Some of that has to do with the fact that the doors are left unlocked. Customers climb in and out of the vehicles all day long, and play with the knobs and switches, lights, etc., or keep the doors open which leave courtesy lights on, or even parking lights.

Sometimes salesmen and saleswomen demonstrate radios or navigation displays, etc.


The trickle charger keeps the battery up to snuff, by recharging the battery, at a very slow rate.

Caution RANT BELOW!!! READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL !!!!

Either way, a modern vehicle should not require a trickle charge under normal circumstances, and in theory there's nothing inherently special about the BMW's electronics package that should be energy consuming when compared to my old 2005 Nissan Armada (a few vehicles ago), which had far more electronic gizmos, all of which worked without flaw for the 3-years I owned the vehicle.

Waiting at the airport park-and-wait for a client, for example (with the Armada), I would routinely have a DVD playing in the rear broadcasting to the wireless headphones, the satellite radio on in the front speakers, parking indicator lights on, and the vent/fans throughout the SUV blowing, for 30 to 40 mins. at a time, all without issue (it had 4 climate zones-driver, passenger, 2nd row, third row). It was a great truck, but the 10 miles per gallon in city driving, became quite painful when fuel approached $4.00 per gallon, and then higher.

I ended up listing it on Craigslist. A guy from Phoenix, who had suffered a high-speed,head-on collision, with a combined impact speed of 150 mph, in a Mercedes ML500 SUV, and lived (amazingly), bought it for himself and his family.

His reasoning was A) gas would decrease, to which I thought he was insane. B) He was unwilling to put a price on his family's safety, and if that meant $600 in gas per month, so be it. I understood this point very well, but I have no kids (too young).

Back to BMW. I would just be grateful if BMWNA, which is a premier, enviable, luxury brand on the surface, treated its existing customers half as well as a common brand such as Nissan.

I know the BMW is a better vehicle in theory than any Nissan product around, in many regards, but I must say vehicles are only as good as those who assemble and maintain them. Unfortunately, we depend on the dealers to maintain them, and while I fully expect any vehicle I purchase to have at least some type of problem throughout it's life, I also expect the company from which I bought the car to stand behind their product.

Quite frankly, had BMW not come with the 4-yrs./50k maintenance, I would not have purchased the vehicle, but he maintenance offer truly spoke to me and told me that the company was willing to stand behind their product to a high degree. So far, that's not been the case, unfortunately, also to a high degree!

I don't know if I'll trade my 35d, just yet. I'm getting 17.2 mpg in town, in heavy stop and go, but averaged 24 mpg over a 2,800 mile trip I took just after Christmas. The 24 mpg was impressive, as I was traveling at 80 to 90mph for a majority of the trip, which took me from sea level, up through the Grapevine into Los Angeles, then to San Diego, back to Los Angeles, then onto I-40 up to 7,000 feet into Flagstaff,AZ, then Sedona, over to Tucson, AZ, then back to Los Angeles, CA through I-8 & I-10, back to San Francisco. By no means was it a flat route, crossing some MAJOR mountain ranges, and by no means am I a slow driver.

But, I'm immensely careful, to the point of not responding to my passenger (from my aviation training) save for directing her to assist in controlling climate, navigation, radio, etc., during technical driving, so my MPG was VERY low compared to what I feel I could have attained had I driven in the 70 to 75 limit.

I did obtain 30 mpg. between Tucson and Phoenix at 80 mph, which is a flat 110 mile section, at 11 p.m., with low traffic. That was incredible to see for a vehicle with a GVWR of 6,000 lbs., which was fully loaded with luggage, etc.

So, at the moment I have a love / hate relationship with my new 35d.

If BMWNA got their act together, I'd appreciate this vehicle far more.

Is their service this bad across the board or is it confined to the X5 and the X5 35d?

I wanted to pick up a 335i, a 335d, or a 328i, for my wife out of safety concerns in 2010, but if this is par for the course, I'll look at Volvo, Lexus, or Infinity. Actually, during a business trip to New England in September I rented a 2009 Nissan Altima. I was highly impressed, averaged close to 30 mpg., and the thing only cost $22 - $24k.

Come on BMWNA. I know you're monitoring these forums. Don't kill your company's reputation.

I shouldn't be rating BMWs quality below that of a late model Nissan or Hyundai, based on personal, extensive experience! No one should! I bought this car for it's safety and reliability!

Now I wonder: is the airbag going to inflate, if forbid I'm involved in a collision? Will the seat belts pretension via the pyrotechnic charge, if the vehicle senses an imminent rollover?

I shouldn't even be asking these questions, but here I am, wondering. I certainly know a Lexus is going to operate exactly as advertised, so please BMW, live up to your promise and get your act together!

Don't become another Audi, and fall off the face of the earth for a decade due to quality issues.

And for the sake of human decency, pay for the DAMN DEF to be serviced as you've advertised throughout sales brochures, online, and in the warranty and maintenance materials that came with the car.

Don't force a customer's hand by forcing one to file suit against a dealer, an innocent salesman, and your corporate entity, for not standing behind your product and for a lousy $150 fluid refill. You're leaving us all with very few options, but to take such drastic steps, and unfortunately for many on this board taking such steps are quite honestly not that drastic, rather they're preferable to being "screwed" by a dishonest organization that is obviously gambling that their customers will not take such steps due to the costs involved.

For many, those costs are free, and in the end, only BMW will end up on the losing end. Corporate greed at it's finest, sums up this situation nicely, as far as I can see.

Rant complete...and I feel a tad better, for now.