Home Forums Articles How To's FAQ Register
Go Back   Xoutpost.com > BMW SAV Forums > X5 (E53) Forum
Arnott
User Name
Password
Member List Premier Membership Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Xoutpost server transfer and maintenance is occurring....
Xoutpost is currently undergoing a planned server migration.... stay tuned for new developments.... sincerely, the management


Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 08-25-2009, 02:20 AM
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: California
Posts: 9
rilo2007 is on a distinguished road
Cool AC, Window, General Module, Remote, Dealer

Been a long time lurker here, mostly. Thought I pass on my maintenance experience today, especially for fellow Orange County X5ers. My wife took her 05 3.0 (63K) to Crevier BMW because the air conditioning is blowing warm on the passenger side and the rear passenger window no longer opens (lucky it died closed!). As a lurking reader of posts, I was pretty mentally ready for my first window regulator failure and, after some searches, saw that an exact duplicate of my AC problem being diagnosed as a leaking valve for the warm air bypass. I told my wife of my findings and told her to make sure the service manager checks these issues.

She calls me at work saying Crevier diagnosed the AC problem as a lack of coolant and advises recharge - ok, I'll bite. Then she said the window regulator and motor is fine, and that it is a general module issue. I took a swallow at the price tag ($764) - trying to think if we really needed that rear window open - but since the module controlled so many other things I decided to go for it. Then she tells me Crevier also diagnosed that the fan clutch is leaking and it's just a matter of time, by now - what's a few hundred more. So my wife told them they can go ahead (plus the obligatory brake work on extended maintenance and a radiator flush), as long as she can get the car back by 4 because she has get home to get some work done (she works from home at times).

She goes to pick up the car, drives home and found that the remote doesn't work when she tried to lock the car. She takes it back to Crevier, and the Service Advisor informed her it's just a matter of reprogramming the keys - a 5 minute effort. 5 minutes go by and she calls him out from wherever he's hiding and he said, oh, a few minutes more. 10 minutes go by and she has to get them to call him out again - oh it'll just be a couple more minutes. About 45 minutes go by (after dodging a few more of her calls), he comes out and said, well, you key is obviously dead and gave the "it's not our fault" shrug. Funny, it wasn't dead yesterday. It wasn't dead this morning (I drove the X yesterday and the seats were in my position, and she used the unlock to get the seats back to her settings), but now that they replaced the general module, it's dead. She told him it was working perfectly fine when she dropped off the car and and that's an unacceptable answer, especially after she just shelled out $1700 to them for a variety of services. So he mumbled something about since she DID spend so much on services perhaps BMW can help her get a new key. By now she's fuming, more so because she was late on her way home, so she told him she'll bring my key back tomorrow - maybe it's 'dead' too.

She called and told me about this while I was at work. I was incensed and called Crevier and got their Customer Service Manager as the Manager of the Service Department has gone already. I told her about this and told her that's no way to be treating a customer, especially ones who's been taking the X to Crevier for the last 30,000 miles. Are they implying we're too stupid to notice the remote wasn't working - or don't they think replacing the general module may have something to do with it? So she asked that my wife see her tomorrow morning and she will talk to the Manager of the Service Department. Can't wait.

When I got home, sure enough, my remote, working as of yesterday, no longer works (but both keys do turn the ignition). Having done a little research, I pulled up a couple of threads on remotes not working due to general module problems, either a problem with the module itself, or the dealers not programming the module, or an accidental trip of the security system back to "transport" mode from the "sales" mode - which de-activates remote unlocking (although in our case the seat memory settings are also gone). I've printed and circled the good bits for the wife so she can, uh, inquire about it tomorrow (I personally think she's going to give them a bloody nose if they don't watch it!). I'll post the resolution - it seems at least a few people have had similar remote problems.

I've had the car long to understand that parts on the Ultimate Driving Machine can be tempermental, even fragile, and the X can be expensive to own. I'm okay with it (so far - knock on wood). But I really don't like paying a lot of money and be treated like a moron or be outright lied to. And it's a shame when we have to experience this at Crevier, which have had a good reputation in the past. This is a trust issue - if I can't trust a Service Advisor at Crevier, why should I risk working with them? Maybe this thread will end up being re-posted in the Dealers forum.

Last edited by rilo2007; 08-25-2009 at 02:50 AM.
Reply With Quote

Sponsored Links

  #2  
Old 08-26-2009, 01:03 AM
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: socal
Posts: 20
bobby is on a distinguished road
i feel your pain man. i used to taking my x to that same stealer for service and they always find something else wrong with the x and they charge an arm and leg to fix. now i found a good indy i who charges only a fraction of the stealer charges and i never look back. and my wallet thanked me :-)
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 08-26-2009, 01:22 AM
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: California
Posts: 9
rilo2007 is on a distinguished road
So today my wife went back to Crevier, met the Customer Service Manager, who took her to meet the same Service Advisor. The CS Manager asks straight out, can the keys be damaged by a defective general module? The Service Advisor says yes, at which time the CS Manager tells my wife that no matter what, they'll fix the problem, and she left with a loaner. 2 hours later they call her up, problem fixed - remotes now work. The problem - uh - take this down fellow X5ers if you didn't know this already - they needed both keys to successfully reprogram the remotes. Is that the real story? Who knows - but keep it in mind next time your remote cuts out and you take it to the dealer.

So far, the A/C seems to work. The rear window works again. Expensive fixes but at least they do the trick. Too bad it's offset by the fact that the mechanic/technician/advisor/whatever didn't know you needed both keys to reprogram the remote, and felt the need to try to shrug it off. The unnecessary aggravation surely makes the effort to find a good indy seem worthwhile. I'm open to suggestions - Orange County and Riverside California, anyone?
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
air conditioning, dealer, general module, remote, window

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On





All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:14 AM.
vBulletin, Copyright 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. SEO by vBSEO 3.6.0
© 2017 Xoutpost.com. All rights reserved. Xoutpost.com is a private enthusiast site not associated with BMW AG.
The BMW name, marks, M stripe logo, and Roundel logo as well as X3, X5 and X6 designations used in the pages of this Web Site are the property of BMW AG.
This web site is not sponsored or affiliated in any way with BMW AG or any of its subsidiaries.