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I’m with the OP on this. I’ve had well over 20 BMWs and most have been pretty reliable. I estimate about $1-2k/year in maintenance unless new and under warranty. And I do all maintenance either by the book or ahead - if I hear the slightest noise, it is in the shop. Because I’ve learned that waiting costs money.
But to the OP’s point, how is anything other than bulletproof acceptable these days? I would expect the 7, and new 8 to be super reliable, and when not for the owners to be coddled at these price points (and with BMW’s overall reputation). And really, the whole line should be. But they just are not; and us long-term BMW owners seem to be conditioned to accept less-than-stellar reliability in exchange for better performance?
Well, the performance advantage is shrinking if not gone compared to many brands. And the reliability, which has improved over the last 40 years, has not improved enough. In other words, BMW is becoming less competitive, IMO. They either need to really up their performance advantage, or make a strong reliability move (ideally both). But they seem to be focused on the brand itself (marketing, not engineering) and comfort, so I don’t expect any change. BMW has a lot of success to back up their strategy; it is just slowly leaving me behind.
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