JoeC99 Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 So, I've been looking for more power, which I don't receive in my Legacy(2.5i). I really want to get luxury, because my entire family consists of German cars. And they really are a ton of fun to drive. It has come down to a 3 series or C class. I would die for a 335xi or 350 4MATIC. But I think in reality I will get a 328xi or 300 4MATIC. Probably around 2010-2011, years, because I could never afford new . Anyone have any personal opinions on the car? I'm young, so I would rather sport, so I think the BMW takes the cake on that, and the Mercedes more luxurious. BMW I'm looking at: http://www.autolenders.com/inventory-photos/9-2011-bmw-3-series-3b-BF124888/ http://www.autolenders.com/inventory-photos/9--BF124888(10)/ Mercedes I'm looking at: http://www.autolenders.com/inventory-photos/9-2011-mercedes-c-class-3c-BR157640/ http://www.autolenders.com/inventory-photos/9--BR157640(10)/ Can you tell I like black cars? :o I would consider a Audi A4, but they're extremely weak, I've driven one before and it was great, but it just wasn't powerful. I cannot find a S4, but if I could, I'm sure that'd be a great car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolksey85 Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 If you enjoy the overall driving experience and want to experience some of the best the Germans have to offer, the 3-Series. And that's coming from someone who has worked for MB for 4 years now. The C-Class is a good car and by 2010+ most of the bugs have been worked out but if it came down to it, I would still probably go 3-Series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeC99 Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 Yeah? Any idea how reliable the cars are? Also what about the A4 if you have any knowledge. Thanks bud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolksey85 Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Yeah? Any idea how reliable the cars are? Also what about the A4 if you have any knowledge. Thanks bud. I can only really attest to the Benz. This current C-Class chassis debuted in 2008 and has been around since. The basic motor is the same but has been updated some since with the BlueEfficiency thing. The most common thing that immediately jumps out is lately we have been doing a lot of thermostats. Not a big deal, really. Any good tech can get it done with no problems. Other than that, the occasional COMAND controller knob goes bad which again is easy. We do a trans every now and then because the t-case is a part of it and when that shits, the whole deal gets replaced. Rare but it does happen. It was more common on the earlier cars. They can eat up brakes and tires but that's any heavy European car. Otherwise, not too many major, pressing issues. Get one with a warranty and keep up on the maintenance and it'll treat you well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeC99 Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 By taking a guess, would you say the Benz is more reliable? My parents will be buying the car for me and I can't have them paying mechanic fees a month later! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolksey85 Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Honestly, I couldn't tell you. I have 0 BMW experience.:lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeC99 Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 Alright, well at least the Mercedes doesn't sound like a big deal, if taken care of properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 By taking a guess, would you say the Benz is more reliable? My parents will be buying the car for me and I can't have them paying mechanic fees a month later! How about you start by growing a set of balls, getting a job, and actually earning enough money to buy your own car instead of leaching off your parents? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeC99 Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 How about you start by growing a set of balls, getting a job, and actually earning enough money to buy your own car instead of leaching off your parents? Well that was an unintelligent response. I've had a job for the past five years at the same facility. I bought my legacy with my own money, and pay every other bill besides where I reside. I pay for 70% of my out of state tuition for school, which I'm sure you can understand is not cheap. They're purchasing me a new car due to my current gpa at college, which I did not ask for. I decided to start the thread off with the reason as to why I will be content with trading my legacy in for something else. And that is to get more power, which my parents are fine with. Because they're the ones who offered the new vehicle. I'm not attempting to fight with you, just fill you in on information which you did not know, and from reading the above posts, I would have generated the same opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Of course it was an insult, it was intended to be insulting. If your parents want to buy you a vehicle to replace the one you are currently driving that is their business. My parents have helped my younger brother out in such a manner in the past when he needed the help, after his whore ex wife managed to wreck his only vehicle and leave him stranded in shit ass Nebraska (good times I am sure!). To answer your question on which car is the more reliable I would say "none of the above". I used to sell BMW's for a living, and had plenty of exposure to M-B products as well from trade-ins, as well as the occasional Audi. They are fun to drive, and they are rewarding to drive; particularly the BMW's with the right options. However, reliable is not a word I would use to describe any of them. Not only are they not terribly reliable cars, they are not exactly inexpensive to maintain when something invariably goes wrong with them. If you can't afford to buy one new, there is an excellent chance you also can't afford to maintain a used German luxury brand car. I know that is not what you want to hear, but that is the truth. The main problem you will encounter will be of the electronic variety. Mechanically the Germans do a very good job of engineering things, and their craftsmanship is quite good. Unfortunately on a modern automobile all those beautifully machined mechanical bits are controlled by electronics, and Germans are not very good at making reliable electronics. Of all the problems I recall seeing come into our service department, a solid 95% of them were electronics problems with everything from audio head units, to nav systems, to control units for engines, transmissions, or the various busses or relays that connected them all. Worst of all none of those parts are cheap, none of them can be repaired or rebuilt, and they are not always easy to diagnose correctly. So you get to make multiple trips to the shop for them to try and figure it out, meanwhile the techs will be systematically replacing $1K+ electronic control devices each time until they get it right. This is annoying enough under warranty, but just wait until you or your folks get to foot the bill. Ever have a car where you wake up every morning and wonder what is going to break or go wrong on it today, and consider if it will actually work right? If you buy a BMW, M-B, or an Audi you will. So my advice (other than what I gave you in post #8), would be to very respectfully decline your parent's offer of a new car or suggest something non German and highly reliable. That would be a much more respectful way to treat your parent's generosity, and ultimately one that will be less of a headache for you and them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeC99 Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 Thanks for your input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 One other thing I will also note at least for the BMW, the E90 series 3 series had and continues to have issues on some cars with the high pressure fuel pump (HPFP) that feed the fuel injection system on the direct injection motors. Something to consider, especially if you are looking at a 335i. Those parts are not cheap, and when they fail the car goes into limp mode or doesn't run at all. To my knowledge no satisfactory explanation has ever been given for these failures, and it took BMW a very long time to admit a problem. Once they did, an extended warranty was placed on these parts out to 100K or 120K miles (don't remember which). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Thanks for your input. Good luck with your decision. I would be tempted to look at German car if I knew it would be under warranty the whole time, and I knew I would be able to step into another one under warranty at or near the end of warranty on the one I was purchasing. Now I'm in a position where I probably could, but I am several hundred miles from the nearest dealership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgoodhue Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 My parents will be buying the car for me and I can't have them paying mechanic fees a month later! If you can't afford to pay for the repairs of that someone buys for you then maybe you should set your sight on a lower cost new car, so it will be covered under warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aac0036 Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 If reliability is even in your top 3 requirements for buying, then a German car that's pretty much 5 years old wouldn't be my first suggestion. New model BMWs after the year 2000 have water pumps failing at an alarming rate. Costs a minimum of $1k... my buddy just had his replaced and it cost him over $2k and his car was low mileage. Replacement sensors and ABS modules and silly things like that can be hysterically expensive. As a general rule though I tend to find MB more comprehensively styled and more appealing than BMWs, but both of the cars you seem interested in are just not impressive or special enough to me. The C300 got a mid cycle refresh in that body style that made it at least a bit more interesting. Opinions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FJuan Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Good luck with your decision. I would be tempted to look at German car if I knew it would be under warranty the whole time, and I knew I would be able to step into another one under warranty at or near the end of warranty on the one I was purchasing. This ^^ I had a '01 325i, and lets just say I became a BMW mechanic by trade after the warranty was over. Replacing a lot of parts and even rebuilt the tranny by myself after it blew the reverse gear and tranny pump. My wife's balls are delicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaNu1142 Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 I've owned a '04 330Ci, an '02 330i, and a '06 M3 convertible (all E46's). I wouldn't hesitate to buy another 3-series. During the same time, my ex-wife had a C230K... barely what you could call a C-series, but a MB nonetheless. We had troubles with it and the dealership. The only problems I had with the Bimmers was a warranty AC replacement on the M3. I will likely buy another BMW one day. Tits mcgee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeC99 Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 They do come with existing warranties, but I plan to purchase a warranty from the dealer, which I'm sure won't be cheap. I've also thought about Kia optima and honda accord. Any opinions on them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
700watts Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 it's simple for me, BMW 3's are made for small people. The MB fits people with longer legs and big feet. For me the decision is simple MB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoplightAssassin Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 You should look at the ATS 2.0t also. It drives much better than any comparative German sedan. They can be bought for under 30k with less than 15k miles now from an actual GM dealer. You wouldn't have to deal with any of that 3rd party warranty auto lenders crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeC99 Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 I was looking at those. They really are nice, but I've also read a lot about Cadillac and their problems. I suppose they've gotten better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
700watts Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 a caddy with a 2.0 T noooo thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRSCobra Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 We purchased a 2012 C300 4matic new last october. If you're looking for speed, that's not the car for you. The BMW 328 is faster, and the 335 blows it away. So far, 11k miles on it and our only issues have been a bad belt tensioner causing a squeaking serpentine belt, and a minor, intermittant buzz from the plastic on the audio controls. Tensioner fixed after 2 visits (first they tried belt dressing, which temporarily fixed the squeal), but they couldnt make the radio buzz/rattle occur. Luckily, just pressing on it usually stops the noise for a while. Depending on how the next few years go, we may end up getting rid of it when the warranty runs out. We only looked at some used BMW 3's, but the wife didn't like their boring interiors. She thought the same thing of the C class' interior, until we looked at the facelifted 2012 model. Much, much nicer than the 2011 and older ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeC99 Posted December 27, 2013 Author Share Posted December 27, 2013 Yes I agree about the interiors and their facelifts. The bmw is extremely boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoplightAssassin Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 I was looking at those. They really are nice, but I've also read a lot about Cadillac and their problems. I suppose they've gotten better? It's a new world. a caddy with a 2.0 T noooo thanks... You sound really well informed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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