BMW 3 series - worst car ever owned

benny79 · 27-08-2021 9:11pm #1

I recently bought a 2010 bmw 3 series m-sport 7 months ago. I know nothing about cars but assumed bmw were good since every second car on the road is a bmw! Anyway left it in for service was told back shocks gone ok. Got fixed month later back shock on passenger side went again mechanic fixed it for free obviously. Then month after that alloy cracked got fixed. Then I had to get back shock mountings done did. Month later water pump went. So changed that and bullies and belts.. month later front shocks went and back 2 alloys cracked and ball bearings went fixed them all. Then back alloy cracked again (different place all the time) had nct this Sunday got 2 new tyres fitted and the turbo went today! €700 to fix €500 last month. I've spend nearly €2000 since I bought it! Only 7 months ago Its crippling me! There is 300,000 k on clock. When I think nothing else can possibly go wrong it does...

Apart from burning it anybody any suggestions? Or similar problems?

Buddy Bubs · 27-08-2021 9:18pm

It's an 11 year old car with very high mileage, it's worn out. I presume it was cheap.

ongarite · 27-08-2021 9:30pm

11 year old BMW needing new shocks & springs is not a surprise with 300K on the clock.

Presume you have model with 19" alloys as you bought the car for the looks as you know nothing about cars as you admit.

If you did your research, you would easily find that the E90 19" 225M alloys are notorious for cracking.

Wildly Boaring · 27-08-2021 9:42pm

300k km is the end for a lot of cars, it's nearly 200k miles.

If not the end of the car it's deffo a time for replacement of plenty of bits and pieces.

benny79 · 27-08-2021 9:44pm

€6500 going rate. Why would I be researching wheels of a car? Unfortunately we cant all afford new cars. There was nothing wrong with car at time of purchase only back shocks.

harvester of sorrow · 27-08-2021 9:48pm

BMW.....Also known as BM trouble you.

Buddy Bubs · 27-08-2021 9:55pm

I don't have a bmw now but had plenty over the years (3 x 3 series and 3 x 5 series) and had very little trouble with any of them. Some were in around 10 years old when I had them but none had that mileage. I wouldn't buy a car with that much on the clock, I'd just buy a fresher example of a cheaper brand. No real right to expect trouble free ownership at that stage.

It could have had a tough life and not looked after too.

benny79 · 27-08-2021 10:22pm

It's only 186,000 miles my last car 09 passat had 350,000 miles had it for 8 yrs and only the last year I had to do clutch & fly wheel. Nothing else major really

benny79 · 27-08-2021 10:24pm

It's a 11 year old car that's only 17,000 miles a year for a diesel that's not high.

Seth Brundle · 27-08-2021 10:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117813233#Comment_117813233

Having owned several BMWs over the years, not one of them was been a source of cost above routine wear and tear.

If you buy a high mileage car on the cheap like the OP seems to have done then expect problems but just because it is a BMW does not mean it will be trouble!

benny79 · 27-08-2021 10:52pm

How is it high mile though its average for year?

sdanseo · 27-08-2021 10:59pm

Any sort of decent research will tell you the common trouble spots on most cars. Unfortunately with some makes especially BMW we buy them for love of the cars not our bank accounts. Most BMW owners have been there, don't get disheartened. But it does sound like you should do a little more homework on the next one.

At the risk of a lecture.

I started with a 10 year old 320i that broke my heart and wallet.

+2yrs later Gearbox eventually went so got scrappage (great deal, 2k for a car that barely drove and 3k purchase contribution) on a demo 1er. Spent similar amount monthly since cheaper tax, fuel, and no repairs and servicing was all in.

+3yrs later When PCP was up traded up to current 3er.. costs me more than a Kia Rio sure, but it also has a soul. I spend so much time in it that I haven't looked back.

tl;dr.. having owned 3, I'm guessing it takes 4 attempts at BMW ownership to make a sensible financial decision on one. 😂

Offload it if possible for something a little newer.

PsychoPete · 27-08-2021 11:00pm

I'd had a 2014 F30, it was always giving some kind of trouble be it sensors,modules,seals, suspension parts and a host of other things. Was doing all the work myself and always got what it needed but it was spending too much time on the lift for my liking. Got rid of it for an A6

MAULBROOK · 27-08-2021 11:07pm

300,000 k on clock, what the hell did you expect. It was always going to be a money pit, its your fault not the cars fault.

freshpopcorn · 27-08-2021 11:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117813417#Comment_117813417

Without being a smart arse 300000km is high millage even tough it maybe average for its age.

benny79 · 27-08-2021 11:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117813469#Comment_117813469

That's 186,000 miles I don't consider that to high considering my 09 passat had 350,000 miles before any big trouble. It is a diesel after all.

benny79 · 27-08-2021 11:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117813441#Comment_117813441

My next car will be an A6 if I ever get this one nct'd!

Dale Parish · 28-08-2021 12:10am

Any BMW over 10 years old requires constant maintenance, seems to be the magic mark for them - you had better be able to work on them yourself 😁

bazz26 · 28-08-2021 12:52am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058206177/bmw-3-series-worse-car-ever-owned

Mileage is not the only yard stick for measuring wear or reliability especially on an 11 year old car. That car could have had a hard life or had a lack of maintenance over the years from numerous owners and now your paying the price for that. Your Passat was good to you but there are plenty of them out there that were just as troublesome as your current car. I had a Passat CC at one time that developed an oil leak in the gearbox that resulted in it needing to be replaced along with the clutch and flywheel at 3 years old and only 65k km so no car is impervious to being unreliable at any age or mileage.

Sounds to me like you bought a dog though. Mechanic should have recommended replacing the shocks in pairs on the same axel rather than one at a time. Cracked alloy wheels are a very common problem on that model if just researching common problems rather than having to search specifically about it. Water pumps are classed as a wear and tear item and they tend to fail eventually. Turbo could have failed for any number of reasons which needs to be investigated.

benny79 · 28-08-2021 9:03am

Hi baz, I did get shocks done in pairs. But one of the back ones was faulty so had to be done again. I know you can get bad cars and I obviously got one. I just cant go a month without something going wrong. Everyone is telling me to sell it when fixed but I'm after fixing most things at this stage I don't know what to do! But I am afraid to keep it in case something else goes! It drives great when everything is working

Andrewf20 · 29-08-2021 8:26pm

I have an E36 since 2005. I went thru hell between 2007 and 2010 (approx 150K miles on it then) with a load of issues but on the far side of that, its been relatively ok. I wonder if that's indicative of cars in general. In that 3 year period I went thru new brake lines, 2 rear wheel bearings, a burst coolant pipe, the gearbox died, vanos rattle (1200eu fix), cat converter needed replacement & the usual wears.

benny79 · 30-08-2021 8:43am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117820756#Comment_117820756

Did you keep it or have you still got it? I'm in limbo at the moment as I am after spending €2000 on it the last month. I still have to get it Nct'd. Theres not much else that can go wrong ( famous last words!). Done all shocks, brakes, ball bearings, water pump & pullies and now turbo and I'm keeping a eye on crank shaft. Its after setting me back big time. Where I was hoping once nct'd, to sell it.

micks_address · 30-08-2021 8:52am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117814085#Comment_117814085

im sure the car wasn't a 'bad' one when new... trouble with any car that age and mileage is wear and tear.. and service history... who knows how it lived before you got your hands on it. its probably a little unfair to judge all bmw 3 series as worst car ever owned when its particular to your experience. From my limited experience with cars ive found anything over 5 years thats been driven a fair bit even with good service history is going to start giving various unpredictable problems.. if you wanted a car with less issues within your budget you should probably have went for something a little more boring.. lower mileage honda or something.. its quite hard to get a sporty car on low budget with high miles that will be trouble free.. the fact that its an m-sport means its more likely to have been driven harder... you don't buy an m-sport for sunday afternoon lazy slow drives

JPup · 30-08-2021 9:10am

Next time you change look at a Lexus GS as well as an A6. Might be hard to source, but if you want an older car that won’t give you trouble, Lexus is probably the way to go.

Padre_Pio · 30-08-2021 9:24am

You spent 6.5k on a car that likely cost near seven times that brand new. I think a 320 Msport started at 35k.

Have an E60 with 250k km on the clock.

In my time I've replaced all the rad hoses, water pump, replaced front shocks and springs, front wishbone, brake pads and disks, battery, fixed oil leak (all BMWs leak oil)

this is just part and parcel of owning a "performance" car. Msports are likely driven a bit harder than the standard version too.

kirving · 30-08-2021 12:31pm

I'd definitely agree that that on average, M Sport car tend to be driven harder than non-M Sport versions. Bigger wheels/smaller tyres will absolutely cause faster suspension wear, wheel bearings to wear quicker, and as you've seen, more likely to damage an alloy.

For any car in a given range, eg: 3 Series, C-Class and A4, it's all the same Tier 1 suppliers for electrical connectors, brakes, turbos, shocks, ECU's, water pumps, belts, etc.

With the exception of well known design issues (eg: BMW timing chain), the rest is really just down to it's past life and a little bit of luck on a second hard car.

The A4 (being FWD) is probably a bit easier on the likes of rear end consumables and psychologically it's not so bad to replace 2 front tyres at a time, when in the BMW all 4 need to be done at once (albeit less often).

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117813343#Comment_117813343

Not to sound like a complete smart arse either, but milage is cumulative, you can't just average out over lots of years and get a low figure.

benny79 · 30-08-2021 1:51pm

Im sure not all BMW's are the same some of my family swear by them and I know most things is wear and tear was mainly just venting! I had my Passat for 8 years 350,000 miles on it and started to have lots of problems replaced nearly everything and then sold it. In hinge site probably should of kept it. I was hoping to buy a car up in the years next summer when I have my loan paid of but all these issues are set that back.

What are peoples opinions would you hang on? or get rid? when I get nct.

Padre_Pio · 30-08-2021 1:58pm

I'd sell and get something else, unless you're doing the maintenance yourself.

Mine has never gone into a garage, I've done all the work in the driveway, so I'm just paying parts cost. I've changed more on parts than the OP, and I'm nowhere near 2k (unless we're counting cost of tyres, I'm on my third set)

It's the classic "reliable, performance, cheap" triangle. Pick two. OP picked performance and cheap. Probably better to pick reliable and cheap, and buy a Toyota.

benny79 · 30-08-2021 2:15pm

It wasn't cheap though! that was the going rate for that year and car it was actually dearer then the standard 3 series and what I had in my budget.

30-08-2021 2:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117813220#Comment_117813220

If there was nothing wrong with it at time of purchase, then surely you must accept that anything that has gone wrong since is entirely your fault, then?

listermint · 30-08-2021 2:52pm

186,000 miles is high. If you agree with it or not , at that age most cars would have had multiple changes of suspension components. And the water pump would be definitely done or done even twice in some cases.

Your list to me just looks like conventional maintenance that is expected at high mileage. Unless it was done prior to your purchase and you checked those items were not original. I.e the service book or receipts then you should maybe have moved on to the next car that had them done.

Padre_Pio · 30-08-2021 2:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117823630#Comment_117823630

Yep, I get ya, but the reason the going rate for all ten-year-old cars is low is that they are generally unreliable and expensive to fix.

A car loses 10% of its value the second it's purchased and loses about 30-50% of its value every three years after that.

Your E90 (I presume) lost about 80% of its value by the time your bought it. My E60 lost 95% of its value. Add in the fact that it's a BMW and there is an expectation that things will go wrong.

Now, looking at your description, I would swap the 19" alloys to 18" and add thicker tyres. Should solve the cracking problem. You've already done your suspension, so that's unlikely to go. You'll need to fix the turbo, then keep an eye out for oil leaks, coolant leaks, brake fluid leaks as these are the next things to go.

Kintarō Hattori · 30-08-2021 2:57pm

To counter the OP in 2013 I bought a 2005 320i for my partner. There had been a high number of owners previously but it was coming from a reputable garage so I wasn't too put off. We had it for 8 year and put some high mileage on it in that time. After purchase it needed a new timing belt but other than that it was trouble free. We had it serviced regularly with a respected independent BMW mechanic and she drove it to about 260,000km. The car was perfectly fine but tax and insurance killed it off.

On it's final journey to the scrappers yard.

benny79 · 30-08-2021 3:26pm

You do see a lot of old BMWs on the road still. 05's and the likes. Just dont know weather to keep it or not. Its in getting a new Turbo as we speak.

Padre_Pio · 30-08-2021 3:52pm

That's the dilemma a lot of people with older cars and sunk costs have to answer.

Seth Brundle · 30-08-2021 5:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117823979#Comment_117823979

My E60 520d was written off by a stupid driver in Liffey Valley last November. Prior to that it was in excellent shape although I had the chain replaced by Valdas as part of a routine service a month before. It had something like 236,000km on it and whilst the turbo went a year after buying it (in 2016), it was covered by the 2 year BMW warranty. Other than that, it didn't miss a heartbeat. It was economical and drove well. I just didn't like the interior. Or the Exterior. Or the tractor noise. Other than that, it was a perfectly sound car.

However, like all BMWs that are a decade old, suspension and steering components wear out. Water pipes do tend to need replacing. This is a fact of life which you can't really escape from. They have good handling for a reason.

A lad from Donegal bought it from the insurance company and it's back on the road.

Dale Parish · 31-08-2021 4:42am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117820756#Comment_117820756

What kind of vanos rattle was that? Generally M50 vanos rattle is a bearing replacement

Leonard Hofstadter · 31-08-2021 10:03am

300k km is high mileage by any yard(metre)stick, its not far off 200k miles in old money.

The OP's issues sound like standard wear and tear items, you can't really complain about a turbo giving up the ghost at 300k km, and the wheel cracking problem is a well known one for E90s on 19 inch wheels. Not surprising either as even on 18s the ride is quite harsh on M Sport suspension thanks to the run flat tyres.

benny79 · 31-08-2021 11:00am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117826829#Comment_117826829

The run flats were taking off it before I purchased it. There's low profiles on it now.

benny79 · 31-08-2021 11:01am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117826829#Comment_117826829

No I get wear and tear my issue was everything going one after the other as in there has been no let up.

Ash.J.Williams · 31-08-2021 11:09am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058206177/bmw-3-series-worst-car-ever-owned

i had issues with a 3 series that i wouldn't expect from a Dacia (comparison based on price not quality) The rubber on the doors started gradually wearing and falling off and the rubber on the windscreen the same....that's pretty damning quality

My friends who gloat over the BMW seem to spend a LOT of cash on turbos and other parts that i wouldn't have to bother with.

i drive an insignia now for a few years 330000k and 1 timing belt and a few set of routine brakes is all it has cost me ....paid for it'self at this stage

Leonard Hofstadter · 31-08-2021 11:21am

Take it from me, you don't buy BMWs for world class reliability, there's a reason there's so many specialists in these cars!

BMWs are about the driving experience, and the E90 certainly does justice to 'The Ultimate Driving Machine' marketing slogan, with razor sharp handling and natural feeling steering that's on your side (at least in cars with hydraulic power steering, the electric steering feels rubbery and artificial). The clutch and the gearbox in the petrol models is beautifully weighted and very precise. Everything inside the car is so logically laid out, falls naturally to hand and is so easy to use, like in all BMWs. They just have stuff like this down to a fine art in a way you don't always get with other makes of car.

But even so, the OP's issues are to be expected with the mileage, and it is typical BMW to throw a bunch of issues all in one go. That happens to the best of them at times.

Magown3 · 31-08-2021 9:50pm

Get rid of it.

I say this as a 2009 3 series owner. I've had the car 4 years, just when you think you're over the hump of fixing things. Another fault comes along.

I'm about 4k in now and there's still a couple of issues with the car that I've to fix. These BMW's are just no able to do high mileage without a load of parts thrown at them. I had 3 A4's before and brought them all from about 120k miles to over 200k miles and only had to replace brakes and shocks pretty much. I bought the BMW with 139k and it currently has 212k miles on it.

Here's a list of the things I've had to replace on the BMW bearing in mind that I do most of the work myself so most prices are parts only:

Wheel bearing €240.00

Glow Plugs controller €420.00

DPF Filter reset€200.00

Rear brake pads and discs along with handbrake shoes€262.00

Front Shock Absorbers€191.00

Front Shock Absorbers Fitment€120.00

Rear Passenger Caliper€130.00

Clutch and Flywheel€705.00

Clutch/Flywheel/Caliper Fitment€380.00

BERU glow plugs€81.60

Front brake pads and disks€190.69

Aux belt pinion wheel break€250.00

Rear wheel bearing€180.00

Rear Driver Caliper€80.00

Back pressure sensor€160.00

DPF filter clean€150.00

Turbo Recondition and new core€250.00

2x Bilstein Rear Shocks€124.42

Rear shock rubber mounts€74.51

Joint, propshaft €47.34

Engine Mounting €40.38

Engine Mounting €46.94

Gearbox Mount €30.00

Andrewf20 · 01-09-2021 8:51am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117821944#Comment_117821944

Yes, still have it. All was going fine until 2018 with it failed the nct for rotting sills. Ended up costing nearly 4 grand as the rust was worse than expected. Currently on a classic policy doing 2k miles a year. 257k miles on her now.

Rear wheel arches were rusting too so had to get them done separately also.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000 · 01-09-2021 8:58am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058206177/bmw-3-series-worst-car-ever-owned

Lol. You bought an 11 year old car with 300k on it and it's the manufacturers fault...blinded my msport spec too I'd say.

benny79 · 01-09-2021 9:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117830690#Comment_117830690

Jesus man! May I ask why are you keeping it? Thats alot! lol.. Fair play though as you have made my mind up Im definitely going to sell it when I get it nct'd

benny79 · 01-09-2021 9:37am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117831701#Comment_117831701

Many a 10 year old car I have owned without many problems apart from wear & tear the point of the thread if you read it. Thats its constantly one thing after another with no let up..

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000 · 01-09-2021 1:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117831891#Comment_117831891

It's called a lemon. I've bought plenty of them trust me. 3 series are pretty bomb proof as long as the chains are done...you got yours as everything was just about to wear out.