[John 070]

For an ordinary person, picking up the Consumer Reports guide on car, they'll find the '07 3 Series to have all red dots, i.e. most reliable. It looks today like a Japanese car did ten years ago. It's also recommended by them.

They are respected at what they do, though I question how much science they apply to their findings (they don't seem to disclose how they arrive at their findings). The results imply that this forum is not representative of the general population of 3'ers as far as problems with new vehicles. I thought I was the exception to have a car going on 14 mos. without any defects, but it may be the case that I'm normal, as there seemed to have been a couple of people who came out of the woodwork who also had no problems on their '07 335's.

Long story short, a potential buyer of a 3 Series picks up Consumer Reports, and the 3 Series looks flawless based on their magazine.

[Robert]

I know JD powers calls up buyer of the car within couple months of purchase. I was in shocked when I got a call from them - exactly how you knew I bought a new car?

[dawgdog]

I've had my car 14 months and nothing has gone wrong so far. Better than my 01 530, 03M3 and 06 550.

[Majikthese42]

Originally Posted by John 070

For an ordinary person, picking up the Consumer Reports guide on car, they'll find the '07 3 Series to have all red dots, i.e. most reliable. It looks today like a Japanese car did ten years ago. It's also recommended by them.

Is the April, 2008 Consumer Reports "New Car Issue" out already?

[John 070]

Originally Posted by Majikthese42

Is the April, 2008 Consumer Reports "New Car Issue" out already?

The one I saw was the car buying issue, it had all the makes in it....since I was in the bookstore I also picked up bimmer which had the "feed your 335" article on the activeautowerke 335...sweet.

[Simple1]

I've had my car since Oct 06 and no problems, only the Xenons that keep getting stuck but as far as things getting broken or engine problems, not even a chance.

I still do hate the thumb flats that come with our cars nevertheless.

[Majikthese42]

Originally Posted by John 070

The one I saw was the car buying issue, it had all the makes in it....

Was that their "predicted reliability" for the 2007 3-series (based on prior years) or did they include actual "frequency of repair" data obtained on the 2007s? I have the 2008 "Buying Guide" and the Frequency of Repair charts only go up to 2006. They predict "Average" reliability for the 3-series in the Buying Guide -- in which they also checkmark-recommend the car.

I have had no problems, but I have 52 miles on the car.

[ZBMW]

New car buyer names and addresses can be purchased from list merchants. They are high quality names for mail solicitations.

[scoop]

Consumer Reports bases much of its data on the feedback from thousands of owners (plus other sources).
Hence you will also noticed the 335 scored almost at the top of the charts in consumer satisfaction. Interestingly, it didn't score especially high in acceleration, even though the numbers produced by other magazines and enthusiasts in this forum would place it considerably higher.

[Tag]

Depending on which model you look at the 07 does have some bad ratings.

Also you never really get an accurate picture of the car in the first year. It's so new there's not enough data to properly rate it.

[FolsomMike]

I see the '07 335 got a "worse than average" rating for the fuel system.

Gee, what a surprise.

[demosthenes]

I've been following CR's frequency of repair data for decades and found it to be the best indicator of reliability you can find anywhere.

The most interesting trend is Mercedes. Their cars used to rank up there with the Japanese automakers, but now they are near the bottom.

The automakers have to keep designing and building more efficient and safer cars that perform better than the previous generation. They try to properly test their cars, but most of them fall a little short because it is very time consuming. Most of them see a few surprises the first year or two. After they've worked out most of the bugs, it's time to start the whole cycle over again.

I'm happy to see that the E90 is trending upwards from "Average" to "Better Than Average" and "Much Better than Average". It will be interesting to see how it holds up over time.

[Bubbles]

Originally Posted by FolsomMike

I see the '07 335 got a "worse than average" rating for the fuel system.

Gee, what a surprise.

I saw that too! What's with the solid black body hardware rating for the coupe/convert

[MB330]

What with the black dot on audio reliablity across all 3 (2006) (almost). ?

[PaulBailey@ltbmw]

Pretty cool Consumer report.

[MTV]

Good to see the 3er doing so well.

[E90ice]

I tottaly agree with the report!

[S4to335]

Originally Posted by John 070

For an ordinary person, picking up the Consumer Reports guide on car, they'll find the '07 3 Series to have all red dots, i.e. most reliable. It looks today like a Japanese car did ten years ago. It's also recommended by them.

They are respected at what they do, though I question how much science they apply to their findings (they don't seem to disclose how they arrive at their findings). The results imply that this forum is not representative of the general population of 3'ers as far as problems with new vehicles. I thought I was the exception to have a car going on 14 mos. without any defects, but it may be the case that I'm normal, as there seemed to have been a couple of people who came out of the woodwork who also had no problems on their '07 335's.

Long story short, a potential buyer of a 3 Series picks up Consumer Reports, and the 3 Series looks flawless based on their magazine.

Well..that is totally contrary to my five service visits...for:

1) Brake pad warning sensor malfunction
2) Oil pressure guage malfunction (turning off..shorting out)
3) Telematics problem not allowing my Razr phone to synch with the car
4) Long crank starting issue - connected to my fuel pump issue according to my SA.
5) Second visit for brake pad warning/oil pressure guage malfunction where they finally changed my fuel pump.

No issues right now..but this was only for 9 months and 15K miles of use.

[S4to335]

My good friend is the automotive guy at Consumer Reports..let me see if I can get the full report on the 335i. :-)

[wj4]

Originally Posted by S4to335

My good friend is the automotive guy at Consumer Reports..let me see if I can get the full report on the 335i. :-)

Don't do it, man! E90post members are going to send you some unfriendly PMs!!

[demosthenes]

Originally Posted by S4to335

My good friend is the automotive guy at Consumer Reports..let me see if I can get the full report on the 335i. :-)

If you can't get the latest report, we'll have to wait until March when the April Annual Car Issue is distributed.

I've got the annual car issues going back to 1986. Here's how the 6 cylinder 3 series 2WD sedans have done after many years in terms of average, better than average, worse than average. They started out better than average, went to average and are trending towards better than average.

1984 better (1990 issue)
1985 better (1991 issue)
1986 better (1992 issue)
1987 better (1995 issue)
1988 better (1996 issue)
1989 better (1997 issue)
1990 better (1997 issue)
1991 average (1999 issue)
1992 average (2000 issue)
1993 average (2001 issue)
1994 better (2002 issue)
1995 better (2003 issue)
1996 average (2004 issue)
1997 average (2005 issue)
1998 better (2007 buying guide)
1999 average (2007 buying guide)
2000 worse (2007 buying guide)
2001 average (2007 buying guide)
2002 average (2007 buying guide)
2003 average (2007 buying guide)
2004 average (2007 buying guide)
2005 better (2007 buying guide)
2006 better (2007 buying guide)
2007 better (2007 buying guide)

[purplewidow]

Originally Posted by S4to335

Well..that is totally contrary to my five service visits...for:

1) Brake pad warning sensor malfunction
2) Oil pressure guage malfunction (turning off..shorting out)
3) Telematics problem not allowing my Razr phone to synch with the car
4) Long crank starting issue - connected to my fuel pump issue according to my SA.
5) Second visit for brake pad warning/oil pressure guage malfunction where they finally changed my fuel pump.

No issues right now..but this was only for 9 months and 15K miles of use.

you can get a bad lemon with any company even honda!!! seriously the more gadgets they put in our luxery sports cars the more problems can occur obviously...still i haven't had one issue in my first 8700 miles on my 335..O LOVE IT!!! by far the best car i have owned...just quality everywhere you look!!!!! the passion is there..the feedback is there and there are no problems and by the looks of this forum very few problems from the members who frequent...more problems from guys who just signed up to talk about their problem!!! which is a large part of the forum...guys coming in to complain or find answers to a problem...you don't find everyone coming in everyday saying how they love they don't have any issues though with the 335 we see that everyday which is a great thing... but more people complain because they are trying to find answers..on a forum this is common but not everyone has these problems just like not everyone has a bad fuel pump!!! you just gotta get lucky sometimes and if your buying used buy smart!!!!