Not a fan

[Palazzo 477]

He missed the N46. Nice write up on an M5 flip in there though.

 

https://www.google.co.nz/amp/thegarage.jalopnik.com/bmw-engines-are-gigantic-pieces-of-sh*t-1784684330/amp

Edited July 7, 2017 by Palazzo

[allan 295]

An interesting read true but very unbalanced IMO compare it to other brands and the problems they have. Then compared the car/s as a whole unit against one another. One should not forget the N42

[kwhelan 241]

https://dougdemuro.kinja.com/german-reliability-the-greatest-myth-ever-sold-to-amer-1572026115

I think he has a point, It was a bit of an eye opener owning an e39 with 70k for the first time, constant bills that actually make no sense and are embarrassing to explain to the bill payer who's beat up old primera sails through warrants year after year. 

any audi vw dsg box that hasn't expired in under45k left, it really is insanity

[gjm 3258]

Doug de Muro has been getting a lot more controversial lately. He has written some insightful and interesting articles, often with personal research and experience (and ownership), but seems to now look to deride pretty much anything.

[HardBall66 135]

It seems strange to me that the BMW engineers would choose to make the timing chains out of melted jellybeans - no wonder they break down so easily.

Also when I woke up this morning I was Katy Perry.

[Olaf 3317]

3 hours ago, Palazzo said:

He missed the N46. Nice write up on an M5 flip in there though.

 

https://www.google.co.nz/amp/thegarage.jalopnik.com/bmw-engines-are-gigantic-pieces-of-sh*t-1784684330/amp

 

Without any hint of sarcasm or hyperbole, I can tell you that every single time I started any engine with a BMW badge on it, there was the same sense of concerned dread that the stereotypical bomb squad guys got in ‘80s action flicks. Starting and running a high-strung BMW engine that’s destined for daily driver duty without incident is like finding a briefcase with a big red LCD display with five seconds left, with the choice of cutting the red wire or the blue wire, as a sweating Danny Glover somewhere in the background tells you that he’s too old for this sh*t. It’s a literal time bomb. 

Let’s take, for example, my old E36 M3. It featured a US-only spec 3.2 liter straight six cylinder engine that produced around 240 horsepower. It also had a unique problem in which the nut that held the sprocket driving the oil pump would fall off. Yes, the one thing that made sure your engine was oiled properly would simply fall apart, because it wasn’t torqued down properly from the factory. 

If this part went, as it was apt to do over time, your engine, maligned by some as the worst M3 engine ever made, would be considered a prime candidate for the deadest M3 engine ever made, as the insides would turn themselves to confetti in short order. This wasn’t so much as a defect as it was a promise, a race against the clock that would net you one hell of a story to tell your friends as you cry into your already tear-soaked repair bill.

 

but he promised no sarcasm or hyperbole!  I'm thinking "recall notice".  If the author chose not to take it back to the dealer to have the nut tightened, he's an idiot.  Just reading those paragraphs convinced me that he's suffering from an acute and extended cramp of his right wrist, and it's severly impeding blood flow to his head.  

[Eagle 1662]

80's era engines are the best BMW has to offer reliability wise, simple and well built. Clearly he has no nfi or chose to ignore any engine before the 90's.

 

[Olaf 3317]

4 hours ago, Eagle said:

80's era engines are the best BMW has to offer reliability wise, simple and well built. Clearly he has no nfi or chose to ignore any engine before the 90's.

 

M20's are simple, though head issues are common where the cooling system has been neglected.  M30's were stonking at the time, though are heavy, inefficient, and slow these days.  M54 less likely to survive an overheat than an M20 or M30.  

[Herbmiester 925]

I can't really disagree, I am an auto Electrian by trade and I am on my 5th BMW. I think they are great to drive, they make me feel good when I am in them and they have style and performance, but they are not reliable in comparison to say a Japanese car. Part of it is the amount of plastic used in the engine and it's ancillaries and perhaps some of it is German obsession with achieving an engineering goal that ignores engine or engine ancillary longetivity. 

[Eagle 1662]

I agree but that only really applies to 90+ models imo. The M50 was the starting point.

I know Germans like their recycled plastics but its usually BMW (and probably VAG too) that are notorious for failures. Not sure when BMW started using recycled content it but i'm sure like most things the quality of it has decreased over time, whilst the amount used has increased.

 

 

 

[kwhelan 241]

90s+ well thats in agreement with what he said then you can hardly judge a car brand on something from 25 years ago and I agree its not just bmw, it seems to be a german thing

Part of it is possibly a maintenance parts price and availability thing, I mean its intended and also nothing for them to say open a rocker cover and replace all studs, washers, gaskets while doing it whereas we just can't get those bits off the shelf and don't usually bother anyway. then complain because it leaks onto the exhaust and smokes.

You could argue that jap cars just handle that type of treatment

 

[NZ BMW 368]

He is exactly right on the cooling system. I cannot believe they are so bad and people act like it's a normal thing to have to refresh the entire system every 100,000kms. Not just bad but consistently bad over so many models. 

That being said, I wouldn't think that it's unreasonable to open the engine up and refresh some things at 200,000km or 120k miles. That way you're set for the next 200,000. Likewise, I can't help but feel if you take your car to a reputable service place they can make sure all the bolts on things are tight and where they should be at a regular interval. 

[Gabe79 410]

I enjoy BMWs. I'll go out on a limb and say the main reason I got one was actually to learn how to wrench. I have no delusions on this point, and it's pretty common on these forums even for the words "It's cheaper if you do the work yourself" with the full expectation of having to do work on it. One can argue every car needs work, and this is true. That said... 'regular maintenance' in reliable cars means regular oil changes. Not overhauling cooling systems... When Jalopnik is saying BMWs suck for reliability, their other end of the spectrum are Toyotas that last a million miles.  We joke about 'lifetime fluids' that last the life of the warranty, isn't that simply an acceptance that it's not really just the trans fluid, but the whole car that's engineered for that 'life of the warranty' ? That's sure what it feels like when reading about the newer E60 and beyond, specially given comments on this forum about any newer BMW with over 100k KMs on it.

[Eagle 1662]

They don't keep increasing the service intervals periods for nothing, combined that with all the emissions gear, variable engine systems etc it sounds like an early grave to me

[kiwi535 538]

39 minutes ago, Gabe79 said:

 That's sure what it feels like when reading about the newer E60 and beyond, specially given comments on this forum about any newer BMW with over 100k KMs on it.

100k.....i think thats overstating it somewhat.Most cars on here are well over 10 years old.many will be over 20 yrs old.Some will be pushing 30.I bet there arent many Toyotas looking as good as some E34s on here,though there is a good reason for that too

[kiwi535 538]

li beleivve that the germans are regulated to use recycled stuff

 

[Olaf 3317]

On 7/9/2017 at 9:45 PM, NZ BMW said:

He is exactly right on the cooling system. I cannot believe they are so bad and people act like it's a normal thing to have to refresh the entire system every 100,000kms. Not just bad but consistently bad over so many models. 

Volvos are around 140,000kms.

[NZ BMW 368]

43 minutes ago, Olaf said:

Volvos are around 140,000kms.

So 40% better then? That's quite an improvement. 

[Olaf 3317]

100,000kms is playing it safe on M54's, they're good for 120-140k kms.

[Allanw 1071]

My M54 expansion tank didn't explode until 160 kms

The radiator will be the next to go Everything else is done.

Ours has High OBC and tells you when the coolant has escaped anyway... and my Mrs stops and phones me EVERY time it "BONGS" at her

[Driftit 2078]

Ah Jalopnik.  Click bait bullshit 90% of the time.  And it works.

I'm pretty sure Doug DeMuro only writes half assed click bait.  All he does is pick a common topic to complain about.

Just look at these headlines.
https://dougdemuro.kinja.com/

"The main problem, as I see it, is that the Germans are just too obsessed with stuffing all sorts of newfangled gizmos into their cars."
I see he hasn't driven anything American in the last couple of years...  Packed full of "New" equipment that struggles to function.  Whilst still driving like something from the 90's.

Don't ever bring up MX5's around him.  He bum tongues the hell out of them.  Best car in the world blah blah blah.

[No name user 379]

He's right about the S85 tis poo.

[Michael. 2313]

Doug DeMuro is pretty sharp, I like his stuff most of the time, but given it's opinion you either agree or don't. 

That said, I found his drooling rave over the new Ford GT V6 a bit cringe worthy. It was as though he received a blank cheque from a Ford dealer to give the car a glowing review, usually he's more critical. 

[Driftit 2078]

4 hours ago, Michael. said:

Doug DeMuro is pretty sharp, I like his stuff most of the time, but given it's opinion you either agree or don't. 

That said, I found his drooling rave over the new Ford GT V6 a bit cringe worthy. It was as though he received a blank cheque from a Ford dealer to give the car a glowing review, usually he's more critical. 

I like someone who can review a product with the same level of critique each time.  He doesn't often.  He has some interesting topics.  But most of his headlines are purely to get you to click that link.

Edited July 14, 2017 by Driftit