Engine Malfunction #2 Cause Found?

[ard]

Originally Posted by ABMW

Letters going out to NHTSA, BMWNA's legal dept., and the selling dealership tomorrow. I guess in writing this, I've found my personal comfort zone. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for some of you to be driving around for 6 or 8 weeks with your check-engine light on. I've never read anything like this from any auto maker selling vehicles in the United States. I've owned Fords, GMs, Nissans, Toyotas, Kias, Hyundais, Mercedes, Jeeps/Chryslers, Suzukis, Hondas, Audis, VWs, and probably a few other brands I'm missing. NEVER, and I mean never, have I experienced such blatant customer disregard!

Some customers just engender disregard I guess.

[ABMW]

Originally Posted by ard

Some customers just engender disregard I guess.

If there were not hundreds of similar complaints posted each month about like issues, I might agree with you. But, the two points have nothing to do eithone another.

Though, thanks for the constructive feedback. It certainly helps those of us with this ongoing issue. A quick search will reveal it's common, and bmwna is taking no action to assist it's customers with what is most certainly a known and VERY frustrating, not to mention dangerous, issue.

When was the last time your vehicle stalled in
a highway intersection, completely out of the blue?

[Craig]

Originally Posted by ABMW

Hmm,

Not good. There's no error codes or faults that show. It's so random, only happening twice in the span of 3,600 miles that it's going to be impossible to film via video, etc.

I think you guys are right about BMW not fixing it, until total failure. This time it was not a big deal, in actuality I was only a few feet from the gas station. Not that I believe it to be related to the fuel level being low. The analog fuel gauge was half way between empty and 1/4th of tank. The vehicle was calculating the miles to empty based upon my miles per gallon average. The preceding tech info was probably obvious to all who have posted, so just FYI.

But, the first time it happened I was in the middle of a 60 mph. intersection. The vehicle stalled, and bucked as if stalling from fuel starvation. It would stall for about 1 second, then recover partial power, then stall, etc.

Along with the stalling, I lost power steering, and brakes. Not a big deal, save for the fact that I had to get out of the intersection. Had this happened, or if this happened in an intersection during the making of a left turn, with oncoming traffic proceeding at 50 mph. it would not have been a good situation.

I'm going to open up a report with the NHTSA, and try giving the dealer another shot.

I'm fully capable of handling an emergency, or at least quickly determining my options in such a hypothetical. Though, I truly can't say the same about my wife, who I drives the vehicle upon occasion.

I had a 1997 Jeep Wrangler that exhibited similar symptoms. It ended up being a faulty throttle position sensor, and it was an ongoing issue with that vehicle throughout my ownership duration. (For disclosure: I owned two 1997s. The other one was flawless to 215k miles, and was sold last year)

I'm not sure what's going on, but again BMW Concord, outside of San Francisco, when pressed did solicit that some 35ds were suffering from faulty fuel pumps.

The service manager said that with some vehicles it happens once, and then never again. With other vehicles they require a replacement fuel pump, but in all cases they need a fault code!!!!!!!!!!

To recap, at that time I pressed the SOS for road side assistance. They connected me with BMW Concord. BMW Concord claimed that BMW SOS could diagnose the vehicle remotely via some sort of so-called telemetry. They then sent me back to BMW SOS. BMW SOS then said "no, we can't do that." I was then sent back to BMW Concord, with a tech that insisted it could be done. This back and forth went on for about 3-hrs. with me on the side of the road (seriously). Granted it was December 22nd, right before Christmas, but still. Finally BMWNA demanded that BMW Concord's service manager be put on the line. They gave her an earful, during a three-way conversation.

By then, I attempted to start it one last time, just to make it home (about 8-miles away). It started fine, and there was no recurrence until today.

I called BMWNA a few weeks ago, to address this issue and multiple other issues going on that BMW Concord's been unable to remedy. She was shocked and promised me a call back that day, or first thing the next morning. 10-days later I received a call back from "her" (the customer relations woman from BMWNA) with a message that she was working to resolve the issue. I called her back with a very kind and polite message to call me back. No dice.

Tomorrow I'll be phoning her again. I truly love my 35d. It's the neatest vehicle I've owned in many years, from a mechanical standpoint, and it's "okay" in the handling department for what it is, to boot.

But, in this day in age, I don't want to have these types of issues popping up, with no fault codes to speak of, and no resolution from the dealer, or even any assistance.

I'm a very frustrated BMW owner at this point, and this issue is following on an entire punch list of issues. Everything from the passenger airbag, to issues with the rear hatch, to problems with the rear passenger door locking, and the voice activated function on the steering wheel selectively working on and off, are really starting to piss me off.

I have zero problem with vehicles having issues. Automobiles, Motorcycles, and Airplanes are my hobbies. I love to tinker with them. But, when the break, I expect them to be repaired, or a phone call to be returned, or at the very least some assistance from the guys in charge, in this case BMWNA.

I'm quite upset with my purchase thus far, which is very sad, considering how much potential this vehicle has. When it works, it works. But when it acts up, it's absurd the lengths I have to take to get the smallest of issues resolved. Reading the boards, it's obvious I'm not alone.

Where is the line drawn? I'm at the point of starting a lemon law return, and having the vehicle replaced with a new 35d. If that's not evidence that I love the vehicle, I don't know what is. I just want some freaking service!

BMWNA Wake the F_CK Up. It's not 1985. I expect my $70k vehicle to be more reliable than a Chrysler Seabring!

Letters going out to NHTSA, BMWNA's legal dept., and the selling dealership tomorrow. I guess in writing this, I've found my personal comfort zone. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for some of you to be driving around for 6 or 8 weeks with your check-engine light on. I've never read anything like this from any auto maker selling vehicles in the United States. I've owned Fords, GMs, Nissans, Toyotas, Kias, Hyundais, Mercedes, Jeeps/Chryslers, Suzukis, Hondas, Audis, VWs, and probably a few other brands I'm missing. NEVER, and I mean never, have I experienced such blatant customer disregard!

If it were not taking place to me, it would almost be comical, but right now I'm just pissed, and want to be able to open my rear hatch from the outside of the vehicle, don't want to worry about it stalling (even if it's only twice every 3,600 miles), and I want to be able to talk to my damn car and tell it what to do!

Who else am I going to talk to when I'm stuck on the side of the road for 3-hrs. with a dwindling cell phone battery, and BMWNA having a show down game of "who's the boss" at my expense?

You're not the Lone Ranger. If you PM me, I can give you the number of a supervisor at BMWNA. I don't want to post his info on the board. I feel your pain. I've decided to trade mine in for a New Lexus GX 460. I drove around for 3 months with a check engine light until I finally called BMWNA to complain. Who knows when I would have received the part for my vehicle without calling BMWNA. Same thing happened with my heated fuel filter. BMWNA was not interested in buying back my vehicle...

Good luck,

Craig

[MINIz guy]

We also got this message for the first time with our diesel. We were also driving up a few hills, one was probably 25% and the one we got the engine malfunction was on a 10% hill. We've also been dealing with DEF fluid freezing twice already, stalling issues and squeaky brakes. For a vehicle with only 2000 miles, this is unacceptable.

We have already talked to BMWNA about this. They also don't want to buy back our vehicle but have said something about replacing our diesel when the next big problem arises. We're still thinking about what to do next...

[ABMW]

Interesting, that they said they'd purchase it back after the next major repair.

I'm going to pursue a few legal options before I give up on the vehicle. As I mentioned in one other thread, that deals with this issue, I don't mind if I have to give up the X5.

But, I'm not going to lose a single penny in doing so, due to depreciation, etc.

Litigation would be a pain (but not to the point that I will avoid that route), but so too would losing $20 to $30k when I sell the SUV at a loss.

I have a feeling it won't go that far, but then again, I can't keep a $70k vehicle that only partially functions without a full resolution.

[ABMW]

Originally Posted by MINIz guy

We also got this message for the first time with our diesel. We were also driving up a few hills, one was probably 25% and the one we got the engine malfunction was on a 10% hill. We've also been dealing with DEF fluid freezing twice already, stalling issues and squeaky brakes. For a vehicle with only 2000 miles, this is unacceptable.

We have already talked to BMWNA about this. They also don't want to buy back our vehicle but have said something about replacing our diesel when the next big problem arises. We're still thinking about what to do next...

What did your dealer do to resolve the issues? Did they replace any parts?

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by ABMW

I'm going to pursue a few legal options before I give up on the vehicle.

It might be best to move onto another brand.

[ABMW]

Originally Posted by Penguin

It might be best to move onto another brand.

It's possible you're right, but not at any lost expense. It's obvious, by reading this thread and a similar thread "Engine Malfunction and Dead Battery" that I'm not whining away for the sake of attention.

Moving to a new brand is one possibility, but again not one I will take at the expense of losing $20 or $30k on a 2.5-month old vehicle.

Off the top, I'd loose $7k in taxes and title and another $15k to $20k in depreciation, if not more.

What I would honestly prefer is to have my vehicle repaired, as I'm sure the rest of those suffering from this issue, and similar issues would.

Penguin, if your obtaining excellent service and you have a properly functioning X5, that's fantastic.

But, there's quite a large percentage of us (X5 owners) who do not have reliable vehicles, and in some cases vehicles that have major malfunctions taking place, with little in the way of solutions coming from BMWNA.

Perhaps you can clarify your point, as surely you're not recommending one walk away from $30k, which would be lost in switching to a new brand, and chalk it up to a learning experience. Are you?

[Craig]

At one point, BMWNA asked if I was interested in another BMW. I wasn't, I just wanted my money back. At that point, they weren't interested in buying mine back. I'm going to cut my losses and buy a more reliable vehicle. I don't think this car is reliable or durable in my opinion.

Good luck,

Craig

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by ABMW

Perhaps you can clarify your point, as surely you're not recommending one walk away from $30k, which would be lost in switching to a new brand, and chalk it up to a learning experience. Are you?

I thought it was rather clear... if you are unhappy with the vehicle and the dealer and the manufacturer of the vehicle, it is time to switch to another brand. When all three are vastly unsatisfactory, it is unlikely you will be happy in the long-run. So it is best to get an early divorce. Obviously you should make this switch in the most convenient and economical way possible. But whatever it costs, what is it worth to be chronically unhappy and frustrated with your vehicle?