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BMW 3-Series Maintenance and Repair

4452 messages,  Last post on Dec 07, 2009 at 8:40 PM

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#41 of 4452 99 323i by jayone Feb 25, 2001 (5:59 pm)
hey Im nearing the end of my lease on my 99 323i. I wish i knew about this place sooner. Overall i would rate my experience a very pleasureable one. I even tried extending my lease for 24 additional months , however they wanted more than a new one, so i opted not to. The only problems on my car were: airbag recalls, the central locking button failed- replaced.Have 34000 miles changed braked twice at about $370 each visit. Thermostat failed causing engine light to go on-fixed.Brakes where kind of squeeqing when i first got car had them looked at, noise went away for a while, returned then eventually dissappeared-for now. Overall these were minor problems that were fixed. Braked were a bit expensive but overall rated - very good.
#42 of 4452 E46 problems by niwde Feb 25, 2001 (6:17 pm)
Concerning all the problems people have been posting, ranging from "clunking" noises coming from the transmission to premature brake pad wear. I'm wondering, why haven't I read anything regarding these chronic problems in respectable magazines like Car & Driver or Motor Trend? It seems to me that these reviews, written about the BMW 3 series cars, could not speak more highly of this model BMW. In addition, they seem to state that all other manufacturers base their efforts on BMW's achievements with the 3 series to develop a car that can compare in the same class. Plus, the writers that test these cars put these cars through extensive evaluations to expose their weaknesses. It just seems that if there were problems that were inherent to the E46, they would have been revealed by resources in the automotive enthusiast press. I'm not saying that the E46 is suppose to be a perfect car. I would just like to read an article from a source that I "trust" to confirm the unsettling problems several people seem to be experiencing.
#43 of 4452 magray by div2 Feb 25, 2001 (9:09 pm)
I NEVER had a BMW need front brakes more often than every 25,000 miles- and that was on a tracked M6. Also, the rotors should last through two sets of pads. Two data points: My 1995 E36 (which sees the track a couple of times per year) just got it's first set of new front pads at 58,000 miles. My wife's 48,000 mile 1998 E36 is still on the first set. Sorry, but I must side with the dealer on this one.
#44 of 4452 niwde by rascal8 Feb 26, 2001 (10:19 am)
People tend to post on these message boards when they have problems with their cars. When I owned my 2000 Celica I frequented the Celica message boards and the people who posted were the ones with the problems, and the Celica is NOT a troublesome car. If I had a problem with my car I would probably go to the message boards first to find a hopefully easy answer or to comiserate, wouldn't you. Sorry, I cannot recommend a truly subjective source. I have asked this question myself in the past. Consumer Reports (the most anal of car magazines) gives the 325 a very high reliability rating though.
#45 of 4452 methinks... by ccotenj Feb 26, 2001 (10:20 am)
*somebody* is riding the brakes... 1995 e36 here with 83K and still on first set of pads/rotors...   -Chris
#46 of 4452 by Mr_Shiftright HOST Feb 26, 2001 (10:22 am)
There are often too many variables to make an accurate assessment of whether an owner's complaint is "chronic" or not....driving habits, weather, quality of dealer service, quality of replacement parts, etc.   For instance, in San Francisco certain Fords need new brake pads every 6 weeks....but they are taxicabs and the hills are steep and the drivers aggressive, so there you go....perfect explanation.   Another case--some people burn out clutches, others (like me) have never burned out a clutch in their lives. How is that explained?   This is NOT to say that BMWs don't have chronic problems...some models definitely have...but it's not something that a car magazine is likely to discover...at best, they only drive one or two cars of a certain type, and they aren't about to make a sweeping generalization based on that slim evidence.   It would be better to look at, say, Road and Track's owner surveys....if say, 10% of the owners of 528s reported a transmission glitch, that would definitely point to something. But if 2% do, I wouldn't think that is an indication of a chronic problem.   More like a statistical probability....on every car made by humans, some are going to screw up...it is inevitable as death and taxes.
#47 of 4452 by vo_danh Feb 26, 2001 (4:33 pm)
To div2 and ccotenj, Would you know if there's any difference on brakes between your 95 and the new-body style (99 and later) models? If there is a difference, or if you don't know, wouldn't it be unfair to make such comparison? It seems difficult for me to be convinced that it is "driving habit" that's causing the brakes to get worn out so soon. Personally, I don't think my driving habit has really changed for the past 15+ years - if anything, I am driving much less aggressive now that I am older than years ago. My other car, a 95 Mazda Millenia S (supercharged) has more than 50K miles yet still no sign of needing new brakes. My previous cars, Nissan Maxima and Acura Legend, never needed new brakes (not even pads) before 50K.   To rascal8, True. After all, this is a "BMW 3-Series (E46) Problem" forum, and so if you don't find people complain about their car's problems here I am not sure what else you would find them. However, keep in mind that not ALL people who have problems would go in here and post them up or share them with us. Statistics should not exist here. Thus, understandably, the problems I have had with my car might be one-owner specific. That's so unfortunate!   Question for all: How do they actually survey and/or evaluate cars? Do they actually take on many different kinds of roads, under all kinds of weather, traffic, loadings, etc.? Do they actually drive stop-and-go, shift-and-park, all the stuff an ordinary driver would have to go through everyday? Do they actually do all that over and over again, racking the mileage well pass 30K or so? Lastly, can you be so sure that they are not biased, eventhough they claim that they are not? (yeah, you'd probably say that...they better not b/c their reputation is on the line!). What would be a better evaluator then yourself, the one who's actually owning and driving the car everyday?
#48 of 4452 vo dahn by alcan Feb 26, 2001 (5:57 pm)
Did you happen to notice whether the magazines which published favorable revues also happened to have large color ads from the manufacturers of the same vehicles?
#49 of 4452 vo dahn by div2 Feb 26, 2001 (6:12 pm)
Well, my experience with BMWs is limited, but I do know that my wife's '98 has the same front brakes as an E46. And I still think that if you wear out a set of E46 front pads and rotors in 18,000 miles, it almost certainly has to be due to driver error.
#50 of 4452 Reviews by rascal8 Feb 27, 2001 (5:59 am)
I do like the Edmunds long-term reviews. They performed a long-term review of my departed 2000 Celica. I sold the car within a year for basically the same reasons/problems the review indicated (noise, tricky clutch, etc). Although, there were plenty of very subjective opinions in the review. I guess you have to learn to weed out some stuff and come up with some general conclusions. As far as reported problems these reviews are of limited value; after all it is ONE car and statistics are not considered.

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