I'm not sure if you're kidding. BMW's have terrible reputations for reliability. There are even meme's about it. General consensus is lease a BMW, never buy. Even BMW people will warn you to budget for maintenance. They've always had terrible maintenance and reliability reputations. That's why I'm really not sure if you're kidding.
It depends... for example, take a look at this chart:
https://us.v-cdn.net/5021145/uploads/editor/t1/499q4s7e1in2.png
You'll notice a couple of things.... Toyota's reliability is more consistent across the model range, but BMWs better end of the model range is right up there. In other years (I think back in the mid-late 2000s) it was even higher than Toyota's bar at the top end.
And, unless you're writing the car off as a business expense, I think leasing is a terrible idea. I also don't buy new cars anymore. If I were more wealthy, I'd probably buy a few year old BMW, but you can also get some great deals on older, higher mileage ones. Mine is one heck of a good ride for what I paid for it. The maintenance is more than some other cars, but it's also a way, way nicer car to drive than other cars with the same age/mileage (I'm almost at 200k miles.)
I know people with similar cars (E90 straight-six, non-turbo) that are between 300k and 450k miles right now. In fact it isn't uncommon at all to go 200k miles+ w/o major issues.
The trick with BMWs is to pick the right years and models... and it typically involves staying away from the higher-series and more speciality models, unless you've got more money to spend. A typical E30 or E90, for example, is an excellent car (I've owned both). My E30 (in my younger days), I bought for $4200 and sold a few years (and a lot of miles) later for $3800. It was a really nice car to drive all that time and I only put maybe a thermostat in, cleaned a few windows switches, and did brakes/tires. It might actually have been the lowest maintenance car I ever owned.
My current E90 (which I've had mistaken for a new car), I bought for $4500 and have since put about $4k into it (I knew I'd have to when I bought it). But, it's been otherwise pretty good for under $10k invested. But.... it's a known good year/model. It was also driven since new by a single driver and well-maintained for its age/mileage.
The biggest factor with BMW, Audi, and Mercedes, it’s the labor that’s costly versus just the maintenance factor.
It's actually the parts. Unless the car is under warranty, I'd find a good local repair shop that somewhat specializes in BMW. Their labour costs aren't that much more than other places. But, being a performance oriented vehicle, many of the parts are higher end and cost more and/or just higher cost in general.
For example, the shocks/struts or brakes in my car above cost a lot more than they would for a Chevy. But, they aren't exactly apples to apples either.
Check-out the Performance Model 3 beating ICE cars senseless. Yeah it's only one model, and it's only one brand. And somehow it does everything and everyone wants one.
I don't think the EVs compete well in longer races though, as the batteries heat-up or stop performing well. But, for sprints or a few laps, I'm sure they are pretty killer. I was excited about EVs, actually, before Tesla was even a thing. I saw a Mini that had been adapted to AWD with a couple-hundred HP at each wheel many years ago, and was hooked.
They will get there one day, I think, even for major car enthusiasts. If BMW offered a 3-series-like EV, I'd be quite interested. My main issue, currently, is that I'm not crazy about EV designs. The 'S' was nice, but much bigger than I'd like. The rest are trying to look too-EV or just have downright wacky styling.
But, the performance (besides range, race-endurance) is hard to argue with. Given how the motor-control works, too, it can put down precise power/traction control, whether accelerating or breaking. That's just going to be hard to beat.
Why would I be kidding. You are not the first person tell me the BMWs are unreliable, but I've yet to see this. Every car you need to budget for maintenance and repairs.
When I bought mine, the consensus seemed to be that out-of-warranty, higher-mileage maintenance should factor in $1500 to $2500 per year. I'd guess a more typical Honda or Toyota would be more in the $500 to $1500 range. But, the cars aren't apples to apples, especially at higher mileages and age, either unless your only/main factor is maintenance cost.
But, it's also important to differentiate between maintenance and reliability. I'd drive my BMW cross-country tomorrow without a worry. It's ultra-reliable. It just costs more for the same kind of maintenance items I'd have to do to the Honda/Toyota, too. (And, since it's higher-end in terms of how it is equipped, there is more 'power' stuff to potentially break, so the fair comparison would be a somewhat similarly equipped Honda/Toyota, which most aren't. A power windows or seat can break in either, unless it's a manual seat, etc.)
I don't know where your general consensus comes from, but I've never heard of it. I know some people lease for tax reasons while others for budget reasons. At the miles I'm putting on, it doesn't make any sense. It's good to tell people to budget for maintenance because if you don't care of your stuff it will break.
Exactly. This is especially true, as you say, if you put on higher mileage. BMWs (the right models) are well-known to go to very high miles w/o huge problems. As I mentioned above, a LOT of E90s are in the 200k-300k mile range, and I know several people in the 300k-450k range (and, I think that number is mainly limited by the amount of driving one would have to do to hit that so soon).
