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I read that sentiment a lot... but, BMW re-markets a lot of their leased vehicles as CPO.. and guarantees that drivetrain for 6yrs/100K. If they really believed that, they would be shooting themselves in the foot..
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Not really, IMO.
Many cars are purchased, not leased. Many of those without any extended warranty. And, there isn't a 100% failure rate between 50-100K miles, but I highly suspect the failure rate is higher than that between 0-50K miles..
Its a numbers game. I have discussed the newer extended oil changes with several folks within BMW's dealer network (parts men as well as techs) and every single one has told me that they "feel" the incidents of engine failure have increased as the oil change interval has increased.
I know, I know...its only subjective....
Still, there is a break even point where the costs of oil changes every 7.5K to BMW (under the 4 year "full-service-no costs warranty) exceed the relative costs of engine repair on the engines that DO fail.
But, to be fair, I do think the BMW engineers feel the "extended range" synthetic oils being used are better than previous oils, so in the end, I think its a combination of both. BMW is often so secretive about some things that its really hard to get to the real facts of why and how decisions are made...
As I said earlier, beliefs on oil change frequency are all across the board, and the only sure way to know how often YOU need to change your oil is to have an oil analysis run by a competent lab.
In the end, I simply change mine every 5-7.5 K miles. Its not terribly expensive, and I see it as cheap insurance. I purchase all of my cars, so I feel its worth it. If I leased, I would simply follow the BMW suggested intervals, for the obvious reasons.
I guess I would make a poor gambler.
I am new to this forum and new to BMW cars. I am planning on buying a certified used BMW car. A friend of mind who owns a 330i told me that the 330i is better than the 328i in terms of engine.
Based on your experience, what are the main differences between these two cars? I don't intend to spend a lot of money and would be using the car mainly for work. I live in Springfield Virginia and work in D.C.
Thanks in advance for your kind guidance.
Mo.
So.... you don't really have a choice... Starting in 2007, they are all either 328i or 335i (turbo)...
You might take that into account, the next time this friend tries to give you advice...
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-Hey, my oil level light just came on..
-I'll be right over to check it--
-Yup, about a 3/4 quart low, I'll top it off--
-Thanks! See ya!
Time... 6:00 PM..
(that oil is $7/qt at the parts department...)
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Then again, most folks expect great service from dealerships, and only vocalize their dis-satisfactions when things don't progress as expected.
Just human nature, I guess...
http://www.edmunds.com/dealerreviews/
They'd probably appreciate it.
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About the oil change posts above - Honda has 10k oil change interval, Mercedes service interval is 10k to 13k. Are they suffering the same engine issues?
And if your oil analysis says the additives are gone, can you use that to get a free oil change under free maint?
It would depend on the dealer, but in most cases I'd say no. I'd expect that your service adviser would give you a truckload of BS along the lines of "BMW knows best." or "Your test doesn't measure the right properties and/or it's inaccurate", etc.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/ww191/greekengreg/bmwdrivecycle.jpg
If not, give it a try.
BMW should be able to diagnose the OBD-II computer and figure out what's wrong, if it won't reset.
Meantime, if you could get a letter from the BMW dealer saying that the problem can't be fixed, maybe the smog referee will let you off the hook on this one.
Doesn't your state have laws that exempt you from very expensive or impossible repairs?
want to throw this out there:
A buddy and I were installing aftermarket "parking sensors" on the back of my E90 and every thing was going fine until he tried to tap into aline for power and ground. Now anything run off either front cig lighter is not getting power. We figure it is a fuse but neither of us wants to go digging and cause further harm. Anyone know exactly where the fuse for the cig lighters is. everything else works fine. Thanks!
If your people in the SF bay area are able to give me a quote (at least to some degree) over the phone, then I might just be willing to take it there for repairs. I am somewhat hesitant because I've taken it to BMW and 3 other mechanics that heard my description of the problem and said "oh, yeah bring it in we can take care of that"....and each one failed to do so. I'm out of pocket so much at this point....still searching for answers.
You can check out their reviews on YELP:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/marin-bavarian-san-rafael
Marin Bavarian
775 Andersen Drive
San Rafael, CA 94901-5362
(415) 453-7670
if you go, be sure to check out their elaborate display of junk foods. Bring a 6-pack, they like that.
I've used a body shop around here that works that way, only in their case it's a case of Coors Light :P .
I noticed a palm size dent on trunk door and sligtly cracked rear bumper; hit and run probably...
I am trying to decide if it's better to have it fixed out of pocket or go thru insurance.
I also plan on selling my car 6-12 months.
How much is taken off on average when you see 1-3K repair done when you pull up a carfax report on 3 series? I am not sure what info/How much detailed info will be shown up on the VIN history report either. Hit and Run, accident, detailed description of the damage & etc...
Thanks in advance.
39,500 miles.
No other accident or damage.
Good to excellent condition.
Single owner.
As for claiming it on insurance---you'll get ten different answers about this--my rule of thumb, for better or worse, is that if the repairs are under say $1000, I'd probably pay for it myself. This advice also depends on your prior claims records.
But by all means, get the best possible repair done to the car. Nobody is going to pay good money for a botched up 3-4 year old BMW.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
I haven't had any claims for the past several years at least.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
Thanks!
Here's what I've read about how oil level is checked:
"The capacitor is at the same level as the oil level in the oil
sump. As the oil level changes, the capacitance of the capacitor changes. The electronic evaluation unit creates a digital signal from this. The engine management system uses this to calculate the engine oil level. The electronic
oil level check is displayed on the Central Information Display (CID) as well as in the instrument cluster. On vehicles without a CID, the oil level is only displayed in the instrument cluster"
I wonder if all oils have the same or nearly the same permittivity? If the oil level circuit was designed/calibrated with an oil that has a higher permittivity than the one the dealer is using, that would cause the measured capacitance at full oil level to be less than predicted, so the monitoring circuit thinks the oil is down a bit. A higher permittivity, means a higher capacitance, all other things being equal.
Parallel plate capacitor
This is all just a SWAG!
I don't even care if my car's dipstick says 1/4 of a quart low, as long as I know that's what it is.
I believe, if the sensor were bad, there is an error message built right into your system to alert you to that.
I suppose you could add just a smidge of oil to see if the reading changes. I suspect they don't measure the oil level in 1/10ths so adding a harmless little bit might just kick it over the top.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
Sat. radio was working fine before I left on a 2 weeks vacation.
So happens the annual bill is due and Sirius disconnected my Sat.
I went online and paid the annual fee but I cannot re-activate it.
Tried parking it outside and while driving on different days. They tried to re-send the signal, and I tried using online resend activation.
On iDrive Sat. menu I am not getting any preview channel sound.
It has all my previous channels and presets, but the bottom of idrive displays the first channel on the preset even though I tried to set it to 189 Weather (or any other channel). There is no "acquiring..." message anywhere.
There are no other options I see that can change.
The main screen displays my EIN and to call 1888 xxx Sirius.
FM/AM works fine.
There must be some sort of reset process to get the electronics aligned after a battery replacement. Everything worked perfectly before the battery replacement and everthing else is working perfectly since. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
Ignition on, all doors closed.
Window all the way down
Release switch.
Press and hold switch all the way down for 10 seconds.
Window all the way up.
Release switch.
Press and hold switch all the way up for 10 seconds.
Ignition off.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
Thanks in advance.