I always thought of the Bimmers as the least over engineered of the 3 Germans. Especially older ones, Simple straight 6 and a manual transmission. All you need for a proper sports sedan.

 

You may be right. My next door neighbor has a 5 series BMW coupe and has had a ton of issues with it. Her car is only a year old. I looked at it for her a bit (more outta my curiosity then anything) and found it to be a pretty sophisticated car. I didn't like the way it drove, although the handling was great, it's kind of a stiff ride IMO. (I'm glad her car is under warranty. It would cost a small fortune as many times as she has had it in the dealership). The HMI in the dash was a nightmare for me to figure out. Makes the Infiniti seem pretty easy, by comparison. I don't have much experience with the other makers Audi / Benz. They may be better or worse. I've heard great things about Audi though.

 

And then you ask any dealership tech (and im talking really diverse here) and they say the worst used cars are always Audis/VWs for little tint electrical gremlins everywhere and engine leaks out the ***. I think a lot of that is also due in part to the fact that people buy these german cars which use their maintenance schedule as a guideline vs recommended maintenance, and then never do anything to it thinking it will respond like a Toyota and then it ends up braking because a tiny issue or preventative maintenance was too much and it takes something to actually fail in order to get fixed. (As the only saying goes, if it aint broke dont fix it... this doesn't apply to german cars. Maintain it and they don't break)

I take people and their 'experiences' with a grain of salt. If I like the car enough to buy it, I do my research, seek out experience in an enthusiast community like this, and form my opinion on whether or not I am going to buy it.

Also, we have an X5 diesel with the newer iDrive (im going to assume that is the one your talking about. A newer BMW. There is no such thing as a 5 series coupe though... 6 series, or 5 series sedan.) and there is a learning curve, but once it is down, it is down. I don't mind it at all now and would way prefer it to any of the distracting and annoying touch screen interfaces the domestics and Japanese are putting in their cars these days.

 

^ +1.

Ive always said the only way Ill get a German car is to lease it, with included maintenance.

Everyone Ive talked to that owns a BMW, Mercedes, VW has had multiple electronics issues. Drivetrains are fine, as long as you do the scheduled maintenance.

Meanwhile, my 01 Frontier and 03 TL have required little maintenance at all (minus the horrible tranny design on the TL, the only thing Ive done is brakes, fluids and oil changes). Ive NEVER done the whole 10K/30K/etc mile maintenance packages. Just the basics, and the cars just keep running.

I could never BUY a German car and rely on them working like that. And of course dealer maintenance cost would be outrageous, so leasing with included maintenance would be it. And my wife likes to have her car more than 2 or 3 yrs, so leasing would be out of the question (hence why Im looking into the Q50, QX60, etc)

 

I waited until last year's Detroit show and the debut of the Q50 because I wanted to get some idea of the new styling - inside and out - as compared to the existing G. I wasn't especially concerned about the differences in the driving experience because I'm not what you'd call an aggressive driver, and I don't put much mileage on my cars anyway.

In the end, I went for a new G, and after exactly one year of ownership I'm glad I did. I love the handling, and I prefer the more subtle, purposeful styling as well. I also like the sort of rowdy, scrappy "attitude" of the G that I don't get from more refined looking Q. I don't quite know exactly what I mean by that last statement, but others may recognize what I'm trying to say.

 

I agree on preferring the attitude of the G (although I havent driven a Q50 yet). I prefer and agile/sporty car vs an all out luxury car (NVH be damned!)

My wife is exactly the opposite, so the Q50 is on our short list of replacements for her TL. Probably one of a few perfect cars for her, but Ill stick with my G.