Does a Mercedes REALLY last three times longer than a BMW?

My C280 lasted for six months before it broke.
My 528i had no problems for the four years I've owned it.
My X5 has given me no problems since 2003.

— mstangpny07 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/24/2007 9:39:33 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

my 1981 SEC500 has had no problems for 26 years...although i know it was a pre-chrysler day car.

my RX330 lexus? the most reliable car ive ever owned.

— LexusKindaGuy12 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/24/2007 9:45:11 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

"The BMW may drive well but it will only last 100k miles vs. 300k for a Mercedes C-Class."

Are posts like this created to draw people to Autospies in a similar fashion that Donald Trump and Rosie publically denounce one another in an effort to increase their TV show ratings (tabloid journalism)?

— SixxFive (View Profile)

Posted on 1/24/2007 10:04:03 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 6   

I think it varies because some apples from the batch will never be 100% perfect. A family friend's X5 completely died on him and BMW gave him a new car. I see old 1983 Turbo Diesel S-Classes still running and in mint condition. I've seen Lexus with problems. Each and every brand out there have their own good and bad. It's really hard to say. If a guy punches his car around town every day for sure it's bound to fail on him. Comparing to a guy who drives his car normally, does his regular maintenance there's no doubt in my mind his car will last a lot longer.

So in this case Does Mercedes really last longer? YES AND NO. It all depends on the driver and if it's the unlucky sour apple from the batch.

— Agent63 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/24/2007 10:05:21 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

Agent 001, hopefully your travels will be reduced for a while - your editorial talents have been sorely missed. Agent 009's pro-Audi agenda, inane headlines and choice of material have all been painful to read. So again welcome back.

I do believe that a 1970's or 1980's Mercedes will last longer than an equivalent era BMW. However to assume that the a Mercedes from this decade is going to last longer than a BMW is an extraordinary leap of faith.

New Mercedes vehicles have had so many problems in this decade[examples are electronics, a/c, suspension, brakes] - in no way is this a basis for great longevity.

One ray of sunshine for Mercedes is the leadership in diesels, because diesels last longer than regular engines when properly made and maintained.

— MercBasher (View Profile)

Posted on 1/24/2007 10:08:02 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

I hear the LS460 will last a million miles before breaking down.

Is it true?

— EL34 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/24/2007 10:25:58 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -4   

An automotive insider (secretly) told me that a Lexus LS will last 1 million miles before breakdown but a Kia will last 10 million. I promised not to pass this bomb on but I couldn't resist.

— SixxFive (View Profile)

Posted on 1/24/2007 10:38:35 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

My Mercedes-Benz Ml500 last 7years.
My Bmw 2006 3Series Broke down last month
My Acura Rdx just owned 4month and its great

— acurardx (View Profile)

Posted on 1/24/2007 10:52:07 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

‘Larry’ I’d like to see you submit enough articles every week to keep all the readers happy. You might like a couple articles here or there or dislike them, but at the end of the day all topics are discussed on autopsies.

So back on topic…I find it very hard to believe this comment made to 001 by whoever it was because it’s no secret, in the last decade Mercedes hasn’t really been known for their quality as they have luxury.

To many people Mercedes would be the GM of German car’s if you will, because they bang out so many different models that you might loose track, as might they.

As far as proof goes, you might just have to drive them both until they’re toast, then see which one lasted longer…my money’s on the Bim.

— MunichRob (View Profile)

Posted on 1/24/2007 10:59:50 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

Well, my 5er lasted 2 1/2 years before giving me some electrical problems ( 04' MY)
But the Mercedes E class I had before was far less reliable.

— audirevolution (View Profile)

Posted on 1/24/2007 11:38:11 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

my response has been taken off, the truth hurts, and yes I could post a more interesting information than these lazy gossip articles, no offense but the old website was better, I just expect the site to have more fact based information.

— Larry (View Profile)

Posted on 1/24/2007 11:47:27 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

My 330 is coming up on 5 years old and aside from self induce problems(I blew the engine) it has been trouble free...ish. My only complaint is with the bushings, I'm on my second set, but I don't know if that's because Boston roads suck, or because they are inferior bushings. I do read quite a lot about them from the E46 era, so I'm guessing the latter.

However, if the bushings are setup to make it drive like it does, then I have no problems replacing them ever 40,000 miles.

— Agent004 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/24/2007 11:55:40 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

i've had 2 mb's and 2 bmw's in my lifetime so far....
1) 1997 Z3 Roadster 6 cylinder - Not one problem or service or recall or anything in 24,000 miles 2) 1999 C230 Kompressor - It was being fixed at the dealership at least once a month and it had nothing but transmission and technical problems for all 36,000 miles 3) 2002 E320 - loved it BUT had lots of mechanincal and technical issues again - always being fixed during all 45,000 miles! 4) 2006 BMW X5 - only had it since august and nothing has gone wrong with it at all!!! AND it feels like a tank, the doors feel like vault doors and the drive is comfortable and sporty for an SUV... bottom line - I'm going to stick to BMW over mercedes.... also, with the mercedeses, the technical problems were from the first month or two of driving them, not after huge amounts of miles or anything, they were all leases - AND this one which is a lease too - i am definitely buying in the end... the new X5 is nice, but I saw one with a sticker of $72k plus and it didn't have an automatic opening lift gate or the side windows shades or any special interior fittings/piping/upgrades over a $45K version... I was disappointed and like the last generation X5 better.... expecially the button on the bottom half of the liftgate.... subtle and easy to operate, the new one is a full size lever that you need to actually hold with a hand to use.... not so convenient and it looks terrible and cheap..... which makes me wonder if BMW is cheapening their products while still asking premium prices? Hmmmm I guess we'll see in a few years

— mac075 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 12:50:35 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

I have a 1985 635csi in mint condition. I've had for almost three years, and it's never given me any problems. The in-line six engine has a reputation as being bullet-proof.

— Lem1972 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 12:50:38 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

Mercedes USED to have the most reliable cars on the planet..With the new generation cars coming, I truly believe that Benz will once again conquer the automotive world in this category..But if you compare a 2002 S class with a 2002 7 Series..You will find that the same issues reoccur on both cars..

— theman (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 3:57:33 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 9   

sure. Obviously the BMW will be better than the Mercedes all the time, and that is obviously a biased answer back to the interviewer.

— nine (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 4:07:29 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

Every car has the potential to last long, it simply depends upon how they're treated and built. Both Mercedes and BMW are well-built cars, but sometimes owners have such high expectations and forget to take care of some of the most basic needs and this is what can lead to the car to break down etc.

In my personal experience, Mercedes has excellent build quality. I've been driving these starting in the late 1970s. My first Mercedes was a greay-import European 350SL followed by a 300D Turbodiesel in 1981. Then I moved on to a 300E (1988) and also bought a 1991 Toyota Cressida as a second car in the early 1990s. I kept the 300E until 1997 when I bought a brand new E420, my first modern Benz V8. Currently driving an S550. On all my Mercedes', I've never had any major problems. In fact, my son is still driving the 300D Turbodiesel, which I kept and handed down to him. I'll need to check the current mileage but I handed him this car with around 281,000 miles on the odometer.

It has to be said that I always changed the oil for example according to the instruction manuals, on all my cars. The same applies to other common chores that have to be done to ensure proper running.

— Bill (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 9:27:13 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

For all the suckers above who think you know it all, one thing you don’t know is this site always trolling for hits!! It’s always Lexus vs. BMW, BMW vs. Mercedes, etc, etc. Don’t fall for this kind of trick again!

— cckw (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 11:58:40 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

Who cares how long a car will last?? I want a new car after 10k or 30k miles, not 100k or 300k miles!!!! It reminds me of a comment by Clarkson, something like "This Honda will probably last for 5,000 years, every one of them dreadfully boring."

— supermoto (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 12:21:18 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

Does it really matter if MB lasts 300,000 miles? Let's say you have the money to get a MB or a BMW. While not a terribly expensive cars, They do cost about 35k to buy brand new after taxes and delivery. add in finance charges, and u could be very close to 40k. chances are, you have some funds.

most people drive 10 to 12k miles a year. so 100,000 miles is 10 years. 300,000 miles is close to 25-30 years.... if you have money, do u really want to drive around a 25 year old car?

in that time, your car maker will probably have gone to 2-3-maybe even 4 or 5 refreshers or complete redesigns for that car model.

or, new technologies from other car manufacturers will come out.

as long as it can go 100k without major inconveniences/problems... isn't that realistically people would need/put up with?

i mean... do you really want to drive around a 25 year old mb?

— jianye3 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 1:54:32 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

This topic seems rigged.

— Sauceboy01 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 2:42:59 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 7   

I want a job at Autospies. I wonder if they vote on who they're going to piss off each day.

— sold2early (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 3:04:53 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

My 2000 S430 is stll alive, but my friend's cousin's father had a 1999 S500 and it died this year.

— Carboy (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 3:15:15 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

That's a pretty bold statement considering Mercedes didn't exactly distinguish themselves from the latest Consumer Reports reliability studies.

In fact they had the most models labelled as having poor reliability out of all car manufacturers. BMW meanwhile only had the 7-series as having below average reliability.

— weaponX (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 3:36:51 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

I owned a 2005 BMW 320D and it was a nightmare, the most unreliable POS. Never again a BMW! MY ML500 & IS250 I will never look back!

— KeyserSoze (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 3:42:31 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

I would seriously doubt it...nowadays Mercs seem to have more problems (electrical) but everyone I know that owns a an x5 has multiple problems. Hell, they've been recalled several times...the people I know own x5s that are a few years old now and I've heard they've corrected the problems but neither one of them have major engine problems

— ryaajus (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 3:51:46 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

the german car specialist near me syas he sees a lot more older bmws with problems than mercs.
of course, in 3 years, this will change when he has to start repairing all the useless MLs.

— Rupert (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 4:22:55 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

agent. idiotic comment. this is the best you can come up with? I talked to some guy who seemed to know what he was talking about?

— AmazingBimmer (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 4:55:32 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

The answer is simple. No. People tend to have a mindset that old Mercs are the most reliable automobile. That was before Japannese cars entered the U.S. market. Compared to Jap brands, Mercs are only as good as a Ford Explorer- may be worse. Am I being biased toward Mercs? Yes. I used to own a 98 E430, a shop queen that was what I used to call her. In terms of reliability, Mercs today are no more reliable than Mercs decades ago. W210, for example, have a list of well-know and well-documented reliablity issues. Premature transmission failure (due to cheap materials used in the transmission), repeated window regulator failure, premature drive belt wear (gonna be scary if it was broken off traveling on a freeway), Air Mass Sensory failure, to name a few. These issues are not only from my personal experience but also common problems shared among many W210 owners. Mercs might have souls, history, lineage, or heritage whatever Merc fanatics call it. It's sad that after 100 hundred years of making cars, they haven't learned how to make a reliable transportation.

— BMWRU (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 4:58:43 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

We should all feel dumber for having read this.

My folks have a Lexus RX300 that had an alternator go bad after 3 years, a electronic key that died after a year, and heated seats that lit your butt cheeks aflame. Does this mean that Lexus's are crap? Hardly. But following this author's logic, it might.

— bmw_meister (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 5:19:07 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

My ML500 is a 2006 model (The latest ML)

— KeyserSoze (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 5:24:21 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

I have owned 7 Mercedes and 1 BMW ('74 2002), a few VWs and an Audi. I think "how long will it last?" is way different from "how reliable is it?". Mercedes were built very solid and had extremely robust components. They required a lot of expensive maintenance and had to be "sorted-out" from new, but were one of the few makes whose longevity would justify major engine or transmission work. A 300 wagon I sold with 250k is still on the road with about 350k.

The deterioration of MB quality was noted by many in the late '80s; long before Chrysler. Starting in the 90's is when I believe BMW got the edge, but mainly because they were more exciting, not better (though my sister has 300k on a 528, and my brother has 150k on a similar car/year). Today, I see more old MB on the road than BMW, but a lot of them are dogs. People buy cars they can't/won't keep up.

When it comes to Toyota and Honda, Japanese quality takes the cake. But I don't want one (except an NSX), any more than I eat white bread or vanilla ice cream. Different strokes for different folks.

— image5 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 5:30:20 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

mercedes must be the most durable, otherise all those merc estates from the 80s and 90s wouldn't keep on being stolen to go to poland and south american sugar plantations.
you don't see a pole in a bmw on a farm, do you?

— Rupert (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 6:25:35 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

I drive a 1990 3 series with nearly 200k miles and while I have had some maintenance clearly over the years, never has this car failed me.

— James443 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 6:34:47 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

The original point was that the C-class M/B would last longer than the 3-series BMW, and you guys are all over the place comparing apples to oranges. So, I decided to go to my 2007 Consumer Reports buying guide for objective clues and trends to see if a C does outlast a 3.

The bottom line is that the BMW is marginally better than the C, but the C is catching up and the 3 seems pretty consistent (per vehicle tracking data for the past 8 years).

-No C or 3 made the "good bets" or "bad bets" list.
-In the Cars To Avoid section the '04 3 made the list, but the C had the '02, '03, '05 (4-cyl) and the '01-'04 (V-6) on the list.
-The only cars of these two models that made the "reliable" list was the '98 M3, and the '02 (3 series AWD).

I don't know if this means that a M/B C will last 3 times longer than the BMW 3, but depending on the year you get the C, it could cost you 3 times more, all thing being equal.

Both are great cars. I live in Southern Cali, and in general I see a lot more older M/Bs driving around than older BMWs, so maybe in the long run they do last longer.

— Tarzan91303 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/25/2007 11:13:57 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

Testing

— Agent004 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/26/2007 12:03:02 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

BMW inline 6 should last longer than the MB V6 not withstanding all the other things that could go wrong.

— 993Turbo (View Profile)

Posted on 1/26/2007 7:51:15 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

This is another pointless and useless article that serves no purpose, other than to piss off people.

If an alcoholic drinks a bottle of cognac in half-an-hour. John Doe drinks one shot of vodka every weekend for half-a-year. Does it mean that vodka is better, just because it lasts longer?

Or, race fanatic buy one of the most reliable cars on the planet, drag race it, smash it, burn tires and transmission - in-and-out of repair shop every week, when other guy buys piece of shit yugoslavian Yugo, and changes oil every 3,000 miles, drives like miss Daisy. Whose car will last longer, you think?

— vladyxa (View Profile)

Posted on 1/26/2007 9:16:48 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

MB last forever since it keeps going to the repair shop.

— ctsang (View Profile)

Posted on 1/26/2007 1:05:52 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

I think this quite true about the BMW as a new 7 series I purchased in July 2005 proved. The transmission quit after only 91,000km and the dealer in Khobar, Saudi Arabia was kind enough (and embarrassed)to put it on "Goodwill" warrantee. The cost of a full transmission was close to $10,000 + another $3,000 for labor.
So, BMWs do not last long but drive very nicely. I guess nothing GOOD last for ever.

— Alsuhaimi (View Profile)

Posted on 1/26/2007 1:07:56 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

My 1983 300 CDT has been in my family for three generations(grandma, dad, me) and has over 260,000 miles on it and the BMW my grandparents had crapped out six years after they bought it. SO I vote MB.

— xbeachbum2006 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/26/2007 5:24:04 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

My 1983 300 CDT has been in my family for three generations(grandma, dad, me) and has over 260,000 miles on it and the BMW my grandparents had crapped out six years after they bought it. SO I vote MB.

— xbeachbum2006 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/26/2007 5:24:15 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

Alsuhaimi, can you say "Rolex"?

— S4cabriofoxone (View Profile)

Posted on 1/27/2007 2:27:09 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

... the real way to answer this is to find out total sales for he past 10 years, then see how many of these are still on the road. Let the bigger percentage RULE!

— Martito (View Profile)

Posted on 1/29/2007 3:37:47 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

S4cab,
Nice of you to drop by!
Let me see. R--O--L--E--X, guess it means: Roll...Over...Lowlife...Exit the autoban...or else!
Did I get it right?
Audis are quite similar to BMWs, both brands drive great but are built like disposable cameras. Once you use them for a short while (read, 3-5 years) you have to refurbish them for 75% of its original new cost.
This is the reality.

— Alsuhaimi (View Profile)

Posted on 2/5/2007 7:05:05 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

WOW

— DiamondJim (View Profile)

Posted on 2/24/2007 7:51:36 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1