My 3 series and the last week
 

I'm still shaking from my drive home from Charlotte, so this might be borderline ranting. In the last week, my 325 has failed on me twice.

The first time was the windshield wipers, which stopped working. This was at midnight, it was raining and I was on my way home from studying late. Nothing worked, and I made the one mile ride home with a wet arm and with a lot of stopping (hazards on).

The next day, I called the service department who couldn't fit me in. Though, the SA at the local dealer wouldn't let me finish a sentence explaining the problem. After he told me that it was a fuse, I explained that I had pulled them all and tested them, none were broken, and that I needed to get it looked at before flying out of town for a week. He said he couldn't fit me in until tuesday afternoon, and he probably wouldn't be able to fix it. I said OK, booked the appointment, then hit start and the wipers were on full blast. He couldn't even tell me where the fuse puller was hidden.

I got to the airport, and got home today and got in. The car was shaking worse than normal. It has been shaking for the last 10,000 miles, and I've had it into Century, Asheville, Hendrick in Charleston and the dealer in Jacksonville (It became really apparent while on Vacation on the way to FL) and got a list of "Could Not Replicate" and SA's telling me I needed a $350 alignment... BS) About 30 miles into my drive, in west bum fuck South Carolina, I started to smell something burning. I stopped the car, pulled over and smelled, and my tires smelled hot. I'm a bit paranoid about this since my Audi died by fire when its caliper hung up on the side of I-95 in Massachusetts. Nothing was burnt, and it seemed okay, but the edge of my left front tire was super chewed up. I talked to my CFO, and took it slow, and it seemed to get better, the shaking subsided a little, so I kept going, until it started again. I got out this time and checked all the lug nuts, all fine. I keep going, traffic stops, and I braked hard. my brakes LOCKED up. Not the first time, my ABS hasn't been working for weeks made apparent by a lot of new tire marks by the offramp for my school, but since theres no code, theres no problem according to my idiot local dealer. After I got back on the road (I went for the breakdown lane, and am glad I did) the car is shaking worse than ever. I got off the highway and took surface roads back to school, and had to pull off two more times to make sure nothings burning.

48 hours ago I was working a deal to trade this car for a 335i, and be done with it. Now, I'm really wondering how smart that is. My mom's X5 (E53) is 100,000 times more solid and reliable than this thing, and between its lack of reliability and crap mileage (and the BMW dealer network's lack of motivation to ever help me) I really wonder if my car is a dud or if its just.... I don't know. What would y'all do? I'm having it towed to the dealer here in town tomorrow, and if they don't help me I'm going to let my CFO go nuts on them. I'm really sick of this and really can't trust this thing any more. Theres no reason this car should be shot to hell at 69k. Hell, the Audi made it to 140k before it burned up on the side of the road, and that car is notoriously shitty.

Sorry for the rant, but advice is really appreciated.

From the sound of it the shaking is likely due to the sticking caliper. And there is a possibility that the caliper itself isn't sticking but the DSC hydraulic unit is holding a small bit of pressure on it via faulty valving etc. since you say the DSC system isn't fully working correctly.

It's a shame the dealers around you can't seem to fix it as I know enough to diagnose it in 5 minutes after reading a few paragraphs of info. The problem we have at work is that the advisers are NOT mechanics and the mechanics only get a single sentence complaint line on the RO, usually over simplified by the adviser. With problems like this if I don't see something off hand I either call the customer for more details (because details are crucial for some problems) or even take a ride with the customer so they can show me.

Get the dealer to do a trade with you for an X5. I mean the reliability on these things are unbelievable. Hell, go for like a 2006 4.8is, you wont regret it!

Sorry Dan, that sucks. Nothing worse than having problems on the road. Glad you're OK. I'd definitely try and speak with the mechanic directly.

You already said you were working on trading it in. Why are you having second thoughts? Is it a lack of confidence in another 3?

Weasel - I did a long ride along with the Mechanic in Charleston, who couldn't feel it because no road had a limit over 45 and there was traffic. It is definitely worse after a quick stomp on the brakes but I'm going to try that. My normal (rude) SA is on vacation, so I'll try to talk to the mechanic directly. Thank you SO much for giving me that info, which might guide them in the right direction. :) I really want my car to work like it used to. Maybe a sticking caliper explains why my car which used to get 30 mpg on the highway barely makes 25 now (I've asked about that 4 or 5 times too :dunno: )

Naz and L - Not cold feet, the 335 sold 3 hours before the truck showed up to transfer it from the other dealer, and I wouldn't sign anything until I saw it in person. So we'll see what happens. Now I'm wondering if its smart to get another one, but I really think that they are just issues with my car. Theres something about this car and having problems on the weekend. Living near a competent dealer would help. My mom has been trying to get me to swap with her X5 ever since she babysat my car while I was in France, I love that thing to death but she needs the reliable one more than I do. And I want sport seats.

Heres a funny addendum:

It looks like my foot got attacked by fire ants while I was on the Gaffney offramp. Is it 5 o'clock yet?

:rofl: ...that's good D!
Jeesshhh, what a fookin nightmare.

Good luck with the "fix", or the trade or, reporting it stolen and sending it off the edge of the road, up on the BRPkway.
GL, mD

PS: depending on one's sensitivity, the fire ant bites go away pretty quickly, replaced by drive you crazy itching. ;)

Just remember, if it is this bad, things can only get better!

GL with everything. If you want the performance go with the 335i! I think your car is just a dud, we rarely hear about major problems in these vehicles.

i wonder if you can still make a claim under lemon law

I just got back from dropping it off. Here are the cliffsnotes
-Played phone tag over the lunch hour, my usual SA is on vacation, so I finally got in touch with the other guy at about 1:15.
-Drove over, got there at 2:00
-Sat down, explained everything, told him key words from Weasel's diagnosis to put on the list
-SA HANDS ME AN ESTIMATE. Car's under warranty, customer service sucks. Two hours later I got my ride home they promised.

D, One cannot make that stuff up...sounds like the geniuses at Century BMW, to me.

Musta been a fun ride w/the SerMgr., back to school. Did you ask him if you could do a "career choice come to work day"
at his dlrship, or maybe hang out and watch, as an intern there?! ;) ... :rofl: