[ex35]

I know there are a lot of threads that ask about reliability but I couldn't find any about more recent F10 (2015+) models.

I am considering replacing my 2011 Infiniti Ex35. It only has 50K miles and has been very good to me. The only issue has been brakes (warp constantly). Hell, its still on its original battery!

I am considering a 2015 or 2016 CPO 528i or 535i w/ 30K miles. I'm drawn to a bimmer because I can get a 2 year old vehicle for practically 50% off its MSRP. But i'm worried about reliability after reading the threads on this forum. I need something that will hold up very well to 100K miles without needing constant repairs. I'm not concerned with maintenance as I handle most easy to moderate DIY items (oil, fluids, brakes, plugs, minor fixes), but I'm not about to handle a VANOS rebuilt myself, or want to shell out $500 for the dealer to diagnose and fix a sensor every month.

I also don't want to feel angry every time the dealer refuses to fix something under warranty because they point to the CPO warranty exclusion list. Is the CPO warranty really as useless as everyone says it is?

Is a Bimmer for me? Please feel free to be honest and tell me that BMW is not for me and I should stick w/ Japanese/American.

[midwest 340xi 6sp]

Originally Posted by ex35

I know there are a lot of threads that ask about reliability but I couldn't find any about more recent F10 (2015+) models.

I am considering replacing my 2011 Infiniti Ex35. It only has 50K miles and has been very good to me. The only issue has been brakes (warp constantly). Hell, its still on its original battery!

I am considering a 2015 or 2016 CPO 528i or 535i w/ 30K miles. I'm drawn to a bimmer because I can get a 2 year old vehicle for practically 50% off its MSRP. But i'm worried about reliability after reading the threads on this forum. I need something that will hold up very well to 100K miles without needing constant repairs. I'm not concerned with maintenance as I handle most easy to moderate DIY items (oil, fluids, brakes, plugs, minor fixes), but I'm not about to handle a VANOS rebuilt myself, or want to shell out $500 for the dealer to diagnose and fix a sensor every month.

I also don't want to feel angry every time the dealer refuses to fix something under warranty because they point to the CPO warranty exclusion list. Is the CPO warranty really as useless as everyone says it is?

Is a Bimmer for me? Please feel free to be honest and tell me that BMW is not for me and I should stick w/ Japanese/American.

Have you driven either of em yet? You don't mention the driving experience, just your concerns about reliability. Something tells me you'd be happiest sticking with Japanese auto ownership.

[ex35]

Originally Posted by Midwest 535i

Have you driven either of em yet? You don't mention the driving experience, just your concerns about reliability. Something tells me you'd be happiest sticking with Japanese auto ownership.

Sorry, I should have mentioned driving experience. Yes, I've driven the 528i. Nice car! Felt much more solid and controlled at high speed (85+MPH) than my infiniti, and even newer Infiniti's, such as the Q50/70. And very quiet too. The F10 is definitely the car I would choose, all other things being equal.

[BigKutta]

I have a 2012 528i, and i love my car after 5 years. It has been solid so far, and i expect it to be so for the next few years. I can only imagine that the 2015 will be a lot more reliable as it late in the model cycle.

My previous BMW 325i was the most bulletproof car I owned

[Bbb34]

Originally Posted by ex35

I also don't want to feel angry every time the dealer refuses to fix something under warranty because they point to the CPO warranty exclusion list. Is the CPO warranty really as useless as everyone says it is?

Is a Bimmer for me? Please feel free to be honest and tell me that BMW is not for me and I should stick w/ Japanese/American.

Well, that depends.

Yes it's for you, in a sense that it's in my opinion fantastic car and again, just my opinion, way superior in every way to current Infinity lineup (and I quite like my friend's (2010 I think) G37 manual "S").

No it's not for you if you hope you'll never have to deal with any issues, these are not exactly bulletproof, they simply are not as reliable as I wish they would be.

I know there are some differences between CPO in US and Canada, in Canada, I never had a single issue not covered under "golden" CPO. It was as good as "bumper to bumper" new car warranty for me, and in last 2-3 years as far as I know, no diagnostic fees under CPO, at least in Canada.

[snj1013]

I would go with the 535i. No solid data to back this up from a reliability standpoint, but the extra power would be something I would choose the next time. I have a 2011 528i (last of the normally aspirated inline 6's) that is just about to hit 50k miles. The car is as solid as when I purchased it and I have no doubts it will last for as many miles as I wish to put on it.

[fomenter]

I don't understand why people say CPO is useless. Yes, it won't cover maintenance items like brakes stuff but it should cover major components like engine/transmission/AC etc components.

At the end of the day.it all depends on the relationship between you and SA. They can make almost everything happen if they are in the mood.

I have a 2013 528 xi and reliability is ok so far. I had issues and dealer made it right with no excuses.

[ex35]

Originally Posted by snj1013

I would go with the 535i. No solid data to back this up from a reliability standpoint, but the extra power would be something I would choose the next time. I have a 2011 528i (last of the normally aspirated inline 6's) that is just about to hit 50k miles. The car is as solid as when I purchased it and I have no doubts it will last for as many miles as I wish to put on it.

Does anyone have experience with a MB W212 such as the E350? Driving dynamics aside, how does reliability compare? Fewer issues or about the same?

[STR8-6IX]

your brakes warp constantly? thats your fault, not the cars. lots of aggressive high speed stops, and then holding down the scorching hot pad onto the rotor when you are fully stopped is going to warp your brakes. the OEM F10 brakes are very good and will be more resistant to warping, but its not impossible to warp (ask me how I know)

anyway, as for reliability, I recommend you look into an early model 2011 528i with the naturally aspirated 6. I have one with almost 75K miles on it and the thing has been pretty damn solid, I havent had to fix or replace a single thing on it so far. very dependable and solid vehicle. they are also crazy cheap right now.

[belarus27]

Originally Posted by ex35

Does anyone have experience with a MB W212 such as the E350? Driving dynamics aside, how does reliability compare? Fewer issues or about the same?

e350 is as reliable as 528 id say
i have w212 550 and for the most part its been good to me.
after reading threads about 350's on mbworld i can say that its a pretty reliable car , might not be as dynamic as the bimmer (i had e39 525 manual and e60 545) but im sure way more reliable. The only thing that sucks if you compare same years is the interior in MB , same year bmw has a much nicer interior (and what i mean by that is the instrument cluster and the navi screen lol.. oh and i cant forget the the SOUND , music is so much better in bimmer)

[STR8-6IX]

Originally Posted by snj1013

I would go with the 535i. No solid data to back this up from a reliability standpoint, but the extra power would be something I would choose the next time. I have a 2011 528i (last of the normally aspirated inline 6's) that is just about to hit 50k miles. The car is as solid as when I purchased it and I have no doubts it will last for as many miles as I wish to put on it.

nice.. I have the same car as you with 75k on it. it is a wonderful machine

[e90fanatic]

With bmw, late models are the most reliable while first and second year are worse with my experience

[F10Bea5t]

I own both cars. The 2009 E350 has 125000 miles on it and is VERY reliable, no major issues. I also own a 2013 CPO F10 and although it drives better then the Mercedes I know from doing my research that it won't last as long and be as good to me as the Mercedes. The F10 only has 30K miles on it so it's been good so far but I don't expect it going past 100K with no issues. My Service advisor confirmed that. BUT The F10 is much more fun!

[belarus27]

Originally Posted by F10fun

I own both cars. The 2009 E350 has 125000 miles on it and is VERY reliable, no major issues. I also own a 2013 CPO F10 and although it drives better then the Mercedes I know from doing my research that it won't last as long and be as good to me as the Mercedes. The F10 only has 30K miles on it so it's been good so far but I don't expect it going past 100K with no issues. My Service advisor confirmed that. BUT The F10 is much more fun!

PROVES MY POINT

but 2009 is w211 not w212 , even tho they share pretty much the same engine.

[ex35]

Can anyone comment on the comparison of CPO warranties between BMW and MB? I've heard MB excludes fewer items from being covered than BMW, but BMW covers 6 years instead of 5.

[TTG]

My personal experience based on many data points is that a German car will never be as dependable as a Japanese car in a long term ownership.

Then it will be your luck. You are buying a used car and who knows how it has been treated.

My neighbors lease really nice cars but constantly let their teenagers drive and abuse the crap out of them. They had an early F10 535 that was in an accident 3 times bec it was being driven to school by their 16 year old and BMW certified that car after the lease was up.....it blew me away and I am sure the current owner is having fun with it.

On the flip side we have a 2002 Mini Cooper S that we bought new and it has been absolutely trouble free for all of these years. If you read the reviews on 2002 Coopers you would think they are a horror to own.

So LCI F10s and early 528s are quite reliable and don't have that many known issues. But since you are in the market for a used car, it is bit of a luck how it was treated before and where it spent its previous life.

[ex35]

Originally Posted by TTG

My personal experience based on many data points is that a German car will never be as dependable as a Japanese car in a long term ownership.

Then it will be your luck. You are buying a used car and who knows how it has been treated.

My neighbors lease really nice cars but constantly let their teenagers drive and abuse the crap out of them. They had an early F10 535 that was in an accident 3 times bec it was being driven to school by their 16 year old and BMW certified that car after the lease was up.....it blew me away and I am sure the current owner is having fun with it.

On the flip side we have a 2002 Mini Cooper S that we bought new and it has been absolutely trouble free for all of these years. If you read the reviews on 2002 Coopers you would think they are a horror to own.

So LCI F10s and early 528s are quite reliable and don't have that many known issues. But since you are in the market for a used car, it is bit of a luck how it was treated before and where it spent its previous life.

You make a great point about CPOs that is often lost. The predictability of reliability might be more related to how the car was treated by the first owner (s) then the model's design. Unfortunately, other than the service records, one cannot know if the owner drove it like a rental car for 2-3 years before turning it it. In other words, its impossible to know whether it had 30K of easy miles or 30K of rough, awful miles.

I did have a bad experience with my only experience buying used. I bought what I thought was a pristine CPO Infiniti G35 about 10 years ago. It wasn't until 2-3 weeks after purchasing that I learned the car was in a serious accident (it finally popped up on Carfax). Needless to say, after making legal threats and calls to corporate, I got my money back. But, for a while, I swore I would never buy used again. And I didn't, until now. The savings are just so tempting, but I should probably remember my first experience.

[TTG]

Originally Posted by ex35

You make a great point about CPOs that is often lost. The predictability of reliability might be more related to how the car was treated by the first owner (s) then the model's design. Unfortunately, other than the service records, one cannot know if the owner drove it like a rental car for 2-3 years before turning it it. In other words, its impossible to know whether it had 30K of easy miles or 30K of rough, awful miles.

I did have a bad experience with my only experience buying used. I bought what I thought was a pristine CPO Infiniti G35 about 10 years ago. It wasn't until 2-3 weeks after purchasing that I learned the car was in a serious accident (it finally popped up on Carfax). Needless to say, after making legal threats and calls to corporate, I got my money back. But, for a while, I swore I would never buy used again. And I didn't, until now. The savings are just so tempting, but I should probably remember my first experience.

IMO carfax really means not that much. The 535 I mentioned above and its accidents were always settled among the patents and had a clean Carfax.

I usually measure the paint before buying a used car and conduct a further investigation if vehicle has repainted parts.

I agree, the savings are great on these cars. My recommendation would be to buy it directly from the 1st owner while the car is still under warranty. You can judge the car alot by meeting its owner. You can then extended the warranty if you wish to.

This yield many positive results for me in the past.

[Bbb34]

Originally Posted by ex35

I did have a bad experience with my only experience buying used. I bought what I thought was a pristine CPO Infiniti G35 about 10 years ago. .... But, for a while, I swore I would never buy used again. And I didn't, until now. The savings are just so tempting, but I should probably remember my first experience.

Well, buying used car always carries the risk, but also savings.

BMW 0.9% financing (if needed) and CPO warranty sure go a long way towards reducing "used car" reliability fears. Most 3 year old CPO F10s are coming back from a lease and were likely serviced by authorized dealership. While sometimes it's easy to identify how certain car was taken care of based on the look inside and out and service records, sometimes you might just get unlucky.

In most cases assuming 40K miles average 3 year lease, you have another 3 years and 60K miles to address the issues that may potentially come up. I think that's as safe way to buy used car as any.

[ex35]

would you buy a CPO bimmer if the closest dealership was 120 miles away? In terms of luxury makes, all I have is MB and cadillac in my small town. Everything else is a good hike away.

[Bbb34]

Originally Posted by ex35

would you buy a CPO bimmer if the closest dealership was 120 miles away? In terms of luxury makes, all I have is MB and cadillac in my small town. Everything else is a good hike away.

Well if it didn't bother you with Infinity...

In terms of buying, not a big deal, I have two local dealers and purchased mine at the dealership 5 hours away since it was my absolute ideal configuration. In terms of service and warranty though, I can see 120 miles being a bit of a pain.

I guess all depends how much you like it. You said you tried and liked it, but maybe go for another extended test drive and decide. For me, more time I spent in one, I was finding new things I liked about the car, and this continued well into the ownership. Almost 3 years later, I still don't see anything out there that appeals to me more.