Help! 2008 BMW x5 4.8 Engine Failure

[lanbrown]

Originally Posted by trader4

How do you know that BMW was competent in their diagnosis of
the problem? According to Emden, BMW told him that the tires
were ruined in his very limited amount of driving by MB having rotated
them. He says he came back with a CEL on, they reset it, told
him it was nothing, sent him on his way again. He says they told
him that the oil filter looked old, it was a "cheap aftermarket" one.
It's Hengst. That doesn't sound particularly competent to me.
In a case like this, you proceed against everyone that you could
make a case against and in my book, the BMW dealer is at the top
of that list.

I agree there is a good chance the vehicle had the problem before
it was sold/traded in. Can the BMW dealer see what work was
done on it, if it was taken to another BMW dealer just prior to
being sold by the previous owner? If by some miracle he could
find a service ticket somewhere that shows it was diagnosed and
the owner knew this car was about to blow up, that would be a
whole new angle.

Was the MB dealer competent? Was the OP competent? Are you competent? is anyone competent that has posted in this thread?

Given that you don't even know that a BMW dealer can see information about the car...yes, the dealer has access to information that could show if the previous owner knew there was an issue. The BMW dealer does not need to release that information and BMW NA has strict "policies" on that information. The previous owner could have used an independent shop to get it services outside of the warranty and that would not show in any service record.

I also disagree with the whole new angle bit. The OP bought a used vehicle and many states, a used car is sold AS IS. In most states the lemon law does not apply on used vehicles. There are some exceptions though and a used vehicle that comes with a warranty might be able to use the lemon law. The OP did say it was in the shop quite a bit. Was it 30 days of that 60-day period? If so, I'd probably push to try to get it covered under the lemon law. Once again though, an attorney will be required as this is a used vehicle and the law might make it quite clear that warranty or not, it was a used a vehicle and cannot be claimed under the lemon law.