F@#$%

[freakazoid]

I need a place to rant :argh:

Some background. Had a very unreliable 2006 E90 320. In all fairness it only started giving problems from 72 000km onwards and I drove it till 150 000km.

Last year September I spent nearly R20 000 fixing oil leaks, valvetronic, vacuum pump, vent valve, major service etc. only to find out a month later that valve stem seals and clutch needed replacing. Had enough of the car and on a whim traded it on on a 2009 E90 335i with 60 000km.

Since December the car has had gearbox, waterpump, battery, plugs, injectors, diff, door mechanisms, coils replaced. The injectors were done last week due to a misfire and just about made it before MP expired last week Friday.

Now the misfire happened when I started the car from cold and there was a misfire when idling but not as pronounced as the one at cold idle. Monday I picked up that the warm idle misfire was still there, took the car back and the mechanic also picked it up. Fast forward to today and the engine is stripped and BMW telling me a "cambox" needs to be replaced!!

I am not going to pay for this since as far as I am concerned the car went in under MP for the misfire and they did not fix it properly.

What the hell did I get myself into - another unreliable BMW Barely 7 months of owning the car and its been to BMW more than my previous non-BMW cars combined. My wife wants me to leave the car at BMW and trade it in.

 

[anton-sa]

I may not be helping here... and firstly my condolences. these cars are not meant to be so "unreliable".

however, I would wonder what would happen if you took these 2 cars, and serviced them every 10000km ?

whats your current service interval? 20000km? more?

manufacturers appear to be stretching intervals more and more and imho there are just too many variables not allowed for...

 

[Twinz]

That is one crazy story. Sorry to hear man.

You must be really unlucky that is just too much trouble for cars that are meant to be pure driving pleasure. Sell them & move on. You will always be expecting something to go wrong.

Sorry again.

 

[Magneto]

BMW mechanics are certainly challenged. I would not take their word for it. Get an expert to look at it.

 

[freakazoid]

That is one crazy story. Sorry to hear man.

You must be really unlucky that is just too much trouble for cars that are meant to be pure driving pleasure. Sell them & move on. You will always be expecting something to go wrong.

Sorry again.

The salesman who sold the car to me was shocked when he saw me in the service department and heard of the latest issues. His first statement was "let's trade it in".

Problem is I only have it for 7 months so I guess i will take a big knock. Next this 335i is very well specced and I have gotten used to it. Then there is the bigger issue that the only F30 I will be able to afford is 320i or 320d standard models not that they are bad cars but that turbo charged 6 is just too intoxicating.

I had visions of my next step up the rungs being an M3 in 3 years time

---

BMW mechanics are certainly challenged. I would not take their word for it. Get an expert to look at it.

If it was not for the fact that I initially reported the misfire while under MP the car would not be at BMW now.

I think I have a good case for them to fix at no cost as the plugs were changed in February also because of a misfire. Last week they wanted to change the plugs again and I had to bring it to their attention that it was replaced 3 months ago.

I don't have an issue with the guy working on the car as I get the feeling he is genuinely making an effort to fix the car and mostly not taking a stab in the dark.

 

[Philip Foglar]

Wow, that's not a nice experience! I would try and get as much money back and trade it, unless they are able to fix the problems and it lasts. I gather this is the older N54 motor - these had many issues admittedly. :fencelook:

 

[Magneto]

BMW mechanics are certainly challenged. I would not take their word for it. Get an expert to look at it.

If it was not for the fact that I initially reported the misfire while under MP the car would not be at BMW now.

I think I have a good case for them to fix at no cost as the plugs were changed in February also because of a misfire. Last week they wanted to change the plugs again and I had to bring it to their attention that it was replaced 3 months ago.

I don't have an issue with the guy working on the car as I get the feeling he is genuinely making an effort to fix the car and mostly not taking a stab in the dark.

Yes but I am saying get someone with some expert knowledge to pinpoint the problem. You can then point BMW in the right direction. If you leave it to some incompetent BMW mechanics they won't hesitate to replace components to see if it fixes the problem. Eventually your bill will be huge. Trading it in also means you lose money. They didn't fix the misfire when it was on motorplan so they must fix it now. You just need to do some of your own investigating to pinpoint the problem and limit any associated costs of incompetence. They will eventually get there and find the problem but may have replaced a whole lot of stuff they didn't need to and I promise you they will tell you that everything needed replacing anyway.

 

[Kish2604]

I feel sorry for your problems buddy, you seem to be lumped with a bad appie...

Anton's second post of this thread Cary's a lot of truth with regards to the current attitude of BMW, having a car maintained on motor plan can be both a curse and a pleasure at the same time.

With regards to your current misfire, the mech blaming the "cambox" as the fault is definitely a misdiagnosis unless he has the correct vanos related error codes to support, also the issue of cam ledge wear was only a problem on 2006/7 models. There was a redesign of the ledges that came through mid pre lci version that corrected this problem. If they insist this is the cause of the misfire then naturally you have to get them to cover the cost as it was not corrected under motorplan.

Keep us posted and good luck...

 

[freakazoid]

With regards to your current misfire, the mech blaming the "cambox" as the fault is definitely a misdiagnosis unless he has the correct vanos related error codes to support, also the issue of cam ledge wear was only a problem on 2006/7 models. There was a redesign of the ledges that came through mid pre lci version that corrected this problem. If they insist this is the cause of the misfire then naturally you have to get them to cover the cost as it was not corrected under motorplan.

Keep us posted and good luck...

I have a feeling this might be spark plug related. They were changed previously also due to misfire but I think that was also due injectors. Last week when injectors were replaced the mechie said three plugs were black. They did not replace the plugs. Could the over fueling not have damaged the plugs? When Carbon Doctor opens in Cape Town this car is definitely going for a clean.

On a side note I am using my buddy's 325i and I did not know the gap in performance was that big. Last night I was pondering whether to ask BMW to work out something on a F30 320d or 320i but after driving the 325i I don't know if I can live with reduced power. The 328i or 335i is currently way out of my range

 

[Magneto]

Keep the car and follow the advice given. I am sure all will be fine and you will have a great car.

 

[Kish2604]

The x35s are heavy on plugs under stock tune and even worse when tweaked, when injectors leak they drop a whole lot of extra fuel onto the chamber which doesn't combust correctly and coating the plugs in carbon buildup, seen this one recently where a mates car was misfiring and stumbling and full power was demanded... Problem was corrected with a new set of plugs...

First step, get yourself a diagnostic set up... This puts you in control of the diagnosis on the car. Also get yourself a good pvt workshop as well, I have only heard good things about ART performance from Twins and Revo so I would suggest you get in contact with them and start a proper servicing schedule...

 

[anton-sa]

Cars.of.100kw.and up.r.essentially.joining.high performance.territory and.demand high performance service. The manufacturer service schedule.only.keeps.a 100 to 150k km lifespan in mind. Fresh oil.every 8 to 10k km gents!!!

 

[freakazoid]

First step, get yourself a diagnostic set up... This puts you in control of the diagnosis on the car. Also get yourself a good pvt workshop as well, I have only heard good things about ART performance from Twins and Revo so I would suggest you get in contact with them and start a proper servicing schedule...

Thanks. Did not know ART do maintenance as well. Thought only mods. The workshop is close to where I stay, less than 1km.

 

[freakazoid]

So the quote comes to R18 395 of which R10 000 is for parts and R8000 is for labour. MP will cover the parts (my MP expired on the Friday before I took the car in). Dealer will split labour 50/50 with me which means I am in for R4k.

Now as far as I am concerned the car was taken to BMW for an idling issue within MP. Car was "repaired" but not the whole idling issue. As far as I am concerned they did not fix the issue. Looks like MP came to the party but they must have told Dealer you did not fix the issue hence the labour is for the dealers account? And now the dealer wants me to cough up 50%.

The parts to be replaced are inlet camshaft and bearing ledge. Is this not something that was part of a recall?

Is it worth fighting over the R4k or should I be thankful most of the cost is being covered? It's not like I have a R4k lying around

 

[SKYF]

If you have motorplan, and you didnt mod the car to cause this issue,by all means you should pay nothing!!!
First time i am hearing of going 50/50, probably someone is getting their 50% "cut"

Why pay when its not your fault???
Yes there will be less headache, less time waiting, but you will be just throwing R4000 away

 

[freakazoid]

If you have motorplan, and you didnt mod the car to cause this issue,by all means you should pay nothing!!!
First time i am hearing of going 50/50, probably someone is getting their 50% "cut"

Why pay when its not your fault???
Yes there will be less headache, less time waiting, but you will be just throwing R4000 away

My MP is expired, but a week before it expired I took the car in for an idling issue. When car was cold it would idle erratically during the warm up process and when the car was warm and was idling for a while at say a stop street or in traffic there was also a slight misfire. Well it looks like the two were unrelated and the cold idle misfire was injectors and the misfire under normal temps is the camshaft. Last weekend I picked up that the 2nd misfire was still there and took the car back to BMW.

From my non-mechanical point of view I initially brought the car in for a misfire and how am I supposed to know that the two misfires are unrelated?

 

[Derrick125]

What's the chance you'll end up with a fairly good car after all of this is done?
I think the chances are good - considering the waranty on the work done recently.

Why not keep the thing? Good opportunity to extend the MP also? your cash, their risk.

 

[freakazoid]

What's the chance you'll end up with a fairly good car after all of this is done?
I think the chances are good - considering the waranty on the work done recently.

Why not keep the thing? Good opportunity to extend the MP also? your cash, their risk.

I guess it's a gamble I can take. I think the only expensive parts not changed are the turbos and fuel pumps. Maybe I need to keep a savings kitty of about R20k for turbo cover.

 

[DieselFan]

A turbo is not 20k. Only if you buy it from bmw. Which you should not.

Hope you get your car sorted.

 

[Kish2604]

So the quote comes to R18 395 of which R10 000 is for parts and R8000 is for labour. MP will cover the parts (my MP expired on the Friday before I took the car in). Dealer will split labour 50/50 with me which means I am in for R4k.

Now as far as I am concerned the car was taken to BMW for an idling issue within MP. Car was "repaired" but not the whole idling issue. As far as I am concerned they did not fix the issue. Looks like MP came to the party but they must have told Dealer you did not fix the issue hence the labour is for the dealers account? And now the dealer wants me to cough up 50%.

The parts to be replaced are inlet camshaft and bearing ledge. Is this not something that was part of a recall?

Is it worth fighting over the R4k or should I be thankful most of the cost is being covered? It's not like I have a R4k lying around

Thanks for the update, 18k is a reasonable bill considering what's being changed on the car, I would strongly suggest you go ahead with the repair and fitting the 4k portion, it's not a badly costed figure for the repair they going to carry out, it is however your money and your car so you make the call on the costing to your pocket.

I would ask 2 things of the dealer, payment of your share of the labour costs will only be paid on the successful elimination of the fault and for pictures of the cam ledge wear and all parts replaced...

Also if you could post the details of the quote submitted to you for reference...I still find it hard to put this down to excessive wear on the cam ledges.