I'll add this, perhaps prompting disagreement amongst BMW fans, but I invite your input (see below). My apologies to those who think I've highjacked this thread.
I used to be a die-hard BMW proponent and owned several at the same time. The most expensive one was a 2000 740iL, which I fell in love with, during my first highway test drive. I REALLY liked its quiet and smooth ride and sporty power/handling. I HAD to have one, even though (back then) it was out of my price range at $105,000.00 (plus tax). I purchased it new and for the first year, I was happy with my purchase, even though I had a.m. radio reception problems right from the get-go, resulting in the total replacement ($3,000.00+ value) of the entertainment system, that cost me nothing since it was under warranty. That was the start of many "under warranty" problems, which became annoying due to my 7-series being at the dealership so often. I got tired of the shuttle service between the dealership and my office; being on a first-name basis with the shuttle driver. Plus the odd time when I was given a loaner, when warranty repairs took longer than a day. I eventually talked to the sales manager who sold the car to me. He asked "what year is your 7-series?" and when I told him, he said "oh too bad; that was a BAD year".
The problems continued. About 3 weeks after the warranty expired, I was driving home from work when my dashboard lit up with red lights. It turns out my brake computer was fried and I no longer had ABS brakes and had other issues. That was a $3,500.00 fix out of my own pocket, since the dealer said the warranty period is cut and dried, so it was no longer covered. Then I had front end issues (some likely due to wear and tear...but still), then one of my rad reservoirs developed a leak along a seam, so rad fluid was dripping out in a steady stream. I only noticed when leaving for a vacation with my family, heading to the neighbouring province of British Columbia. My neighbour (a fellow car-nut) was saying goodbye when he pointed it out. I handed him the keys, unpacked, and jumped into our SUV, then left. He looked after the repair ($1,500 to $2,000? I reimbursed him) so it was done when we got back. I later saw posts by others on the BMW forums, with the same problem and complaining that BMW refused to admit it was a manufacturer defect. Then when changing spark plugs (myself) I discovered oil sitting on the top of one plug, telling me oil was blowing past the cylinder wall. The dealer quoted $5,000.00 for a top-end engine job...to which I replied "I can buy a lot of oil for that." so I didn't fix it. I'd had too many issues at that point. Then the auxiliary water pump, developed a lower leak, so I again lost rad fluid, which I fortunately caught when looking at my temperature gauge. Another expensive repair on me. I've provided the highlights; there were too many other issues to remember or outline all of them. I sold that 7-series at 116,000km, for less than $20,000.00, telling the purchaser of the top-end oil issue. What a disappointment, for their flagship sedan.
I looked at some post-2020 7-series reviews back then and it seemed, they were all "bad years" with a lot of issues. I also spoke with other BMW owners around that same time. I had a client who had 4 (a mixture of both sports cars and sedans) BMW's since she'd inherited 2 of them. She loved them and said they were problem-free when we discussed "cars" over a couple years...until I finally brought up the subject again after 2 or so years, when she proceeded to tell me she'd sold all 4, since they'd all started to really "nickel-and-dime" her, so she reached the stage where she'd never buy another BMW.
I've remained of the same mind, which is ++ disappointing, since I like the looks and the sport/luxury focus with more emphasis on sport. I've been buying Mercedes since, but they emphasize luxury over sportiness (IMO, compared to BMW), and I'd prefer a more sporty drive but can't risk the BMW reliability, ever again.
Finally, I changed out the spark plugs on the 2016 Mercedes E550 that I've since sold. That was about 3 years ago. It was the worst spark plug job I've ever done on a vehicle, due to the size of the V8 in the engine cavity (made to fit the V6 on the E350) and the angle of the spark plugs. I ripped apart 2 ignition coils in the process so went to my dealer for replacements. While there, I spoke with the service manager. We started talking "cars". He mentioned being the service manager at a BMW dealership for many years, before moving to Mercedes, where he'd been for some 5 years at that point. When comparing BMW and Mercedes, his comments were: when at BMW, he'd replace about 1-2 engines every month, under warranty from new low-mileage vehicles, then send them back to Germany for analysis; whereas with Mercedes, he'd replace 1-2 every year. A telling statistic.
I always look at the JD Power surveys about new vehicle problems, but I haven't done so, for many years. Mercedes ranked higher than BMW back in 2016 when I purchased my E550. I see now (gulp) that BMW has ranked higher than Mercedes from 2022 to 2025 (I didn't go further back) suggesting BMW has improved their quality control. When purchasing my 2024 E450, I didn't shop anything else, since I was so happy with my almost problem-free E550. I did look into the E450 V-6 engine and electric motor, which were said to be "bullet-proof". So all that said, my comments above can be viewed as very dated and the comments of the Mercedes service manager from 3 years ago, as biased more than accurate. But I took them at face-value at the time and thought he was being honest.
I'm interested in knowing if BMW vehicles, have indeed improved and been relatively "problem-free" after at least 75,000km and several years. If so, I may have to revisit my (admittedly) now negative bias and look at BMW again. Anyone?
