Jalopnik - "BMW Engines Are Gigantic Pieces Of sh*t"

[gjm 3258]

Hmm. Some aren't great, and some are bad, but...

https://thegarage.jalopnik.com/bmw-engines-are-gigantic-pieces-of-sh*t-1784684330

Sensational headline, much?

[BreakMyWindow 1874]

And what about the steaming pile of ....American cars ?

[qube 3570]

https://www.youtube.com/user/tavarish

 

[Michael. 2313]

Kind of click baity. That guy is a wee bit full of himself too, he's ok I suppose though. 

Does have a point, but it's kinda looking at that sector of worst case examples, the worst looked after examples.

Unfortunately BMWs do have faults, and it's just made worst by neglect, lack of servicing and poor mechanical sympathy.

One aspect that is worth considering, many buy BMWs, M cars particularly to rev and drive hard, meaning a tougher life, Toyota Corrollas are not subjected to the same treatment, making for a much easier, long boring life. A simplistic view, but certainly a factor, aside from the inherent engine stress levels, HP/Liter and peak rpms etc that play another part. 

[Herbmiester 927]

My experience is that engines are fine but a lot of what is bolted to the engine has a limited life. I include seals and gaskets in that group.

[Michael. 2313]

24 minutes ago, Herbmiester said:

My experience is that engines are fine but a lot of what is bolted to the engine has a limited life. I include seals and gaskets in that group.

Basically the parts corners can be cut to reduce costs, or parts more compromised by environmental regulations. 

[m325i 709]

Tavarish is the biggest hack ever. Wrenching and journalism. 

[Palazzo 477]

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/bmw-44-liter-n63-engine-experiencing-frequent-reliability-problems-88225.html

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/here-s-why-bmws-n63-44-liter-v8-engines-fail-96527.html

Jesus, I was thinking of buying one of these until Lidistick mentioned them in his post and I googled.

 

[Karter16 407]

So on 1 end of the spectrum you have a Toyota Hilux, which as Top Gear "proved" a while back you can pretty much blow up and it'll still run. And on the other end of the spectrum you have a Formula 1 car which needs an engine rebuild every race (or more frequently sometimes).

There's also a performance difference between the Hilux and the F1 car.....

Basically you choose where you sit on that spectrum. Once you've chosen where you sit, you need to make sure that you perform the maintenance necessary for your chosen location on said spectrum.

If you don't you're going to have a bad time.

Edited November 29, 2017 by Karter16

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

6 hours ago, Michael. said:

Basically ... parts more compromised by environmental regulations. 

Or German Federal law interference

Edited November 29, 2017 by Young Thrash Driver

[Eagle 1662]

For the most part the 90's had everything very well balanced.  

[NZ BMW 368]

I think he is 100% right on the cooling system, they seem more delicate than other European cars I’ve owned. 

BMW seems to live closer to the bleeding edge of things than say Toyota. You pay for that in reliability ratings but you tend to make up for that in driving dynamics. 

Certainly other makes have issues. Honda, if I recall correctly is a shocker with transmissions in a number of their models. 

[coop 261]

9 hours ago, Karter16 said:

So on 1 end of the spectrum you have a Toyota Hilux, which as Top Gear "proved" a while back you can pretty much blow up and it'll still run. And on the other end of the spectrum you have a Formula 1 car which needs an engine rebuild every race (or more frequently sometimes).

There's also a performance difference between the Hilux and the F1 car.....

Basically you choose where you sit on that spectrum. Once you've chosen where you sit, you need to make sure that you perform the maintenance necessary for your chosen location on said spectrum.

If you don't you're going to have a bad time.

This doesn't make sense, considering run of the mill BMW engines have their fair share of expensive issues. M62, N62, N42 none of them at the high end of the performance spectrum but have well known inevitable issues which will cost more than the value of the car to repair. 

 

[Karter16 407]

14 hours ago, coop said:

This doesn't make sense, considering run of the mill BMW engines have their fair share of expensive issues. M62, N62, N42 none of them at the high end of the performance spectrum but have well known inevitable issues which will cost more than the value of the car to repair. 

 

Haha I was waiting for someone to say this :-)

Yeah I said what I said knowing that it doesn't hold true for all his points. It was more directed at the comments around the likes of the S54's rod bearings, etc. I was just making the point that a performance engine means more maintenance.

As you say there's also examples of poor engineering and cost cutting. (and also marketing al la "lifetime fluids" etc.).

So while I agree that BMW have had their share of issues, I'm not sure that I'd go as far as saying "BMW Engines Are Gigantic Pieces Of Sh*t". 

I guess it does come back to the spectrum. In my case I have the performance of the S54, and the high maintenance costs to go with it, which I'm happy to pay for the performance I get. If I'd bought an N42 equipped car expecting something at the Toyota end of the spectrum, and I ended up paying maintenance costs in line with an S54 then I'd be pretty hacked off.

TL;DR - totally get where you're coming from.