BMW Owners... time to speak out!!

Kristie · July 9th, 2003, 13:27

Doug and I want to know...

Do you like your BMW? if so - what about it makes it "special" to you...

or if not - what do you not like about it?

have you had any good experiences or bad experiences with their service? with the engine, with warrantied items etc???

truth be known - we may be buying a CPO (Certified Pre-Owned) 2002 BMW X5 cuz volvo dealers suck A** and want full MSRP for their XC90's....they don't even resale the same as Benz/BMW!!

figured out we could purchase a 2002 X5 for *LESS* than a new XC90 AWD - and we wouldn't lose the "drive off the lot depreciation"...

too bad - as much as I really want that volvo, i'm not paying MSRP!! maybe i'll get it in another lifetime eh?!

but anyways - we wanna hear the good, bad and ugly from you BMW owners before we go purchase the puppy!!

Thanks!!

ready2fly · July 9th, 2003, 14:22

Kristie, that's a shame because those Volvo's are SUWEET!!

That being said....

..my friends (being in the legal community, that seems to be the choice of the newly-minted associate or partner, so I know many with Beemers) who have new or fairly new previously-owned Beemers really, really like them. They handle well. They're comfortable. They look very nice.

BUT - whenever it comes time for maintenance, they start sweating it because BMW's are incredibly expensive to mantain (as I'm sure you know already having done your research).

I guess it depends on what kind of warranty you two can get.

(an aside: Is it true that you cannot change the oil in a BMW yourself - that it can only be done by a dealer???? Rumor??)

Anway....

Good luck!! Beemers are sweet, sweet vehicles.

EatSleepFly · July 9th, 2003, 16:01

You expect to find many BMW owners on a site populated mostly by students, some underpaid airline pilots, and a bunch of starving flight instructors?!?!

hehe...just messing with you. Beemers are cool, but I will never own one.

pilot602 · July 9th, 2003, 16:30

I'm still impressed/overjoyed I could afford to buy two Hyundais!

One was a brand-new 2002, only-18-miles-on-it, 5-speed Hyunda Elantra GT (leather, power everything etc, etc,) and my car is a 2000 Hyundai Accent (power nothing - it is an automatic though). Total combined payment for both is something like $420/mo. The wife got the nice, new car.

Dan · July 10th, 2003, 07:30

Are you looking at the Volvos ? The one I'd like to have is the new S60R, but I have searched for a used S-80 and I found some decent prices on eBay Motors. I have yet to test drive any of them but man , they look sharp ! But the Beemer 5 and 7 series are nice too ! For now, I'll just stick to my paid for Saturn SC-2

Dan

MikeD · July 10th, 2003, 20:03

BMW???????

I reccommend a 1975-1987 Chevy Blazer or Surburban with 6" lift, 36" tires, roof rack, Warn Winch, gun rack, 383 Stroker engine and more.....

EatSleepFly · July 10th, 2003, 20:08

[ QUOTE ]
I reccommend a 1975-1987 Chevy Blazer or Surburban with 6" lift, 36" tires, roof rack, Warn Winch, gun rack, 383 Stroker engine and more.....

[/ QUOTE ]

Now THAT sounds more like it....AND you could run over all the stupid rice-rockets out there!

Jason · July 10th, 2003, 20:15

Kristie - I'd have to second what R2F said - BMW's are nice cars but VERY expensive to maintain from I've been told. The guy I fly with has a 740-somethingorother - he likes it but does as much of the work as he can himself. He recently took it to a dealer for a brake job and they wanted like $1200 to do it! He bought all brand new premium parts online and did it himself for around $400. I've been told(second hand info) that it's so expensive because BMW's are more difficult to work on than some other vehicles such as Lexus - don't know how true that is.

I don't know what the degree of 'commonality' is between different BMW vehicles but the 740 has several things that I don't really care for - one example is that the battery is underneath the rear seat and is only accessable from inside the car.

Jason

Joe · July 10th, 2003, 23:04

[ QUOTE ]
I don't know what the degree of 'commonality' is between different BMW vehicles but the 740 has several things that I don't really care for - one example is that the battery is underneath the rear seat and is only accessable from inside the car.

[/ QUOTE ]

My friend's '87 Audi 5000 S is like that. Confused the hell out of me when I had to jump start his car...

I hate the Dodge Intrepids and Stratus's where you have to take off the driver's front wheel and go through the wheel well to replace the battery.

kostcoguy · July 11th, 2003, 01:23

Alright heres a truth be told, don't ride longer than an hour in a beemer, the seats get really hard, really fast I had to ride hom from san fran to LA area in one and man that hurts after about 30 minutes. My 2 cents.

Kostcoguy

stuckingfk · July 11th, 2003, 03:34

[ QUOTE ]
I hate the Dodge Intrepids and Stratus's where you have to take off the driver's front wheel and go through the wheel well to replace the battery

[/ QUOTE ]

Or how about the some of the newer bonnevilles and caddy's that you have to remove the backseat to change or jump the battery. The first time I saw that made me look a few times and think about how dumb that was IMO.

Jason · July 11th, 2003, 05:38

Ummmm......ya'll probably should have taken a look at the owner's manual.

I'm pretty sure that all vehicles with batteries under the seat, etc., have remote mounted charging/jumping posts conviently located under the hood.

Have to second the comment about the hard ride in the BMW - it does get a little rough after a while.

Jason

EatSleepFly · July 11th, 2003, 07:39

[ QUOTE ]
Ummmm......ya'll probably should have taken a look at the owner's manual.

[/ QUOTE ]

Directions? Who needs directions??

stuckingfk · July 11th, 2003, 13:40

[ QUOTE ]
Ummmm......ya'll probably should have taken a look at the owner's manual. I'm pretty sure that all vehicles with batteries under the seat, etc., have remote mounted charging/jumping posts conviently located under the hood.

[/ QUOTE ]

It wasn't my car, I guess I should have said that. I saw the cars in maitenance at a dealership I worked at. They were working on the electrical sytem and they were changing the battery. I just thought it was a weird place to put it, but I guess it needs to go somewhere when there is no room under the hood.

Joe · July 12th, 2003, 10:31

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Ummmm......ya'll probably should have taken a look at the owner's manual. I'm pretty sure that all vehicles with batteries under the seat, etc., have remote mounted charging/jumping posts conviently located under the hood.

[/ QUOTE ]

It wasn't my car, I guess I should have said that. I saw the cars in maitenance at a dealership I worked at. They were working on the electrical sytem and they were changing the battery. I just thought it was a weird place to put it, but I guess it needs to go somewhere when there is no room under the hood.

[/ QUOTE ]

Same here; I install batteries and tires. Not always a matter of reading the manual, because I know what has to be done; but it can be a real pain in the neck when you have to take half the engine out just to get at the battery.

mrivc211 · July 12th, 2003, 19:51

Now this is gonna sound weird here being a CFI but I've owned a 97 328 convertible (back when I was making decent money) and currently own a 2002 BMW 325Ci (coupe). My brother has a 2003 G500 and a 2003 CL55 and a S600(he's smart.....got out of aviation early). My dad's owned a Volvo a couple of times as well and now has gone bonkers and drives a Jag.

Now......having driven these cars...heres my opinion.

I like my car. If I had an extra 5K sitting around and it wasn't a big deal of cash to me I would have opted for the 330Ci. The 325's power is slightly missing. BMW is a sportier ride than Mercedes. When I'm in my brothers cars I feel like I"m on a cloud. In my car I feel the road. But I do have the sport package on my car with the 17" wheels.
His G500 is like a SL 500 but 4 wheel drive. Its awesome. The CL55......can't say anything more than......Hold on to dear life.
If your going for the X5, I would highly recommend going for the 4.4Liter. If power is not a big issue then go for the 3.0 Theres big price difference. And theres no way in hell I would pay MSRP for sticker either. NO WAY!!!!!

Mike Lewis · July 15th, 2003, 07:13

[ QUOTE ]
BMW???????

I reccommend a 1975-1987 Chevy Blazer or Surburban with 6" lift, 36" tires, roof rack, Warn Winch, gun rack, 383 Stroker engine and more.....

[/ QUOTE ]

And don't forget the bald tires for off-roading, the monthly water pump, and optional 55 gallon tank...

Sorry, couldn't resist. But I loved that truck!

smokey1 · September 4th, 2003, 22:54

My mom and dad both have BMW's, and I have driven both; My dad a 2002 525i, and my mom 2001ish 530. I personally would not own one of these cars unless it was the 7 series they are small and hard on tall people. I broke the power steering and electric seats on my dad's over christmas break trying to get in and out of them. However, in high school.I worked for Chaison BMW in Las Vegas (now Desert BMW), and I got to drive the 740.......AWESOME CAR! BMW's as a whole have decent power if you put your foot in the gas tank it will accelerate fast and they ride smoothe. If I had the money of you and Mr. "Moneybags" Taylor I'd probably get a nice Tahoe........same price range but a little more truck......my 2 cents

n2o2diver · September 4th, 2003, 23:30

We have a 2000 Z3 and we love it! Its a blast to drive.
Now that I have owned a BMW I would by another.
The fit and finish is first rate and the service is great as well.
I haven't found the maintenance to be any more than on other cars.
We bought ours used and it still had miles left on the 36K miles of prepaid maintenance the original owner purchased. I had taken it to a dealer to find out some thngs about it and they printed out the vehicle history for me, said drive it around until about 35,500 and bring it in. I did and they fixed every little thing right down to a sqweek no questions asked and it didn't cost a penny. They even gave me a ride home and came back and got me when it was ready.

Doug Taylor · September 5th, 2003, 00:48

I used to think a car was a car then my wife bought an X5. Holy moley what a sweet car!

This is what I'd like once that beast is paid off:

BMW M3

Ahhh yes. A boy can dream, can't he?

And Kristie reminded me about these...

But if I could find a 1995 with NO MILES on it, I'd like one of these:

I guess I'm going to be a 45 year-old with hair plugs, eh?

I_Money · September 5th, 2003, 08:43

I test drove the 3 series when I first got a proper job - and it was a really nice car. However I concluded I would rather drive something like a Ford Focus on an everyday basis and spend some money on something like this for weekend fun.

MikeD · September 5th, 2003, 08:50

I reccommend a late 70s/early 80s Chevy Surburban or Blazer, personally.

Athena · September 5th, 2003, 17:25

Bosley Medical Hair Restoration here you come!!!!

Joe · September 5th, 2003, 20:49

Someday.....

John_Jones · September 5th, 2003, 20:55

[ QUOTE ]
I broke the power steering and electric seats on my dad's over christmas break trying to get in and out of them.

[/ QUOTE ]
Mydad would be soooo pissed if I broke something that, he got pissed when I scraped a little bit of the paint of his glove compartment of a 1989 Astro Van (worst car I have ever driven and ever will drive). I wonder whathe would do if I broke something like that in his car...Holy Crap he'd be pissed!

July 9th, 2003, 13:27	#1
Kristie Big Chief's Woman Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Posts: 17,661 Blog Entries: 3	BMW Owners... time to speak out!! Doug and I want to know... Do you like your BMW? if so - what about it makes it "special" to you... or if not - what do you not like about it? have you had any good experiences or bad experiences with their service? with the engine, with warrantied items etc??? truth be known - we may be buying a CPO (Certified Pre-Owned) 2002 BMW X5 cuz volvo dealers suck A** and want full MSRP for their XC90's....they don't even resale the same as Benz/BMW!! figured out we could purchase a 2002 X5 for LESS than a new XC90 AWD - and we wouldn't lose the "drive off the lot depreciation"... too bad - as much as I really want that volvo, i'm not paying MSRP!! maybe i'll get it in another lifetime eh?! but anyways - we wanna hear the good, bad and ugly from you BMW owners before we go purchase the puppy!! Thanks!!

July 9th, 2003, 14:22	#2
ready2fly Old Skool Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: DFW Posts: 7,070	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! Kristie, that's a shame because those Volvo's are SUWEET!! That being said.... ..my friends (being in the legal community, that seems to be the choice of the newly-minted associate or partner, so I know many with Beemers) who have new or fairly new previously-owned Beemers really, really like them. They handle well. They're comfortable. They look very nice. BUT - whenever it comes time for maintenance, they start sweating it because BMW's are incredibly expensive to mantain (as I'm sure you know already having done your research). I guess it depends on what kind of warranty you two can get. (an aside: Is it true that you cannot change the oil in a BMW yourself - that it can only be done by a dealer???? Rumor??) Anway.... Good luck!! Beemers are sweet, sweet vehicles.

July 9th, 2003, 16:01	#3
EatSleepFly Old Skool Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: ?? Posts: 4,600	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! You expect to find many BMW owners on a site populated mostly by students, some underpaid airline pilots, and a bunch of starving flight instructors?!?! hehe...just messing with you. Beemers are cool, but I will never own one.

July 9th, 2003, 16:30	#4
pilot602 Old Skool Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: who haa Posts: 3,750	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! I'm still impressed/overjoyed I could afford to buy two Hyundais! One was a brand-new 2002, only-18-miles-on-it, 5-speed Hyunda Elantra GT (leather, power everything etc, etc,) and my car is a 2000 Hyundai Accent (power nothing - it is an automatic though). Total combined payment for both is something like $420/mo. The wife got the nice, new car.

July 10th, 2003, 07:30	#5
Dan Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Memphis, TN Posts: 65	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! Are you looking at the Volvos ? The one I'd like to have is the new S60R, but I have searched for a used S-80 and I found some decent prices on eBay Motors. I have yet to test drive any of them but man , they look sharp ! But the Beemer 5 and 7 series are nice too ! For now, I'll just stick to my paid for Saturn SC-2 Dan

July 10th, 2003, 20:03	#6
MikeD Administrator Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Pinal Airpark Posts: 6,897	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! BMW??????? I reccommend a 1975-1987 Chevy Blazer or Surburban with 6" lift, 36" tires, roof rack, Warn Winch, gun rack, 383 Stroker engine and more.....

July 10th, 2003, 20:08	#7
EatSleepFly Old Skool Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: ?? Posts: 4,600	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! [ QUOTE ] I reccommend a 1975-1987 Chevy Blazer or Surburban with 6" lift, 36" tires, roof rack, Warn Winch, gun rack, 383 Stroker engine and more..... [/ QUOTE ] Now THAT sounds more like it....AND you could run over all the stupid rice-rockets out there!

July 10th, 2003, 20:15	#8
Jason Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 975	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! Kristie - I'd have to second what R2F said - BMW's are nice cars but VERY expensive to maintain from I've been told. The guy I fly with has a 740-somethingorother - he likes it but does as much of the work as he can himself. He recently took it to a dealer for a brake job and they wanted like $1200 to do it! He bought all brand new premium parts online and did it himself for around $400. I've been told(second hand info) that it's so expensive because BMW's are more difficult to work on than some other vehicles such as Lexus - don't know how true that is. I don't know what the degree of 'commonality' is between different BMW vehicles but the 740 has several things that I don't really care for - one example is that the battery is underneath the rear seat and is only accessable from inside the car. Jason

July 10th, 2003, 23:04	#9
Joe Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Warwick, RI Posts: 522	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! [ QUOTE ] I don't know what the degree of 'commonality' is between different BMW vehicles but the 740 has several things that I don't really care for - one example is that the battery is underneath the rear seat and is only accessable from inside the car. [/ QUOTE ] My friend's '87 Audi 5000 S is like that. Confused the hell out of me when I had to jump start his car... I hate the Dodge Intrepids and Stratus's where you have to take off the driver's front wheel and go through the wheel well to replace the battery.

July 11th, 2003, 01:23	#10
kostcoguy Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Orange County Posts: 336	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! Alright heres a truth be told, don't ride longer than an hour in a beemer, the seats get really hard, really fast I had to ride hom from san fran to LA area in one and man that hurts after about 30 minutes. My 2 cents. Kostcoguy

July 11th, 2003, 03:34	#11
stuckingfk Old Skool Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: El Forko Grande Posts: 2,543	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! [ QUOTE ] I hate the Dodge Intrepids and Stratus's where you have to take off the driver's front wheel and go through the wheel well to replace the battery [/ QUOTE ] Or how about the some of the newer bonnevilles and caddy's that you have to remove the backseat to change or jump the battery. The first time I saw that made me look a few times and think about how dumb that was IMO.

July 11th, 2003, 05:38	#12
Jason Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 975	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! Ummmm......ya'll probably should have taken a look at the owner's manual. I'm pretty sure that all vehicles with batteries under the seat, etc., have remote mounted charging/jumping posts conviently located under the hood. Have to second the comment about the hard ride in the BMW - it does get a little rough after a while. Jason

July 11th, 2003, 07:39	#13
EatSleepFly Old Skool Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: ?? Posts: 4,600	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! [ QUOTE ] Ummmm......ya'll probably should have taken a look at the owner's manual. [/ QUOTE ] Directions? Who needs directions??

July 11th, 2003, 13:40	#14
stuckingfk Old Skool Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: El Forko Grande Posts: 2,543	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! [ QUOTE ] Ummmm......ya'll probably should have taken a look at the owner's manual. I'm pretty sure that all vehicles with batteries under the seat, etc., have remote mounted charging/jumping posts conviently located under the hood. [/ QUOTE ] It wasn't my car, I guess I should have said that. I saw the cars in maitenance at a dealership I worked at. They were working on the electrical sytem and they were changing the battery. I just thought it was a weird place to put it, but I guess it needs to go somewhere when there is no room under the hood.

July 12th, 2003, 10:31	#15
Joe Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Warwick, RI Posts: 522	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Ummmm......ya'll probably should have taken a look at the owner's manual. I'm pretty sure that all vehicles with batteries under the seat, etc., have remote mounted charging/jumping posts conviently located under the hood. [/ QUOTE ] It wasn't my car, I guess I should have said that. I saw the cars in maitenance at a dealership I worked at. They were working on the electrical sytem and they were changing the battery. I just thought it was a weird place to put it, but I guess it needs to go somewhere when there is no room under the hood. [/ QUOTE ] Same here; I install batteries and tires. Not always a matter of reading the manual, because I know what has to be done; but it can be a real pain in the neck when you have to take half the engine out just to get at the battery.

July 12th, 2003, 19:51	#16
mrivc211 Old Skool Join Date: Sep 2000 Posts: 1,989	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! Now this is gonna sound weird here being a CFI but I've owned a 97 328 convertible (back when I was making decent money) and currently own a 2002 BMW 325Ci (coupe). My brother has a 2003 G500 and a 2003 CL55 and a S600(he's smart.....got out of aviation early). My dad's owned a Volvo a couple of times as well and now has gone bonkers and drives a Jag. Now......having driven these cars...heres my opinion. I like my car. If I had an extra 5K sitting around and it wasn't a big deal of cash to me I would have opted for the 330Ci. The 325's power is slightly missing. BMW is a sportier ride than Mercedes. When I'm in my brothers cars I feel like I"m on a cloud. In my car I feel the road. But I do have the sport package on my car with the 17" wheels. His G500 is like a SL 500 but 4 wheel drive. Its awesome. The CL55......can't say anything more than......Hold on to dear life. If your going for the X5, I would highly recommend going for the 4.4Liter. If power is not a big issue then go for the 3.0 Theres big price difference. And theres no way in hell I would pay MSRP for sticker either. NO WAY!!!!!

July 15th, 2003, 07:13	#17
Mike Lewis Shadow Administrator Join Date: Jul 1998 Location: Between KFCM and KMSP Posts: 6,227	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! [ QUOTE ] BMW??????? I reccommend a 1975-1987 Chevy Blazer or Surburban with 6" lift, 36" tires, roof rack, Warn Winch, gun rack, 383 Stroker engine and more..... [/ QUOTE ] And don't forget the bald tires for off-roading, the monthly water pump, and optional 55 gallon tank... Sorry, couldn't resist. But I loved that truck!

September 4th, 2003, 22:54	#18
smokey1 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Houston-EWR-CLE Posts: 321	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! My mom and dad both have BMW's, and I have driven both; My dad a 2002 525i, and my mom 2001ish 530. I personally would not own one of these cars unless it was the 7 series they are small and hard on tall people. I broke the power steering and electric seats on my dad's over christmas break trying to get in and out of them. However, in high school.I worked for Chaison BMW in Las Vegas (now Desert BMW), and I got to drive the 740.......AWESOME CAR! BMW's as a whole have decent power if you put your foot in the gas tank it will accelerate fast and they ride smoothe. If I had the money of you and Mr. "Moneybags" Taylor I'd probably get a nice Tahoe........same price range but a little more truck......my 2 cents

September 4th, 2003, 23:30	#19
n2o2diver Junior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Livin the Dream Posts: 220	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! We have a 2000 Z3 and we love it! Its a blast to drive. Now that I have owned a BMW I would by another. The fit and finish is first rate and the service is great as well. I haven't found the maintenance to be any more than on other cars. We bought ours used and it still had miles left on the 36K miles of prepaid maintenance the original owner purchased. I had taken it to a dealer to find out some thngs about it and they printed out the vehicle history for me, said drive it around until about 35,500 and bring it in. I did and they fixed every little thing right down to a sqweek no questions asked and it didn't cost a penny. They even gave me a ride home and came back and got me when it was ready.

September 5th, 2003, 00:48	#20
Doug Taylor Agent Smith Join Date: Dec 1969 Location: KSDL Posts: 39,517 Blog Entries: 1	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! I used to think a car was a car then my wife bought an X5. Holy moley what a sweet car! This is what I'd like once that beast is paid off: BMW M3 Ahhh yes. A boy can dream, can't he? And Kristie reminded me about these... But if I could find a 1995 with NO MILES on it, I'd like one of these: I guess I'm going to be a 45 year-old with hair plugs, eh?

September 5th, 2003, 08:43	#21
I_Money Moderator Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Socal Posts: 5,644	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! I test drove the 3 series when I first got a proper job - and it was a really nice car. However I concluded I would rather drive something like a Ford Focus on an everyday basis and spend some money on something like this for weekend fun.

September 5th, 2003, 08:50	#22
MikeD Administrator Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Pinal Airpark Posts: 6,897	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! I reccommend a late 70s/early 80s Chevy Surburban or Blazer, personally.

September 5th, 2003, 17:25	#23
Athena Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Northwest State of Mind, WA Posts: 477	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! Bosley Medical Hair Restoration here you come!!!!

September 5th, 2003, 20:49	#24
Joe Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Warwick, RI Posts: 522	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! Someday.....

September 5th, 2003, 20:55	#25
John_Jones Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Lafayette, LA Posts: 329	Re: BMW Owners... time to speak out!! [ QUOTE ] I broke the power steering and electric seats on my dad's over christmas break trying to get in and out of them. [/ QUOTE ] Mydad would be soooo pissed if I broke something that, he got pissed when I scraped a little bit of the paint of his glove compartment of a 1989 Astro Van (worst car I have ever driven and ever will drive). I wonder whathe would do if I broke something like that in his car...Holy Crap he'd be pissed!

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