Mr. M

We had the E46 320i for about a year now. And the problems keep coming in - firstly, the brake calipers clenched into the discs permanently, so much so that when we moved off our driveway, smoke came out. We hadn't realised it got stuck until we saw the smoke. We fixed it, and it was rectified.

Next problem - a creaky suspension setup. We constantly told the dealer about it, but he says it's "nothing to worry about". I beg to differ. We paid so much for this car and I think we deserve more than a creaky suspension. By "creaky" I mean squeaking sounds whenever someone gets into or out of the car, or when the car is going over a bump. It's annonying and a little embarassing, especially when our previous Honda Civic had no such problems. The nonchalant dealer ain't helping either.

Then, there's the high fuel consumption. We've been getting crazy really bad mileage, sometimes even our Phaeton can get a better figure than the BMW does. Either the Phaeton is really efficient or there's something wrong with the BMW. Figures prove to show that our Phaeton is exceptionally frugal and the BMW is achieving normal consumption rates. I don't know, but I don't think my dad likes to pay so much for petrol all the time, especially in Singapore. Several times we were intent on changing the car, because of all the money we put into fixing its problems.

Today, while we were driving through a heavy downpour, water leaked in from the front passenger door. Nope, it isn't the windows because it was sealed tight and closed. It was leaking through the rubber padding on the doors. This was the last straw, I think, for all of us. The dealer simply shrugged off out problems, and we are hardly impressed. Despite heavy marketing and showing off of its privilege programme for 7 Series owners (chauffeur for a day, borrowing a yacht worth a million dollars for free for the weekend), their service really leaves something to be desired.

I need your opinions. Should we keep the E46 (together with it's problems)? It is a fantastic car bar the issues. The engine sounds great, the interior is holding up nicely, and it's dependable. If we sell it now, we lose about 20% of its value from when we first bought it, second-hand.

We were looking at the new Civic 2.0, and the Golf GTI. We are daunted by the massive amount of money we're gonna spend should we change our car, but yet, the mounting problems with the BMW is putting pressure on us to change.

What do you think?