BMW Woes = New Car Hunt?

[Vimeous]

My parents have lost patience with BMW.
Their loved 55-plate 530d touring has an issue that so far has taken 2 months, 5+ visits to the dealer and a stack of parts to investigate but they are still no closer to a resolution.
The issue is apparently unique and is now with BMW Germany along with mutterings about software.
Funny thing is they are very pleased with the dealership, they've just been given a nightmare issue to resolve!

The car is very nearly 3 years old but my parents now have no faith in it so they're seriously considering trading it in. Thing is the garage have admitted they couldn't sell it on again until they've fixed the issue as they have to offer a 1yr guarantee so getting good value is going to be hard work.
It's also conspicuous BMW have not offered a warranty extension yet.

They've considered a 3-series but it's too small.
They've considered a 520d as it's fast enough and they like the car but they no longer trust the reliability.

So the dilemmas are these:
1. Do they trade in and get another potentially unreliable BMW. (They've been offered 6% off a new car - I said ask for more in the current market - the garage however is selling every car it's got on the forecourt so doesn't need to offer more!)
2. Do they attempt to force BMW to buy-back the car and move elsewhere?
3. Do they continue to get the car fixed and sell it elsewhere as soon as it's working again - that's assuming the fix is found before the warranty runs out!


More importantly if they move somewhere else what do they buy?!

Audi A6 Avant has good offers but is an old car that will depreciate faster than the BMW.
Merc C-Class estate is modern and current but Mum won't go near them after a bad experience with the salesmen. (E-Class will be replaced too soon to consider)

Idea's?
We're talking big estate, high residuals, excellant reliability, diesel, and auto.

[Jay]

Can I have more info on the BMW problem?

[GoNz0]

yeh the dealers mechanics are not as good as 3rd party ones, i can see what my bm bible has to say

[Vimeous]

The general description is as follows:

Drive approx 20-30miles and the oil light comes on.
Continue and the SatNav tells you to stop you've not enough oil put some in now!

So you stop and the oil level is fine.

You start the car and all is well so you drive off and soon enough the same problem occurs.

At first the dealer weren't confident there was an issue. However once they rigged up their test computer and took it on a longer (20+ mile) test drive they confirmed something was amiss.

Since then the car has been 'fixed' 4+ times. Each time the problem recurs.
It's a consistant repeatable problem that has caused BMW to replace sensors and the battery so far. Now they suspect a software fault but are waiting for feedback from Germany.

Key here is that the car is claiming an issue that cannot be identified. You could suggest just ignore the warnings but if the car is right then it'll lead to one very dead engine. Even if it didn't it's still a failure that makes my parents fearful to drive the car so while it's under warranty it needs to be fixed.

In all fairness to the dealership, while they did seem initially reluctant to help, they are now doing enough to keep my mother reasonably appeased - a task most Dragon slayers wouldn't relish.

As I said before they love the car but their confidence is badly damaged. If it is a software fault it'll have to go anyway because they know just how computer dependant the car is.


Two quick take-aways from this -

Early on they were asked to stop driving the car over short distances and only use it on longer ones to prevent it damaging the battery.
To which they replied they'd bought a car to go from a to b. Nowhere in the specification does it say "don't use for short journeys" or they wouldn't have bought it in the first place. As it is they drive mixed journeys like most other people.

Secondly the salesman suggested they'd had the car 3 years (29k miles) so only one big problem was pretty good.....
Mum said she bought cars for 10 years+, not for 3 and expected them to only ever suffer wear and tear issues.
I burst out laughing and reminded her my 11 year old Civic has covered 120k miles, is driven hard most of the time, and has only ever had wear and tear failures!

[GoNz0]

i put a tenner on a dodgy oil filler cap causing a pressure drop

[Stoo]

If it's not the above, then I'd push for the dealership to buy back the car, it's still under warranty, and if they can't fix the problem in a decent time frame, then it's up to BMW to either refund, or replace the car..

[idimmu]

i work with a guy who used to be a service manager at a large bmw garage previously, so i'll ask him what he thinks on monday, and where you stand with getting it resolved and post back then

[b0redom]

+1 - sounds like a sale of goods act to me.....

[Zak33]

Keep BMW UK in the loop. They'll need to help the dealer financially. But you wont sell it on easily even "fixed" because all the work will show up on the BMW central service history computer network, so other dealers will see the problem IF they're smart enough to check when you offer it for sale.

[Vimeous]

Keep BMW UK in the loop. They'll need to help the dealer financially. But you wont sell it on easily even "fixed" because all the work will show up on the BMW central service history computer network, so other dealers will see the problem IF they're smart enough to check when you offer it for sale.

Hadn't thought about mentioning it to BMW UK. I'll suggest it.

You echo our concerns about the cars value and ease of resale. At the moment the dealer won't provide a vehicle value at all.
The most satisfying outcome for both parties I suspect will be BMW buys back the car as a part-ex and therefore keeps the customer and has a year or two to rebuild their confidence in the company.

Any other outcome and BMW loose a customer. Some would just accept that but my family is traditionally quite vocal about postive and negative experiences. My sister, her partner, one aunt and her daughter all drive BMW's so any acrimony from this could be more than just a single car.

Fingers crossed BMW get it right.

[GoNz0]

BMW UK, well what a bunch of wasters when i tried to get them to do something about our local crappy dealer, they couldnt give a flying f**k

[digit]

Sorry to hear about the problems you've been having with the car, is it worth you trying to take the car to a specialist as opposed to a dealer get a second opinion??

[Vimeous]

Sorry to hear about the problems you've been having with the car, is it worth you trying to take the car to a specialist as opposed to a dealer get a second opinion??

With the car still under warranty and in the hands of BMW at the moment it's not really and option.

Dad harbours a nagging doubt it's a mechanical failure such as a blocked breather pipe but BMW insist it's nothing of the sort.

As to how useful BMW UK are, well we'll see if they get involved and just how useful they turn out to be!

[Jay]

i put a tenner on a dodgy oil filler cap causing a pressure drop

Same here.

[tsj]

Well I'm sure the warranty should cover this... if it can't be fixed they are supposed to replace the car with a like to like model. Tell your parents to read the terms of the warranty.

As for the E-class... don't bother... I plan to replace mine in September-ish

[Vimeous]

Rolling update .....

The dealer has passed the issues onto BMWUK and Germany and are/have sent and engineer to Bracknell to discuss it. Apparently this is a unique issue which my usual skepticism actually believes.

As a result of all this the parents have been able to try a wide-spread of courtesy cars. Their thoughts so far:

3-series saloon/touring - B-pillar too far forwards completely blocks over-shoulder view creating an unnecessary blind-spot. Dad immediately ruled them out for purchase on a safety basis.
1-series coupe - Surprisingly practical but also surprisingly big and heavy. Decent drive though.
3-series coupe - If they were replacing the Golf this would be high on the list. Comfy, good looking, much more practical than saloon (split-fold rear seats) and no stupid b-pillar.
X3 - Heavy so generally comfy across small ruts and bumps. Bigger road surface issues upset it alot though suggesting it's overly stiff to compensate for the height and weight. 2.0d engine is quick even in a car heavier than the 5-series touring and still returns 38mpg.

They still prefer the 5-series