Out of Warranty

[jharms]

My wife's 2007 4.8 just turned over 50,000 a week or two ago. Just BEFORE it turned over 50K I noticed that one of the seat adjustments didn't work (makes the bottom front of the seat go in and out). I took it on a trip out of town and it turned over 50K while I was away. I was showing my wife the problem when I got back in town and we discovered that it went out on both the drivers and passenger seats. My wife called the service advisor and he said that he'd go ahead and cover it under warranty since it was barely over 50K. Late last week she took it in to BMW of Austin. They called today and said that it WOULD NOT be covered under warranty. They told her that they would cut her a break since there was "confusion" and they would do the repairs for a little over $1,000.

• Is there a known issue with this seat adjustment? It seems too strange that they both went out at the same time.
• Has anyone gotten any grace period on the warranty miles or is it out at 50,001?

Any suggestions (or empathy) would be appreciated.

[Kloogy]

I think you may be SOL

[JCL]

I haven't seen much discussion about this type of failure. so I don't think it is a common problem. My suspicion is that whatever caused one side to fail in your case also impacted the other side.

If a problem is reported before the warranty expires, a dealer will nearly always work to cover it. However, if it wasn't reported before that date, it isn't usually covered. That suggests you are out of luck. What you may want to do is see if another dealer or shop has a cheaper way of fixing them.

[jeremym]

It's actually at 49,999 isn't it? Meaning once you're at 50,000 - you're out of factory warranty?

That's how it was portrayed to me at the dealership two weeks ago, at least. Good luck!

PS: Check the harnesses for the seats? Maybe they just came lose? Not sure.

[ard]

Why would you not have purchased an extended warranty??? Sounds like you are a "BMW dealer for service" kid of person- in which case the warranty would have been money well spent.

Have you ever had a complaint about the seats? Any work every done to that area?

The dealer COULD have told BMW that it happened under warranty... do you have a key that wasn't used after the car hit 50k? Dealer could have logged the car in under that key (when they read it. the key will log the last miles when it was removed from the car.

What did the paperwork say on the documents your wife signed when she dropped it off...anything that would indicate it was represented as a warranty claim?

Find a new BMW mechanic. Not a dealer/.

[3Series]

Originally Posted by ard

Why would you not have purchased an extended warranty??? Sounds like you are a "BMW dealer for service" kid of person- in which case the warranty would have been money well spent.

Have you ever had a complaint about the seats? Any work every done to that area?

The dealer COULD have told BMW that it happened under warranty... do you have a key that wasn't used after the car hit 50k? Dealer could have logged the car in under that key (when they read it. the key will log the last miles when it was removed from the car.

What did the paperwork say on the documents your wife signed when she dropped it off...anything that would indicate it was represented as a warranty claim?

Find a new BMW mechanic. Not a dealer/.

Ha, another supportive comment from ARD.

OP, try a different dealer and see if they will goodwill the out of warranty repair. Try all the dealers in your area.

[roadkillrob]

The dealer is typically able to do a good will repair when it is that close to being out out of warranty, it is worth asking for or trying another dealer, especially if you might be interested in buying a car in the near future from them!

[ard]

Originally Posted by 3Series

Ha, another supportive comment from ARD.

OP, try a different dealer and see if they will goodwill the out of warranty repair. Try all the dealers in your area.

AFTER MY OPENING COMMENT, I'd say it was quite helpful. YOU are saying their sole option is to go around begging dealers for goodwill. Including new dealers with whom they have no relationship.

I am pointing out another possible route (ie prior repairs/reports that would peg this incident to a 'pre-expiration' date...so that a goodwill request could be bolstered with some rationale other than pity)


Carry on...

[3Series]

Originally Posted by ard

AFTER MY OPENING COMMENT, I'd say it was quite helpful. YOU are saying their sole option is to go around begging dealers for goodwill. Including new dealers with whom they have no relationship.

I am pointing out another possible route (ie prior repairs/reports that would peg this incident to a 'pre-expiration' date...so that a goodwill request could be bolstered with some rationale other than pity)


Carry on...

I wasn't referring to your opening comment....

Also, I didn't say to beg or look for pity, I said to ASK and I didn't say it was the sole option. If you didn't portray yourself as such an abrasive person, you would find out that there are plenty of people out there that will do something just becuase you ask, not out of pity or becuase you begged or becuase you had to "make a case".

This method has worked out for me with serveral BMW's in the past.

[3Series]

"They told her that they would cut her a break since there was "confusion" and they would do the repairs for a little over $1,000. "

OP, do you know what the repair procedure is? On the E36 BMW, there are several small plastic gears under the seat that break over time. Most dealers/mechanics will recommend a seat replacement, however there are some vendors that sell replacement plastic gears.