Not sure why people make comments like this. First of all, there is something called a warranty, and as someone with vast BMW experience, I don’t recall ever having any major issues. In my view, BMW’s are solid German machinery. But curious to know what you’ve encountered to make statements like that.
Buy a 6 year old -insert brand here- with 100k miles and the chances of mechanical issues will almost certainly increase. Really doesn’t apply to the context of this topic as this is only a 2 year old car.
BMW’s are engineered to fail, it’s part of their business plan. Reliable cars do not come back in for service which means no money coming back to BMW service centers.
Systems like VANOS, timing chain guides, and cooling systems all involve purposefully engineering cheap plastic injected deep into the engine. They absolutely know what they’re doing — I’d run a business the same way if I wanted to maximize my profit.
For your enrichment, check out the yellow plastic used in this VANOS system below. A metal piece would add marginal cost to the carmaker and consumer… but the metal is less likely to fatigue and break later down the line which is undesirable from a business perspective.
