Cost of ownership for a ICE BMW

[Alfisti]

Why you guys always comparing to V8 trucks? I drive a 13 year old 9-3 wagon and get well over 34MPG (7L/100KM).

[mapleleaf1773]

Originally Posted by MsGoGoMoto

Got damn.
What year was that pathfinder?

2008 with low miles at the time. I learned in Nissans, always, always put in a separate transmission cooler and re-route those lines OUT of the radiator. Learn from experience I guess.

[MsGoGoMoto]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Why you guys always comparing to V8 trucks? I drive a 13 year old 9-3 wagon and get well over 16MPG (7L/100KM).

I compare it to a V8 truck because that's what I have… 20 years. 17 mpg

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

How is an EV more convenient? You've got to keep plugging the fucker in instead of just filling up say once a week.

Ummmm... assuming you have the use case for an EV... aka you have a garage and don't go on cross country trips every weekend... it's waaaaaaay more convenient than gas. You literally always have a full tank every time you leave the house. Plus I personally don't go anywhere that I can't easily make it with my range. 90% of my travel is around the house within 5-10 miles. However even my longer 1 hour each way trips are no problem and I never stop to charge anywhere.

We keep the model 3 in FL as I have no use for it here in NC and I don't even have power in the garage here, but I totally miss never having to go to the gas station. The truck isn't so bad because that beast has a 48 gallon tank so I don't have to fill it up that often... but the mustang feels like it has a 5 gallon fucking tank and I gotta fill that bitch up almost every week it seems.

[Alfisti]

You have a full tank .. because.... YOU FILL UP EACH DAY.

PITA IMHO.

[erickonphoenix]

We've got an 04 Mercedes ML500, 2006 Jeep Wrangler, 1998 Toyota Camry, 2001 Toyota 4-Runner and a 2014 BMW 328iT.

The 01 Toyota 4-Runner has been the most expensive to maintain so far. We've got $4,000 in repairs into it already and it's only been in the fleet three years.

[MsGoGoMoto]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

You have a full tank .. because.... YOU FILL UP EACH DAY.

PITA IMHO.

I had the same opinion.
It's a "don't knock it till you try it" situation.

Just like I was afraid to get a BMW because of maintenance costs, hence. This thread.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

Ummmm... assuming you have the use case for an EV... aka you have a garage and don't go on cross country trips every weekend... it's waaaaaaay more convenient than gas. You literally always have a full tank every time you leave the house. Plus I personally don't go anywhere that I can't easily make it with my range. 90% of my travel is around the house within 5-10 miles. However even my longer 1 hour each way trips are no problem and I never stop to charge anywhere.

We keep the model 3 in FL as I have no use for it here in NC and I don't even have power in the garage here, but I totally miss never having to go to the gas station. The truck isn't so bad because that beast has a 48 gallon tank so I don't have to fill it up that often... but the mustang feels like it has a 5 gallon fucking tank and I gotta fill that bitch up almost every week it seems.

I drive basically rotate 3 cars to work every week. 170 miles round trip. They all get about 27.5 MPG. So, just driving a single car all week means filling up every two days. When I rotate cars day to day, it means I hit the gas station nearly every day. I've never understood what the big deal is taking 5 minutes to fill the tank.

If I had an EV, I could only have a charging station over at the garage, which is a two-minute walk from the house. So EV charging saves me no time; actually it would cost me time. Lol.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by MsGoGoMoto

I had the same opinion.
It's a "don't knock it till you try it" situation.

Just like I was afraid to get a BMW because of maintenance costs, hence. This thread.

The only way to evaluate and compare the cost of operating a car is in cost per mile. Price of the vehicle + fuel cost + maintenance/repair + depreciation (if you have it) divided by the miles driven. Leave registration and insurance out of the calculations. If you keep the car 20 years and 200,000 miles (assuming 10,000 miles a year), it works out in your favor.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

The only way to evaluate and compare the cost of operating a car is in cost per mile. Price of the vehicle + fuel cost + maintenance/repair + depreciation (if you have it) divided by the miles driven. Leave registration and insurance out of the calculations. If you keep the car 20 years and 200,000 miles (assuming 10,000 miles a year), it works out in your favor.

You are right but no one believes you.

My aircon just dies on the saab, $1200. Wife says time for new car, I said that is 3 lease payments, closer to 2 actually.

[MsGoGoMoto]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

The only way to evaluate and compare the cost of operating a car is in cost per mile. Price of the vehicle + fuel cost + maintenance/repair + depreciation (if you have it) divided by the miles driven. Leave registration and insurance out of the calculations. If you keep the car 20 years and 200,000 miles (assuming 10,000 miles a year), it works out in your favor.

Ahh I see.

I just know that I got a $400 a month chunk of money leftover each month once I switched to the EV

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

How is an EV more convenient? You've got to keep plugging the fucker in instead of just filling up say once a week.

How long does the battery last on your cell phone? Oh, the horrors! Sign me up for a POTS landline phone ASAP!

An EV is just like your phone. It takes a few seconds to plug it in every evening, and is fully charged when you're leaving in the morning. No need to stand out in the blitzenfreezin cold for 5 minutes breathing gasoline vapors once a week, touching slimy pump nozzles and watching/listening lame POS sales pitches from the fuel dispenser trying to lure you inside to buy more stuff.

I park my i3 outdoors, and come home from work after dark in the winter. Our EV charger is hanging on the side of the garage, and it doesn't take me more than 15-20 extra seconds every other evening to pop the charger door, remove the dust cap, and plug the charging plug into the car...even in the snow and pitch black.....

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by MsGoGoMoto

I compare it to a V8 truck because that's what I have… 20 years. 17 mpg

My wife's old Dakota was a V6, which Mopar just lobbed off two cylinders from the V8. It was lucky to get 19 MPG with a tail wind, and the daily morning gas station visits also racked up side sales of coffee and snacks onto the fuel tab.

The Mighty Dodge is an I-6, with a 6-speed manual gearbox. Other than having 610 foot-pounds of torque, the engine layout is similar to many BMW's.

My race car is a 4-cylinder 1.8 turbo. On my 21 miles of daily driving, it and the Mighty Dodge get more or less identical fuel mileage. I'll let you figure out why it sits in the race car hauler 99% of the time these days.....

[Fritzer]

Originally Posted by MsGoGoMoto

I've been thinking about this. I see a majority of you own a BMW with a conventional engine.
To be honest, I've avoided owning a BMW because of hearing about the "maintenance" costs. I've always followed the mainstream and avoided BMWs because of this.

Now that I'm here. I want to ask. Is it really expensive to own and maintain your vehicles?

What do you consider expensive and high maintenance costs compared to owning a Nissan or Toyota?

My husband is on the fence on pre- ordering an iX. He's actually on the payment page about to fill it out and fork over the $1500 to preorder and configure his vehicle. 83K!! Damn.
He said that he doesn't want a gasoline powered BMW and the i3 seems to be a good choice for low maintenance. Except.. he wants a grown up i3

I would say if you are "buying" new, or ordering a car, it's almost always the better bet to lease. Now if we are talking sub-2010 cars, that's a completely different story. If you are mechanically inclined, enjoy problem solving, working with your hands - maintaining these cars are only marginally more expensive than the average maintenance cost of other manufacturers. Just the extra cost to have a hell of a lot more enjoyment/hobby in life.

[eluded]

Unless a MT ice get an EV.

[unluky]

I am only on my third BMW total, but I'm probably on my 30th car in my life. I have found all the BMW's I have owned to be exceedingly easy to work on. I have not owned one that has been unreliable in any way or any worse reliability wise to any other car that I have owned which is about every common brand with the exception of Chevrolet.

I join forums for every different car that I own. One thing that I noticed most since my first BMW, are that the BMW forums are filled to the brim with people who take their car to the dealer for everything. If this is factored into the cost of owning a BMW, then I can understand the high costs because nobody charges you more than a BMW dealer to work on a car. Mine have never seen a dealer and I do all my own work.

But if you have the basic skills to work on your own car for minor things and routine maintenance I don't think there are any worse to own did any other car comparably. Again I have only owned three, but they have all been great cars. A great Indy is a 2nd option too.

Just my .02

[MsGoGoMoto]

I guess I never paid attention to how much BMW pushes leasing like someone said here. Thank you.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by MsGoGoMoto

Ahh I see.

I just know that I got a $400 a month chunk of money leftover each month once I switched to the EV

In all seriousness though, you bought a $40,000 car to save $400/month in fuel. If anyone would like to drop his monthly fuel cost (mine is easily $400/month) it would be me. Since 2013 or so I've been running the cost scenarios on adopting EV, first with the Model S, which was the only long-range EV available at the time. Even at the lowest price of around $75K, it was not less expensive in monthly operating cost than a nicely trimmed new BMW 3-series. IIRC gasoline price had to get over $6 per gallon to break even, or the EV MSRP had to get down to $35,000. At one point I considered the Volt, but it didn't really fit my use case.

As time progressed the "$35K" Model 3 and the "$38K" Bolt, were coming on the market. Well the Model came out first at $50K and the Bolt was an urban Man Bun car; it drove great though. The original i3 was seriously lacking in range. The Model 3 has come down in price where it might mathematically work out and probably has the winter range with some spare capacity, but it is so goddamned ugly and the UI is just stupid; I just can't in good conscious be seen in it (and trust me I have no reason to be vane - LOL), I do though, have to retain my dignity.

The new Mustang Mach E is really close to a desirable EV. It actually has some style inside and out. The California 1 model has the range with just RWD, and the price comes in with Federal rebate around $43K. Gas now at nearly $4/gal where I live, it probably works out mathematically. Only problem now is I'm 4 years out from hanging up the cleats and my E90 seems to not want to die. So buying an EV to drive to work, makes no sense at this point. Keeping the several aged, high-mileage BMWs I now rotate daily makes the best economic sense, which gets back to my point of cost-per-mile.

Apologies for the long post.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by unluky

I am only on my third BMW total, but I'm probably on my 30th car in my life. I have found all the BMW's I have owned to be exceedingly easy to work on. I have not owned one that has been unreliable in any way or any worse reliability wise to any other car that I have owned which is about every common brand with the exception of Chevrolet.

I join forums for every different car that I own. One thing that I noticed most since my first BMW, are that the BMW forums are filled to the brim with people who take their car to the dealer for everything. If this is factored into the cost of owning a BMW, then I can understand the high costs because nobody charges you more than a BMW dealer to work on a car. Mine have never seen a dealer and I do all my own work.

But if you have the basic skills to work on your own car for minor things and routine maintenance I don't think there are any worse to own did any other car comparably. Again I have only owned three, but they have all been great cars. A great Indy is a 2nd option too.

Just my .02

Case in point. Last month I took the E46 fresh with new tires in for a quick alignment since tire wear on the old tires indicated it needs one. The tierods are frozen, so the tech couldn't get the front in alignment; but it's not too far out of spec. The quote for new tierods and another alignment $1,100. Ahhhh, no.

LOL.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

You are right but no one believes you.

My aircon just dies on the saab, $1200. Wife says time for new car, I said that is 3 lease payments, closer to 2 actually.

Yet I've proven it with my posts reporting in at 200,000 miles, 300,000 miles, and recently 400,000 miles.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I drive basically rotate 3 cars to work every week. 170 miles round trip. They all get about 27.5 MPG. So, just driving a single car all week means filling up every two days. When I rotate cars day to day, it means I hit the gas station nearly every day. I've never understood what the big deal is taking 5 minutes to fill the tank.

If I had an EV, I could only have a charging station over at the garage, which is a two-minute walk from the house. So EV charging saves me no time; actually it would cost me time. Lol.

Ok... so I guess you don't have a use case for an EV.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

You have a full tank .. because.... YOU FILL UP EACH DAY.

PITA IMHO.

Ummmm... so.... parking your car in your garage as you do every day, but then taking the extra step of sticking the power plug hanging on garage wall into the power port of the car makes this a huge PITA.

But having to DRIVE to a gas station, taking out your wallet, entering all the crap the machine asks for, standing there for a few minutes while it pumps, hopefully it's not one of those whacked ones that pump so slow it's like its pumping honey, putting it all back, getting back in the car and then driving home. That's on a good day. On a bad day when there is news of a storm in fucking Africa hopefully I already have a full tank because then you can add waiting in line to the list.... yeah.... you're right.... that's easier than plugin in a plug.