She is leaving campus, and all of a sudden there is white smoke coming from under the hood. It has not overheated, but she pulls over immediately, and looks underneath. There is coolant near the expansion tank, and she is disabled. I am not anywhere nearby, so we have it towed to a shop near home.

We recently moved about 40 miles away from the indy we've used for 6 years, so we figured we'd give a new place near home a try - bad idea.

So, the new radiator was installed w/o bolting it in. So, it wobbled around in there, and kicked the new upper hose off. The fix at this place, to pay a diag fee, order screws, refill coolant, etc: $285. What robbery.

Service advisor also gives the following news:
- valve cover gasket - $380
- oil pan gasket - $1050
- transfer case shot - replace with used unit w/60k miles - $2600

The advisor (she) then rants about BMW's are crap, and I should sell it immediately. She tells me basically that I should buy an American car because they are so much more reliable. Why the heck did I decide to try this place.

We remember that we did get a 90 day warranty, that covers transmission, engine, seals and gaskets. We didn't know it had a $1500 max payout. Warranty company agrees to pay $1500 towards repairs.

Our net: $2600.

At this point, I am hating myself for not checking it better prior to purchase.