8th Apr 2007, 09:12
It is simple, it is a 20+ year old TURBOCHARGED car, which has been beat senseless throughout its entire service life. Have you done your service intervals properly? I bet if honest you would admit that you would do things a little bit different. If you treat the car right, it will treat you right. If you abuse it, you will get abused. And you deserve it. Learn to take care of your cars before bashing manufactures.
24th Jan 2011, 16:47
I can’t understand all this fuss about Biturbo reliability and build quality in respect of BMW (series 3 M) Mercedes or Porsche (944 turbo).
I disassemble and restored some of those cars, including the infamous Biturbo (222 and 430), and honestly I can’t see such a big difference in materials and assembly quality of the above mentioned competitors. Beside Maserati's Biturbo used lots of parts in common with Porsche/BMW like gearbox (ZF - the 928 used the same in early versions), brake discs and pads, brake master cylinders, relays, wiring, differentials and so on. Also one of the Biturbos that I restored was actually well over 120000 miles, and without major problems, besides some signs of rust near the front end fenders. The car was an 88, restored in 2008.
The BMW 3 series that I restored had the engine replaced at 42000 miles and several other issues related to rear differentials and interior cheap plastic components literally falling apart, like doors panels and glove compartment warping and coming apart. Various switches issues and lots of radiators (3) failing, with the last one leading to engine overheating and warping the engine head. You can also read about typical BMW issues in this article:
http://www.ehow.com/about_5385200_bmw-series-problems.html
M3 issues of the E46 are also very catastrophic for engineering mistakes and quality issues with parts from BMW, as you can see also from several forums on the Internet, such as this one:
http://members.roadfly.org/jason/m3engines.htm
Also SMG gearboxes are prone to have issues:
If this is much better than a Biturbo as far as reliability, it is quite arguable. Also, the majority of shops operating on Maserati do not have experience (also due to limited numbers of production) and they usually have a lack of knowledge in solving small issues before they turn into bigger problems.
All of your electrical issues could be solved with an easy fix; replacing your fuse box, which is a relatively cheap (about $250) and straight forward job.
Good luck with your future B-ig M-otor W-reck……
25th Aug 2023, 15:55
BMW are ultimately more reliable. But I do get the appeal of Maserati - they are fun and really good looking cars.
7th Feb 2007, 08:45
Well you have not been too lucky with your Maserati.
Most of the time people want to drive like a beast and without respect for the mechanics.
I think you have to consider driving a little more careful.
Yes, a Maserati will go very fast, but compare this with a F1 car it has been driven to its limits and therefore it will just last one race.
I know people how have driven more than 200,000 witout major probs. makes you wonder why you had all those probs doesn't it.