[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by BavarianN54

I think BMW took a big hit from 08 and for a period of time after due to the horrendous issues with the HPFP and turbos from the first runs of the N54. Word of mouth was getting around and even making the news, that hurts sales and are unacceptable. They finally straightened it out and are trying hard to make better products and stay well above the average line.

BMW has steadily increased sales every year except 2009, which was the midst of the financial crisis. All brands took hits that year. It might have made a slight dent but that engine is only really popular in the US, whereas diesels are the go-to for much of Europe.

Worldwide Sales
Year BMW
2005 1,126,768
2006 1,185,088
2007 1,276,793
2008 1,202,239
2009 1,068,770
2010 1,224,280
2011 1,380,384
2012 1,540,085

[Ca$hOnly]

Weird. Every Mercedes my family and I have ever owned have been nothing but trouble.

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by Ca$hOnly

Weird. Every Mercedes my family and I have ever owned have been nothing but trouble.

Which models? Just curious.

I know we have a tendency to associate a bad experience or two with a brand being unreliable across the board but the fact of the matter is that problematic cars/lemons are the exception, not the rule.

My first 2013 F30 M Sport 335i was a disaster. The taillight assembly was dangling off the trunk after 2 hours of ownership. The headlight went out. The Comfort Access stopped working. The electric cooling fan went out 4 times. Each time it would go out the car would go into limp mode and I'd get stranded on the highway. The seat frames and seatbelt hardware were covered in rust. In short, it was a lemon.

BMW, at the request of my dealer, bought that car back and ordered me a brand new 335i from the factory. They even threw in a few extra options for free and kept the lease payment the same. While I was waiting for the car to arrive, I was terrified that it also was going to be plagued with problems.

It wasn't. It was flawless. The doors even sounded better when being closed. I ended up selling it for other reasons but oftentimes getting a problematic car is just a luck of the draw type of thing (albeit a "bad" draw).

[The Automotive Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

Which models? Just curious.

I know we have a tendency to associate a bad experience or two with a brand being unreliable across the board but the fact of the matter is that problematic cars/lemons are the exception, not the rule.

My first 2013 F30 M Sport 335i was a disaster. The taillight assembly was dangling off the trunk after 2 hours of ownership. The headlight went out. The Comfort Access stopped working. The electric cooling fan went out 4 times. Each time it would go out the car would go into limp mode and I'd get stranded on the highway. The seat frames and seatbelt hardware were covered in rust. In short, it was a lemon.

BMW, at the request of my dealer, bought that car back and ordered me a brand new 335i from the factory. They even threw in a few extra options for free and kept the lease payment the same. While I was waiting for the car to arrive, I was terrified that it also was going to be plagued with problems.

It wasn't. It was flawless. The doors even sounded better when being closed. I ended up selling it for other reasons but oftentimes getting a problematic car is just a luck of the draw type of thing (albeit a "bad" draw).

My family has been blessed enough to own BMW's for the past 14 years. We've now had about eight BMW cars in my personal family(Sis,Mom,Dad,Me) and my extended family has had a bunch as well. There have been some that have been nothing but a headache, while others have had no issues.

I'll give an example to prove your point. My sisters 2009 650i had anything and everything go wrong with it. Transmission failure three times, Check engine lights two times, 02 sensor failure twice, and last but not least, her lights would flicker. My Mom's X5 was pretty painless compared to that. My Aunt has a GLK and she's had absolutely zero issues with it. It all depends.


It's nice to see that there is LESS of those bugs in those cars like MBZ.

[NemesisX]

We used to have a 1995 Mercedes E class that we purchased in '95. The out of door price was something like $40,000 back then. Total cost of repairs through 10 years of ownership? $25,000. More than half the price paid for the car. That's a little ridiculous IMO. That's purely for non-standard maintenance by the way.

[pukicabuki]

Originally Posted by NemesisX

We used to have a 1995 Mercedes E class that we purchased in '95. The out of door price was something like $40,000 back then. Total cost of repairs through 10 years of ownership? $25,000. More than half the price paid for the car. That's a little ridiculous IMO. That's purely for non-standard maintenance by the way.

Mercedes of the 90's is not Mercedes of today.

[NemesisX]

Originally Posted by pukicabuki

Mercedes of the 90's is not Mercedes of today.

Yeah that's what i've heard. Apparently the '95 E class was infamous for its terrible reliability even among other Mercedes vehicles of that era.

[Petros]

Originally Posted by Rev ///Me

Porsche dropped from second, Mercedes takes it's place.

I guess all those spontaneously combusting GT3's didn't help

[italia]

So for you guys who have owned recent model Minis, what are the common issues?

[The Automotive Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by NemesisX

Yeah that's what i've heard. Apparently the '95 E class was infamous for its terrible reliability even among other Mercedes vehicles of that era.

You're comparing reliability for a car that was built over 10 years ago?

O boy. Technology has advanced, times have changed. Our 1998 740i was a nightmare. BMW reliability sucks.

[NemesisX]

Originally Posted by Rev ///Me

You're comparing reliability for a car that was built over 10 years ago?

O boy. Technology has advanced, times have changed. Our 1998 740i was a nightmare. BMW reliability sucks.

Where did I do that? I just casually mentioned an anecdote that spoke on the reliability of the 1995 E class. I never compared that to anything.

[Digital.James]

there's a reason why cars that were almost $100k like the SL500 and S Classes from 2005-2008 can be had for like so cheap now, even though they're less the ten years old...

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by Rev ///Me

My family has been blessed enough to own BMW's for the past 14 years. We've now had about eight BMW cars in my personal family(Sis,Mom,Dad,Me) and my extended family has had a bunch as well. There have been some that have been nothing but a headache, while others have had no issues.

I'll give an example to prove your point. My sisters 2009 650i had anything and everything go wrong with it. Transmission failure three times, Check engine lights two times, 02 sensor failure twice, and last but not least, her lights would flicker. My Mom's X5 was pretty painless compared to that. My Aunt has a GLK and she's had absolutely zero issues with it. It all depends.

It's nice to see that there is LESS of those bugs in those cars like MBZ.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I would say that overall, I have had a bit more success with my Benzes than my Bimmers.

However, years ago I had an early-production W203 C-Class and that thing was a piece of crap. The paint kept peeling off the plastic trim on the lower portions of the car (and it was easily visible; you could literally see sections of snow-white plastic). I had to get it re-painted a few times (it was done under warranty at least).

Furthermore, one time when I was driving home from a trip in a terrible ice storm, I stopped to get some gas/replenish my anti-freeze. When I unlocked the car, the pin that locked the gas panel snapped off the actuator and kept the gas cap access panel locked.

I barely made it home. I was literally running on fumes; I had the pedal mashed to the floorboard going 15 mph to my driveway. Mercedes Roadside Assistance had to come out, remove my trunk lining, and manually remove the stuck pin. Needless to say, I don't miss that car.

The W204 is the first C-Class where Mercedes really stepped it up and treated the car like a miniature E or S with respect to the quality of both the interior and exterior materials. The W205 looks to raise the bar further now that the CLA is the "entry-level" Benz.

It really is a crapshoot when it comes to anything mass-produced. Especially with respect to cars. They're packed with so much technology and flush with a plethora of intricate moving parts. Now there are more computers involved than ever and we all know that software is far from bulletproof.

[TSM330i]

You all realize these results are for model year 2010. It's a study of three year old cars to find out their reliability as they come to the end of their warranty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle...dability_Study

[DieGrüneHölle]

I have had good experiences with my two Benz's. Every car company has their lemons. My buddy's LS Lexus was in the shop constantly back in the day.

[The Automotive Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by TSM330i

You all realize these results are for model year 2010. It's a study of three year old cars to find out their reliability as they come to the end of their warranty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle...dability_Study

From the Link:

experienced during the previous 12 months in a variety of categories

That means it's from 2013, not 2010. And yes, I think we do realize that since 2014 started only three months ago.

P.S. Wiki is never a source.

[Cuz5150]

Originally Posted by NemesisX

We used to have a 1995 Mercedes E class that we purchased in '95. The out of door price was something like $40,000 back then. Total cost of repairs through 10 years of ownership? $25,000. More than half the price paid for the car. That's a little ridiculous IMO. That's purely for non-standard maintenance by the way.

Your Mistake was getting a 95 vs a 94. From my understanding, 94 was the last year of "hand made"(im using these 2 words loosely) 1995 is when Merk went "fully automated" aka assuring in the era of "mass production". Since then Merc's quality/fit/finish/reliability has been in the toilet.
To give credit when its due, AMG hand built motors are the only flame thats still burning.............

[The Automotive Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by Cuz5150

Your Mistake was getting a 95 vs a 94. From my understanding, 94 was the last year of "hand made"(im using these 2 words loosely) 1995 is when Merk went "fully automated" aka assuring in the era of "mass production". Since then Merc's quality/fit/finish/reliability has been in the toilet.
To give credit when its due, AMG hand built motors are the only flame thats still burning.............

The W204's quality was a step up, and from what I'm reading the W205 is going to take it to the next level. Mercedes is stepping up in the fit/finish/reliability department. The JD Power graph shows that.

[TXSTYLE]

I call BS on that Mercedes rating! I have a few friends who own them and they all have issues from electrical to random powertrain noises.

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by TXSTYLE

I call BS on that Mercedes rating! I have a few friends who own them and they all have issues from electrical to random powertrain noises.

So a few friends must be representative of hundreds of thousands of cars and customers?

I have two Mercedes sedans (a '12 C63 and a '14 E550). They both exemplify exquisite fit and finish. What does that mean?

Come on man, not trying to be rude but think about how ridiculous that sounds.

That's like saying I had a friend get a tapeworm from a gas station Subway (which is true, and gross) so I'm never going to Subway again because they all have tapeworm-infested meat.

[Inspired]

Originally Posted by TXSTYLE

I call BS on that Mercedes rating! I have a few friends who own them and they all have issues from electrical to random powertrain noises.

I guess "a few of your friends" represent the whole Mercedes market then.

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

So a few friends must be representative of hundreds of thousands of cars and customers?

I have two Mercedes sedans (a '12 C63 and a '14 E550). They both exemplify exquisite fit and finish. What does that mean?

Come on man, not trying to be rude but think about how ridiculous that sounds.

That's like saying I had a friend get a tapeworm from a gas station Subway (which is true, and gross) so I'm never going to Subway again because they all have tapeworm-infested meat.

*NEWSFLASH* JD Powers, Consumer Reports and many if not ALL so called "mass review publications" are PAID by the manufacturers they review. This has been known for years. So again... Yeah, I'm gonna believe people I KNOW who stand nothing to gain based on their opinions and real world experience.

But hey, do as you please.

Good read: http://www.allpar.com/cr.html