BMW (Bad) Service

irelandjoe

unkel wrote: »

Cheers for that, I liked the older mechanic

BMW's response (on the BBC website) can be summarised by this:

Cerco wrote: »

posted by unkel


"BMW's response (on the BBC website) can be summarised by this:

Quote:
Originally Posted by BMW
Where a fault has occurred on a vehicle with relatively low mileage, which has been serviced within the BMW network, the company has covered most of the repair out of goodwill, despite being outside of the warranty period"

I think the other message is to buy the extended warranty.

And that summary is not true.... the only reason BMW agreed to cover Half the parts (I would have to cover all labour) was because their customer service department had told me that there was a known issue and they tried to back track...... and yes I demanded a copy of the recording....... I told them where to stick it as I had managed to return the car before they offered me anything........

irelandjoe

galwaytt wrote: »

He absolutely can. And the sooner you export that pile, the better imho. Can you imagine what those engined models are going to be worth in a few years time, with several years history of trouble ? Will make Mazda's diesel dept smile, that's for sure......

I was mega lucky.
Got every penny back once I exported it back to UK. Bit of paperwork but got it back quickly as I reported issue within 7 days of reporting. After 7days it's dealt with on a case by case basis I have been told.

unkel

irelandjoe wrote:

And that summary is not true.... the only reason BMW agreed to cover Half the parts (I would have to cover all labour)

So you are saying your car was always serviced by BMW, just outside of warranty when the chain broke and with low mileage and BMW did NOT cover most of the costs?

If your statement is true, you should post up your evidence here to shame BMW (and probably to get your money back)

irelandjoe

unkel wrote: »

So you are saying your car was always serviced by BMW, just outside of warranty when the chain broke and with low mileage and BMW did NOT cover most of the costs?

If your statement is true, you should post up your evidence here to shame BMW (and probably to get your money back)

Fsh with BMW UK and only 34k miles on the clock

I know this a long thread but you will see I was lucky in that I was able to eventually return the car.

commited

Irelandjoe - what happened with the VRT that you paid?

irelandjoe

commited wrote: »

Irelandjoe - what happened with the VRT that you paid?

See above.... was fully repaid back to me once I exported the car

galwaytt

Stallingrad wrote: »

Good points but no excuse for bad design, timing chain at bulkhead is just stupid on a mainstream car.

Holy Fubar Batman - only twigged that now, watching the video - FFS - the last car I remember like that was a........Saab 99 ? (old Triumph engine iirc)....there's no way that's a 'service item' if it's buried in there.........

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Did you see the price of the crankshaft in the video on your man's invoice, £840!

...that's cheaper than a Mazda 6 Diesel one, and cheaper than a new crankcase for my scooter tbh.........I paid £400 POUNDS for a crank for a 250 Suzuki..........20 year ago.......:P

Victor Meldrew wrote: »

But the perception of being lovely to drive, different, but for the "committed" (...to providing mechanics with jobs...) that remains...

...but that's just it - even I, a non-BMW fan was suitably impressed with one lately...... when they're good, they're great. When they're not-so-good, they're........líon na bearnaí...

irelandjoe wrote: »

See above.... was fully repaid back to me once I exported the car

irelandjoe wrote: »

Fsh with BMW UK and only 34k miles on the clock

I know this a long thread but you will see I was lucky in that I was able to eventually return the car.

Well done, and kudos to your supplying garage in fairness. They get a lot of slagging sometimes, but you nobody can dispute but that they stood over their claim on this one. Even if people think they charge way over what the cars could be bought for, elsewhere.

But here's the real question (and one for another thread entirely.........) - now what ? What will/did you buy, instead ! :eek: :pac:

Edite scratch that, see you bought an Avensis instead

irelandjoe

Remember the supplying garage wasn't even a BMW one.... I was one of the lucky ones, many my boss included have been stung by this timing chain issue.

Voodoomelon

Just re-read through the whole thread, great to hear you got your money back. On the Irish side of things, what's the thinking behind a 7 day period in which you have to declare a fault with the car in order to get a VRT refund?

7 days is taking the piss, surely this should be weeks/months?

irelandjoe

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Just re-read through the whole thread, great to hear you got your money back. On the Irish side of things, what's the thinking behind a 7 day period in which you have to declare a fault with the car in order to get a VRT refund?

7 days is taking the piss, surely this should be weeks/months?

No idea to be honest. Just what I was told. But they would use discretion after that. They were very good and return money without delay
. Worth taking any car imported to a garage for a once over. That was the only good thing about the BMW dealer. They found the issue days after I imported. Would have been a different kettle of fish if they hadn't. Again I thank my lucky stars that it was discovered when it was.

kazuar

Hey guys,
As most of you noticed the chain snaps in cars with different millage - sometimes it is 17000, another time it's 100 000. That shows that the millage does not matter much in this issue, neither the driving style (what driving style it would be to snap the chain after 17k?!).
What's more, I've seen tens of broken belts in my life and 98% of them break at the moment of engine start. What does it mean? It means that the moment of starting the engine is the biggest effort for a timing belt/chain. This is quite obvious as the chain is jerked with huge force of diesel engine torque. This leads to the final conclusion that if you want to keep your chain in one piece simply turn off the start/stop function!

It is easy to understand that one car may have 160k millage and 5k starts of the engine and the other car can have the same amount of starts after only 30k miles (e.g. driving in the city) with start/stop on. This engine should indicate the number of starts more than millage!

Whole timing gear is designed to survive limited number of starts and normally this number would exceed after 500 000 km but with start/stop system it happens much more quicker...

I hope that this explanation makes sens and it will help your engine live longer. But still it doesn't mean to stop blaming BMW for that. The best solution is to buy extended warranty and have piece of mind I presume. I've recently done this - they quoted me 881e per year for comprehensive warranty. It's not so bad and it covers everything not only the timing chain.

irelandjoe

kazuar wrote: »

Hey guys,
As most of you noticed the chain snaps in cars with different millage - sometimes it is 17000, another time it's 100 000. That shows that the millage does not matter much in this issue, neither the driving style (what driving style it would be to snap the chain after 17k?!).
What's more, I've seen tens of broken belts in my life and 98% of them break at the moment of engine start. What does it mean? It means that the moment of starting the engine is the biggest effort for a timing belt/chain. This is quite obvious as the chain is jerked with huge force of diesel engine torque. This leads to the final conclusion that if you want to keep your chain in one piece simply turn off the start/stop function!

It is easy to understand that one car may have 160k millage and 5k starts of the engine and the other car can have the same amount of starts after only 30k miles (e.g. driving in the city) with start/stop on. This engine should indicate the number of starts more than millage!

Whole timing gear is designed to survive limited number of starts and normally this number would exceed after 500 000 km but with start/stop system it happens much more quicker...

I hope that this explanation makes sens and it will help your engine live longer. But still it doesn't mean to stop blaming BMW for that. The best solution is to buy extended warranty and have piece of mind I presume. I've recently done this - they quoted me 881e per year for comprehensive warranty. It's not so bad and it covers everything not only the timing chain.

In my case and in the case of most of the older N47 engines, and people I know who have had this timing chain issue they do not have the stop/start option as standard.

However i do agree with you that stop start is a bad idea and if I had a car that had it i would be turning it off too.

Thanks

HandsomeDan

kazuar wrote: »

Hey guys,
As most of you noticed the chain snaps in cars with different millage - sometimes it is 17000, another time it's 100 000. That shows that the millage does not matter much in this issue, neither the driving style (what driving style it would be to snap the chain after 17k?!).
What's more, I've seen tens of broken belts in my life and 98% of them break at the moment of engine start. What does it mean? It means that the moment of starting the engine is the biggest effort for a timing belt/chain. This is quite obvious as the chain is jerked with huge force of diesel engine torque. This leads to the final conclusion that if you want to keep your chain in one piece simply turn off the start/stop function!

It is easy to understand that one car may have 160k millage and 5k starts of the engine and the other car can have the same amount of starts after only 30k miles (e.g. driving in the city) with start/stop on. This engine should indicate the number of starts more than millage!

Whole timing gear is designed to survive limited number of starts and normally this number would exceed after 500 000 km but with start/stop system it happens much more quicker...

I hope that this explanation makes sens and it will help your engine live longer. But still it doesn't mean to stop blaming BMW for that. The best solution is to buy extended warranty and have piece of mind I presume. I've recently done this - they quoted me 881e per year for comprehensive warranty. It's not so bad and it covers everything not only the timing chain.

Actually the force on a chain is proportion to revs, but the constant blipping of the throttle with stop/start prob doesn't do it any good.

I'd love to know the actual % of cars affected.

irelandjoe

Don't want to bring this thread back to life BUT wanted to put this here after BMW finally admits fault!
http://www.independent.ie/life/motoring/car-news/bmw-admits-design-fault-that-could-cost-motorists-6k-to-fix-35155502.html