Anyone have their 35i die repeatedly on the same day?

[335xray]

Thanks Ard, I may PM you to get that info...

Here is the update so far.

Dealer has had the car now for 4 weeks and 1 day. Since my last post they have replaced several electrical relays which did not fix the problem, but when the truck stalled again, it went into limp mode which it had not done before and threw a hard code into memory. The dealer read the code which indicated the crank shaft position was faulty.

They felt this was some progress since no useful codes had been thrown so far which was one reason this was a PUMA case. They ordered the crank shaft sensor and got the truck ready to have it replaced (I guess it is an involved install). After it was replaced, instead of fixing the problem, it actually made it very difficult to start the car! BMW NA now wants the sensor replaced again to make sure it wasn't bad out of the box. If the sensor isn't bad, then they have been instructed to replace the reluctor ring sensor (sp?) which is on the fly wheel. This will be an even more time consuming install/fix since they have to drop the tranny to get to the fly wheel.

All-in-all, this will put us mid next week at the earliest or potentially into the week after for a fix. This will be well beyond the 30 days in the shop Ohio law requires for a lemon.

I have been speaking with the service manager and he has started the ball rolling with BMW NA for a buy back situation which out too much pressure from me which is nice. I have been trying to be as nice as possible during this situation understanding that which my service department may be doing the repairs, the ship is being steered by BMW NA.

I briefly spoke with the sales manager yesterday as well and while he told me he needs to speak with BMW NA on Tuesday, he thinks what will happen is a substitution situation. He orders me a new truck built very similar to our truck and it is substituted for our current truck in the lease. They essentially just change the VIN number on the lease and we finish out our lease terms with the new 2012 truck instead of the POS 2011.

I may see if we can alter the interior color or add a few options but I think I am ok with that option. It gets us back into a truck we like fairly quickly and we don't have to sign another 3 year lease.

Thoughts?

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[alvam]

This is great information for me as I have been having repair issues with my 2011 35d.

Here is the situation..

July 26: Took car in for SRS error on passenger side. They found a faulty sensor for passenger seat occupancy. They indicated they had to order the part from Germany and could take a while. I asked if the car was safe to drive given SRS error and SA stated "not sure" so I told them I would not have my wife drive this car with that error because in the event she had an accident with one of my kids in that seat and airbag didn't deploy, I would sue them to no end. They provided me a loaner on the 29th until part came in and fix was in place.

August 16 (11 business days later): The part came in and car was turned back over to us.

Summary: I didn't like the communications I received (or didn't receive unless I called for an update) so I decided this was the last time I would take car to this dealer for service.

August 26: Car received check engine light (yellow engine icon) so I called other dealership and stated I bought vehicle at competing dealership and wanted to bring x5 to them for service. They were very receptive.

August 29th (earliest appt. to get a loaner: Brought car in they checked the fault codes and found NOX sensor faulty. They had to order part and turned car over to us on Tuesday August 30th (2 business days) after the weekend.

August 31: Same check engine light came on again as wife was driving kids to school. I called my SA and he said bring it right in and they'll check it out. When I arrived SA told me they were short 1 tech today and that he would call me tomorrow (September 1st). He called, as committed, and said he had good news and okay news. Good news is they believe they have isolated the issue to a wiring fault that keeps grounding/shorting thus the error. Okay news (to him at least) is that they have to take the entire dash out to get to the wiring harness and trace the faulty wire and fix or replace it. The SA said he would call me on Tuesday September 6th (after holiday) and I also told him I am not a happy camper and that I do not want to have to deal with squeeks or rattles because they did not replace the dash properly etc. I acknowledged they are probably doing their best but for a 6 month old vehicle to have to go through this extreme of a repair seems like it must be a lemon.

Summary: I am now in wait and see mode for when they say it is fixed and will be watching/listening for ANY change to the build quality and quietness of the vehicle. Needless to say that right now I am in pucker mode but also doing research on the Colorado lemon laws (30 days in the shop in a year's period). The wife is not a happy camper (thus I'm not either). The SA has been VERY communicative (unlike other dealer) and supportive/sympathetic to my plight. When I talk to him on Tuesday I will request a meeting with the service manager when I pick up just to get a first hand accounting of what they actually did and make sure it is 100% documented on the work order.

Just looking for maybe something I missed or can do better when I deal with them again. This dealer has been very responsive and SA is great to work with. I just don't know if I really have something to worry about or is this nothing compared to other issues dealt with.

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

[Kief]

Originally Posted by 335xray

I briefly spoke with the sales manager yesterday as well and while he told me he needs to speak with BMW NA on Tuesday, he thinks what will happen is a substitution situation. He orders me a new truck built very similar to our truck and it is substituted for our current truck in the lease. They essentially just change the VIN number on the lease and we finish out our lease terms with the new 2012 truck instead of the POS 2011.

I may see if we can alter the interior color or add a few options but I think I am ok with that option. It gets us back into a truck we like fairly quickly and we don't have to sign another 3 year lease.X

It's referred to as a "collateral exchange." I had this experience with our X3 several years ago. An additional benefit in this situation b/c you are leasing, is that when your lease expires, you will actually have equity in the 2012 X b/c the residual was based on the 2011 X. As you a result, you can sell the 2012 and make a profit. We did this with our X3

[335xray]

Originally Posted by Kief

It's referred to as a "collateral exchange." I had this experience with our X3 several years ago. An additional benefit in this situation b/c you are leasing, is that when your lease expires, you will actually have equity in the 2012 X b/c the residual was based on the 2011 X. As you a result, you can sell the 2012 and make a profit. We did this with our X3

Interesting! I had not thought of that aspect of the exchange...

So if I understand correctly, the residual value on my lease in Novemeber of 2010 for a 2011 X5 will now apply to my new 2012 with 6K less miles as of now? I am guessing I have to purchase it at lease termination for the residual value and then resell it or keep it.

Thanks for the clarification,
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