Quote:
Originally Posted by lewdog
I think BMWs are the sexiest cars on the road. They seem well built and have great performance (so I'm told). However, it seems they have some reliability issues when you ask about them to mechanics. What's the reason for this?
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I'm not a huge car guy, just have done a fair share of research, but I think there's some trade off between performance and reliability.
For example, the 2s we're talking about, one has 240 hp turbocharged 4 cylinder (and from what I've read, BMW underrates hp for some reason... some think it's more like 270), and people are getting ~26-28 mpg. The 235 gets 230 hp (again, probably low) with 6 cylinders and people are getting ~24-25mpg.
I assume Toyota isn't using turbochargers and 8 speed dual clutches with optional AWD, etc; in their most reliable cars.
I read one article that was kind of vague, but mentioned 1 in 27 BMWs have a powertrain issue in the first 50,000 miles, compared to 1 in 80-100 for reliable models, and I think Toyota was something like 1 in 172. Granted, "6 times more likely" is a pretty big difference, you're still talking about a 4% chance that your BMW is going to the shop for a powertrain issue in the first 50,000 miles. It's not nearly as awesome as others, but it's not like it's incredibly unreliable, either.