Quote Originally Posted by megad
You can post about this on one of the bmw forums, with more than just me, it should be interesting over there

remember, checking <> part failing and replacing, which you seem to equate they all fail at that time.

again my subframe never failed, shock mounts never failed, tie rods never failed, shock towers never failed, control arms did not fail, etc etc, in fact my E36 was one of the most reliable cars I've owned

it's all about how you care for your car, obviously some people dont, and shops get those cars, ie people that cant fix things themselves, or know how to care for the car, things like testing the coolant ph get skipped, and your cooling system rots out

you get those cars

you didnt touch any of my cars

why you insist on name calling? I dont know, it shows your age though
I'm not super familiar with the E36, but I do have a good bit of knowledge about them (I'm an E30 guru )

Rear shock mount failure is infact a fairly common problem among most BMW's, and the aftermarket has responded to this in many ways, from Poly bushings on the mounts, to the 'repair shop' bushings with lifetime warranties. Rear shock mounts can normally be diagnoses on mild to poor roads, and listening for a metallic clunks easily heard from inside the vehicle.

I have noticed that radiator failures do happen to be a very, very common problem on E36's as well, they upper radiator neck sems to be the common failure point.

Tie rods, I honestly have no idea, I've only had to replace them on 5 series vehicles. Control arms and bushings are very use and road dependant. Minor balljoint play and bushing dryrot may not be considered a failure by some, but by the industry standard, it is. These parts rarely fail to the point of 100% failure unless directed so by lack of maintenence.

Rear subframe bushings rarey 'fail'. They do however dryrot, and flex more than they should, and they should be replaced when this occurs. However, very, very few owners actually replace subframe bushings.

You are right, though. How a car lasts is 95% dependant on how well the vehicle is cared for and maintained. The E36 does require a bit less maintenence than previous BMW's, but they are prone to the same issues as primarily all BMW's, from cooling system issues, to bushing replacements. Again, these parts rarely 'fail', but most enthusients consider the beginning of the end of their life cycle as the point of 'failure',a dn the time to necessitate replacement.