Are BMW Expensive To Maintain? (BMW Maintenance Cost)

You should be more concerned about the cost of maintaining that new car you want to buy. Yes, that’s because maintenance is the crucial aspect of owning a car. You could get a used BMW at a decent rate, but have you thought about the maintenance cost?

Most luxury cars are very expensive to own, but are BMW expensive to maintain? Yes, BMW models are very expensive to maintain. In fact, the brand, BMW, is ranked as the most expensive-to-maintain luxury brand.

The average annual maintenance cost of owning a BMW model is $1500, which is more than what you’d spend annually on an equivalent Audi or Mercedes model. As they age, BMWs become more like “money pits” that burn big holes in your pocket.

Are BMW Expensive To Maintain?

Yes, all BMW models are expensive to maintain, especially when they get older. Most definitely, a car that has been driven for 10 years would cost more to maintain than a one-year-old car.

The cost of maintaining a 10-year-old BMW model is up to 50% more than what you’d spend on an equivalent Chrysler, Audi, or Dodge model.

See Also: Are Mercedes Cars Expensive To Maintain?

Even so, BMW tops Your Mechanic’s list of top 30 car brands and their maintenance cost over 10 years. BMW and Mercedes are the two top brands with the highest maintenance cost over the course of 10 years. Well, it all seems German cars are expensive to maintain compared with American and Japanese models.

Why Is BMW Expensive to Maintain?

First of all, Luxury brands spend huge money on marketing and adverts to attain their high level of reputation and trust. When you decide to go for a luxury ride, you should understand that it’d cost you more to maintain a luxury model than a regular model.

Quite unfortunately, all BMW models are built to luxury standards, and that’s part of the reason they are all expensive to maintain. Also, particularly, BMW models are “over-engineered” and “too complex.”

Not all auto mechanics can work on a BMW model. As a BMW owner, you have to find a specialist BMW mechanic to always work on your car, and sadly, those mechanics are not too many.

Furthermore, when going for a luxury car, you need to understand that luxury cars aren’t designed for low-cost maintenance. Every part you’d ever need to replace in a BMW vehicle would cost high in the market, compared to the price of the same part for another brand.

The price of BMW components is artificially raised to justify the impression that BMWs are somehow higher than other vehicles (as generally assumed by BMW fans).

In the real sense, BMW cars aren’t too different from luxury models from other brands, but the brand has done so well in marketing to put itself as a “top luxury brand,” and their customers have to pay for that.

General Cost of Maintaining BMWs

On average, a BMW owner is likely to spend $17,800 on maintenance over 10 years. That’s an average of $1,780 per year; but, that’s not exactly what to expect. Some BMW repairs can cause you to fork out a whopping $3,000 on a single repair.

Note: These are merely estimated costs for the selected repairs; you could spend more or less than the indicated prices for each repair or service.

More so, it is important to note that the mechanic handling your car contributes to determining how much you’d pay for repair. Some mechanics charge high while some others dish out affordable prices.

Common Servicing/Repairs to Do On BMWs Annually

In 12 months of driving a BMW model, here are some common repairs and services you may have to deal with.

• Oil and fuel filter replacement
• Air filter replacement
• Cabin filter
• Battery issues
• Brake fluid change
• Coolant change
• Coolant system replacement
• A/C-related issues
• Full car inspection at a specified workshop
• Software update for the console

Is It Expensive To Maintain a BMW 3 Series

According to RepairPal analysis, BMW 3 series has a reliability rating of 3/5. This implies that BMW 3 series are quite reliable. In terms of maintenance, BMW 3 series is also expensive to maintain, especially when it is out of the factory warranty.

On average, BMW 3 series cost $13,000 for maintenance and repair during its first 10 years. Just like other BMW models, the BMW 3 series are luxury vehicles and they have complex components – that’s why they are expensive to maintain.

Hereunder is the comparison of the BMW 3 and BMW 5 series:

How To Reduce BMW Maintenance Cost

The best way to reduce how much you’d have to spend on maintaining your BMW car is to ensure you always got warranty coverage. When you buy a BMW car, it is covered by the company’s default warranty; however, after several miles and years, the warranty would expire.

A good alternative would be to get an “Extended Warranty,” either from BMW or from a third-party warranty provider. BMW’s extended warranty covers up to 7 additional years or 100,000 miles. Well, the extended warranty offered by BMW is also expensive (as expected).

Getting BMW’s extended warranty would be the best because the company knows how best to handle the maintenance of their vehicles.

See Also: Are Lexus Expensive To Maintain?

Conclusion

Are BMW expensive to maintain? Generally, they are expensive to maintain. Both RepairPal and Your Mechanic rank BMW as one of the top 3 brands with very high maintenance. The next two brands on the top 3 slots are Mercedes-Benz and Audi.

In contrast, it may interest you to know that Lexus cars are far cheaper to maintain than Germany’s BMW. While Lexus is estimated to cost $7,000 in maintenance over 10 years, BMW is estimated to cost $17,800 within the same time period. BMW cars are best bought as brand new rather than used cars.