While walking through the Rural Road parking structure, it became obvious that a substantial amount of ASU students come from wealthy backgrounds. It’s obvious from the cars parked there. Basic headlights are now brighter halogen lights and cloth upholstery has been upgraded to only the finest leather. Some have even foregone the traditional key-ignition for a start/stop button.
If you’re observant, you might notice that the drivers of these cars are usually either over-privileged male teenagers donning a RVCA t-shirt and Ray-Bans or girls sporting their sorority letters in a Lexus or an Audi. He fits the mold of a typical BMW driver, she fits the mold of “Daddy’s little girl.”
I thank the ground I walk on that the Rural parking structure is less than mile away from frat row. It makes the commute for such drivers relatively short, which is a good thing for these expensive, yet ironically unreliable cars.
Many parents spoil their children with high-end European automobiles, which said children are able to drive until they can afford to buy their own. But is expensive always reliable? In my experience, the answer is no.
Every morning I get into my Mini Cooper (which is owned by BMW) with the single hope that I can get from point A to point B without any mechanical failure. This wasn’t an issue when the car was new in 2009, but now it is a living nightmare. Last year, I went to the dealership seven times to have repair work done.
Personally, I’ve found these problems are more common among German-engineered automobiles. Take, for example, the least reliable cars of 2011. According to Consumer Reports, BMW, Mini and Audi placed in the worst models of 2011.
According to the Chicago Tribune, BMW recently recalled nearly 89,000 Mini Coopers and 32,000 5-Series due to water pump failure, which can lead to overheating and engine fires. In October 2010, BMW recalled 130,000 models, for faulty fuel pumps, which caused “reduced engine performance.” BMW fixes these issues for free, but what about problems that aren’t part of company-wide recalls?
In a recent lawsuit, Mini owner Brad Aarons went after BMW for failing to recognize problems with their “continuously variable transmissions.” Many other Mini owners have experienced complete transmission failure while driving, and it isn’t cheap to fix. A new transmission can cost anywhere from $6,000 to $9,000.
Go on any BMW forum, and you’ll find that numerous BMW owners complain of "timing chain tensioner” problems. If caught early, the part can cost anywhere from $20 to $100. Otherwise, you could be stuck paying for a whole new transmission.
No one can deny that BMW creates some of the most aesthetically pleasing cars. Why else would we buy them? Certainly not for their reliability.
A BMW will make the short trip to frat row or across town. Nevertheless, I would advise not playing that Kanye song full blast. After all, you might miss hearing that loud, clunky sound when your fuel pump goes out.
Reach the columnist at OBrunaci@asu.edu
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