ven7782

Was thinking of it. Which is the best BMW forum? There are quite a few and I am yet to join one.

Q5 Bob

Check out Bimmerfest and Bimmerpost.

Nakedhoof

ROFL!

Tinbad

They're always optional since most buyers have opted out of them.

Sportstick

But, once included, they work both with and without "test mode"!

audi bug

I agree with you.
I still have 2001 330i since new and enjoy driving it, but I decided that this one was the last BMW I would ever buy. I bet BMW design standard doesn't have reliability section. I do all my repairs and maintenance work and can see big difference in every components and layout of major system.

Fahrer

I had a 2008 BMW 535. It was the previous generation so it was not so heavy and handled well. I also had the regular suspension and all season tires which meant no runflats at that time. The car, however, gave me problems continuously. Injector failures, fuel pump failure, turbo failure, wastegate failure, vanos solenoid failure. It also had a second rate paint job from the factory. That was my first and last BMW. Today , my 2016 2.0 A6 Q has about 19K miles without one problem so far. Amazingly, it has 4 Cyl., AWD and A/T and it not much slower than the BMW 3.0 twin turbo 6 Cyl., RWD with 6MT that I had. The quality of my Audi is way beyond what my BMW showed. Actually, my 2016 Golf S has better build quality than my BMW! By the way, any car that has runflats is off my list!

beethoveen

I too came over from the '08 535i. BMW has been slowly losing its groove. It was less a reliability issue for me but rather just the direction BMW has and is continuing to head. As a BMW car club member you regularly read in their monthly mag that BMW owners (including me) just aren't happy with the bloating of the 5-series, diminished sportiness, options and pricing, shift to run-flats and no spare, just to name a few off the top of the head. I can't comment on the upcoming 5 series but early automotive previews rank it a bit better than the outgoing generation but does that let it catch up to the current C7, which isn't exactly a spring chicken?

Frankly before I got my new 2016 A6 last year, the purchase was for BMW to lose but as you just compare the two the A6 just offered a more compelling story both value, maintainability, and drivability-wise.

So the A6 or new 5 series? Guess it boils down to how heavily you weigh factors such as price, bang for the buck, little things such as a spare tire, car weight, and drivability.

Still respect like BMWs but the Ultimate Driving Machine is more focused on being the Ultimate Selling Machine to be top luxury maker so that means making certain tradeoffs to cater to a broader market base that enjoys softer rides, never intend on ever opening the hood of their car, etc. You get the picture.

Baloo588

I had a 2011 BMW 5 (F10 current generation) and it was the WORST POS car I have ever bought. Constant problems with vibration, out of round tire, bad driveshaft, floating feel and sloppy handling etc along with electric glitches. I cannot even fathom even buying the newer 5 series. It was so bad it soured my taste in BMW. I sold it after 1 year and 14k miles and never looked back. Our 2016 Audi A7 and 2014 Audi A6 with sports package out handles and rides so much better than the 2011 BMW on 18 inch and nonrunflats. The quality blows BMW out of the water.

However my mom has a 2015 BMW X5d with dynamic suspension and non runflats and I am very impressed with the build quality of the South Carolina X5 and it is been amazing.

Otherwise avoid the current generation 5. Its a mess. The new one looks BORING and no creativity and a shortened 7. I will pass for the newer A6 or A7.

jjsC6

And yet I constantly read about how poor Audi quality is. My 2012 550 only had one problem in 45,000 miles. The injectors had to be replaced at 23,000. The car ran fine except for a few hiccups that lasted literally about a mile then it ran fine again for a couple hundred miles before I took it in. The diagnostics said it needed new injectors.