27th Oct 2016, 15:35

Ok, my car, my review back for more.

Wow, as I mentioned, this thing is testing me to the breaking point. As one other person has suffered through, I have also; my CCC (the radio) has overheated as the cooling fan has failed. It just reboots over and over unless it's cold out, but eventually it will warm up and start rebooting. It's currently with a repair shop, but they're saying it's not repairable. A new one from the dealer is $1600 with a core return, the repair guy is offering me one for $800. Oof. I've been without a radio, bluetooth, nav and the ability to reset a flat tire warning for several weeks now. I guess I just have to buy a new one.

The Dynamic Drive system is struggling because I believe the power steering pump is dying and leaking (yay, new puddle). FYI, the power steering pump is connected to the anti-sway bars (normally solid on most cars) and can dynamically adjust the stiffness of the bars. It's really cool when it works because you can just freakin' hammer through a curve dead flat, but when it fails, this thing is a lot unpredictable when you're pushing through a corner.

The climate control system sampling fan is dead so it always makes it extra warm in the cabin unless you manually set the temperature.

This summer, the front left suspension spring snapped so I had to have both front springs replaced. I also opted to put new shocks and struts on since I'm up to 100k on the originals. It took a solid week to order the springs because I have the sport package which means shorter springs. Sadly, there are no aftermarket available so they had to come from Germany. The whole affair cost about $1700 between springs, struts shocks and labor. I typically do my own work, but I'm not equipped to disassemble a spring. I like keeping my face attached to my body.

I've picked up a nasty new rear-end vibration that I've yet to have diagnosed. Phone call to the local indy thinks it might be rear axles which are $700 each for parts, more for labor. If this is the case, I think it might be time for me to part ways with this guy.

My alternator bracket seal repair has failed and it's leaking again, the vacuum pump is leaking, the power steering pump is leaking. I've named this car Puddles. My garage floor is a mess.

The back bumper for some mysterious reason has lost all finish and is now flat black. I'm presuming the paint will come off next.

I suffered for quite a while with a passenger airbag warning which turned up to be a failed BST (battery safety terminal). This fun gadget contains a tiny firecracker or sorts that will actually blow the battery terminal connector apart if you crash your car disconnecting the power for safety reasons. These thing apparently go bad (needs new firecracker?) and set off the passenger airbag warning. Yeah, that makes a ton of sense. I found that some enterprising soul has figured that if you jam a resistor inline, it will solve the issue. I did just that and no more airbag warning. Who knows if the firecracker still works. Don't care.

The water pump failed twice more, lesson learned, don't buy a Beck-Arnley water pump, get a Graf.

Despite all the nonsense, I stand by the statement that this thing is a treat to flog around when it all works together. When I'm buzzing down the freeway and want to nip through traffic, it's a joy to blip the throttle, push it into 3rd and romp the gas. I'm sure there are faster things out there, but I have a great time standing on the gas now and again. Why buy a fast(ish) car if you're not going to get up on it and make it chooch?

I'm currently shopping for alternatives, but I'm totally not finding anything that seems suitable. G37 is the closest thing, TL-SH AWD might do, have also considered a Taurus SHO/Lincoln MKS Ecoboost.

23rd Mar 2017, 20:52

Thanks for the review, was looking to buy the exact same car until I saw all the issues you reported. No more BMW, looking at something else now, considering the Pontiac G8 GT.