Enough evidence to call e90 more reliable than e46?

hades281 · 03-22-2006, 08:22 PM

I've been lurking around the board for a while now, (im)patiently saving my pennies to work my way into a new e90. I fell in love with BMW at "The Ultimate Drive" behind the wheel of an e46 330i.

The other car I'm considering is the Acura TL from a "responsibility" standpoint. It seems like a better bang for the buck, legendary low-maintenance longevity, has a beautiful interior, and enough power for me to be happy. Havent driven the 6-speed TL however, and if it doesn't drive well enough I probably wont care if it is a better bargain.

So I've been on their message board also (Acurazine) and noticed one thing -- It didnt take long after the car was released for common, recurring complaints to start cropping up - some of which still seem to plague the car to some degree: namely rattles, vibration and rapidly-aging leather.

I dont think I've seen the same thing here at e90 post, and this car has been around "a while" now. E90 drivers griped about one single rattle in particular - the seat belt thing, and BMW goes through the trouble to issue a TSB and a new part. Some people have software update issues but it seems like those all eventually get resolved.

No big, widely common issues.

BMW and Mercedes pledged a few years ago to improve reliability after several surveys called European cars the most problematic of the bunch. Is there evidence to support they really did?

I suppose if you can believe that, then anticipating to spend thousands of dollars on the e90 later in its life (80,000+ miles) because thats what a lot of e46 guys have to do isn't so realistic.

I just dont want to be disappointed that after 85k or so i've already spent thousands of dollars replacing the suspension, the cooling system, etc.

Wolf359 · 03-23-2006, 07:04 PM

I'm at 16-17 000 km now and the car has been faultless in 9 months of ownership. I actually think it may be more reliable than my 2000 E46 (Crossing fingers here).

Can't say if the car has any rattles, can't hear them because of Logic7.

I don't think the TL is that reliable, if you make some searches you'll come up with bad surprises concerning its transmission and paint quality.

03-22-2006, 08:22 PM	#1
hades281 New Member 0 Rep 16 Posts Drives: Join Date: Mar 2005 iTrader: (0)	Enough evidence to call e90 more reliable than e46? I've been lurking around the board for a while now, (im)patiently saving my pennies to work my way into a new e90. I fell in love with BMW at "The Ultimate Drive" behind the wheel of an e46 330i. The other car I'm considering is the Acura TL from a "responsibility" standpoint. It seems like a better bang for the buck, legendary low-maintenance longevity, has a beautiful interior, and enough power for me to be happy. Havent driven the 6-speed TL however, and if it doesn't drive well enough I probably wont care if it is a better bargain. So I've been on their message board also (Acurazine) and noticed one thing -- It didnt take long after the car was released for common, recurring complaints to start cropping up - some of which still seem to plague the car to some degree: namely rattles, vibration and rapidly-aging leather. I dont think I've seen the same thing here at e90 post, and this car has been around "a while" now. E90 drivers griped about one single rattle in particular - the seat belt thing, and BMW goes through the trouble to issue a TSB and a new part. Some people have software update issues but it seems like those all eventually get resolved. No big, widely common issues. BMW and Mercedes pledged a few years ago to improve reliability after several surveys called European cars the most problematic of the bunch. Is there evidence to support they really did? I suppose if you can believe that, then anticipating to spend thousands of dollars on the e90 later in its life (80,000+ miles) because thats what a lot of e46 guys have to do isn't so realistic. I just dont want to be disappointed that after 85k or so i've already spent thousands of dollars replacing the suspension, the cooling system, etc.
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03-23-2006, 07:04 PM	#2
Wolf359 Captain 12 Rep 942 Posts Drives: 2006 BMW 325i Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Canada iTrader: (0)	I'm at 16-17 000 km now and the car has been faultless in 9 months of ownership. I actually think it may be more reliable than my 2000 E46 (Crossing fingers here). Can't say if the car has any rattles, can't hear them because of Logic7. I don't think the TL is that reliable, if you make some searches you'll come up with bad surprises concerning its transmission and paint quality.
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