Get the BMW.
The lack of a warranty is the only thing that stops me from saying gopher it.
However, cougarspeed brings up a good point in saying that anything outside of warranty that happens can likely be taken care of on the cheap by members here.
Bit of a tough call, I’d probably go BMW. But try to weigh the options of what you actually need in a vehicle, not just that it’s a sweet car. You also say that your payment will go down, but what about insurance?
If I had to vote right now, I would probably say BMW. It’s an awesome car, and has plenty of room to throw shit into when you need to haul people or things around. Obv not nearly as much room as the Toyota, but you get the idea. Plus teenage girls probably like BMWs more.
You can probably negotiate a lower price for a warranty, you should know that mr toyota
I don’t know which way I could go. On one hand sedans are more fun to drive than SUV’s, but it’s an auto so that takes away a lot of the appeal of it for me.
Your Highlander is loaded right? Like 9/10ths of a Lexus? That’s got to be a pretty nice SUV. The odds of not having any problems are in your favor with the Toyota too.
You’re looking at buying your first house right? SUV’s are worth their weight in gold when you’ve got to bring stuff home for projects.
Just some thoughts. I don’t know what your situation is, but for me I’d stick with the Toyota for utility and reliability. If the BMW were a stick it’d be a tougher call for me because I’d want it more.
Do you think you will get to 100k in it? Maybe you will find something before then or shortly after that mark. Could be a real nice car to have for a few years.
BMW > toyota…
buttttttt… i definitely wouldnt want to step into something with problems, when i have something thats been a solid performer/daily/reliable/good in snow suv.
also, you’re comparing apples to oranges… so i guess it depends on what you’re looking for.
ALSO… all the things fry said 
fry isnt just a pretty face.
Fry brings up valid points regarding the house deal, I can attest to this as my SHO is worthless for anything relating to house projects. My Mustang serves as my pickemup truck:(
But your question was about the BMW’s and the worry of post 100K ownership. While I haven’t owned a BMW, I do own a high mileage car (SHO with 240K) that by many peoples opinions was a ticking time bomb of sorts and would eventually require expensive maintenance…neither of these instances have been my reality. My only comments are that with proper maintenance and care, in my experiences, one can pretty much take any car for a long ride and not have too worry about too much.
My answer hinges on the house. In fact that’s half of the reason why I have a TBSS and not a G8 or GTO.
I could NEVER justify ditching my xterra for the reason of the house stuff.
Also, the thing that sucks about the ‘electrical gremlins’ is that they usually aren’t easy DIY things. If it was just simple stuff like alternators, shocks, bushings, master/slave cylinders, etc… than you could easily justify that you and a buddy could fix the stuff yourself. I just don’t see that being the case with these random gadgets/modules failing.
Why don’t you keep the Toyota and buy this?
If the “payments” are the same I’d assume you are still shelling out more money since the term isn’t magically abbreviated?
Depends on what you want in a car.
If you want an SUV with a warranty you don’t have to worry about, go with the Yoda.
If you want a a car that is going to do a much better job at impressing pink taggers at wegmans, then go with the BMW. The BMW will be much more enjoyable to drive, the 535 is a quick car, but I never understood why anyone would ever buy an AWD BMW sedan. :shrug:
You didn’t say how many miles were on your car, or how many miles you drive a year.
he said there was something like 40k+ on it, and he’ll be at 100k within 3 years.
- Get BMW
- Buy old Tacoma for projects/BMW down time
- WIN
keep the suv.
The Germans are like the Italians and British when it comes to electrical. Generally speaking it’s because most German cars use ridiculous ground bundles that tend to corrode and fall apart which makes systems drop out intermittently. Then you need to figure out which ground bundle in the middle of a harness it is. Always a blast.
buy the BMW, chip it, plan to only own it for two year and peace out before the major problems start to show up.
“as long as the required maintenance has been done, yeah it’s fine. I don’t recommend owning it out of warranty though.” -dan, my business partner (bmw master technician)
My Highlander is 9/10ths of a Lexus, correct. I really do enjoy it. It rides like a dream, is a beast in the snow and has every gadget I could want (Back up cam, voice recognition lexus based navigation, bluetooth which is fully fuctional on the navigation ie - number pad, address book, speed dial) and a bunch of shit i couldn’t care less about (auto liftgate etc etc).
I also have a 100k bumper to bumper and really only bought it because i was concerned about navigation or something big taking a shit. Hell, the 100k warranty $0 deductible only cost me $700…practically free.
I decided to stick with the Toyota. I drove the BMW for a bit today. It’s nice, but it’s definitely not nicer than my Highlander, with the exception of the seats. Hell, my truck drives better. Plus, the idrive was mind boggling with all sorts of different options that again, I couldn’t care less about.
I also took into consideration, that in a year my truck with 35k on it will be worth thousands more than a BMW with 60k on it. From what I could tell, every 10k miles on a 535, drops the price down several thousand. :uhh:
Peace of mind > *
I was thinking about a few things. Such as if I’m driving around tomorrow and my vehicle’s transmission starts making a horrible noise. Call Toyota and get it fixed, hassle free or shit my pants because of a $4,500 repair bill. No thanks.
When the time comes to buy what I really want, I’ll have $25k of equity in the Highlander, whereas I’d have less than half of that in the BMW.
Thanks boys.