Out of Warranty

[motordavid]

I am a little surprised that BMW didn't come across with a goodwill repair; maybe half price or, a 'just pay for labor' or something, especially as the OP was barely out of warranty. If the OP had 50 less miles, I suppose it would have been covered, though he has considerable 'time' left on warranty.

Things like that, that go Kaboom, 20 mins or 2 weeks or, after warranty expires simply reinforces the subtle notion that BMW is not paying much attention to parts supplier quality, warranty repair data, 'reasonable life expectancy' of systems, etc., imo.

While many of us have had good luck with our E53s & E70s, it is stuff like that anecdote that gives one cause to wonder...the lease it and turn it in gang don't feel that pinch, but a buyer risks some added expense, (on top of a pricey car), when that time/mileage has expired, and esp. when things that seem like they 'should work' for the duration, don't.
GL, mD

[BGM]

Originally Posted by jharms

Not brand new. It had 640 miles on it. We were told that it was used as a courtesy car at a pro golf tournament in Austin. Do you think that we got a "returned lemon"?

It's possible--not sure. For those issues you listed those are very abnormal or at least point to a very sick car. If you don't get anywhere with the dealer you might try to see if BMW will buy it back from you and/or Lemon Law (though I don't know if there is a timeframe on age of cars for that). I had an '01 X5 for 9.5 years with very little problems and now an '08 4.8 that I bought in October (been great so far). Let us know how everything works out on it.

[ard]

Originally Posted by motordavid

Things like that, that go Kaboom, 20 mins or 2 weeks or, after warranty expires simply reinforces the subtle notion that BMW is not paying much attention to parts supplier quality, warranty repair data, 'reasonable life expectancy' of systems, etc., imo.

See, and my read on this is that they nailed it just right.

[08X5]

Was the Car Registered prior to you Buying it. I am wondering if the Warranty stared at 0 Miles or at 640 Miles, then the Warranty would last until 50,640. Also, did you check to see if the Car was a lemon Buy Back. It seems that most California Lemon's wind up in Texas for some reason.

[jharms]

Originally Posted by motordavid

I am a little surprised that BMW didn't come across with a goodwill repair; maybe half price or, a 'just pay for labor' or something, especially as the OP was barely out of warranty. If the OP had 50 less miles, I suppose it would have been covered, though he has considerable 'time' left on warranty.

I'm surprised as well. GM has provided free repairs when the vehicle was barely out of warranty. Since the dealer denied the repair, I called BMW North America. The lady at corporate told me that it was unusual that the dealer wouldn't cover the repair. She was going to look into it and see that BMW could do to get it covered. After several days she call back and told me that they would not cover the repair. She really gave me hope on the phone when I first called.

If BMW would have covered the repair, I would have been a happy BMW owner who just purchased a first year lemon. But with the way I was treated, I'm now an irrate BMW owner who will not be a repeat buyer. I'll also tell our story to anyone who asks how we like our X5...and even those who don't ask.

[jharms]

Originally Posted by ard

See, and my read on this is that they nailed it just right.

Yes, that's one way to look at it. BMW buys cheap parts which fail just as the warranty expires. Then they attempt to make money on out of warranty repairs. The only part of this equation that doesn't work is repeat buyers.

[ard]

Originally Posted by jharms

I'm surprised as well. GM has provided free repairs when the vehicle was barely out of warranty. Since the dealer denied the repair, I called BMW North America. The lady at corporate told me that it was unusual that the dealer wouldn't cover the repair. She was going to look into it and see that BMW could do to get it covered. After several days she call back and told me that they would not cover the repair. She really gave me hope on the phone when I first called.

it is astonishing that corporate would think that another company (ie the dealership) should be willing to pay for the repair! You need to realize that the nice lady there is most likely a junior college idiot, whose job it is to basically shuffle crap around. BMWNA could cover it, but for her to deflect it to the dealer is pretty poor form.

You should look into the fact that the car had 640 miles when purchased. Your original paperwork had a mileage disclosure form with it, see what that says... a total shot in the dark, but it might give you a bit more leverage.

Finally, one of your issues was "leather coming loose on the seats"... what precisely did they do to repair this? Any chance that was related to this new issue? Did they remove the seats at that time? You can claim that was the cause of this issue perhaps.

[jharms]

I need to look into the plastic gears. That hopefully would be cheaper than the $1XXX that the dealer quoted.

The next thing that went wrong was the shifter! It wouldn't shift into gear from park without having to move the lever a bunch of times. Check this out...the dealer covered this under warranty. The dealer did charge over $1000 for a brake job on the same visit, however.

The movie "Money Pit" just popped into my mind for some reason.

[ard]

Originally Posted by jharms

I need to look into the plastic gears. That hopefully would be cheaper than the $1XXX that the dealer quoted.

The next thing that went wrong was the shifter! It wouldn't shift into gear from park without having to move the lever a bunch of times. Check this out...the dealer covered this under warranty. The dealer did charge over $1000 for a brake job on the same visit, however.

The movie "Money Pit" just popped into my mind for some reason.

Why are you taking it to the dealer for a brake job?

[jharms]

Originally Posted by ard

Why are you taking it to the dealer for a brake job?

Convenience, I guess. Actually, it's my wife's car and she took it in and had them do the work.

They also wanted around $400 to replace the micro filters. Is this something that I can do myself? Can I get the filters at a parts store or must I get them from the dealer?