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Does BMW design certain parts to fail on purpose?

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Old 09-30-2009, 10:44 AM
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Originally Posted by 968turboS' post='1021233' date='Sep 30 2009, 01:18 PM
Just to add to all this, why does BMW or German manufacturers in general use parts that fail a lot faster than their Japanese counterparts. I don't want to buy a Japanese car or plan to but you have to commend them for their reliability.
Parts like window regulators, alternators, waterpumps are all non issue items on Japanese cars. It's a shame that they can't do a better job on these constantly failing parts.
Raj
Local Lexus dealer just build 20 new repair bays. Maybe he knows something we don't know re Nipponese cars. He now has about 40 repair bays.
Old 09-30-2009, 10:46 AM
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Originally Posted by skelevirus' post='1021256' date='Sep 30 2009, 11:33 AM
thats confusing as well puck, if theyre saving money how come everything is getting more expensive? they are deff not passing the savings on to us the consumer..
He didn't say WE were saving $$$ - THEY are saving it. Besides, they probably use the excuse that they are including tons of tech that wasn't available before and therefore it costs more. Like the new iDrive - it's hard drive based instead of DVD, imagine how much more THAT's gonna cost to repair if it goes wrong? Solid state hard drives have come a long way but I am curious to see how well they deal with extreme temps long term.
Old 09-30-2009, 11:13 AM
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Old 09-30-2009, 11:36 AM
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Originally Posted by porsche911targa' post='1021270' date='Sep 30 2009, 02:44 PM
This is a misconception. Everybody always says that they are more reliable just because they keep hearing it over and over. if you do your research, you would find this: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=38088
or this: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=33974
or this: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...&pid=360722
or this: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=10189

Does any of this sound familiar?
It's not what I hear, it's what I see with my own eyes. I do my own wrenching and maintain all my own cars. As you can see, I own 4 german cars so I have 1st hand experience. I also have relatives that own japanese cars that just run forever. You can keep remaining in denial but the fact is that japanese cars are made better. I still wouldn't buy them over german cars though!
Regards.
Raj
Old 09-30-2009, 12:10 PM
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Originally Posted by 968turboS' post='1021333' date='Sep 30 2009, 08:36 PM
It's not what I hear, it's what I see with my own eyes. I do my own wrenching and maintain all my own cars. As you can see, I own 4 german cars so I have 1st hand experience. I also have relatives that own japanese cars that just run forever. You can keep remaining in denial but the fact is that japanese cars are made better. I still wouldn't buy them over german cars though!
Regards.
Raj

Yes and no. Lexus is an attempt of toyota to hit luxury German cars. Unfortunately, packing it with gizmos and high tech as the european brands, led to inherit their lower reliability record.

It is quite known Lexus suffers from reliability issues, mainly electrical.

For the rest of the Japanese brands. They are not made "better" . They are made to be mechanically reliable. Cheap and efficient with excellent design resulting in good reliability. They probably use lesser materials with better durability just because they know how to design it and where to mount it.
Old 09-30-2009, 12:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Krozi' post='1021131' date='Sep 30 2009, 01:06 PM





But honestly.... I can't give zyou an answer
Are you saying I should have gone into politics?
Old 09-30-2009, 12:23 PM
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They dont design parts to fail quite litrally, however everything is built to a cost, and of course the lower that cost the lesser the life expectancy, that cost IMHO has reduced considerably for many major parts over the years which is why IMHO BMW's are not built to last like they were used to.
Old 09-30-2009, 12:31 PM
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That's not really confined to BMWs only though. It's a common thing among all manufacturers, even the japanese ones. Go to other forums and you'll soon realise even the hardcore reliable cars are not so reliable anymore. ALL cars start to show problems after the 5 year mark, just some more than others.
Old 09-30-2009, 12:53 PM
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Originally Posted by skelevirus' post='1021256' date='Sep 30 2009, 11:33 AM
thats confusing as well puck, if theyre saving money how come everything is getting more expensive? they are deff not passing the savings on to us the consumer..
Did you honestly expect BMW to pass on the savings to you?
Old 09-30-2009, 12:53 PM
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Keep in mind BMW dont build any of these parts its where they source them from. So a window regulator breaking is not BMW's design that it'll fail after X many hours of use.


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