Major issues with car.. Dealership doesnt care.

[N54Fiend]

First post! Wooooooohoooo

I've been stalking you guys on here for a while and its time for me to chime in.

Anyways, this is a very long story, but I'll try my best not to make it a book.

It all started when I first bought my 2008 135i From carmax. It had 45,500 miles and drove like the wind. I was no stranger to the N54 platform because my best friend had a 335i with all bolt-ons and (Jb3 at the time).

So, first day I pull off the lot and as Im pulling on the highway I decide to see what shes got. About 3 seconds into the pull, the reduced engine power light comes on. So I turn right back around and go to carmax. No less than 20 minutes from when I bought the car, carmax tells me to take it to BMW because they wont fix it. So now I have to take it to the stealership. I finally get around to taking it a few days later (to my local dealer Lauderdale BMW of Pembroke Pines) and they replace the front and rear VANOS sensors and all is well again.

My next trip is about a week later to my not so local dealer (Braman BMW of Jupiter) which is about 70 miles away to get my Dinan stage II tune. It takes them about 4 hours to load the tune, but when they finally get done its awesome. This car is a beast. Ive heard that some cars take better to the Dinan tunes than other and I believe mine took it very well.

All Is well until one day when I am on the highway and the reduced engine power light comes on (Orange) I was on my way to pick up some papers from work, so I did that then made a quick stop at the dealer so that they could read the code. The problem was that when I shut my car off at work the code went away and wasn't there when I turned it back on. Luckily when I got back on the road it came back on. Then I get to the dealer and say the light is on now but if you shut the car off itll go away. So the SA gets in the car, shuts it off, puts the key in, turns it back on then drives it into the shop. Needless to say he came back 10 minuets later and said "I read the codes on your car and found nothing" so off I went. This incident I chalked up to bad gas.

Then I take my car in for its 50,000 mile service. The car has 50,100 Miles on it and what does my dealer say... Your Wastegates are going bad and you'll need to replace them "This clicking noise is actually worse than I've ever heard on any car" said my service manager. The thing is that I had been hearing this clicking noise on deceleration since I bought the car, so I always just figured it was normal. So when does the dealer tell me about this issue they've known about all this time? 100 miles after my "warranty" is over. So I call BMW NA and make a complaint. 3 days later I get a call back and they tell me they cant help me. So now Im on my own. I actually called Dinan and spoke to the warranty man, Dan. Great guy Dinan has there. He offered his help to go at bat for me with BMW and try to make some progress. Hes kept me up to date, but I dont want to hound him because hes doing his best. Hes had no luck so far. However, he did tell me that the warranty on the wastegates is in the emissions system which is if I remember correctly 8 year 82,000 Miles. So back to the dealer I go.. Armed with the document for the class action suit that extended the warranty on the wastegates I spoke with the guys at Pembroke Pines BMW. Again, No luck. They dont care.

Fast forwarding about two months, Now occasionally my car will show the reduced engine power light when accelerating and feels like its not building boost. But right after turning the car off and on it goes away. The issue is that Im always doing something when this happens, so I cant leave my car on until I get to the dealer. Ive taken pictures of some of the reduced power lights that have come up.

Today on my way to work, I have to accelerate because of a sticky situation I was in during traffic. I was rolling at about 40 mph and I hit the gas hard enough to just hit the threshold and make the car downshift, but instead the car shook all over the place. The orange service engine soon light came on and any time i touched the gas the car would vibrate and shake. So I immediately took a picture of the dash. As I was checking to make sure the picture wasnt blurry I look back up, and the light is gone. The cars driving normally. Im just at a loss for what I should do.

I was thinking take the trip into Braman BMW Jupiter and give them a shot at things. Ive given up on pembroke pines.. Any opinions?

Thanks in advance,
Adam

[ragingpanda]

The service at that BMW Pines Dealer has always been terrible for me as well. I was just there a few days ago getting my dsc unit replaced but yeah I can relate to your situation. Even though they are local to me as well, I will be taking my car elsewhere from now on. Give another dealer a shot and see what they say.

[N54Fiend]

Originally Posted by ragingpanda

The service at that BMW Pines Dealer has always been terrible for me as well. I was just there a few days ago getting my dsc unit replaced but yeah I can relate to your situation. Even though they are local to me as well, I will be taking my car elsewhere from now on. Give another dealer a shot and see what they say.

I will. Dont get me wrong though, they're nice guys at pines, but they're just a pain in the but to deal with. Also NOBODY there answers the phone or returns there messages. Its so corrupt.

[nnguyen04]

i thought wastegate was cover under 8 years warranty, why some bmw dealership refuse to fix the problem and some do? thats what i really dont understand..

[N54Fiend]

Originally Posted by nnguyen04

i thought wastegate was cover under 8 years warranty, why some bmw dealership refuse to fix the problem and some do? thats what i really dont understand..

Welcome to my life. I had thought it was only my dealer being jerks, but BMW NA denied my as well as my regional guy from BMW NA. They just have a thing against me and my car IMO.

[135Pats]

Any other dealerships in the area? Sounds like these guys have been incompetent. Did you give it a good test drive at carmax? A carmax n54 with 45k miles and no warranty would have worried me a good deal. Best of luck getting this resolved.

[N54Fiend]

Originally Posted by 135Pats

Any other dealerships in the area? Sounds like these guys have been incompetent. Did you give it a good test drive at carmax? A carmax n54 with 45k miles and no warranty would have worried me a good deal. Best of luck getting this resolved.

the only other dealership within 40 miles is owned by the same company. However when I bought the 1, it had the remainder of the 50,000 mile warranty. They just decided not to tell me about any problems until 50,100 miles

[MilehighM3]

For starters the previously stored codes will be attached to the paperwork from other visits.
Tell them to reference SI B01 02 12 for wastegate extended warranty of 8/82 :-)

[Dackelone]

Here is the SIB for the ticking turbos...

SIB 11.13.07.pdf


Any engine check light codes should be saved in the car's DME until erased. When you turn the engine off the light might go out, but it should still be saved in the DME. Sometimes the small (ECL's) codes do not get saved to the key fob, but they will show up in the car's DME computer. G.L.

[Golden3ye]

good luck man, I am sorry they are running you around. It seems the wastegates are indeed under extended coverage and they have no right to refuse you. I would escalate this immediately

[Colt]

Originally Posted by Golden3ye

good luck man, I am sorry they are running you around. It seems the wastegates are indeed under extended coverage and they have no right to refuse you. I would escalate this immediately

Are they still under warranty if modifications are done to the car? I was rejected for any repairs (if there was any, there weren't) when I went in for a oil change because I had a ER CP. So now I'm in the system as voided.

[Golden3ye]

Originally Posted by Angerman

Are they still under warranty if modifications are done to the car? I was rejected for any repairs (if there was any, there weren't) when I went in for a oil change because I had a ER CP. So now I'm in the system as voided.

I am no expert by any means but mods sure would get you voided by most dealers. But I was under the impression the Dinan tune the OP has wouldn't void a warranty.

[luster]

sounds like misfire - replace plugs n coils

[cadeucsb]

Originally Posted by Golden3ye

I am no expert by any means but mods sure would get you voided by most dealers. But I was under the impression the Dinan tune the OP has wouldn't void a warranty.

yea weird situation here with BMW voiding and Dinan taking up the warranty with a class action involved...who honors the class action?

To me, Dinan should. The mods void the BMW warranty which Dinan agrees to uphold, therefore they should uphold the class action settlement warranty too.

[nnguyen04]

mods shouldnt void any warranty unless its directly related to the parts thats broken. Moss Act

I find it wierd that you even got the class action lawsuit paper and STB - and they still told you no. thats funny.

[Colt]

Originally Posted by nnguyen04

mods shouldnt void any warranty unless its directly related to the parts thats broken. Moss Act

I brought that up when I went in for the oil change (as stated above) and most dealerships don't give a shit. By the time it is something serious (blown engine, etc) you take them to court. By that time how much would you spend for all that?

[Eyeman]

That sux, but I bet it's not an uncommon situation given all these issues our cars have. Extended warranties on the fuel system work fine when the car has less that 50k and no mods. I bet tons of us will be going in for those regular check engine lights once over 50k and for sure the average stealership will charge us to check the code then try to get out of the work.

I don't know about your rattle but for sure your reduced power issues sounds like plugs or the HPFP to me. If possible, I'd take it to a local tuner for diagnosis. Then at least you'll know who to blame. Good luck!

[1911A145]

You should drive a little further north and come to my BMW dealership...

Coggin BMW of Ft. Pierce, Fl 34952

I have had NOTHING but GREAT service and NEVER an issue from ANY of the SA or the main shop foreman Rick. They WILL take care of you and roll out the red carpet like any BMW dealer should. Call and set up an appointment with Phil and get it taken care of...

[Freon]

The Magnuson Moss warranty act was really meant to stop from gouging on replacement parts. I.e. air filters, vacuum bags for your vacuum cleaner, etc. It's not for protecting your warranty when you swap full exhaust systems that are primarily trying to increase engine power. I could see you having a case if you had put a K&N panel air filter in the factory box and they cried foul, or you hit a rock and punch a hole in the muffler, had it patched by a third party shop. Or if your engine warranty was denied due to an aftermarket spoiler, and so forth.

You can quote it all you want, the dealer can still tell you to pound sand. You can sue, but I think it is unlikely you'd win when you are modifying the car to produce more power, more boost, etc.

It's a risk you take with a modified car.

[Golden3ye]

try another dealer is my advice

[Jatran661]

my dealership is bs too! they confirmed the problem contact bmwna and attempt hella times to fix problems and the problem is still there. Then they said some bs saying its normal.

[N54Fiend]

Originally Posted by Bmw135er

For starters the previously stored codes will be attached to the paperwork from other visits.
Tell them to reference SI B01 02 12 for wastegate extended warranty of 8/82 :-)

Sorry for the late response.. Work gets the best of me sometimes. Thanks for the wastegate warranty reference number! Ill mention it at my upcoming appointment.

about the codes being stored, My car does not store any of these codes. So there are no codes on old paperwork either. Good try though. The key didnt even store the check engine light from the other day.