BMW Maintence Costs

[Manhattan]

I'm in the market for a newer model but used BMW (2006 - current) but the maintenance costs from I've been hearing is scaring me away. I'm used to quick and cheap maintenance of Hondas and Toyotas. So how much should I expect the maintenance on a bimmer to cost per year? Are the engines and major components reliable? And how much cheaper is it to maintain a Lexus or Acura?

[Jetta-2.0]

it depends on what kind of maintenace you are asking about, i have a 1997 and any thing that has went wrong with it, I fixed it my self, but when it comes to electrical then thats a diff story, but even tho i have owned the car for about 2 years now and it hasnt given me any problems at all.

read up on the car you want to get and make sure you know as much info and the problems that it can have. Good luck

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

M cars cost significantly more in my experiences.

[2Legit2Quit]

More than you can afford pal, Ferr.....err...Bavarian....

*revs engine*

[Redlyne_mr2]

Maintenance and repair costs are 2 different things. Maintenance on a BMW is generally cheaper than it's japanese competitors due to more spaced out intervals. Should something break however it can be very expensive. With that being said any modern car can be very expensive to repair. All manufacturers out there have vehicles with common issues. Some BMW's have flawless records, some do not. Which type are you looking at?

[JVR1]

what annoys me most is the actual cost of replacement parts.. i don't generally search ebay and stuff either but i know that's one option but who knows what kind of reliability goes along with that

labour can be found at a reasonable price (especially if you do most things yourself)

[blitz]

There are some good online places in Canada to get replacement OES type parts.

Upper and lower control arms and sway bar links were going to cost me $1300 for OEM, but only $600 (shipped) for non-BMW branded stuff made in the same factory.

Overall though, the threat of future high repair costs made me sell the 540.

[Manhattan]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
Maintenance and repair costs are 2 different things. Maintenance on a BMW is generally cheaper than it's japanese competitors due to more spaced out intervals. Should something break however it can be very expensive. With that being said any modern car can be very expensive to repair. All manufacturers out there have vehicles with common issues. Some BMW's have flawless records, some do not. Which type are you looking at?

Just a basic 3 series.

[Little Dragon]

Its only scary high if you bring it to the dealership.
Do the work yourself and you save a ton of money.

Get your OEM parts from online vendors like AutoPartsWay.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[Idratherbsidewayz]

I've always wanted an E39 M5, but the cost of parts scares me. Autopartsway looks awesome!

[KandabashiDevil]

Always buy parts from independent sources. Do not ever go to the dealer for parts. I've seen BMW mark-up, it's outrageous.
If you can't do the work yourself, there's no one better to choose than a factory trained technician. But never, ever purchase parts from the dealer. You can always find the exact same OEM items from local or online retailers for cheaper.

[carzcraz]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
I used to have an E21 that was bulletproof reliable, but things have changed a lot since then.

Not to hate on BMW, but I wouldn't touch a newer one without a factory warranty with a 10 foot pole... with Kia and Hyundai cleaning up their act, they have got to be getting close to the title of most unreliable vehicle manufacturer on the market (well at least right after GM).

Of the people I know who have bought newer 3 series the major problems centre around the high pressure fuel pump failures, sunroof leaking and cracking issues, intermittent electrical problems and transmission failures. I don't know anybody who hasn't had major problems their 3 series.

My parents owned an old 5 (1989) that was bulletproof.

However from our personal experiences owning a newer generation 3 and 5 series I couldn't agree more. We were the original owner of the 3 and second owner of the 5...original owner a male in his 50's, both local cars serviced at BMW.

Both vehicles were outside of warranty period when the repair bills started to accumulate. For this reason, we decided to take a hit on the trade-in of our 5 series just to get it out of our garage.