It's not just boats...............

[rafiki_]

Trouble with the Beemer. I have an intermittent fault where the starter doesn't crank. If recovered to the BMW Stealer, she cranks and starts OK, and the Stealer charges me £100 for diagnostics to show there is no problem................

Really helpful!!!

 

[Wiggo]

Had similar problem with mine. Garage folks were looking at replacing the gearbox computer at one point, as we were convinced it wouldn't start because it thought it was in gear. Endless trips to the garage, fault refusing to show up for them. Then it died in Waitrose car park one day and I had to get the AA man out. Crappy push fit connector to the starter solenoid: clean with emery paper, spray with WD40, refit, job sorted.

 

[Sneds]

Sounds like a proper mechanic, remember those?

People who knew how things worked and susequently how to fix them.

 

[rafiki_]

Thansk Wiggo, will have a go. However, the starter is not the easiest thing to get to. Underbody aero cover, then noise cover, then heat shield..........................

 

[Wiggo]

Insane, the way they build them, isn't it? I dropped mine off for a service thi smorning and was chatting to the mechanic generally. He'd had to charge some poor woman an hour's labour to change a light bulb on a Ford C-Max as they had to remove and refit the front bumper to get to the light...

 

[jfm]

Trouble with the Beemer. I have an intermittent fault where the starter doesn't crank. If recovered to the BMW Stealer, she cranks and starts OK, and the Stealer charges me £100 for diagnostics to show there is no problem................

Really helpful!!!

Yup. Mine has this intermittent thing where the screen says "engine problem, engine at reduced power" and it turns itself from e60M5 into a 510i. A deathtrap, esp when pulling off at a roundabout. When I take it to stealer, the intermittent fault never occurs and the car is fine. Stealer charges £100 to interrogate the 'puter to confirm the fault is logged, but he can't tell which item is faulty unless the fault actually occurs when the stealer has the car, which of course the car refuses to do!

 

[FunkyMonkey]

STEALER is the word

i have really lost faith in BMW of late, i had a new 08 X5 for the misses for only 12months when it went for its first service at 14k on the clock, turns out it had been tracking out on all 4 wheels since day dot and all the tyres were runind rears were (365 35 R20 runflats) bill for tyres £ 1600.00 KDC alighnment £280 intermitent fault with the Idrive causing the car to not start was never found, first service oil change only wasnt bad for BMW at £220 but the pollen filters were a rip off at £55 naturally it needed 2 so that was £110, all four alloy wheel spacers and brakes had rusted and were not covered under warrenty either .... so a further £120 to have them removed and painted...

First service Cost £2330.00

BMW will be anti fouling next .....

 

[burgundyben]

Its been the complete opposite for me, my BMW was £470 years years ago, its now done 30k miles in my tenure and not missed a beat, one of two spares and some tyres have come to about another £300.

It is a 1985 car mind!

 

[Sneds]

Lot to be said for an older motor, I'm sure the BMW stealer thinks the way "got the car he can afford to pay it"

 

[[2068]]

BMW of late have got a reputation for "high technology", "high maintenance" with a string of problems that Audi / Merc etc. have sidestepped.

e.g. Previous generation M3 engine bearings, 320D swirl valve ingestion, 530D's blowing turbos, plus a large set of miscellaneous electronic gremlins - just do a search on the "Honest John" website on BMW...

In general, the BMW petrol engines do seem a bit more reliable.

dv.

 

[Who]

Finding an intermittent fault is a nightmare.

Any dealer can find the problem, its dead easy, just replace every item it could be. Very costly for the customer. i.e.. How deep are your pockets. ecu, wiring loom, start switch, solenoid, tdc sensor.... around £1500 - £4000 already.

The point is if it aint broke, how do you fix it.

If under warranty, A manufacturer will only pay the dealer if a part is faulty, and they will only pay for that faulty part. So the dealer wont just throw bits at it, because they will not get paid for them.

Yes I am sticking up for the dealer, as its not their fault the car broke down. They would like nothing better than to fix it and you to be happy. Who would want an upset customer on their hands, what's the point.

The best solution is always leave the car at the dealer and ask them to use it until it breaks down. This allows one of their technicians to fix it on the spot.

 

[chrisbarrett]

Not just boats

Dont be too hard on the BMW all the stealers out there are the same, my 3 year old Disco just failed to start after parking up for 5 minutes, sounded like the starter motor had jammed or the battery flat, seemed very odd so called out the AA [would have probably been better off calling the other AA] couln't fix it or diagnose it, after a quick tow and start I took it down to the local Land Rover stealer, rings me up the next morning to tell me its ready for collection, turns out to be a simple £2 fuse, this stopped the alternator charging meaning I had been running on the battery so nice and simple ! The ...... £2 fuse actually cost me £185 thats £50 plus for diagnostic , take off battery and recharge and of course a couple of hours labour.
Thieving...... I would never deal with them again! 2 weeks later I buy another Disco!!!!

 

[Lozzer]

Given the technology we have today why is it not possible for engines to backup their data every minute to a EPROM. This means that the fault can be accurately diagnosed assuming the diagnostics are good..

I once bought a BMW 7 series from a dealer, it had a problem where cylinder liners were wearing away. When it happened out of warranty I spoke to BMW and the replace the bottom end FOC... IF you are unhappy with your dealer talk to BMW I did and got a good response.

By the way I agree that all dealers are out for one thing and that is themselves, no one should or could defend them.