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      07-30-2020, 08:30 PM   #331
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07 Honda Accord, 185k miles and rolling strong. Get some funny looks at the gym when I alternate cars
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      07-30-2020, 09:31 PM   #332
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I have a 2002 Lexus IS300 Sportcross with relatively low miles. When I bought it, I had a 30 mile commute per day, but a year later, I changed jobs and stopped driving. I started driving again to work a number of months ago, but with COVID, I’m now working at home. I bought the car in my mid-30s, but with the IS300’s longevity and my minimal miles since I purchased it, I’ll either sell it with plenty of life left or never need to buy another beater again.
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      07-30-2020, 10:23 PM   #333
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2004 Honda CR-V.....351k miles and climbing...
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      07-30-2020, 11:16 PM   #334
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2004 Honda CR-V.....351k miles and climbing...
Oh, man! Congrats on the long life!
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      07-31-2020, 08:33 AM   #335
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Not a beater, but I do have a NA Miata to complement my Daily.
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      07-31-2020, 08:38 AM   #336
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I would only use a beater if I had to make a very long commute daily or have to travel on unpaved roads. If it's for city commuting then never. I used to have a summer car/winter beater but winters are long in Canada and it felt dumb to drive a car I wasn't enthused with for 6 months of the year as life is short and I want to drive a car I like every day.
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      07-31-2020, 09:29 AM   #337
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Beaters are the best. They make you appreciate your other car more.

Back home I still have the '18 Hyundai Santa Fe. Here in Germany the beater is a '15 Golf Variant with a 1.4L Turbo and a DCT trans.
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      08-01-2020, 09:54 AM   #338
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Quote:
Originally Posted by heavyD^2 View Post
life is short and I want to drive a car I like every day.
That has always been my philosophy as well.

Recently decided to keep my 17 M3 off lease because:
1) I love it
2) the color combo is unique
3) there is nothing out there under $100k I'd rather drive
4) the buy out discount offered by BMWFS made it a no brainer to keep it
5) the G generation will likely be ugly

The car has 40k miles now.

I need around 12k miles per year for work commute. 2/3 of that is literally a straight, flat highway drive so not hard miles.

If I keep it for 4-5 more years at this rate I'll be well over 100k miles.

Maybe I can cut the miles in half, and make the M a garage princess (but not a full blown garage queen LOL) ...

My friend has a beater QX56. Jap motor ..runs like a tank. Not the best mpg tho.
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      08-01-2020, 11:20 AM   #339
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Efthreeoh View Post
I disagree with you, a lightly optioned, manual trans, non-turbo BMW 3-series is a very reliable car based on my experience. I have four BMWs right now, and a fifth was a 1989 E30 325i bought new kept for 18 years and 257,000 miles. All in all I've driven 930,000 or so miles on the five. Now I do DIY everything except alignments, tires, and AC, granted, but old 3-series BMWs are very reliable. At 250,000+ I was still daily driving my E90 a minimum of 800 miles a week (165 a day); I still drive it 2 days a week. I rotate basically between 3 cars during the week. My Experience spans across the E30, E36, E46, and E90 platforms.

OP, if you don't need a 4-seater, and like to drive, get an E86 Z4 3.0si Coupe. You can find them for $12K. Best build quality I've seen from BMW.

Life is too short to sit your ass in a POS Japanese econobox and think you'll have great reliability.
No matter how much you think the BMWs you owned were reliable, a similarly cost Japanese economy car is 9/10 times more reliable. That's not to say I don't agree with you and would pickup your cars to drive daily. But as a recommendation to someone for a best $10k daily beater, not sure about that.

I owned both a E46 328i and currently a E60 550i. Both I consider "beaters" because I put minimal maintenance, did not make them look beautiful with cosmetic upkeep, and both were worth sub 15k when I had them. Both exceeded 120k miles, however, I cannot recommend this as a daily driver that would be cheaper / more reliable than comparable japanese cars. With that said, I'd rather do the DIY maintenance / simple fixes and be stuck w/ a E46 / E60 than a corolla. This isn't for everyone though.

The E46 had a lot of issues - off the top of my head, intake camshaft sensor (CEL light) water pump failure at 70k (stuck at side of road) window regulators (over 5x broken) rear shock mount, front control arms, bushings, and much more. Not really a good "beater" but a great car I love/miss till this day.

The E60 550i I currently own, I've averaged roughly $1500 in annual expenses to maintain, mostly with DIY work. From 60k-120k I've changed water pump / expansion tank / hoses (starting to leak and prevention), few electronic issues (control modules needed to be swapped), and leaking valve cover (2x), alternator gasket, front control arms bushings at 60k and due again, few other gasket leaks in the engine, and currently at 120k I'm getting slight stuttering likely from valve stem seals on cold days that I don't plan on addressing until my car throws a CEL or is inoperable from a safety stand point.

While I love both of those cars, reliable and affordable daily driver wouldn't be the adjectives I use. The e60 was far better in terms of reliability, yet the parts were still more expensive and had weird electronic gremlins. As a car enthusiast these are acceptable to me and I don't mind doing the DIY work. But I wouldn't recommend these cars for $10k range (likely in condition that needs work).

For $10k beater recommendation a honda / toyota as a daily driver make the most sense. Not to say that Japanese cars don't have any issues, but the few that I've owned (Corolla / Altima / Sienna / Rav 4) literally have seen much more abuse / miles with much less costs. Very hard to argue this decision from a cost basis.

With that said everyone has different requirements for a daily driver. I prefer owning cheaper used BMWs over the tried and true japanese economy cars. To each their own. I'm willing to pay to play
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      08-01-2020, 08:01 PM   #340
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesGames View Post
No matter how much you think the BMWs you owned were reliable, a similarly cost Japanese economy car is 9/10 times more reliable. That's not to say I don't agree with you and would pickup your cars to drive daily. But as a recommendation to someone for a best $10k daily beater, not sure about that.

I owned both a E46 328i and currently a E60 550i. Both I consider "beaters" because I put minimal maintenance, did not make them look beautiful with cosmetic upkeep, and both were worth sub 15k when I had them. Both exceeded 120k miles, however, I cannot recommend this as a daily driver that would be cheaper / more reliable than comparable japanese cars. With that said, I'd rather do the DIY maintenance / simple fixes and be stuck w/ a E46 / E60 than a corolla. This isn't for everyone though.

The E46 had a lot of issues - off the top of my head, intake camshaft sensor (CEL light) water pump failure at 70k (stuck at side of road) window regulators (over 5x broken) rear shock mount, front control arms, bushings, and much more. Not really a good "beater" but a great car I love/miss till this day.

The E60 550i I currently own, I've averaged roughly $1500 in annual expenses to maintain, mostly with DIY work. From 60k-120k I've changed water pump / expansion tank / hoses (starting to leak and prevention), few electronic issues (control modules needed to be swapped), and leaking valve cover (2x), alternator gasket, front control arms bushings at 60k and due again, few other gasket leaks in the engine, and currently at 120k I'm getting slight stuttering likely from valve stem seals on cold days that I don't plan on addressing until my car throws a CEL or is inoperable from a safety stand point.

While I love both of those cars, reliable and affordable daily driver wouldn't be the adjectives I use. The e60 was far better in terms of reliability, yet the parts were still more expensive and had weird electronic gremlins. As a car enthusiast these are acceptable to me and I don't mind doing the DIY work. But I wouldn't recommend these cars for $10k range (likely in condition that needs work).

For $10k beater recommendation a honda / toyota as a daily driver make the most sense. Not to say that Japanese cars don't have any issues, but the few that I've owned (Corolla / Altima / Sienna / Rav 4) literally have seen much more abuse / miles with much less costs. Very hard to argue this decision from a cost basis.

With that said everyone has different requirements for a daily driver. I prefer owning cheaper used BMWs over the tried and true japanese economy cars. To each their own. I'm willing to pay to play
The JTM09, who I was responding to, said he was "looking at older 3-series", so I recommended an E90 based on my experience with mine.
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Last edited by Efthreeoh; 08-01-2020 at 08:31 PM..
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      08-01-2020, 11:55 PM   #341
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Quote:
Originally Posted by heavyD^2 View Post
I would only use a beater if I had to make a very long commute daily or have to travel on unpaved roads. If it's for city commuting then never. I used to have a summer car/winter beater but winters are long in Canada and it felt dumb to drive a car I wasn't enthused with for 6 months of the year as life is short and I want to drive a car I like every day.
Good thing I actually love my "beater". I have different pants for different occasions, why not cars?
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      08-02-2020, 01:18 AM   #342
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Efthreeoh View Post
The JTM09, who I was responding to, said he was "looking at older 3-series", so I recommended an E90 based on my experience with mine.
The E90 seems decently reliable other than the models with N54 engine. I would agree that anything earlier than E90 is asking for trouble.
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      08-02-2020, 01:21 AM   #343
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Quote:
Originally Posted by heavyD^2 View Post
I would only use a beater if I had to make a very long commute daily or have to travel on unpaved roads. If it's for city commuting then never. I used to have a summer car/winter beater but winters are long in Canada and it felt dumb to drive a car I wasn't enthused with for 6 months of the year as life is short and I want to drive a car I like every day.
I think it also depends on what cars you want to own and the situation. A beater probably makes less sense if you have an all-rounder vs a roadster or something. If your only car is an Audi R8 or something then you probably want a beater.
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      08-02-2020, 04:56 AM   #344
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An older i3. It's what's driven for errands, work, beach hauling or if I need to stuff two bikes in the back. The collapsible seats do wonders!
Nice! I love the i3 and would love to get one for a daily, but I have no idea if it would survive the Canadian winters due to the deep snow, cold weather and its effects on the battery and range, plus crazy pot holes.
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      08-02-2020, 06:48 AM   #345
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Originally Posted by chris719 View Post
The E90 seems decently reliable other than the models with N54 engine. I would agree that anything earlier than E90 is asking for trouble.
Interestingly, I picked up a 99,000-mile 2005 E46 330i convertible in September 2019. The car found me, as I was not looking to pick up a fourth BMW to care for. The owner was a co-worker who bought it used at 50,000 miles 10 years ago. The owner wanted the car "to go to a good home", vs. dumping it at CarMax.

The owner gave me a mostly complete set of service records. That information shows a few unusual requirements such as replacement of a power steering hose, and early replacement of the alternator, battery, coolant tank, intake hose, and water pump, all around 75,000 miles. The starter gave out just two weeks into my ownership. So the car has had its share of common E46 issues.

I've since put 16,000 miles on the cabrio after replacing some items such as de-glazed mirrors, and base-lining the fluids at 100,000 miles. It's part of my daily fleet so it sees a good 320 miles a week service and has proven to be trouble free so far. I'm interested to see how it stacks up to my E90 and E86 as far as reliability.

Last edited by Efthreeoh; 08-02-2020 at 08:24 AM..
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      08-02-2020, 11:26 AM   #346
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My 2006 330i 6MT was one of the most reliable fun versatile cars I have ever owned. The 6MT was excellent and even though it was my weekend/fun car, it did amazing in limited commute duties. It's actually one of the reasons I blew up my commute car/weekend two car model and to get one car: new 2017 GLI 6MT.

I never really considered my 330i to be reliable enough to use it as my "one" car, but based on what you are saying and my own research I think I made a mistake. Seeing the reliability reviews for the E90, the biggest issues are with the E90 335 turbo cars, not the NA engines.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Efthreeoh View Post
I disagree with you, a lightly optioned, manual trans, non-turbo BMW 3-series is a very reliable car based on my experience. miles.

At 250,000+ I was still daily driving my E90 a minimum of 800 miles a week (165 a day); I still drive it 2 days a week.

OP, if you don't need a 4-seater, and like to drive, get an E86 Z4 3.0si Coupe. You can find them for $12K. Best build quality I've seen from BMW.

Life is too short to sit your ass in a POS Japanese econobox and think you'll have great reliability.
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      08-02-2020, 12:37 PM   #347
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Originally Posted by br2wdc View Post
My 2006 330i 6MT was one of the most reliable fun versatile cars I have ever owned. The 6MT was excellent and even though it was my weekend/fun car, it did amazing in limited commute duties. It's actually one of the reasons I blew up my commute car/weekend two car model and to get one car: new 2017 GLI 6MT.

I never really considered my 330i to be reliable enough to use it as my "one" car, but based on what you are saying and my own research I think I made a mistake. Seeing the reliability reviews for the E90, the biggest issues are with the E90 335 turbo cars, not the NA engines.
So I define reliability ultimately as, does the car leave me on the side of the road needing a tow truck. After 930,000 driven miles on 5 BMWs, four of which I still have, I've only needed a tow truck twice. Granted the starter on my E46 died right after I bought it, but it was at home, so could it count? Maybe, but being a manual, I could have bump started it anyway (one of the benefits of a manual transmission). And maybe the alternator on the E90 could count (@ 315,000 miles), but I was close enough to get it home. So I'll say 3 breakdowns in 930,000 miles. That's a great record in my book.

My E90, having reached 395,000 miles and at the shape it is in, it's been a tank, I don't give a shit what anyone tries to say otherwise. I've been in a 170,000 Camry, owned by a typical Toyota owner (work mate of mine) thinking it will last forever with no maintenance. It needed a suspension rebuild (I could tell by just riding in the back seat). It lost the alternator at 175,000. Then the cooling system broke soon after. He got rid of it and bought his wife a new car. My E90 was (is) in better shape than that POS Toyota at over double the mileage.

All cars break; they are machines after all.
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Last edited by Efthreeoh; 08-02-2020 at 12:48 PM..
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      08-02-2020, 02:14 PM   #348
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We have a 2012 Civic with 150K miles on it, still looks good and runs great. All 4 of us drive at some point...grocery runs etc.

We have a 01' 330ci vert and 16' 235i MT...life is too short to pump money into a 2nd/3rd car.

Also have 18' Civic EX Turbo, 0-60 in 6.5...and while not quite as fast as 230i, runs fine. (why we got 235i, 228i wasnt close, regardless of what some R&T article says lol) and $20k loaded new with 100K bumper to bumper...allows us to feed the 235i for track use

Reliability means stuff not breaking and having to pump $$ into for a long time. I don't "think" we have reliability, and performance as good as most old Bimmers, we know it.
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      08-02-2020, 08:52 PM   #349
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Just won a 1999 Toyota Camry CE off ebay for $2700. Family Owned. Well maintained. 124k miles. Needed a more comfortable reliable beater for small errands/groceries. Will be driven 4x a month at most. My parents had a 88 Camry when I was a kid and it lasted about 400k miles.
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      08-03-2020, 06:59 AM   #350
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I have a Fiat Cinquecento Sport. Best car ever!! ahah

(600hp in one photo)
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      08-03-2020, 10:03 AM   #351
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Daaaamn homie! The Cinqu's were fierce!! I remember those growing up
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      08-03-2020, 11:26 AM   #352
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Suzuki SX4 AWD hatchback. Six months of winter up here. Owned 3½ years now (it's a 2012) and NO repairs/breakdowns. I marshall at 2 winter car rallys here deep in the woods so need AWD and reliability.

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