Kurauking’s Journal

I was asked this question again and again many times over. Well, the cost of maintaining a BMW esp a E 39 are very much depending on the owner knowledge. For example, you bring a Proton Saga go to a Lorry workshop to repair, of course it will cost you a bomb and you won’t get a satisfactory job done. Same here, if you were to bring a BMW to a normal car workshop esp around Klang, the cost will surely be more expensive due to high spare part cost(some workshops don’t even know where to get BMWs spare parts) and you will get a lousy job done.

If you were to bring your BMW to a correct workshop, specializing in BMWs you would get peace of mind because you do not need to worry about whether they will do a good job or not. It will cost you much cheaper too because those specialized workshops gets their spare parts from BMWs authorized dealer(originals and OEM) instead of those spare part shops. You will be surprised at the different of price between these 2 workshops, a specialized workshop compare to a cap ayam workshop.

I give you an example that happen to one of my friend. I got a call from this fella saying all his electronic function in his BMW was not working. The audio player was not working, the power window was not working, the honk was not working etc. If he sends his BMW to a Cap Ayam workshop, i am sure it will cost him a hand and a leg or more and probably he won’t get his BMW problem solved. BMWs are continental cars, not any Cap Ayam cars and it has special features that other car makes do not have. Many mechanics that graduated from WiT or similar institutions, do not know all these features and functions of a continental car. If this fella where to send his BMW to this type of Cap Ayam Workshops, i believed they would have dismantle the whole car just to fix it. They would check the ‘fius’ at the ‘fius box’ like in those local cars and if they can’t find the problem, they would probably dismantle the whole BMW just to find the problem.

Well, to cut story short, i advice him to go to a BMW specialist workshop and all in all, he spend only Rm10.00 on a ’special fius’ not found in the ‘fius’ box which most local cars do not have. There are many similar story that i’ve experienced myself. Some ppl thinks that owning a BMW will cost them a bomb on maintenance and such but if you where to ask me, i will tell you, “Only Rich People drive Proton Saga, we Poor people drives BMWs”…..

Here’s a simple calculation….

BMW vs Local Car

A 5-9 years old BMW E39 would cost you around Rm100k, a New Local car would cost you around RM40k to Rm100K. A BMW E39 520i is comparable to a Proton Perdana(Rm106,096.94) if not better. The cost of maintaining a E 39 and a Perdana is almost the same. Fuel consumption, almost the same. Now, a 5 to 9 years old E 39 can easily last you another 10 to 20 years but a New Perdana can hardly make it to 10 years of daily drive.
Ok, another point is, after 10 years of using a Perdana, how much do you think it is worth in the 2nd hand car market? A 20 years old BMW can easily sell for Rm20k to 50k in 2nd car market. Now, do you see the logical sense in term of economics comparing both a BMW and a Local makes ?

Beside the ‘economic’ point, just ask yourself, which car is safer to drive in and which one is more comfortable ?
In reality, a New Perdana performance can’t even compare with a 20 years old E 34. This i have proven to many people many times over.

My advice is, before you go and buy any car, please go and test drive a BMW. I have proven to many forumers here that owning a BMW is NOT expensive, in fact it is more economical owning a BMW compare to a local or Japs car…..

Here’s another thing about owning a BMW or other Continental Car. Some people just can’t accept the fact that they will one day own a BMW or a Continental Car. To them, owning a BMW is like becoming a god and only god drives BMW. Some even criticize BMWs driver labeling them as road bully. For your information, BMWs driver are NOT Mat Rempits. We do not road bully ppl who drives smaller CC cars and we don’t drive in gangs harassing ppl!!!
I can only feel pity for ppl with such mentality because if they dare not even dream of owning a BMW or a Luxury Car, how can they be successful in life? A person need to find his own ‘Self-Actualization’ in order to succed in life. What is ‘Self-Actualization’ ?

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

In order to achieved ‘Self-Actualization’, one must climb the Maslow’s ladders ie a person need to achieved ‘Esteem Needs’ in order to climb to ‘Self-Actualization’. If you don;t even dare to dream about your ‘Achievement, Status, Responsibility and Reputation’, how can he find his own ‘Self-Actualization’ ?

This is why some ppl don’t dare to buy a BMW or Continental Car. They are at the ‘Belonging and Love Need’ level. For them family is the most important aspect in their life. They will focus on solving family problem and maintaining a good family. But once they reach the level of ‘Esteem Needs’ as on the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, they would ‘think’ differently. They might perhaps ‘think’ by owning a BMW, their family is much more safer compare to driving a local car. They might also want to ‘improve’ their ’status’ and ‘reputation’ and the best part is, everybody must go through all this stages(Maslow’s Hierarchy) in order to succeed in life.

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