- Clive Deer
I booked my BMW X4 in for a service this week and they told me it is part of the recent major recall of over 330,000 BMW's. They can't get the car in for over two months due to the huge number of cars that need recall work, this means that the service will fall outside of the recommended mileage and time. The service adviser did assure me that my warranty will not be affeted though. It seems that BMW have got a major problem on their hands.
- Peter Hobbs
It seems BMW as well as Vag and Mercedes products are not up to much these days and are living on their past reputations. Having owned models of each marque in years past, they always felt an upmarket product, I've recently driven the new Mazda 6, Mondeo and Insignia, as I'm looking for a large saloon car, I don't like SUVs or crossovers, and found all three very impressive. The Mazda 6 was certainly better than an Audi A4 for example, although the diehard followers of German cars will probably proclaim I need medical attention. Personally my hard earned money goes for the reliable choices.
Honest John’s Motoring Agony Column 02-06-2018 Part 2 - HighlanderUK

agreed, recently switch to a Mazda CX-5 Sport Nav, cracking spec, comfortable drive and very much value for money. Looked at 9 different brands of similar sized SUV with Mazda & Skoda being the ones we rated stand-out and affordable.

German brands were lower spec and much more costly by the time you added options that the Mazda has as standard, including 10 speaker Bose and HUD (A.D.D.).

- glidermania
Good grief, JM, Leicester and his wife are as big a numpty as my wife. She is continually trying to drive our car at 28mph in 5th gear because 'it saves petrol.' Well no because it strains the engine and as you found, the engine will try not to stall so ups the speeds.

As for JH and his intermittent alarm, he states it only happens in his garage when the fluorescent lights are on. The process of elimination should surely be does the problem occur outside the garage when the fluorescent lights on and off? If the problem does not repeat, does the problem appear in the garage with the fluorescent lights off and with a different light source? If the problem is still present with the lights off, has he got a wifi device in his garage such as a smart meter (dont laugh, Im serious!) or to control his boiler etc?
- marinipersonal
7k miles in five years, for a Diesel? I'm surprised the car took that long to show problems. At the work, where the vans are used just for short runs, some genius decided for Fiat Doblo. After no more than 6 months, every single one had to have daily forced regeneration, and quite often the oil changed due to diesel contamination. Some no so rare cases of engine damage. For EVERY modern Diesel vehicle, unless the mileage is high enough to save on fuel to offset the higher maintenance costs of a diesel engine, and not many short trips are done, the diesel should be avoided, unless it's the only choice, but then, to avoid problems, few actions are necessary, as constant oil's level check (much more often than the usual), the need to keep driving, to allow the regeneration to complete, and NO SAVING using cheap diesel.
- De Sisti
Or perhaps go for slightly older diesel vehicles that don't have DPF filters, but have been looked after well during its life (possibly with a FSH).
- TICKENHAMTIGER
Interesting comments about BMW and other German makes. I'm thinking of trading in my Q3 for either an A5 Sportback or a Lexus IS. The best cross over I've seen (but not driven) is the Volvo XC40 - certainly prettier than the overpriced E-Pace and the Alfa Stelvio. Good comments gildermania.

Edited by TICKENHAMTIGER on 03/06/2018 at 12:32