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So, even though the car will barely run, it doesn't necessarily mean you've done any damage to it.. yet.. But, you may have... and, I definitely wouldn't keep driving it..
regards,
kyfdx
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-hus
The truth is that a BMW 3er is not all that expensive to maintain if you can do some minor work yourself AND you know a good independent BMW tech.
As for the specific car you are considering, I'd want it inspected by a good BMW tech,and I'd also want to see a full service history. Was the coolant replaced (using BMW coolant ONLY) every three years? Was the brake fluid changed every two years with a good DOT 4 fluid?
I have a 1995 3er I've owned since new with 99,000 miles on it. Service and repair costs have averaged less than $500/year. I also have a 1997 528i with 128,000 miles. Maintenance and repairs costs for it come to a bit less than $1100 per year.
Oil changes are cake and can be performed in your driveway for less than $45 using Mobil 1 and a BMW filter. Brakes are dead simple as well. How much is a superb driving experience worth to you? In my case, any additional servicing expense my 3er and 5er incur is more than offset by the enjoyment I relieve from driving them.
As a general rule of thumb I always tell people that even IF you do minor work yourself and use an Indy shop for repair and maintenance, still, with any high miles German luxury car (150K+) you should plan on $125-150 a month and if it exceeds that by a fair margin over the course of say two years you really need to bail on the car.
As far as maintenance costs go: Not much experience with labor costs, but I think they're pretty competitive; I'm finding prices for parts are what you'd expect to pay for just about any car. All I can guess is that people speculating about high maintenance costs are lumping BMW with Ferrari because they're both European.
"I hear that bmw at high mileage is very risky..."
In my opinion, all cars at high mileage are risky. Just because Div2 and myself haven't had major reliability issues doesn't mean that you're going to do as well (no matter what brand you buy). If it's any consolation, CR gives the 3-series a 5 (out of 5) for reliability*.
Now, if you'd posted that you were looking at an '87 Mustang with 80k miles that you wanted to drive for another 100k... I'd unequivocally tell you to run away from it as quickly as possible.
P.S.: [Confession:] My 318's reliability is all the more remarkable considering I've been pretty lax as far as routine maintenance is concerned -- I've just now gotten around to changing the fluids in the transmission and differential (for which I'm very sorry).
* Data for the 2001 thru 2003 models.
What's "high mileage"?
Here's my view: Engineers make a car that will run, or hang together, probably on average 175K-225K. After that, so few survive that one has to believe this lifespan as pretty accurate.
So if you buy a luxury car with 175K on the clock, you are essentially buying something that can drop dead any minute.
If it has 150K on the clock you are at best 3/4 of the way through a car's normal life, and it won't be the BEST 1/4 either (hey, just like US!!!)
I'm planning to keep my car for a long time, but this potential issue could really irritate me.
I've never seen anything in print about this problem with the E46s...
regards,
kyfdx
(not the expert)
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The subframe tear is issue with Z3s. The subframe was designed for 4 cylinder, and BMW stuffed a I6 in it.
You sure you're not confusing the 2 cars?
dave330i -- The magazine I read this in was "Bimmer", in the Tech Q&A section. The person who wrote in had a '00 E46 with this problem.
I live in the UK and am having exactly the same trouble with my 2001 - 330d. I too have taken it to the garage but had no joy in getting it fixed. I was wondering if you have managed to get yours sorted - and if so what was done?
Thanks in advance
Phin
Best Regards,
Shipo
I owe a BMW 323i 2000 automatic. The other day, I was trying to reverse out of a parking lot. I put it on reverse and it wouldn't move. The car sounds fine and the drive works fine also but the reverse just does go.
Any advice will be appreciated!~~
Lucas10
The car has always had a tendancy to stall at times just after it's first started and in slow speed stops and starts.
Thanks in advance for your help.
The reason I ask: I have a loaner 330i while mine is in the service center (again!) and the loaner feels more powerful (much more powerful) than my car, especially in lower gears. The same throttle pressure that would get my car off to a healthy but reasonable acceleration results in the loaner positively leaping off of the line. At 3/4+ throttle, my car feels like it hunkers down first and then gets off to a good clip; the loaner roars off without any hesitation. Both car have similar mileage (loaner = 1900, mine = 2200). Mine has a sport package; the loaner does not. Both are AT.
Could it possibly be the wrong engine is in my car??
No. Most likely explaination is how the 2 cars have been driven. Odds are the loaner's been driven more aggressively than your car. Software adapts to driver's habit to optimize performance.
This would be consistent with another posted I read a post here a while ago about the break-in period for a previous model 5-series ... the owner had driven it aggressively from the beginning, and subsequently a technician driving the car some months later noticed it displayed considerably more power (thought the 530 performed like a 545).
So is this sort of phenomena dynamic or pre-determined by one's behavior during the break-in period? (i.e., if I start driving my car more aggressively, will it "loosen" up as well, or having been pretty mild on the petel during the break-in period have I permanently trained timidity into my car??).
This would be consistent with another posted I read a post here a while ago about the break-in period for a previous model 5-series ... the owner had driven it aggressively from the beginning, and subsequently a technician driving the car some months later noticed it displayed considerably more power (thought the 530 performed like a 545).
So is this sort of phenomena dynamic or pre-determined by one's behavior during the break-in period? (i.e., if I start driving my car more aggressively, will it "loosen" up as well, or having been pretty mild on the petel during the break-in period have I permanently trained timidity into my car??).
Software constantly updates so it's dynamic, but it does take some time. My car wasn't truly "broken in" until 20k or so.
I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the tons of rain we got in NYC past few days. I drove my car a few days ago and everything was fine. Any idea what the problem is? The dealer is about 20 miles away, is it safe to drive? :confuse:
Any help is highly appreciated
As far as aggressive driving begetting a faster and more responsive car, my thinking is that there are two separate issues here.
1) The drive-by-wire throttle control system. Over a period of two or more weeks (I forget the exact period, and whether it is calendar time or on the Hobbs Meter (engine hours)), your car's ECU learns your driving style and adjusts the throttle response accordingly. I've read that some recent Audis could be forced to have their memory purged thus speeding up the learning process. The steps to activate said purge were something like, a) turn the ignition on but do not start the car, b) hold the throttle pedal to the floor for some number of seconds, and c) release the pedal and start the car. Will this work on a BMW? Unknown, I suppose it depends upon whether BMW and Audi use the same supplier for their throttle control system. If you want to try it out, check out the Audi A6 discussion and search for posts from markcincinnati, or I suppose you could just post over there and ask him for the procedure.
2) The physical break-in of the engine. When I was a car crazy kid growing up in the Birmingham/Bloomfield Hills area of Michigan, I had lots of friends whose fathers were engineers for the autos (gee, what a surprise given the geography). I heard from more that one source that the fastest engines were broken in hard, hard as in leaving the transmission in second gear and driving down the freeway for fifty miles (back when the speed limit was 70 and cars drove 85). Supposedly this procedure conditioned the internals of the engine to run faster with less resistance, or some such bilge. Do I believe it? I'm not sure, but so far at least, my cars have all been broken in that way (well, not quite that hard) and they have all seemed to be quite fast compared to other like models.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Second, contact ProgRama. They can supply ECMs on an exchange basis.
I wouldn't drive it that way.. call BMW roadside assistance, and they will flatbed it to the dealer...
If it is the sensor, it isn't serious.. a fairly quick job..
regards,
kyfdx
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This is fascinating to me. Intuition would tell me that such aggresive break-in would damage the engine in the long-run, and with that mind set I've drove the first 1200 miles very timidly (didn't take the car over 65, never over 4500 rpm). So maybe if I drive a little more aggressively, the car will loosen up ...
When I read your original post I was astonished that a technician (to say nothing of an average joe) would take notice of the perforamcne differences. Then I borrowed this loaner and experienced it myself.
I just hope this all means that the same performance potential lurks underneath the hood of my car ... just needs to be slapped around a bit
Thanks!
Seems like a lot of dough for 10 minutes of work.
Also, shipo, I had asked about getting the OBC reflashed (to try and get better mpg) but they refused saying that they wouldn't do this unless there was something specifically wrong with the car (they were concerned that it could cause more problems than it would fix). My mpg is still mid-20s with mixed driving (haven't gone on an extended hwy trip for a while), so I may be better passing on the re-flash.
They did mine for free when I brought the car in for inspection 1.
"My mpg is still mid-20s with mixed driving"
That sounds about right. How many miles on the car?
For an '01 with 60k milage sounds a little low for mixed driving. If you get a chance go for a long road trip (at least 200 miles). I usually averaged 28 mpg on roadtrips.
I calculate mpg manually at most fill-ups, but the computer provides a "miles to empty" and this is usually at 380-390 miles when I fill up.
It's hard to define what the right milage is for mix driving, since you don't know what the ratio is.
There was a time when I did mostly city driving, and my mpg dropped to ~23 or so.
"I calculate mpg manually at most fill-ups, but the computer provides a "miles to empty" and this is usually at 380-390 miles when I fill up."
You do know that the computer can calculate mpg for you as well, right? After you fill up, bring up the mpg display and reset it.
Yep, the MTE is just easier for me to monitor.
Sounds like my mpg should be slightly higher, but not by much. I'll take a look at a couple of things this weekend and see if it justifies bringing it in.
Thanks for the feedback.
Dave, you definitely are not in Texas. I don't even plan for a trip to see my folks - 325 miles. 200 miles is a little trip around the Fort Worth/Dallas metroplex. 500 miles is the minimum for a "long" trip.
:P :shades: