Mercedes, BMW and repairs

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  • Color Me Badd Fan
    Senior Member
    • Jan 2009
    • 12519

    #1

    Mercedes, BMW and repairs

    I went to Germany on my mission. I served in the city where Karl Benz invented the gasoline-powered automobile. I love Teutonic styling cues.

    I have not gotten to a point in my life where I feel I can both afford to buy and keep a German car. I've heard both good and bad stories about repair issues. I'm in a position where hopefully in a year or two I can go out and buy a used BMW or Mercedes. Most likely it will be a BMW because Mercedes is still working on getting its quality back to the point where it was before it bought Chrysler which siphoned off too much of Daimler Benz's resources.

    Prior to this, I have gone the safe route by driving Nissans, Toyotas and Hondas. Toyota's cars are wildly overpriced for what you get and I feel you get an inferior product for what you could spend on a Nissan or Honda. But now I've found out that some 06 Honda models like mine are beginning to develop a CRACKED ENGINE BLOCK. For those that don't know, I'm pretty sure that's just about the worst car problem you can have. Oftentimes, the fix involves switching out the entire engine. My car only has 58k miles on it so far, but numerous owners of my same car are experiencing the problem a bit later on. I'm probably going to unload this car once it gets over 80k miles. I drove a 92 Toyota truck after my mission with a V6 and that thing developed a cracked engine block. It was apparently a common problem and Toyota covered at least half the cost.

    I would be shocked if German-made engines are having these kinds of problems. I've heard that many German models have numerous nagging problems involving the electronics on the car. Am I accurate on this, or do German cars have the traumatic problems that American cars are prone to have (e.g. tranny)?
    Part of it is based on academic grounds. Among major conferences, the Pac-10 is the best academically, largely because of Stanford, Cal and UCLA. “Colorado is on a par with Oregon,” he said. “Utah isn’t even in the picture.”
  • clackamascoug
    Banned
    • Dec 2009
    • 9709

    #2
    I prefer driving a BMW to a Mercedes. I prefer Mercedes up keep to the BMW. I've had a 740il and currently have a E430. My next car will be a 2005-2007 500ML with 50-60K miles on it. The 500 is a tough V8 and gets 26 mpg on the highway. The V8 and transmissions are more stout than the Sixes.

    Quick Story: In my BMW, I once drove on I-15 from Tremonton to Burly covering 105 miles in 60 minutes. Drove from Provo to Portland in 10.5 hours.

    How many of you are in the 100 miles in 60 minutes club?

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    • statman
      Rabblerouser
      • Aug 2009
      • 2799

      #3
      Originally posted by clackamascoug View Post
      How many of you are in the 100 miles in 60 minutes club?
      The Autobahn is a wonderful thing...

      Comment

      • CJF
        Senior Member
        • Nov 2008
        • 8497

        #4
        Originally posted by clackamascoug View Post
        I prefer driving a BMW to a Mercedes. I prefer Mercedes up keep to the BMW. I've had a 740il and currently have a E430. My next car will be a 2005-2007 500ML with 50-60K miles on it. The 500 is a tough V8 and gets 26 mpg on the highway. The V8 and transmissions are more stout than the Sixes.

        Quick Story: In my BMW, I once drove on I-15 from Tremonton to Burly covering 105 miles in 60 minutes. Drove from Provo to Portland in 10.5 hours.

        How many of you are in the 100 miles in 60 minutes club?
        26 mpg on the ML500? Are you sure? I get on average between 20 to 22 mpg on the freeway driving very conservatively with my ML350. I would be shocked if the ML 500 could be anywhere near 20 mpg freeway driving.

        I love my 06 ML. The transmission is a little rough sometimes, but I've been very pleased with the vehicle overall.
        Last edited by CJF; 02-11-2010, 01:40 AM.
        A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life. - Mohammad Ali

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        • Tim
          Not Banned
          • Nov 2008
          • 4390

          #5
          Originally posted by statman View Post
          The Autobahn is a wonderful thing...
          Forget the autobahn... I did it on US Highway 6 between Ely and Tonopah.
          Visca Catalunya Lliure

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          • mUUser
            Giggity
            • Jul 2009
            • 1142

            #6
            Originally posted by clackamascoug View Post
            The 500 is a tough V8 and gets 26 mpg on the highway.


            26 mpg seems awfully high. Our GL550 doesn't get anywhere near that. Still worth it though.

            Comment

            • falafel
              loves to talk on things
              • Mar 2009
              • 37932

              #7
              Originally posted by mUUser View Post
              26 mpg seems awfully high. Our GL550 doesn't get anywhere near that. Still worth it though.
              My SLR McLaren gets 36 highway, 8 city.

              Ain't it like most people, I'm no different. We love to talk on things we don't know about.

              Dig your own grave, and save!

              "The only one of us who is so significant that Jeff owes us something simply because he decided to grace us with his presence is falafel." -- All-American

              "I know that you are one of the cool and 'edgy' BYU fans" -- Wally

              GIVE 'EM HELL, BRIGHAM!

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              • mUUser
                Giggity
                • Jul 2009
                • 1142

                #8
                Originally posted by falafel View Post
                My SLR McLaren gets 36 highway, 8 city.

                Stop riding the clutch. You'll get 9.

                Comment

                • kccougar
                  9262
                  • Nov 2008
                  • 7020

                  #9
                  I'm a big german car fan. In my mind there are very few substitues for the way a good german sedan drives. Also, my experience has been that BMWs (mostly older models) are extremely reliable. In addition, because of the dedicated following that these cars have there is a wealth of online resources for repair and maintenance that in many instances make these cars much less expensive to own that a comparable japanese model.

                  I think in very recent years, BMW reliability has taken a hit because of overengineered electronics. You're right - you won't likely see a BMW with a cracked block, but you will find plenty of 3-yr old 7-series models with glitchy electronics.
                  "It's devastating, because we lost to a team that's not even in the Pac-12. To lose to Utah State is horrible." - John White IV

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