Ownership Experience of Old BMWs

[oceansize]

Don't mean to drag this too off topic but just a question.

I need a new daily that can handle bitter winters/snow, currently have a WJ Jeep that probably won't last much longer.
I would like something kind of "fun" as a daily.

Would an E90 Auto/xDrive car with the N52 be a decent relible daily for harsh winters?

I have worked on them a fair bit, not too bad, one thing that worries me is parts prices going foward however.

Corolla GR, fun as can be in the snow. 300Hp/300 ft-lbs of torque, AWD. I daily a 2025 GR.

[ruffy dongles]

Corolla GR, fun as can be in the snow. 300Hp/300 ft-lbs of torque, AWD. I daily a 2025 GR.

2nd. Blast. Light, old school boosty, good shifter. Base spec w cloth seats.

[Obioban]

I owned an E60 in one form or another almost non-stop since 2005. They never gave me too much grief. Just like any other BMW - maintain and stay on top of them - and they will be reliable.

... I don't agree.

All of them are prone to flooding, if you don't routinely clean their gutters. This often totals them out.
All of them have fiber optic cabling running throughout the car that can cause all sorts of issues that are hard to diagnose.
All of them have unreliable first gen idrive that has likely failed at least once by now.
The N62 is probably the least reliable non M NA engine BMW has made?
The S85 is probably the least reliable NA engine BMW has made? Certainly in rev 1 or rev 2.
The N54 seem to be a constant pita for lots of people.
N52 is pretty great, so please ignore that it existed
The automatic trans overheats when driven hard (I've put two different cars into limp mode by overheating the trans)
The headlights can't have their lenses replaced, so you have to replace the entire housings when the get bad-- big bucks
And the aluminum body/chassis bits makes any crash repair hugely expensive, and insurance unusually high because of it

[dannyzabolotny]

To add my two cents to this discussion: E46 people still have it pretty good. Yes, some stuff is starting to go NLA and prices are going up, but it's still an easy-breezy time compared to the struggles in E34 and E28 land. I was a committed E34 guy, I've owned 11 of them and have a decent stash of spare parts as well as a community of parts hoarders to draw upon, but even then there's some stuff that you just can't get. The mechanical stuff largely still exists, though much of it is from aftermarket suppliers and a lot of the OEM stuff has become crap, so it's hit or miss on whether your new parts will actually be any good. Cosmetic stuff means buying used, whether from a junkyard, parts hoarder, or eBay.

I know a number of people that have sold their vintage BMW daily drivers or retired them from daily duty because the parts availability has dried up, that and most people eventually want some semblance of fuel economy, working AC, and a decent-sounding stereo, all of which are a rather tall order for an older BMW.

[dannyzabolotny]

... I don't agree.

All of them are prone to flooding, if you don't routinely clean their gutters. This often totals them out.
All of them have fiber optic cabling running throughout the car that can cause all sorts of issues that are hard to diagnose.
All of them have unreliable first gen idrive that has likely failed at least once by now.
The N62 is probably the least reliable non M NA engine BMW has made?
The S85 is probably the least reliable NA engine BMW has made? Certainly in rev 1 or rev 2.
The N54 seem to be a constant pita for lots of people.
N52 is pretty great, so please ignore that it existed
The automatic trans overheats when driven hard (I've put two different cars into limp mode by overheating the trans)
The headlights can't have their lenses replaced, so you have to replace the entire housings when the get bad-- big bucks
And the aluminum body/chassis bits makes any crash repair hugely expensive, and insurance unusually high because of it

That sums it up pretty nicely. The fiber optic audio system is an absolute nightmare to diagnose and repair when it fails, and the early iDrive is indeed crap, though there are a number of aftermarket replacements nowadays that can mitigate that somewhat.

Not to defend the N62 necessarily, but that motor will generally stay running in most cases, the timing chains and bottom end don't seem to fail. It will absolutely nickel and dime you to death though, with an endless variety of oil leaks from the valve covers, oil pans, alternator bracket gasket, timing covers, as well as the wonderful coolant crossover pipe/valley pan situation. There's a reason I don't see too many of them on the road anymore. The turbo BMW engines make all the NA engines look like Toyota engines in comparison, haha.

At least with the S85 in the E60 M5 it almost feels worth the pain for the sheer cool factor of having a V10 sedan that sounds awesome.

The N52's are generally stout but at that point why even bother with an E60 when you may as well get an E39 with an M54 that looks better and is generally more reliable while not being much slower.