Sad to say, the new ones do seem to be vulnerable to many little components failures and electronic problems. As for owning one out of warranty, it may depend on how the first owner maintained the thing. The dealer, of course, would love owners to buy a new car every 5 years when the warranty is about ready to expire. And the lease mentality plays right into that marketing model, although many companies claim to be cutting back on the number of leases they offer. But long-term, BMW will have to address their reliability problems because they do not want to be stuck with the reputation of making 5-year cars. I think BMW brought many of these problems on themselves by two major strategic moves:
1. More and more electronics and complexity, fluffy stuff
2. Claiming maintenance was free via the dealership while the car was under warranty. We all know "free maintenance" = almost no maintenance, especially if the customer is not paying himself.

Of course, customers have been spoiled by the Japanese cars. In the old days, BMW recommended annual brake fluid change. If you told most contemporary BMW owners to do that, you would get a blank stupid look or hostility that you were trying to cheat them.