Think about things like this: how many cars you can turn the rotors and just do brake pads? In BMWs, you buy whole new rotors. As well, little things like oil changes are indeed cheaper on Hondas and domestic cars than on BMW's & Euros. It all adds up. But, with a DIY E46 that certainly changes the equation doesn't it.
And take Aston Martins for example, when they were owned by Ford, Ford added a lot of process Improvement to their build practice. So now, even though they are hand-built, they are much more efficiently and more accurately built to spec and therefore more reliable.
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Randeaux/Rando/John/jr - '06 Cic ZHP; Southern California
"ZHP or not, I still like you"
ZHP Performance Package, Cold Weather Package, Leather, Jet Black/Black/BlackCube, NAV, Anthracite Black "my individual" interior trim
ESS Stage 1 Twin Screw Supercharger, Sprint Booster, BMW Perf Intake, Magnaflow Exhaust, Dinan TB & STEP S/W, UCC Sway Bars, Apex EC-7 18x8.5 ET38
Suspension: AST 44100 dampers, Bimmerworld front adjustable end links, Swift springs (8K front, 10K rear), Vorshlag camber plates
Dynavin D99+, Hardwire V1 (w/V1 Connection), BSW Stage 1 Speakers, Kicker Amp/Subwoofer
BMW Performance Strut Brace, Orion V2 Angel Eyes, No-holes License Plate, SMG Paddle Shift Mod, Besian VANOS, Gold DISA, Fan Delete, M3 Side Mirrors
Note: Actual car no longer resembles signature picture
E83 owner checking in: this car would've ruined me without the extended warranty I bought from the dealer. Sunroof drains, the shit-tastic GM transmission, transfer case, and sunroof cassette failure are all known failure points on top of the regular N52 issues. It drives so well when it's right, but I will never buy another AWD vehicle because of that car.
Emma - 2005 BMW 330ci ZHP 6MT Estorilblau Individual
Sportline 8s 18x8.5F - 18x9.5R | APEX ARC-8 18x8.5 Square | aFe Intake | 135i Brembo F/R Calipers | 26mm Front/20mm Rear Sway Bars | Z4 Mirror
M3 Dead Pedal | Lexus ES300 Yellow Fog Light Retrofit | Koni Yellows/H&R Springs | Llumar CTX 40% | Coby Tri-Stitch Wheel & Boots
Awaiting Install: M3 Wing Mirrors
Most people do not DYI. I bought an e46 just for the fact that I would be able to do repairs myself and parts are easily purchased.
I can see that it would be expensive to maintain with dealer visits especially with the new cars.
His - 2004 Imola Red / Alcantara 330i | 6MT | ZHP |
Her's - 2005 Black Sapphire Metallic / Black Leather 330i | 6MT | ZHP |
I am a relative newbie here, and I'm at work, not at some so I don't have access to all my maintenance records, but just on tires alone, I have to be at close to $4k since I have my e46 (not spending top $$$ on tires anymore). Oil changes 2x/year at $200/year (rounding up from $89 just to be easier), that gets to $2k (subtracting for free oil changes during first 4 years and the oil changed during inspections) that alone gets you a third of the way there. When you add in brake jobs, FCABs, several Inspection 2s and then new fuel pump, alternator, cooling system refresh, spark plugs at 100K etc. not hard to see getting to $15K easy.
Rough math, and I could be wrong on some costs (just working off of memory)
Assuming 12k miles per year and nothing need repair other than major wear and tear items:
New set of tires every 2 years: $1000 (so in 12 years = $6000)
2 oil changes per year $200 (so in 12 years = $2400)
Inspection every 5 years @60k miles $600 (so in 12 years 2 of them for $1200)
Brakes every 30k miles rear, 45k miles front at $450 each (for 12 years $1800 for fronts, $1350 rears, $3150 total)
$12,750 for service and wear and tear items (everyone will need tires and brakes).
Throw in a few problems, $17k isn't a huge stretch (FCABs, alternator, fuel pump, FSR, VCG, cooling system, batteries, wiper blades, windshield washer pumps)
2004 330i E46 with ZHP performance package and cold weather package
Just subscribing to see what other people say about frequency of maintenance on brakes, tires, cooling, etc.
I can see that one the newer ones with growing complexity, I considered a 335 but wanted to avoid it for the reason that the e46 is probably cheaper to keep on the road.
As far as normal wear and tear maitenance I don't see how it would be significantly more than another similar type vehicle. Minus the fact that these cars probably have more bushings to wear out than something like an accord. Also the cooling system in the BMWs don't seem to last as long but unlike Hondas they don't have the $1k timing belt replacement every 100k miles so that doesn't set the cost for the bmw back much. I can't speak for brake rotor/pad life either as I haven't had the car that long, but the brakes on these cars are larger than a lot of small SUVs so wouldn't that equate to less wear overtime as they are under less stress? Not sure. I'm sure my e46 will cost more to maintain than something like an accord but 4 times as much seems like a stretch. Then you add in the factor of stuff breaking and the equation becomes more complicated. If you want to go by this
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...tudy/98239954/ that puts bmw only 11% below Toyota in the rankings for issues and places them above Honda. Frankly I don't think any of these surveys are accurate, lots of them tell completely different stories.
Last edited by BMWM3186; 02-22-2017 at 01:14 PM.
I did not see Porsche on the list, maintaining my 1982 911SC was WAY too expensive. Let alone trying to find CIS injection parts that they do not make any longer (and the rebuilt are crap). A big reason I sold it two years back.
I call BS on this list.....there, I said it...
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