2011 35d Fire/Smoldering (help needed!)

[London Lad]

Anyone see a pattern forming here :-)

[hotrod2448]

Originally Posted by ard

Right, you weren't here with ABMWs first X5d in which the histrionics reached epic proportions..then he went back and deleted 40 or so of his posts to erase the history...

I kind of suspected there might be something along those lines with the first one. Care to provide any cliff notes on what exactly transpired to help those of us who are ill informed?

My first reaction was if thousands of people are cruising around in X5's not having this type of issue and the OP happens to have it with two of them in a row it might be something he is doing.

Maybe something simple like " Well, there's your problem. Stop spraying the catalytic converter with undercoating to keep your ride looking good from all angles and the smoking should quit" or "Maybe when you were trying to work out your own reflash for the ECU you caused some problems with it." or something along those lines.

[motordavid]

If it were my car, I would either wait out that special "SPI Inspection", and take that result as valid, or go get "my car" at the dlr, and drive the sumbitch...

I haven't seen many diesels "blow up", and other than Vlad's ugly situ, I would not have any qualms in driving "my new diesel X".

Maybe "next time", the sumbitch will slowly burn to the ground and then you can start over with another brand...

Parts of this Thread are like reading/watching Kafka's The Trial, imo.
GL, mD

YouTube - Kafka (1991) Trailer

[London Lad]

Originally Posted by motordavid

If it were my car, I would either wait out that special "SPI Inspection", and take that result as valid, or go get "my car" at the dlr, and drive the sumbitch...

I haven't seen many diesels "blow up", and other than Vlad's ugly situ, I would not have any qualms in driving "my new diesel X".

Maybe "next time", the sumbitch will slowly burn to the ground and then you can start over with another brand...

Parts of this Thread are like reading/watching Kafka's The Trial, imo.
GL, mD

YouTube - Kafka (1991) Trailer

"You don't belong here, do you"

[ABMW]

Originally Posted by hotrod2448

Judging by what you are saying regarding BMWNA's and BMWFS's responses to this situation you might have been better off to go against your advice and let it burn like the one pictured previously. At least then there is no arguing if there was/wasn't a problem.

The problem there is that one has a legal duty to attempt to mitigate damages to a vehicle. It's written within the language of most warranties.

For example, if one were to keep driving a vehicle with an oil light on and zero oil pressure, instead of immediately shutting off the engine, BMW could deny coverage. The same principle applies here.

[motordavid]

So, ABMW...what is the update/outcome of your smoldering situ?

[ABMW]

UPDATE to those interested:

Day-33, still no vehicle. To those who have mentioned there is no sign of a fire, that is incorrect, and I was incorrect in stating that (if I insinuated that), it was based on early verbal information I received during phone calls, only.

There is sign of a fire on the diesel's particulate regeneration unit, as to why the fire did not spread, most likely had to do with the fact that we shut the vehicle off the moment we saw smoke.

My dealer had this to say about the regeneration unit yesterday (9/16/10) (copied and pasted from an e-mail they sent) "spoke with ________ the shop foreman on this, and he told me that there are sensors that measure the back pressure, and determine the regeneration time from this. He said that it happens approximately every 400 miles."

During the regeneration phase the unit reaches a temperature of approx. 700+/- F, burning off large diesel particulates, which are further filtered by the cat. and then expelled.

My vehicle suffered an incident at 390 miles- so this is in-line with what would be expected, at least according to the snippet from the e-mail above. What is unusual is for a fire or smoke to accompany this regeneration. The working hypothesis the dealer is moving forward with now, in writing, is that there was something in contact with the regeneration unit, that should not have been there. This is a factory caused error.

As to whether or not there is evidence of charring, etc., there certainly is. Of note, BMW has a stack of papers 3" to 4" thick on the vehicle. They've refused to hand over what they've found, claiming it is proprietary information.

The service advisor who is very graciously helping me, has indicated BMW NA won't even tell him what they've found. He is quite upset about this as well, as they've taken over his shop, and he has no idea as to what actual repairs were made to the vehicle.

To those of you who think there's some sort of nefarious goal here: that's your opinion.

The only goal is obtaining our vehicle back, pure and simple, and finding out why there was a fire, preventing it from taking place again, and enjoying our vehicle.

The FIRST snippet of paperwork we received was on 9/15/2010. Prior to that we had received nothing. When we demanded paperwork, BMW NA refused indicating that they could not give us paperwork on an "open" repair order.

That concludes the update. BMW NA did replace one of the wheels (20" 214 style rear), the fender trim of that wheel, and they attempted to repair damaged portion of the paint. In doing so, they increased the damage. The vehicle is now back at the body shop.

It is difficult to accept the conclusion of the SPI report, when BMW NA has refused to give myself or my dealership anything in writing. It's also difficult to comprehend that my dealership has found evidence of a fire throughout, while the SPI report has claimed there was nothing of the sort.

Lastly, if there is nothing to hide, why hold back the stack of paperwork indicating what tests and repairs were made to the vehicle?

That's the latest. Again, this model X5 35D was terrific for the first few weeks. It was by far the best vehicle I've ever owned, and if it's fixed, that's fantastic. But, continuing to pay for a vehicle that is on indefinite vacation at the shop is ridiculous.

Lastly, we were also told, if we simply pick the vehicle up and deny BMW's inspection protocol, despite it's very long length, we're waiving our rights to having this issue repaired in the future, should it act up again or should the vehicle actually burn down. So, again, we're accepting their protocol out of logic, despite how angry we may be at the time delay.

Nonetheless, there's an obvious limit. Once we have the car back and this is settled, and we have a complete repair report, I'll be happy to post any and all repair notes I have.

Of note: BMW did not volunteer to repurchase our 2010 model out of the goodness of their heart for the FULL value after 2 main computer failures in a row and a main relay, nor are they keeping our 2011 BMW for over 30+ days, because they want to play games. BMW has spent thousands on both of these vehicles, not at my request, but by their own decision.

There are obvious defects with both, the facts speak for themselves. I'm not dissing the brand, the vehicle, or the design, only my personal bad luck at receiving two vehicles that have suffered extraordinary failures.

[ABMW]

Originally Posted by London Lad

"You don't belong here, do you"

:-) Not sure about that, but it might be time to ditch the 35D and move onto a gasoline model.

It's becoming quite obvious that for whatever reason the 35D is suffering from problems the gas version is not.

An X5 5.0, would suit me just fine. The problems on my 2010 and 2011 are both "diesel system" related, in full. That's a message, in my opinion.

[ABMW]

Originally Posted by motordavid

So, ABMW...what is the update/outcome of your smoldering situ?

Unknown at this time. I "may" know this coming monday. They may replace it with a 3rd vehicle.

The dealer and BMW NA are infighting. One suggestion is to drive it another 400 miles and allow it to go through another "particulate regeneration" phase.

If it happens again my dealer said they'd replace the vehicle immediately. They know it's serious. They're as upset with BMW NA as I am.

To their credit, the dealership is trying to help. BMW NA is the boss, though, and they've been less than helpful to myself and to the dealer.

Again, they were there for an entire week, and left zero paperwork for the dealer. Thus, the dealer has no idea as to what the SPI engineer actually did to the vehicle.

They're trying to find out, but so far they've gotten nowhere.

[ABMW]

Originally Posted by ard

I mean that's the whole crux of the problem here!

IT DIDN'T BURN. (and apparently, since the OP hasn't clarified) THERE IS NO FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT THAT THEY WITNESSED A CAR FIRE.

Unfortunately, there is also a 'the boy who cried wolf' syndrome- NOT that the first issue didn't occur, but I suspect BMW approaches this customer with caution....

There is a fire department report that verifies the vehicle smoke and fire ARD, complete with the vehicle's VIN #, etc. The interior of the car was heavily tainted with smoke when the fire dept. arrived, as well neighbors came out in mass, etc. to witness to smoldering car in the middle of the street and the two fire engines, both of which came at the request of BMW SOS.

With due respect there are PLENTY of witnesses to this vehicle smoldering/fire. I'd probably be accurate, If I were to say that "at least" 1-dozen people witnessed the incident.

Neighbors I generally only wave to came out to offer help, and to check up on us the following day to see what happened. Believe what you will ARD. There's not only physical evidence of a fire/smoldering on the vehicle itself, but also visual evidence of the actual incident in progress from a multitude of people.