Xoutpost.com - 18 droning months with an E70

Hi Richard, I live in New Zealand, I mention this because our roads here are considerably more course in surface finish and generate lots of road noise and vibration through the vehicle, we have occasional patches of smooth asphalt surface when it is needed in noise sensitive places, therefore all vehicles get a severe workout regarding noise and vibration. I have had my new E70 4.8SE since June 07, the noise you describe has been the bane of my life amongst all the other rattles and noises, the car has been to the dealer over 20 times to fix the problems of rattles and whines, at an early stage I was told by the dealer that it was "Tyre Noise" I went straight to the tyre dealer across the road and had a full set of Pirelli Scorpion Zero fitted (not RFT), several thousand dollars later the noise was still just as bad but the high frequency vibration caused by the rough road surfaces is reduced. (This can be clearly seen if you have a half full water bottle in the cup holder, the surface of the water shows up any vibration). The dealer despite considerable efforts has been unable to fix all of the rattles and the whine is still there, I am convinced that it is the same noise as yours because it changes when you move your head from the normal position. I ended writing a long letter to BMW NZ and Germany (copied below) and after several months I finally got a reply from BMW NZ saying “We understand that many of the issues raised in your original e-mail are normal characteristics of the BMW X5. There are no plans that we are aware of to change or modify these and we can only apologise for them failing to meet your expectations. This INCLUDES the NORMAL X-Drive ‘HUMMING NOISE”

I have given up and put the X5 up for sale and despite having owned a significant number of new BMW’s over the years this will be the LAST! I have just ordered a new Mercedes.

Copy of my letter to BMW the dealer name is crossed out to protect them as they have given a good service despite been unable to resolve the issues.

To whom it may concern.

I would like to raise a number of issues I have with the build quality of my current BMW X5 (E70).

I have to date owned twelve BMW vehicles over the last 20 plus years indeed with the exception of a couple of vehicles all my cars have been high end (7 and 8 series) BMW. Prior to the current vehicle, with the single exception of the early E38 4.0 M60 V8 engine issue that was promptly resolved by BMW, all my BMW’s have been everything I would expect from a vehicle of this quality and price. I point this out purely to emphasise that I am a life long BMW enthusiast with a reasonable degree of knowledge of the marque and have NEVER in the past had reason to raise complaint concerning any of my prior BMW vehicles.

The build quality of my current X5, purchased new from XXXXXXXXXXXX June 2007, has been a considerable disappointment.

Amongst the many issues and perhaps the most difficult to reconcile with a high end luxury European car manufacturer such as BMW is extremely poor picture quality of the reversing camera, especially in dim light conditions. This issue was eventually addressed not with a fix but with the offer of a 50% refund authorised by BMW Head Office, not ideal but given no viable alternative something I could live with. I was surprised that a relatively simple thing like a reversing camera could give BMW such problems, after all a significant number of mass market low end cars now offer this option at a small fraction of the BMW cost (indeed this option on the X5 was more expensive than that of EVERY other at the time of my vehicle purchase, one would therefore expect it to be at least of similar quality if not better), take for example the Ford Territory TS, this vehicle is less than one third the cost of the X5 and the reversing camera option is a $1067 option and the picture quality is superior in all conditions than that of the X5 fitment and displays a good quality, usable picture in low light conditions, with the refund received on the BMW option this Ford cost equates to the figure I have paid for a unit that STILL does not work properly, in fact I am dismayed that BMW would even release to the market such a poor performing unit. I understand that my unit is not faulty but that ALL installations have the same issue, shame on you BMW.
A further issue with the reverse camera is the time it takes for the unit to display the picture when the car is started, I always have to reverse out of my parking bay at home, without exception I have completed the manoeuvre and have started moving forward after turning before the picture is even displayed, having timed the process it takes some 18 seconds for the screen to change from the initial BMW boot logo to the reversing camera display, in a world where car manufactures are quoting figures in tenth of seconds (e.g. acceleration figure or hood operation times in a convertible) this is a huge delay. The problem would seem to be a slow “boot” sequence on the system, because the screen will not display anything other than the initial BMW frame during this initial period.

The most annoying of the problems from my point of view are the number of very irritating rattles and a humming noise that I believe is some sort of transmission whine that have been present since collection the vehicle in June 2007. The considerable efforts made by the service department at XXXXXXXXXXXX to resolve the problems have been appreciated. However the car has now been in their workshops on seven separate occasions and has had tape and double sided foam stuck in many places to try and resolve the rattles. Although they have been successful with several of the worst problems they have despite their best effort failed to resolve them all, again very disappointing for a $160K vehicle.
It was initially suggested that the standard fitment run flat tyres could be the source of the humming noise as a result I immediately replaced said tyres, some three thousand dollars later, only to find that the noise is still present despite the tyre change. As you may realise the noise is sufficiently annoying for me to spend a significant sum trying to resolve it.
I am to date still left with several rattles and the same intrusive noise and despite their best and numerous efforts my local dealer has not been able to resolve all the issues, although they have found and fixed a good number of problems that had caused rattles including correctly fitting the internal tailgate harness mounting clips that had not been fitted to hold the harness in place, how this vehicle ever passed production quality control I do not know! I have my suspicions that the QA department in the US has very much lower standards than those of their German colleagues.

The car now has to return to the dealership yet again to rectify problems with the automatic wipers and with the steering column memory settings.

There are other “interesting quirks” with this car that I have learned to live with as they seem to be present on all similar models, the gearbox will often hold a lower gear than one would expect for an extended period leading to the engine revving at a much higher level than you might expect, although the dealer has reset the gearbox electronics twice it has made little difference, the effect is so marked that I have had passengers suggesting I should change gear, invariably that is exactly what I do via the manual gear change facility. The other unusual “feature” is an overly sensitive throttle on its initial acceleration from rest, particularly when pulling away from a stop on hills, I have invited a number of friends and colleagues to try and drive smoothly in such a situation and without exception all have failed thus giving me the confidence to suggest that this is a vehicle rather than driver issue.

I am a non drinker and as such generally have acted as the sober driver when out with friends, however since my passenger have experienced the X5 quirks of dumping water on the passengers when opening the doors in the wet and getting the X5 mud streak up the back of your trousers from the running boards when trying to exit they are now not so keen to avail themselves of a ride in the X5, so much for up market luxury travel!

There are also concerns with the poor quality of the fit and finish on the car, some examples of which I would not expect on the cheapest of vehicles, never mind a BMW! For example;
The plastic mouldings surrounding the windows vibrate against the glass, this was one of the major sources of the previous mentioned rattles.
The fit and finish of the leather on the Comfort Seat is very poor (photo attached), I found this when I caught my finger on the protruding metal seat frame when trying to retrieve a card that had fallen down the side of the seat, whilst I recognise that this inside front corner of the seat squab is not easily visible that does not mean it should not be finished properly, additionally the seat, (front passenger) when not occupied, shakes and rattles when driving on anything other than a perfect surface. The comfort seat package is an expensive option an deserves to given more consideration to it’s quality, having compared the X5 seats with the comfort seats as fitted to the current 7 Series there is a significant difference in both the areas detailed above, more evidence to support my supposition that the US built models do NOT offer the same quality a the German built cars, perhaps you should point out to your customer, especially those with some history of BMW ownership and hence expectation of quality, that the US built products do NOT live up to such expectations, or to put it more simply “BMW US BUILT PRODUCT IS SUB STANDARD IN RELATION TO GERMAN BUILT PRODUCT”

I must make it clear that I am not in any way blaming my local dealer for my lack of satisfaction with this vehicle, on the contrary having witnessed the efforts they have made to resolve these defects I feel embarrassed taking the vehicle into them to try and resolve the remaining issues as I have had to do so far too frequently. I should NOT have to feel like I am been a nuisance in this regard having purchased a high end vehicle of this calibre and I am sure that it is inappropriate for the local dealership to be put in the position of having to field complaints from customers with basic quality issues. A few weeks after purchasing this vehicle a also purchased a new Ford Ute costing less than one fifth the price of the X5, this vehicle has not returned to the dealer at any time due to my dissatisfaction, again it speaks volumes as to the quality control employed in the BMW Spartanburg, South Carolina plant that so many issues can pass undetected and the resolution of such then left to those on the coal face is simply not good enough.

As a consequence of my ongoing disappointment with this vehicle, I have now decided to dispose of the X5 as the outstanding issues are of sufficient annoyance to me to make living with it difficult. Given the disposal options presented by my dealer, I have decided initially to try and sell the car privately so as to minimise any financial distress although this option would a best represent a 25% loss on a vehicle little more than a year old. Accordingly I have taken pictures and prepared details for submission to TradeMe, during the course of this preparation I have found that the BMW warranty (3rd year) and the inclusive service plan are NOT transferable to the next owner, whilst I recognise this to be the case as it is clearly laid out in the terms and conditions, I find it morally bereft, after all it is a service that I have paid for within the purchase cost of the vehicle and the cost of such warranties and service plans is the same to BMW regardless of who’s name is on the ownership documents. If for example I purchase a new BMW with the inclusive service plan and decided a week later that I would sell and purchase something else, why should BMW gain the huge advantage of no longer having to honour a 3 year service plan and extended third year warranty, this must be costed in the initial purchase price and therefore is extremely detrimental to me the customer, after all a vehicle for sale without these plans would NOT achieve the same return as one with the plans in place. As a matter of interest both of BMW’s main competition, Lexus and Mercedes have warranty and/or service plans that last 4 and 3 years respectively and are transferable without condition, indeed Lexus even include a transfer document with the vehicle documents when purchased (copy attached). Given the obvious discrepancy in the way BMW have chosen to treat loyal customers, you policies need to change if you hope to retain the loyalty of previous devotees, I hope for my sake and for the future prospects of XXXXXXXXXXXX that BMW step up and address these issues.

It is a crying shame that my faith in BMW has been so tarnished as I have had a great relationship in the past with the marque and more so currently with my local dealer, however all their fine efforts will have been in vain due to a sub-standard product represented in my New E70 X5. It is a sad reflection on BMW that this is not only one of the most expensive vehicles that I have ever purchased but also the ONLY vehicle that I have regretted purchasing and despite my patients over the last 16 months and all the efforts of my local dealer I am still putting up with a vehicle that is in my humble opinion NOT FIT TO BARE THE BMW ROUNDEL.

Yours, with regret
:(