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Originally Posted by AnInternetUser Wow. Those are some serious repair bills. Is the E90 gen more troublesome than the newer ones? Also, did you get your car worked on from the A.S.S. itself or from an outside mechanic? |
Bear with me on this.
More troublesome by virtue of lack of ready stock of spares even with bmw ASS. (Aftermarket parts availability of older gen cars in India is very poor).
Until 2018 (8 years since purchase), car was mostly repaired at BMW in Kolkata (as car was located in Siliguri, WB) since options other than OEM ASS is very poor in WB. It's another case that even the BMW guys out there are poor in ASS, haha.
From 2019 till date, car has been in Pune, MH so I have done 90% works at 2 local mechanics expert with BMW, Merc. (viz. AJ Performance, and The Mechanix).
But key electricals and sensor repairs, and one hard to locate coolant and hose pipe leakage of late 2019 were done at BMW Pune.
Keep in mind, with these older cars, such fine work as electricals and sensors are still best to be done at BMW ASS themselves for peace of mind and warranty of the new replaced part, as future failures are bound to happen. I had got steering wheel sensors fail on my 330i twice over a span of 12 months, and the part installed at BMW Kolkata was swiftly replaced at BMW Pune at zero cost due to this warranty. You won't get that at local mechanics.
Bottom line - Unless you are doing some non OEM mods like Exhausts, Bodykits, etc, best to stick to BMW ASS even if it costs more. Their electronics and electrical work is always better than local mechanics. Stick to the latter for general work and non electrical jobs.
If it were a developed Western nation like Germany, NL, UK, US, I would've never suggested BMW ASS, simply because their parts & labor charges are ridiculous and there are endless specialized mechanics out there for all works.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnInternetUser As someone who's experienced the pricey repairs, do you feel these cars make sense if:
1. One keeps 20-25% of the purchase price aside as a buffer
2. Gets the vehicle checked by BMW A.S.S. before purchase |
I am assuming an older gen second/third user car is in question here. For that,
1. 20-25% won't work at all. At least 75% buffer cash for first 2 years if its even in a mildly questionable condition. For V8s and V12s the case is even worse. Stay away from bigger displacement and complex motors. They fail in the worst possible and most expensive ways.
2. It should help if BMW ASS checks the car but in most cases all they ever care about is sell you a new car, so unless you know a BMW mechanic personally it might not work. Just saying.
I feel you're going to be okay with an F30. It's still a relatively 'new' car in India (hardly a year since it was phased out here) and most examples on sale in local market are mostly in good to mint conditions, not to mention very good availability of spares with ASS and knowledge of repair with aftermarket mechanics. All the best