BMW N55-DCT Horror Story

[DJKapeesh]

I posted this in the 135i section but figure it's not very technical so probably belongs in the general area.

Back in in September is when it all started. As my car approached the extended warranty mileage of 78,700k miles I began to strap down on the maintenance and repairs to make sure the vehicle would last me well into the 100ks (or so I thought).

The car had just crossed over 77k miles and I proceeded to do the maintenance that would not be covered under warranty first. I had my very reputable shop in South Florida "Transcend Performance" perform the simple maintenance of spark plugs, ignition coils, oil and inspection for items that may need repair. I provided the parts and they did the job. At the end they informed me the Oil Filter Housing was leaking and could be fixed.

Alright so I have 1 item to take to BMW to claim on the warranty. As I leave the shop and make the appointment with BMW I begin to notice the car has a hickup in the engine when stopped at a light or sign and in gear. It can be felt in the brake pedal every 20 seconds or so but in my head it may be a simple misfire of some sort resulting from a loose plug or coil.

I take the car to BMW of Pembroke Pines and inform them of the Oil Filter Housing and the warranty. I also mentioned the hickup if they could determine the source of my problems. After inspection BMW comes back to me and says the Valve Cover Gasket is also leaking and needs to be repaired with the Oil Filter Housing before the hickup can be determined. Eventually I agree to the repairs at the expense of my $250 deductible.

The car is then repaired and BMW lets me know they cannot determine the exact source of the hickup but there tools show a misfire in 2 cylinders possibly caused by bad injectors. Of course they also tell me my warranty wants to only replace the 2 injectors because they are not indexed. At this point I smell something fishy and decided to inspect the car personally before proceeding to only replace 2 injectors.

I get the car back and head back to the indy shop. This time I have them use their diagnostic tool to test each injector separately under load and no load. This reveals all injectors are misfiring at some point and time during combustion or stopped. *Great so we found the problem right?* NOPE.

We clean each injector before putting them back in to determine if they need to be replaced. After the cleaning and then individual testing the misfire has completely vanished and the car should be smooth as butter. I take the car home and find that now, not only does the car hickup but it is now showing weird behavior with the transmission. The car begins to start jumping forward and jumping in RPMs when stopping very often and paired with the hickups this is turning into a nightmare at this point.

We are well into the end of October by now and I have just crossed over the warranty mark and things are getting pretty serious and expensive to say the least. One day at work I come out to the car and see a ding in the panel behind the drivers door. I take pictures and contact the owner to arrange an easy repair without the police and insurance. The female Hyundai Sonata driver then contacts me later that week and insist she did not hit my car and refuses to pay. At this point I realize Florida is not working out and I should have called the F*ck*ng police when it happened. Never the less I setup another appointment with my shop and try to get a new diagnosis and estimate to repair the ding.

Halloween hits before my appointment and South Florida drivers seem to get stupider as it gets later into the Holidays. That being said the same night of Halloween I get smashed in my rear end while sitting in traffic (a story for another day). Geico proceeds to look at the car and only sees fit to give me $600 to repair the whole rear bumper with parts and putty? Mind u the car has never been in any accidents and has never had a scratch until the ding and now this.

My shop receives the car and argues back and forth with Geico until they finally order a bumper and are ready to paint. At this point I had to return my rental due to being in an accident. A Florida driver parking their car in the middle of a turning lane in a blind spot causing the accident and I now have to drive my own car until the car bumper is ready to go on. I get the car and we are near Christmas now and the car still has the mechanical issues and the minor accident cosmetic damages.

Well fast forward to yesterday Dec. 23 2015.
The car has now been in the BMW dealership 2 times, the Indy shop 3 times. So far the Ignition Coils, Sparks, Oil Filter Housing, VCG, Oil, and Fuel Injectors have all been taken care of and the car is still not right.

I have since contacted BMW of NA and spoken with an adviser who has since spoken with BMW of Pembroke and agreed to help resolve this issue. I then make my appointment and prepare to drop the car today at 4pm.

WELL, on the way to work which is a 5 mile journey total, the car goes into limp mode throwing engine over heated and completely disables the gas peddle. After a few times turning the car off and on I finally give up and call a tow truck at 8:30AM to be towed to BMW ahead of schedule.

The car now sits at BMW on Christmas Eve, and I have a loaner. The car has a total of 82k miles but seems like it's on its last leg. My legal council has advised me to file a lemon law if the car is not 100% fixed by this next repair that will be coming out of my Pocket$ since we are now out of warranty and BMW failed to fix the problem under warranty. It has only been 1 year and 9 months since buying the car and it appears it wont be with me much longer.

Honestly at this point I am so frustrated I probably wont be buying another BMW for a LONG time unless it's a beater.

[IEDEI]

did you buy this car certified? doesn't the warranty extend to 100k miles? I'm confused about why your extended warranty ends at "78,700 miles"?

sorry to hear about your problems. hope you resolve it. i have 78k miles on my 1M and have had no issues....so sometimes it's just a matter of luck?

[DJKapeesh]

Originally Posted by IEDEI

did you buy this car certified? doesn't the warranty extend to 100k miles? I'm confused about why your extended warranty ends at "78,700 miles"?

sorry to hear about your problems. hope you resolve it. i have 78k miles on my 1M and have had no issues....so sometimes it's just a matter of luck?

Bought the car at 54k miles right out of CPO resulting in an aftermarket warranty.

That being said I wouldn't doubt that this is 100% a matter of luck and I just seem to have ran into very bad luck in large quantities!
2 accidents for me and girlfriends accident last week (ne my insurance) all in 2 months. Switching a job against my will and constant car problems. I figure at some point the bad luck mathematically has to stop right?

[mephiska]

Originally Posted by DJKapeesh

Florida

I think I may have found the source of your problems!

[aerostar]

Originally Posted by DJKapeesh

Bought the car at 54k miles right out of CPO resulting in an aftermarket warranty.

That being said I wouldn't doubt that this is 100% a matter of luck and I just seem to have ran into very bad luck in large quantities!
2 accidents for me and girlfriends accident last week (ne my insurance) all in 2 months. Switching a job against my will and constant car problems. I figure at some point the bad luck mathematically has to stop right?

This is why I will never buy a used "sports" car.

Previous owner probably did some mods and put it back to stock before trading it back in and beat the shit out of it.

[rantarM3]

Originally Posted by DJKapeesh

My legal council has advised me to file a lemon law if the car is not 100% fixed by this next repair that will be coming out of my Pocket$ since we are now out of warranty and BMW failed to fix the problem under warranty.

Florida lemon laws do not cover used cars, only new purchased or leased cars. With new cars, the law only applies during the first 24 months of ownership. It seems that the argument is not so much a lemon law claim but a claim under the CPO warranty - namely that the malfunction was identified and brought to the dealer's attention during the warranty period but was not properly repaired.

[DJKapeesh]

Originally Posted by rantarM3

Florida lemon laws do not cover used cars, only new purchased or leased cars. With new cars, the law only applies during the first 24 months of ownership. It seems that the argument is not so much a lemon law claim but a claim under the CPO warranty - namely that the malfunction was identified and brought to the dealer's attention during the warranty period but was not properly repaired.

We are still in the first 24 month period and car was actually purchased in GA

[IEDEI]

Originally Posted by DJKapeesh

We are still in the first 24 month period and car was actually purchased in GA

i think the lemon law applies to NEW cars and you didn't purchase your car new, right?

"Lemon Law" is usually 2 years OR 24k miles in most states.

btw, your latest problem sounds like a water pump/thermostat issue. Did you change yours before? They tend to go around 70k miles.

i had mine pre-emptively replaced at 65k fearful of exactly what you're saying (limp mode and overheating).

[///mawana]

I don't see a 'horror story' (yet) just simple misdiagnosis! This is why every BMW owner should own a diagnostic tool of some sort.

[tock172]

First off, I am pretty sure the lemon law only applies to new car purchases and these usually result in the manufacturer buying the car back. Purely out of curiosity, where did you purchase the vehicle from? I don't believe BMW will even CPO a car with mileage you describe, and the aftermarket warranty leads me to believe you bought the car from a third party dealer, which would be the first red flag.

If I were you, I know I'd already be wanting to dump the car and move on. Sometimes the continued escalation never works out. Find something else you like. It sounds like this one won't ever be quite right again. I had a very similar story with an Audi S4. Ultimately, after a long correspondence with Audi of America and a new engine, my friend backed into the car in the driveway, and I just said fuck this.

[rantarM3]

Originally Posted by DJKapeesh

We are still in the first 24 month period and car was actually purchased in GA

I assumed you were talking about your 2012 listed in your sig. If so, unless the car sat on the dealer's lot until fall 2013, you're well beyond the 24 month period. Also, under Georgia lemon laws, it seems you're limited to 24,000 miles. So even if your car had been placed in service less than two years ago, you have no claim based on mileage. If you're paying a lawyer and he's telling you to file a claim, maybe you should get a second opinion from Georgia counsel.

For your reading pleasure: http://consumer.georgia.gov/about-us...e/ga-lemon-law

[Downeaster1]

I hate to say this but as a BMW tech, these seem like typical BMW problems. Granted, the dealership should have diagnosed your issue better.

[Gangplank]

Other than the accidents, I'm confused what exactly is the complaint? A 2012 w/ 78k miles and unknown maintenance done?

When were the spark plugs changed?

[DJKapeesh]

Originally Posted by tock172

I don't believe BMW will even CPO a car with mileage you describe, and the aftermarket warranty leads me to believe you bought the car from a third party dealer, which would be the first red flag.

Global Imports BMW in Atlanta GA.

Originally Posted by rantarM3

I assumed you were talking about your 2012 listed in your sig. If so, unless the car sat on the dealer's lot until fall 2013, you're well beyond the 24 month period. Also, under Georgia lemon laws, it seems you're limited to 24,000 miles. So even if your car had been placed in service less than two years ago, you have no claim based on mileage. If you're paying a lawyer and he's telling you to file a claim, maybe you should get a second opinion from Georgia counsel.

For your reading pleasure: http://consumer.georgia.gov/about-us...e/ga-lemon-law

I am now located in FL

Originally Posted by Gangplank

Other than the accidents, I'm confused what exactly is the complaint? A 2012 w/ 78k miles and unknown maintenance done?

When were the spark plugs changed?

I listed all the maintenance and plugs were done at 78k with ignition coils

[rantarM3]

Originally Posted by DJKapeesh

I am now located in FL

But you bought the car in Georgia, right? With the transaction having taken place in GA, you'd look to that state's laws, and hence, a lawyer licensed in that state.

[Joaco135]

Originally Posted by DJKapeesh

I take the car home and find that now, not only does the car hickup but it is now showing weird behavior with the transmission. The car begins to start jumping forward and jumping in RPMs when stopping very often and paired with the hickups this is turning into a nightmare at this point.

Have your SA perform this software update... SIB 12 15 14 it will take care of the lurching and RPM fluctuation. I had the same problem and after this update everything works just like it should...

[Gangplank]

Agree w/ doing the SIB software update. Also could be the vanos eccentric shaft sensor or other sensor. But it should be throwing a code.

One question. I think you said an Indy shop dos the plugs. Did they use plugs bought from BMW? In not you might want to have the BMW shop check them again.

[DJKapeesh]

The Overheat issue has been confirmed to be a electric water pump. Stealer wants $1200 to fix it before fixing the other issues...
SMFH

[Gangplank]

Electric water pump on the trans?

[mackeroni]

Reading threads like this make me anxious and a little nauseous. My 2011 135i (purchased new) has been driven briskly for 42,000 miles and has been 99.9% trouble free. I would like to think I will still be driving it for many more years and miles. But this tale of woe has me concerned.

Maybe I should look for a good 'Reader' to predict my car's future.

[bodega_bladerunner]

wow this is crazy. I really hope you get everything resolved. Don't lose hope in your car

[DJKapeesh]

After ending my year horribly, the past 3 months have been pretty smooth. I managed to order all new BMW ignition coils and bosch spark plugs, then installed them myself to make sure the job got done properly.

It appears the problem was the spark plugs which were for a N54 engine not the N55 and I'm not sure about the coils specifications.

I also changed the oil filter - o ring gasket inside the filter housing area. So in total the oil filter housing gasket, VCG, Injectors cleaned, Sparks and ignitions x2, Oil Filter - O ring, Electric water pump, bumper, exhaust were all new and replaced. I'm sure I'm missing something in there as well...