shopdog

I agree that those insurance figures are extremely high. I pay $963 per year insurance. The finance charges are amusing too, I paid cash, so that column is all zeros for me. The other numbers look reasonable. The big maintenance expense is tires.

chrisok1

Maintenance will be lower for the BMW because they come w/ free maintenance when you buy them. With the Corvette, you will be paying for oil changes, wiper blades, etc. Depending on which wheels you get on the BMW, Corvette tires are going to be more expensive. BMW rides better and has more room. After warranty period, Corvette will be much less expensive to repair and will have slightly better reliablity. I looked at the BMW for the wife, but ended up buying her a Lexus IS 350. In my opinion, the Lexus is a better built car for the money than the BMW if you need a small 4 door sedan. The only maintenance I have done on it is changing the oil every 5K miles (18K miles on car now).

AORoads

with all due respect, if you're thinking the comparison betw. a BM 335 and a Corvette, get the BM. They're not even close except for 4 wheels and an engine. All you will get here is anecdotal, one-off repair histories. I'd suggest you check with the initial quality survey JD Power, long term road tests of the car mags online, etc.

FiremanC7

JD Powers has a survey for everyone - they mean nothing! As for BMW reliability, my info comes from a 600 member Chapter of the BMWCCA (study collected reams of data). If you follow BMW's maintenance schedule you will have a higher than average breakdown rate. This is why BMW's don't hold their value like they used to. Oh, their policy on TSB's is "not to mention them unless the customer complains".

BobD

GotCorvette?

I worked as a service writer at a Ford dealership, and that was their policy on TSBs also.

AORoads

That's good to know! Because GM claims very high satisfaction numbers from JD Power surverys. But I wouldn't write that without a fire suit on in those will GM survive threads.

Also good to know that 600 club member (presume all those participated to the letter of recommended maintenance) conclusive data shows they're not reliable cars. Or said better, "...higher than average breakdown rate."

Unfortunately, my point was to be a bit more oblique, and I guess in that respect I lost some along the way. It's my opinion that if one wants to compare the repair costs of a Honda V6 Accord to a Porsche 911 GT2, the actual dollar numbers CAN be compared...but the question is, why? Why do it? Same for a BM sedan/coupe and a Corvette. See?

Cliffj

I can only give you my personal experience. I have owned four 3-series BMW's, 89 325is, 92 325i, 00 328i and now an 08 335i. ALL were great cars, and my 17 yr old son still drives the 00 328i with almost 190K miles. All have been manuals. I have always used independent mechanics that specialize in German cars.

The first three were bought used, with no more than 20K miles. The first two both had over 100K before being sold. I perform oil changes with Mobil1 or Royal Purple between 5-7K miles - $110. Other service intervals and costs are as follows:

Brake fluid @ 24K - $67, Manual Transmission and Rear Diff at 50K - $110 for both ($55 ea). I have the antifreeze tested yearly, and usually changed every 2 years - $60. I put about 20-25K miles/yr on my cars. I follow this scheme even with my 335i, regardless of the "free" (read already payed for) mx by BMW. I intend to keep the car a long time. These costs are reflective of my most recent services. All parts, materials and labor provided by the mechanic. I could save a couple of dollars if I brought my own oil, but not much, so sometimes it is not worth going by Walmart to get Mobil1 for $4.50/qt when he only charges me $6.00. All my 3-series take 6.8 qts of oil.

I have found the mx costs on the BMW's to be no more than any of my American cars, and the reliability better. There are many qualified independent mechanics that can work on BMW's. Finding a good one, with reasonable charges is not hard. I have been with the same guy for about 8 years.

My largest non-routine mx cost was approx. $1000.00 to replace the camshaft sensors and mass airflow sensor on the 00 328i at about 110K miles. The mass airflow sensor was my fault for having too much oil in a drop-in K&N air filter, which coated the wires on the MAF and toasted it. I have also replaced the clutch once in the 328i, at about 120K miles, for a cost of approx. $800.00 (aftermarket clutch, not BMW original, but good quality). The 328i still runs strong, and does not have a rattle in the car, even after my son driving it for a year.

The 335i has given me ZERO problems in the year I have owned it, and I have just over 20K miles on the car.

I have never owned a Vette, but would like to have a C6 or later model one day. It is just not practical for me right now as a commuter car. I hope to lurk on this board and find only good news about the Vette. I think Chevy has done an outstanding job with the design of the C6, and the engine appears to be reliable, and gets great mileage for 400+ HP. I would like to see the interior design and quality improve.

Sorry for being long winded.

Dakota Kid

I think the comparison between the Vette and the 335i is valid. They are very, very close in performance numbers, although the BMW is more expensive. I had been leaning hard toward the 335i...but with the price drops for the new and used Vettes I may yet be in a position to get a C6. I am sure I would be happy with either.

moolys

onehdeagle

Edmunds doesn't know chit. No financing, insurance approx. $400/yr, and with their depreciation schedule, a five year old coupe would be worth about $18,000 in five years.

Eritosthenes

Maintenance costs are exceptionally low while it's in warranty. Exceptions: tires and batteries. Insurance premiums for most of us old farts are quite reasonable.

On the other hand, mod costs are ridiculously high.

Dakota Kid

Now all we (I) need is zero percent financing for 60 months...and a new C6 will be all mine.

carjon

I guess in order to answer it would depend upon how long you intend to own and how many miles. I have a 2005 Z51 and a 2006 BMW 330xi. The BMW is leased and I will not be keeping it after the warranty / maintenance is covered. Since I'm not keeping it till it has a lot of miles I don't intend to do more maintenance than BMW is paying for.
My Corvette gets oil changes etc. every 6000 miles or so and some other inexpensive maintenance. If I wanted my dealer to do 15,000 mile maintenance etc. it would be very expensive for them to do inspections, etc. If you do what the book says you should do - cheap to maintain.

Repairs - my BMW has been in the shop once other than scheduled maintenance for some recall. My Corvette service guys know me and my car well.

I don't have a lot of concerns about mechanical problems with the BMW as I've had with the Corvette. I do worry about electronic problems with the BMW. I would not keep a modern BMW that wasn't under some sort of warranty because of the electronics and concern about cost of fixing and whether an independent service shop could fix some of those problems.

So how long are you going to keep the car?

I don't really think a BMW sedan and a Corvette is a good comparison no matter what the HP or speed comparison. One is pure sports car, two seats and you know what you are driving every mile. The other is a fast, comfortable sedan that can go fast or can be driven like a Buick.
I love both but they are very different vehicles. You need to decide sports car or sports sedan.

metal

...and tire rotation cost is almost "0"

bagwell

hummm I had an 04 TT that the glovebox latch mechanism came apart, they replaced the latch after the parts came in 2 days later; can't remember the cost but I know it wasn't the whole glovebox.

back on topic...

the BMW maintenance will kill you AFTER the 4 years/50K miles...if you intend on keeping it that long.

Dakota Kid

I plan on keeping the Vette or BMW for quite a few years...I baby my cars and usually keep them at least 8 years. Hell, I have a 1998 Ford F-150 that looks and drives like new..

But the long term maintenance costs of BMW concern me. I am smart enough to know their first 50,000 miles of free maintenance is costing them very little....what new car even needs maintenance under 50,000 miles.

With Vette prices dropping, my interest continues to rise.

Cliffj

the BMW maintenance will kill you AFTER the 4 years/50K miles...if you intend on keeping it that long.[/QUOTE]

I was curious, so I went back and looked in a Palm program I use to track all my vehicle costs. For the 00 328i, I crossed 50K miles in May of 2002 and it had 178K when I gave it to my son in Dec 07. During that period, I had the following costs:

Fuel - $9,371, avg mpg 27.64, fuel cost/mi $0.072
MX - $12,524.65, avg mx cost/mi $0.097.

Mx includes EVERYTHING including all tires (mounting, balancing, alignments every 10K miles), fluids, shocks, filters, belts, hoses, having the car detailed every couple of months, every light bulb, cost of lowering springs, and then to take them back off before I gave it to my son, respraying the hood to remove all rock chips. I mean EVERY thing was accounted for. The only things that I consider non-routine were the mass airflow sensor and camshaft sensors, mentioned in my previous post. $2,000 of that went directly to the cost of lowering springs, installation, de-installation and re-spraying the hood before I let my son have it. Otherwise, the exterior of the car was in great shape.

So this car cost me 0.169/mi for all fuel and mx, beyond 50K miles. Payments and insurance not included. The car still has NO RATTLES or creaks at 189K miles. So based on my avg of about 20K miles/yr, I would spend approx. $3,400 on fuel and ALL mx. Is that alot? Not to me. So, throw in about $600 in insurance and it would cost me a total of about $4,000 per year, to keep driving a car that is paid for and is reliable. It has yet to break down on my son in his first year of driving as a 16yr old (just turned 17 in Nov). My son will drive it until it dies, which will probably not be before 250 - 300K.

My 335i, at a little over 20K miles has no rattles or creaks, and I have not been back to the dealer for anything except my "free" oil change. I have been to my own mechanic twice for self-paid oil changes at about $100.00 ea.

Many friends at work have bought 3 series BMW's as a result of my experiences. Non have been disappointed. Many have owned more than one.

As the C6's get some high mileage on them, I would love to see some similar cost breakdowns. I have two friends that have owned C5's. Both had similar issues, leaking rear ends (no pun intended), rattles, squeaks. Both complained of interior fit/finish. I don't know anyone with a C6.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying BMW's are the best cars in the world. I have just had great experiences with mine. All 4 of them.

I would LOVE to buy American. We have owned several SUV's for my wife, all American. I owned American cars before I started buying the BMW's. However, I really enjoy the form factor of the 3 series. The size, HANDLING, rear wheel drive performance and reliability have been outstanding for me. In my opinion, there is not an American equivalent. If there was, I would seriously consider buying it.

Again, sorry for being long winded.

Kayvan

Look at major parts in a catalog for both cars, which may go bust in 5-7yrs.

Starter, alternator, water pump, fuel pump, radiator, master cylider, mufflers, etc

BOSCH parts are usually in the several hundred $ range; AC delco is sometimes under $150

last901

Well, I'm not sure I agree with everything you say, but I do feel confident in advising anyone trying to choose between the two marques, that - despite the free BMW service - the Corvette will typically be much less expensive to maintain. I've had my C6 for over 2 years and have only changed oil and filter. My Mazda 3 has cost me more in routine maintenance than my Corvette.

Saying this however, choosing a car simply based on the cost of maintenance is not always the best way to get the car you enjoy the most. BMWs are wonderful cars, but so are Corvettes - the Chevrolet brand notwithstanding.

bagwell

so for your 00 328 you've paid $12,524 for MX over 120K miles !?!?!?!??!??!??!(since the first 50K was free)
that seems like a ton of cash.