Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ Not sure about cylinder heads out of plastic, got an example of those?

I don't see a problem with making any of the other items out of plastic.

Checking these parts on a Toyota A25A engine - the current paragon of reliability, they are all plastic as well.

There’s nothing wrong with it, as long as you understand that it has an intentional design lifespan, which is far far shorter than a similar component made of metal.That lifespan is between 60 and 72 months. If you want to keep a car longer than that, then we could have a problem with it

So you are saying that a Toyota with the A25A workhorse engine has a lifespan between 60 and 72 months?

Anonymous wrote:When we lived on capitol hill we bought a used Volvo xc90 and that was a good car for both parking on the street (shorter than our sedan) and long road trips with kids.

+1 ditch both BMW and Mercedes, go with an XC90

Anonymous wrote:^^^ Not sure about cylinder heads out of plastic, got an example of those?

I don't see a problem with making any of the other items out of plastic.

Checking these parts on a Toyota A25A engine - the current paragon of reliability, they are all plastic as well.

There’s nothing wrong with it, as long as you understand that it has an intentional design lifespan, which is far far shorter than a similar component made of metal.That lifespan is between 60 and 72 months. If you want to keep a car longer than that, then we could have a problem with it

^^^ Not sure about cylinder heads out of plastic, got an example of those?

I don't see a problem with making any of the other items out of plastic.

Checking these parts on a Toyota A25A engine - the current paragon of reliability, they are all plastic as well.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks, pps. We know it's going to feel cramped. Unfortunately, these are the biggest SUVs we can buy that will still fit in our garage space. (It's got a sloping ceiling.) It will still be bigger than our sedan. The dog rides on my lap.

PP, why do your kids hate riding in the back of the X3? Is it the sport suspension? I think we can get a package for that.

I am also worried about our kids driving the car when they get older, but that's because they are Hispanic. What negative attention did your older kids encounter?

Don’t worry about your kids driving it when they’re older. By that time the car will be out of warranty and will be starting to become a money pit to maintain, and you’ll dump it.

I the last 8-10 years, Ive never seen as many plastic components on an engine as the German’s are now using on their cars. Intake manifolds, plenums, timing covers, coil packs, upper cylinder heads, there’s plastic EVERYWHERE in European engines.

Easy to manufacture to tight tolerances, and light weight. Makes sense from a manufacturing perspective, for an item with a design lifespan of 60 months.

Plastic fatigues and chemically/photosensitively decays over time as it is exposed to 02, O3, UV and the plastisizer compounds evaporate out of it. It becomes more fragile and brittle over time. And expensive to repair, since replacing one part on an engine usually requires replacing others as well.


If you want a European car, plan on dumping it soon after the warranty period. For good reason.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks, pps. We know it's going to feel cramped. Unfortunately, these are the biggest SUVs we can buy that will still fit in our garage space. (It's got a sloping ceiling.) It will still be bigger than our sedan. The dog rides on my lap.

PP, why do your kids hate riding in the back of the X3? Is it the sport suspension? I think we can get a package for that.

I am also worried about our kids driving the car when they get older, but that's because they are Hispanic. What negative attention did your older kids encounter?

Yes, the sport suspension makes the back seat uncomfortable especially on longer trips. One of the kids gets car sick and the others are adult sized and it is just too small. The teens don't like driving the BWMs (we have two) because they feel like they stand out as spoiled and arrogant. Teens just want to fit in, and even though we live in an affluent area, most of the kids at their high school had CRV's, Civics, or similar cars.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have had Mercedes for about 15 years. I would not buy a Mercedes or. Bmw if you plan to keep it a long time.

Why? -OP

Because it won’t last, and when it breaks, it will be very expensive to fix. Mercedes doesn’t come with leather seats, and I don’t think Bmw does either. My last mercedes was the one I kept the longest at 7 years, and the seat was ripping apart. Just get a Honda especially if you aren going to ever drive it. It’s not like it’s a big car for two car seats and a dog.

Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have had Mercedes for about 15 years. I would not buy a Mercedes or. Bmw if you plan to keep it a long time.

Why? -OP

Because it won’t last, and when it breaks, it will be very expensive to fix. Mercedes doesn’t come with leather seats, and I don’t think Bmw does either. My last mercedes was the one I kept the longest at 7 years, and the seat was ripping apart. Just get a Honda especially if you aren going to ever drive it. It’s not like it’s a big car for two car seats and a dog.

Anonymous wrote:I have had Mercedes for about 15 years. I would not buy a Mercedes or. Bmw if you plan to keep it a long time.

Why? -OP

I have had Mercedes for about 15 years. I would not buy a Mercedes or. Bmw if you plan to keep it a long time.

OP here. Thanks, pps. We know it's going to feel cramped. Unfortunately, these are the biggest SUVs we can buy that will still fit in our garage space. (It's got a sloping ceiling.) It will still be bigger than our sedan. The dog rides on my lap.

PP, why do your kids hate riding in the back of the X3? Is it the sport suspension? I think we can get a package for that.

I am also worried about our kids driving the car when they get older, but that's because they are Hispanic. What negative attention did your older kids encounter?

My kids hate riding in the back seat of my X3. It is a great car but I wouldn't buy it if you plan to use it for the primary transportation for 2 kids and a big dog. When we lived on capitol hill we bought a used Volvo xc90 and that was a good car for both parking on the street (shorter than our sedan) and long road trips with kids. Also, since you plan to pass the car down to your kids, I would add that my older kids hated driving our luxury cars as teens. They felt it just attracted too much negative attention being young and behind the wheel of a BMW, even if it is older model car.

Between these two, my vote is for the GLC, but family of 4 and a large dog may be too much for a SUV of this size. It's going to feel cramped.

We are in the market for a new car. Family of four with two kids in car seats and a large dog. When not Covid'ing, we like to travel so storage space is important. But we also currently live in an urban area where parking is tough. Our current car, an Infiniti sedan, barely fits our garage space. Car will be used for school drop-off and pick-up as well as longer car trips. We use public transit to commute. We tend to keep cars a long time and intend for this one to be passed down to the kids when they are old enough to drive.

Any BMW or Mercedes drivers out there care to share their experiences with these cars?