i know that the e36 japan imports dont have the bmw gearboz not sure about the others thou's :)
smac,
Nov 28, 2:15pm
The origin versus reliability thing is interesting. As noted above, a human will notice the difference in temperature, but see no reason why that would effect rubber or electrical components.
I think a LITTLE bit of what goes on here is: car fails, somebody says "where's it from!" answer "NZ" or "Japan" and people think oh ok, that's normal. But if the answer is "Singapore" somebody thinks ah ha! that must be the reason.
Only way to know for sure would be a break down of the failure rates by origin, and I very much doubt that exists. Getting an objective view of these things is nigh impossible, you're relying on human memory, which are notorious at remembering the exceptions.
scoobeey,
Nov 28, 2:16pm
3o deg lol try 45:)))
fordkiwi27,
Nov 28, 2:23pm
i think it is fact. too many people on here for one have the same theory. me included. singapore imports suck. (yep have had a car with the gremlin issues in the family)
Got a mate with a 5(!) year old 5 series with rust in the boot. Fresh Jap import. Nobody is saying "well of course, it's Japanese".but they would sure point the finger if it was Singapore.
geedubu,
Nov 28, 3:38pm
Apart from climate issue possibly also BMW's in Singapore build mileage on relatively short commutes and are a relatively commonplace commuter car; in Japan (especially Tokyo) BMW's are seen as a bit more prestigious and like many cars are kept for long runs at the weekend and holidays. Because public transport in Japan is the best in the world & you'd have to be mad to drive to work in a car.Also usually kept well-covered (you have to have a registered parking place to own a car in Tokyo).
guest,
Sep 13, 12:09am
I have been informed by a gearbox specialist that early Bmws (like 316i) if it came from Japan the gearbox could be nisan which r real good, others from various places had zf or holden(gm)(the worst one) boxes) this is because the importing countries required some local content.
mm12345,
Nov 27, 10:45pm
Take a quick look on trademe for NZ new high-spec BMW only a few years old, with low km.I saw an '07 740i with 25,000km for <$60k.A new 7 series is over $200k. I don't think the sort of problems you experienced are unique to Singapore import BMW - devaluation rate for used high-spec BMW is phenomenal, and I suspect there's a very good reason for that. Maybe the Singapore ones are a little worse, because of conditions over there, but Japan also has extreme weather compared to NZ.
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