What's wrong with these?

"zipfuel" (zipfuel)
12/17/2018 at 22:15 • Filed to: BMW, bad ideas, Craigslist

Enlighten me oppo: why are earl y 2000s BMW 745s so ludicrously cheap?

I mean specifically: gimme the top 5 reasons.

O bviously i t’s an old, high mileage German luxury car with a million pieces that will go wrong and I’m assuming all of these cars need way more repairs than they are worth just to get through inspection/emissions to get back on the road.

That said if the powertrain even sort of worked given what parts cost for these things you could have a ridiculous Lemons contender just from selling the seats and wheels...

Or as I posited elsewhere a safari/battle car for rallycross!

But sadly I’m guessing there’s some kind of terminal engine/transmission/computer cancer that makes them worth roughly what my (admittedly functional) ' 06 focus was.

DISCUSSION (32)

CB > zipfuel
12/17/2018 at 22:38

1) Reliability

2) Reliability

3) High mileage new-ish German automobiles

4) Reliability

5) Reliability

AestheticsInMotion > zipfuel
12/17/2018 at 22:39

You should buy three and find out.

For science

Spanfeller is a twat > zipfuel
12/17/2018 at 22:40

I have no clue, I just know that any non-col ectable 15-20 year old BMW I see on the highway is burning oil... badly.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > zipfuel
12/17/2018 at 22:40

1. Vanos

2. Plastic timing components

3. Unreliable electronics

4. Unloved styling

5. High maintenance combined with 1-4

fintail > zipfuel
12/17/2018 at 22:45

I’ve seen countless x45 cars emitting blue smoke in a way that would make my fintail blush.

lone_liberal > zipfuel
12/17/2018 at 22:45

In short, the third owners could not afford to properly fix or maintain them so they are big piles of deferred maintenance and bodged fixes and you don’t want that on such complex cars.

Nibby > zipfuel
12/17/2018 at 22:46

They were pretty unreliable even new.

Milky > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
12/17/2018 at 22:48

This is a thing I didn’t know existed and now I am dissapointed .

2. Plastic timing components

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Milky
12/17/2018 at 22:50

It’s just the chain guide... Not that important, nah.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
12/17/2018 at 22:56

Just a 20 hour job for a bmw specialist

Milky > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
12/17/2018 at 22:58

The most intense mechanical thing I have done was replace a tiny piece of plastic in a transfer case (Jeep GC ZJ) . It was a decade ago but I think the anger has effected me to this day.

wafflesnfalafel > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
12/17/2018 at 23:04

6. front suspension

7. interior bits falling apart

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > zipfuel
12/17/2018 at 23:08

1. Expensive to maintain, really expensive to fix when broken and not particularly reliable even when they were new.

2. The above compounds with age and deferred maintenance. Seriously, if half the components and accessories work on any of these cheap cars listed I would be surprised. These uber complex cars didn’t get better with age.

3. All the above adds up to cars that cost more to run over a surprisingly short period of time than they’re worth.

4. The maddening experience of early iDrive. How do you feel about menus for your menu’s menu to do something like adjust the headrest?

5. Styling that wasn’t loved new, although I don’t hate them.

Hot take incoming: I think the Bangle butt has aged well. I didn’t really like it back in the day, but it somehow doesn’t bother me now.

ranwhenparked > zipfuel
12/17/2018 at 23:17

They were basically disposable cars when new, designed to hold together reasonably well for the first owner, without regard for what happens after that.

The problem is compounded by the enormous depreciation that quickly made them staples of shady buy here/pay here dealers operated out of construction office trailers on vacant lots. The third and fourth owners lacked the luxury of warranty coverage, and expensive failures start racking up quickly with age.

zipfuel > AestheticsInMotion
12/17/2018 at 23:24

Clearly I should buy one with engine issues, one with transmission issues and one with electrical issues. Put them all together and I'd have.... 3 still broken cars

zipfuel > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
12/17/2018 at 23:27

At these prices I’d go to the ol’ mastercraft socket set and a YouTube video rather than a German master tech

AestheticsInMotion > zipfuel
12/17/2018 at 23:28

Yes but think how cheap they are. So much room for saving money

zipfuel > Milky
12/17/2018 at 23:29

First gen BMW minis had them - it ended poorly