Dealer Blows my 4.8is engine!

[bcredliner]

If you try to eat a 4lb burger because it will be free if you do, be sure you have the stomach for the side effects even if you are successful.

Last resort should be filing suit. Once you sue, all contact with you stops, the suit is stuck in the mud while the recipient(s) go through their process, the issue goes into priority la la land. Once things get set up they will request a friendly get together to settle things without a fight. They will come with nuclear weapons. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being their priority, least cost to corporation is 10 and your satisfaction is 0. From that point the negotiations begin--they will drag that out. Remember it is all about billable hours and wearing you down, it never happens fast once it gets to suit and attorneys.

A decent sized corporation can drastically outspend you and, IF, you ever recover your attorney fees it will not be until all is long over. I don't see this as something an attorney will take on contingency, not enough potential, and if they do that means they take a significant share of any settlement, less expenses (which will initiate an OMG, OMG this can't be) from you. And, the corporate attorneys will cut their losses long before contingency is worthwhile.

And if you think this is bad just poke the corporate bear too hard. The bears share of corporate leaders or climbers have no or discarded empathy early on.

Certainly there is a time to file suit. I disagree you are there. I do think unless your BMW contact resolves this quickly you need to have advice from an attorney you trust as to what to do before you go deeper into the current black hole.

[TerminatorX5]

remove the removable options you installed, get their initial offer of $23K (was it $23K), find yourself another 4.8iS (or move to a newer one), upgrade the new one to your specs... even with the new engine you stand a chance that they will screw something else up during installation... besides, your car sat undriven for 4 months - this is almost an equivalent of 12 months of hard driving (or so i say!!!)...


i hope this is not too late into the ordeal to take the cash and run...

[AquilaBMW]

Hate to be the one to say this, but this is a situation of action long over due. OP - you seem to be handling this dealer with white gloves - don't know if there is something I am missing here.

The dealer committed a grave mistake and for them to have you on the hook for this and for this long is absurd to me. You shouldn't even be discussing giving them additional work considering what they did. You should have been raising hell a long time ago. Maybe it is not in your personality to do so, but you should have sought legal action against them sooner in this ordeal or stand firmer and demand results.

From I understand, the engine in question is actually built by Alpina for BMW - so this might explain why it was difficult to obtain and had to come from Germany. With that said, an engine for any X5 should be US spec as the cars are built here and it would be silly to make a bunch of different engines. Even if they did, I would assume it would be a case of simply switching over Emissions equipment - which these days is stricter in Europe than the US.

Please stop allowing them to drag this on. They have taken advantage of your patience way too much. It's time for them to fully face the cost of their mistake.

[Doru]

I think your dealer is playing you big time. They have time, and it passes in their favor. I think they stall it until YOU will get tired and will accept the buyout for a totaled car, which will be even less, because another 1/2 year has passed. Also, when doing the "buyout", probably some pics of the car will be involved (so the paper pushers have "evidence" for an estimate), and it won't look well with a flat and after sitting in the elements for how many months? You know, paint dulls, dashboard too, sometimes it cracks. I wouldn't be surprised if the interior wood didn't develop some nasty cracks by now, and maybe even the glazing around the windshield starting to crack. The rubber hoses which are plenty in the engine bay, will get to that "rotten" point, battery is probably dead. So the future buyout "estimate" will be based on that. Even if you call a lawyer, he will have to accept the actual state of the vehicle. NOBODY will remember how the vehicle looked like when it was pulled in for the oil change, unless you have some pics, maybe, and even that could be questionable.
Sorry to say, but they played you hard, and they will do so, until the value of the car will dwindle to nil, and you'll be happy to cash maybe 15 grand. They have to recover the cost of that engine they swallowed as well, no? Who do you think will pay for that? Not me, not them...

Just sayin', and I REALLY hope I'm dead wrong.

[thewifesx5]

Maybe it's time to contact "Get Jesse" at King5

[tmv]

Originally Posted by thewifesx5

Maybe it's time to contact "Get Jesse" at King5

Sound like he already did http://www.xoutpost.com/948668-post158.html

[TerminatorX5]

any news?

[e30cabrio]

How the heck is this still unresolved?

[Ricky Bobby]

If he got a lawyer involved I'm sure he has to be quiet about it until there is a settlement. Usually they cant divulge facts about an ongoing settlement during the proceedings.

[e30cabrio]

True. There was a thread on M5board where the mechanic of a dealer totaled a guys car. It dragged out until the guy got a lawyer at which point he said he would be un-gaged at the conclusion & post then.