02:20 PM

Agreed love my n52... Its probably the most solid engine I have had in my driving career.

01-07-2015, 01:18 AM	#1
Soul_Glo Major General 13344 Rep 7,484 Posts Drives: G20 Join Date: May 2013 Location: Manhattan, NYC iTrader: (1)	What would you rather buy? A used car or a new one? Something that I have been pondering... read a few posts on the US boards here that now the N52 engine is nearing 10 years of age or more there are known issues. Would you rather buy a car for example with an N52 engine? Or would you take the plunge on a new one? The reason I ask is that some of the newer offerings from say VAG are a bit troublesome at times. I brought a VW Polo 6R last year and the DSG box went within 5000 miles. My neighbour brought a VW Polo with cylinder activation (think it is a TSI variant) and he has had three trips to the dealer because of trouble with the cylinder activation (ACT?) technology. So your opinions... random banter etc if you are bored or have a view on this...
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01-07-2015, 03:48 AM	#2
djgandy Colonel 146 Rep 2,337 Posts Drives: E93 M3 Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: London iTrader: (0) Garage List 2011 M3 [0.00]	N52 is pretty solid no? The M54 was too. Things of course go wrong, but they are generally well known problems and easier and less costly to fix that on modern engines. I believe most BMW 6cyl blocks are fairly solid, even the N54, it's the advancements that add poor reliability. Turbos are costly to replace (N54), and injectors are expensive for DI engines (all newer engines). For that reason some might consider the N52 favourable over the N53. Less to go wrong.
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01-07-2015, 02:20 PM	#3
Soul_Glo Major General 13344 Rep 7,484 Posts Drives: G20 Join Date: May 2013 Location: Manhattan, NYC iTrader: (1)	Agreed love my n52... Its probably the most solid engine I have had in my driving career.
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