@atpfm @caseyliss hey, BMW tech here (I’m pretty sure we talked before about BMWs when you had the E90). If you have any questions about the i4, I’ll get answers for you.

@MikePfeifer ah yes!

Basically, my only question is, am I signing myself up for N55 levels of pain if I get one of these? 🥴

@caseyliss I mean, as you know, there are no guarantees in life. That said, the i4 has been pretty solid for the most part. We sell a lot of them here in the Tampa area, and we are a fairly busy dealer. By far the most we see them for is tires and any recalls (usually software). We do get some “my car doesn’t charge” type complaints but that seems to be almost always the charging equipment and not the car. Some people have trouble with the phone connection, which is usually not the cars fault.

@caseyliss I have repaired exactly one i4 HV battery which was a control module issue, and repaired one rear drive unit which was a sensor issue. Neither were complete replacements. The G series cars have been fairly solid in general. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

@caseyliss they do eat tires, as all decently powered EVs do.

@MikePfeifer I hear that. If I go this route, I’m fucked lol

Tangentially related: if you’re willing to share, what car do you see as the most unreliable? What one is the biggest pain to work on?

@caseyliss in BMW world? It would have to be the V8s. They have gotten better, for sure, but I wouldn’t own one if it was given to me for free. I have never liked any engine with N in the designation, but the V8s have been trouble from day one. The G cars with B engines are decent, with a few things to know about there - mostly cooling system stuff. Gen5 (current) EVs have all been fairly solid. Will see how the Gen6 goes (iX3, new i3).

@MikePfeifer I hear you about the V8s, but by GOD I loved Marco’s F10.

And when I one day hit the lottery, I’m getting an E39 M5.

@caseyliss oh yeah, the S engines were better, especially the newer ones but not great to work on - or cheap! And the old M62 variants (including S62 in the E39 M5) were solid, it’s just those N V8s (N62, N63). I think they just get way too hot and they are way over complicated in the most German ways possible.

@Mutesplash ICCU

@Mutesplash also it’s ugly as sin

@atpfm the i4 is a solid choice. I would consider one but it’s kind of a sidegrade from a Polestar 2 (and significantly more expensive used in the US AIUI)

@caseyliss @siracusa @marcoshuerta John had just asked about the brake pads, so it was clear you guys just misunderstood each other, but also that Casey is already resigned to paying Porsche bucks for parts

@yertle

@atpfm I really liked the M4 Pro option on the Mini, yeah maybe it's not the great value of the plain M4 but I saved $600 over the Studio and the Pro (with TB5 ports and more GPU cores) feels like the sweet spot for me.

Of course, if the Mini only had non-pro, I'd probably step up to the lowest tier Studio - which I guess is what Apple would prefer I do anyway. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@atpfm @caseyliss I once saw a CR chart on brand reliability, and BMW's bar was higher (as well as much lower) than Toyota or Honda. The latter are more consistent, but BMW does make some great models. You just have to research carefully... I think you had one of the mid-to-bad ones.

Here's my '07 328xi. Over 350k km (219k miles) so far, and going strong. I've had it about 10 years, and have about $20k CAD in it, including purchase price.

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