One of the finest mass produced engines of all time whether 25i, 30i or 35i badged.
Not convinced on BMW reliability in general in recent years. Not so much the engines, which apart from coil packs (petrol) and the odd turbo failure (diesel) seem to be OK, but the rest of the car. We have a sizeable fleet of 1 series, E90s and F30 3-series, and F10 5-series at work, totalling about 200 vehicles. Not one person of the 40 or so I know or have spoken with who drive them has a fault free example. None of the three I've had have been totally reliable either. The hideously complex electrical systems seem to give frequent issues with things packing up or working incorrectly, and dealers taking days to sort the problems. Many of the (four pot) petrol E90s have broken down with coil pack failures, a few of the diesels have lunched turbos, all at sub 50k mileages.
I love "my" F30 320d (Austria/Italy border to the Channel Tunnel at speeds of up to 138 mph without refuelling its 55 litre tank) , but I would seriously have to think twice before putting my own money into a BMW, at least without a decent warranty, or fund set aside for repairs (Alfa style). Reliability problems are nowhere near uncommon enough for such expensive cars.
That said, they really do drive well, and the engines give a performance / economy mix that makes most other manufacturers seem a decade behind the times.
Cheers
DP
Last edited by: DP on Wed 2 Jan 13 at 20:43
|
