BMW M3 car safety reference and issues

[L4ces]

Interesting link. Maybe this should go into another section.

http://www.carsafetyreference.com/bmw-m3/

[loveskiing]

Hmmmm...ZERO complaints from 2011 m3 owners eh? Maybe all the suggestions that folks consider the 2011 e90 m3 have some merit...

[L4ces]

Originally Posted by loveskiing

Hmmmm...ZERO complaints from 2011 m3 owners eh? Maybe all the suggestions that folks consider the 2011 e90 m3 have some merit...

Maybe I should upgrade my 2008 to a 2013 or so.

[tlrid3r]

My 08 is nothing but a champ hardly any issue, never towed it never stopped running, but I maintained it well. But abused it even more. 105k miles 35+ track days.

[dparm]

That is a really janky website. Also, my thought on it as a whole: [citation needed].

[L4ces]

Any additional info helps.

[L4ces]

My 2008 has been a champ too at 162K miles. However, there were some hugely expensive repairs and preventative maintenance. However, this car runs as good as new as far as I can tell.

[tlrid3r]

Originally Posted by L4ces

My 2008 has been a champ too at 162K miles. However, there were some hugely expensive repairs and preventative maintenance. However, this car runs as good as new as far as I can tell.

a little off topic but which items do you consider hugely expensive. I decide to do all of my work since my car sees a lot of track use and it have a half cage which I know california dealers just makes matter worse.

here are some large maintenance items I did that might be considered expensive but saved money doing it my self

Rod bearing =$850
Water pump and thermostat = $435 (competition water pump)
TVA = $ 450 (new brass gear)
Driveshaft = $300
all 4 Wheel bearing = $450

[L4ces]

VAC Rod Bearings $3200.00

Suspension springs (H&R)
Bilstein Heavy Duty EDC dampers
Leaking valve cover gasket
Control arms
Wheel bearings
$5000.00


1 Throttle Actuator purchased +
2 Sets of brass gears (1 failed) ~ 1900.00

Thermostat Sensor +
Thermostat +
Water Pump +
Pulley +
Hoses = $960.00 (for genuine BMW branded doh!)
Did the labor my self but original problem not fixed.

Next will be a visit to the dealer and hope the cooling issue isn't the the evap $$$$.

Other than the above. I have driven the car from Oregon to NJ and continue to rack miles like crazy. I enjoy driving it.

I also have the Dinan ECU tune which has made it a real joy to drive! No kidding!

[dparm]

Originally Posted by L4ces

Any additional info helps.

But this data isn't being cited or qualified in a meaningful way. The overall quality and trustworthiness of it is extremely low, in my opinion.

[L4ces]

Originally Posted by dparm

But this data isn't being cited or qualified in a meaningful way. The overall quality and trustworthiness of it is extremely low, in my opinion.

I totally agree and demoting it in my head. I would advise others not to treat this as even nearly a reliable source of info.


This is what I copied from one of the paragraphs:
"Our website is a vast database of information about the more practical use of cars, all in one place."

I went back to the page I searched the page to identify who is behind the site.
I found no link, nothing credible, no mention of a source. Truthfully, it could be someone's project to scrape the web for such information to auto generate what appears to be researched information (in a effort to create a portal for eyeballs etc).

[dparm]

I am also skeptical of anything that relies on self-reporting. Why? Typically, the only people who speak up are the ones at either extreme of the ownership spectrum. If you want to form your own opinion, you must consult a variety of different sources and qualify their data to the best of your abilities. No one is 100% unbiased, but you can weed out the obviously low-quality data.

Someone who loves their car and wants to tell everyone else about how great it is will, of course, report a perfect ownership experience, rate everything 10/10, and ignore/downplay any problems.

Conversely, the person who hates their car will do nothing but exaggerate and dwell on the problems, even minor ones. They will rate everything 0/10 and never mention the redeeming qualities.


You will know what I mean if you look through any of these rod bearing or throttle actuator threads. A very vocal minority makes the issue sound bigger than it is. Only people who had the problem speak up; you don't have thousands of people saying "my car is fine".

The other issue I have encountered with these types of sites or companies is how they classify various problems. For example, years ago, when Ford introduced one of their new infotainment systems, a lot of owners found it difficult to use. Nothing was broken, but the interface was just a bit confusing. A lot of owners went back to the service departments for assistance and each visit got logged as an electronics issue. As a result, Ford's reliability as reported by various companies (Consumer Reports, etc) looked HORRIBLE in the "electrical" area. This was very misleading as nothing was broken nor were the cars any less reliable than the previous year. The reporting bodies didn't explain this, they just put the blemish on there since that's what the data showed. Only an astute reader would have known to go deeper. A person casually perusing the reliability reports would have run away from the Fords.

[L4ces]

Originally Posted by dparm

I am also skeptical of anything that relies on self-reporting. Why? Typically, the only people who speak up are the ones at either extreme of the ownership spectrum. If you want to form your own opinion, you must consult a variety of different sources and qualify their data to the best of your abilities. No one is 100% unbiased, but you can weed out the obviously low-quality data.

Someone who loves their car and wants to tell everyone else about how great it is will, of course, report a perfect ownership experience, rate everything 10/10, and ignore/downplay any problems.

Conversely, the person who hates their car will do nothing but exaggerate and dwell on the problems, even minor ones. They will rate everything 0/10 and never mention the redeeming qualities.


You will know what I mean if you look through any of these rod bearing or throttle actuator threads. A very vocal minority makes the issue sound bigger than it is. Only people who had the problem speak up; you don't have thousands of people saying "my car is fine".

The other issue I have encountered with these types of sites or companies is how they classify various problems. For example, years ago, when Ford introduced one of their new infotainment systems, a lot of owners found it difficult to use. Nothing was broken, but the interface was just a bit confusing. A lot of owners went back to the service departments for assistance and each visit got logged as an electronics issue. As a result, Ford's reliability as reported by various companies (Consumer Reports, etc) looked HORRIBLE in the "electrical" area. This was very misleading as nothing was broken nor were the cars any less reliable than the previous year. The reporting bodies didn't explain this, they just put the blemish on there since that's what the data showed. Only an astute reader would have known to go deeper. A person casually perusing the reliability reports would have run away from the Fords.

You raised a number of good points. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.