I hate the stealers
 

:banghead: Dropped of my 04 4.8is today cause of leaking front airbag, clunking in the front and when turning left car feels like it wants to spin around. 7 hrs later get a call from the SA. she tells me needs alot of work. the usual airbag is part of the strut so its not covered. Control arm bushings lft and rgt. Thrust arm bushings left and right. They made it sound like they wanted to replace the actual arms also. I think this is alot of wear and tear for a vehicle with 54,392 miles. A total of $3,222. :banghead:

tell me you didn't pay that much... is this new country?

this situation sounds EXACTLY like my last experience at new country, telling me to replace those exact things when they weren't needed.

Tough times on the front end means they need to ramp up sales on the back end. When I asked how they were doing with the economy lately, my SA said that new car sales are down about 60% from this month last year. CPO sales are up, but not enough to make up for the loss. Then he proceeded to give me a hard sell on fuel injection cleaning, and talked me out of getting an alignment after they replaced my bushings. Also due to a clunking noise when driving over bumps. I'm at 36K.

It certainly pays to have a relationship with an independent BMW mechanic once your vehicle is out of warranty.

Sounds about right...recently had everything you listed repaired at 50k, paid an absurd amount of money (whatever my 3rd party warranty wouldn't cover). Take UCrewX5's advice...I've since developed a great relationship with an indy specializing in European-auto's.

:iagree:

I was in the same position last year until I found these guys - www.bmwservicect.com - my life has been a lot easier since then, lol.

if you're in the hartford area like I suspect it's worth it to give them a shot.

As a mater of fact it is. I thought under the new so called management it would be better.

:iagree: but with conditions. (this has been threaded already)

:driver:You need a good relationship with a good mechanic, whether it's at the dealer or not. I'm no Bill Clinton, but I understand you gotta go in correctly or you are screwed.

:bow:People skills people, people skills!!!

:wavey:Develop a relationship with the receptionist, SA and Lead Mech. Shake some hands, say hello and don't act like an a$$hole. No matter where you take it, when you walk in the door, they should smile and say Hi Jack. If they see you and think, "Awww Sh**, here's that jerk Jack." youse gots no chance.

:bmw:When you bring your car in, CLEAN IT!! If they see your care about your vehicle, they will care about your vehicle. (ask Weasel)

:blah:Thank the mechanic. Ask to meet them and talk briefly, tell them thanks before they even do anything.

:high5:Show some knowledge about the vehicle and issue at hand. Let your demeanor show you are not one to be upsold.

:mmm:When it's over, bring them some coffee, bagels or donuts a few days later.

:)Over time, you hopefully will get past the "Customer" barrier and be able to have fair exchanges and an honest deal.

:gun: Indy's are not perfect. Around here they are a joke except for one. They offered (charging more than the dealer btw) instead of replacing the grossly worn front rotors, they could grind the edges of the new pads to fit around the lip.

I have the CPO and maitenance warrannty. They say its a wear and tear. I didnt have them do anything. Told them if its out of warranty then I can get it done cheaper. I argued the air bag strut and she said she would work on that. Even better is my wife drove it to pick up the kids and home and it drove like when we first got it. I didn't believe it so I took it and ran it and it didn't have any of the problems. strut was even almost at the right height. WTF! did they fix it by accident or is the strut that messed up.

so you have a warranty, they weren't going to charge you for the work?

I have the same exact problem as some of you guys. I just got an 04 4.8is with 78k miles on it. Every morning the car would be tilted on the driver side like both left side tires are flat.

I had that clunking sound before as well, but I played around with the ride height one day then it went away. For some reason I'm not as confident with the handling like I should be. My BMW mechanic here in Houston (which is my Uncle) said that the airbags need to be calibrated.

As soon as I bring it to Momentum and have it diagnosed, I will let you guys know what the remedy is.

Hopefully it's something inexpensive.

Yes they were gonna charge me for everything. I took the truck out of the shop.

I actually have a leaky airbag on the right front.

Is that true, more miles car have and how old car is, more posible airbags will have problem?

get febi control arms and meyle thrust rod bushings. ecstuning has the control arms, arnott industries has rebuilt struts for the front and meyle is around the web somewhere. all that can be done for 850 in parts maybe cheaper. bring it to LI and Ill do it for you for a lot cheaper. might as well get the ball joints for the thrust arm also, another 100. dont let them rip you off

OP-I've had 2 air struts replaced this year (L&R Front) under CPO. I don't believe the other items are "wear & tear" either. What idiots!
Pisendar-yes these things will need replaced eventually. Probably somewhere between 50-60k. Had alot of the other suspension stuff and a wheel hub done just over a year ago while still under original warranty.

Scott

Our '06 4.8 with 48K mi. does the same thing. Sometimes the bad strut will hold air, and then all of a sudden it will drop to the bottom. Before you know it, the strut will fail completely and you will get the dreaded "self leveling suspension inactive" warning too. So don't be fooled by the temporary fix. Our dealer wants $3000 to do both front stuts. I said no thanks and ordered up some rebuilt ones to put in myself for a fraction of their quote.

I had replaced my front both sides air strut spring. dealer estimated 1,447.05$ one side :) i have video on YOUTUBE btw, car being towwed to air leak being very low front left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFOH5...e_gdata_player

gladly car is under nation wide warranty for 60 days of the purchase, after that i have mercury warranty with 100$ deductible. Hopefully not gonna have problem with them, and rear struts especially. dealer gave on their parts lifetime warranty so i guess i am covered.
P.S- All of you guys with no warranty should get one for this beauty.

Don't let m5james see your dollar signs!

Scott

I know, we want to see US dollars if we're going to compare apples and oranges. Funny enough, he used a comma, but still placed the dollar sign in the wrong place. Besides, to keep with being incorrectly written, he should have wrote it as 1,447$.05c to keep with his theme ;)

To mywidebody02, it depends on the indy shop, but some of them can do warranty work. If not, indy's like myself will charge far less than the dealerhship. My rate is a measily $35 an hour since it's mostly fun and sidework for me.

[QUOTE=m5james;771761]I know, we want to see US dollars if we're going to compare apples and oranges. Funny enough, he used a comma, but still placed the dollar sign in the wrong place. Besides, to keep with being incorrectly written, he should have wrote it as 1,447$.05c to keep with his theme ;)

It is a rule to write like u did?!

You can't even quote right. :rolleyes: Your reply is both a question and a statement, so pick one. Yes, it basically a rule...its called ENGLISH. You know, the same thing you're attempting to write words and numbers in.

Why is it that people who can't even write clearly always resort to the same argument? I presume you can speak clear English, yet it's an issue to write it as well? Let me guess, it's something to do with your keyboard. Or if you were writing an English paper for college, then you'd care, but it's a forum, so who cares. If writing things improperly is your intentions, run with it cool guy. You might as well learn Ebonics or pedobear teh crap while you're at it. Why do I have a pet peeve with people writing down their numbers and placing the dollar sign in the wrong place...because the board is world wide, so how are we supposed to know what denomination you're using when you can't even write it properly if you're in fact in the US? Common sense man, common sense...

I quoted wrong due to program i was using on iphone and did not notice sir, excuse my ENGLISH (i am in learning progress) BUT I GUESS i am not the only one because you wrote But anyways accept my sincere apology Sir

There is no need to call me sir, I correct friends of mine from other countries as well so they can know the correct way to do it. Dollar sign ALWAYS goes in the front of the numbers in the US. Dollar sign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dollar signs

Mini rant over, moving on...