Quote:
Originally Posted by Twixboy
And that's the thing. All cars are reliable for the first 4 years and 50,000 miles, but you can drive a Honda for 15 years and 200,000 miles with no major problems. That's where the Japanese brands really shine - the maintenance costs on years 6 thru 10 is roughly the same as years 1 thru 5. Not so on a BMW (in general).
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I think you nailed it there. I bought an '01 M5 in 2009 at 66k and drove it 29k miles before selling it this year. I also bought an '02 S2000 in 2013 at 48k and have driven it 18k miles so far. I have also done a handful of trackdays in the Honda but I never did in the M5. I keep a log of all the maintenance/wear items and costs of each car. In my ownership period, the M5 cost 4x as much per mile and 6x as much per year compared to the S2k. This is with me doing most labor on both cars.
Some of that is expected due to more features and generally higher performance/complication with the M5, but the actual experience tells the bigger story. While the M5 never left me stranded or didn't start (save for a couple of dead batteries), every month or two I was fixing something, and there were ALWAYS a couple things "to do" next. Things like fuel pumps, swaybar brackets, sticking door locks, weatherstripping, faulty power seats, sensors going out, seals leaking... those are things that are pretty much bound to happen on the M5 but you wouldn't think twice about in the Honda - even after caning the crap out of it on the track. And this M5 was not neglected - anyone would agree it was in great shape when I bought it and even better when I sold it.
I also had an Integra for 13 years that I autocrossed 50-60 times and modded quite a bit, and it never, ever skipped a beat. The upkeep of a BMW, especially an M car, is completely night and day vs. a Honda. With a Honda, you pretty much just use it and put it away - you expect it to work flawlessly and it's shocking if anything ever fails. It's liberating - I just wish Honda made more exciting cars over the past several years. The closest thing to an E90 M3 is... a last-gen TL 6MT? Whoop-dee-doo.