Are BMWs Reliable? Here’s What You Should Know – SlashGear

The BMW of today has received excellent reliability ratings, jumping 10 spots to come in third on Consumer Reports’s 2022 Annual Auto Reliability Survey. Research by J.D. Power in the 2023 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study — which surveyed over 30,000 respondents about their vehicle reliability over the last three years of ownership — also indicates newer BMWs are reliable. 

BMW scored 184 problems per 100 vehicles, which is just slightly better than the industry average of 186 problems per 100 vehicles. The 2020 BMW 4 Series and BMW 3 Series both ranked among the top three most dependable compact premium cars, with the 4 Series scoring the top spot.

These studies all evaluated new vehicles, though. The story changes when you look at older BMW vehicles: Not only are issues often worked out in newer vehicles, but not enough time has passed for persistent pain points to show. It’s also valuable to look at the long-term ownership reports for the brand as a whole. According to RepairPal, BMWs between the 2010 and 2019 model years scored an average reliability rating of only 2.5 out of 5, putting it in 30th place out of the 32 car manufacturers rated.

RepairPal also rates the most reliable BMWs between 2010 and 2019 as the BMW X1, BMW 328i, and BMW 528i. They’re rated as the most reliable due to the reduced severity and frequency of issues, compared to BMW’s average score on the site. That being said, even being at the top of the BMW rankings only puts those models at around average in terms of general reliability.