Class Action Law Firm takes on BMW
 

Class Action Law Firm takes on BMW for Systematically Concealing Safety Risks of Defective High Pressure Fuel Pumps and Turbo Chargers

Class Action Law Firm takes on BMW for Systematically Concealing Safety Risks of Defective High Pressure Fuel Pumps and Turbo Chargers

I think that is a bit exaggerated on a few points... I've replaced many high pressure fuel pumps, the ones that got replaced more than once were originally replaced with the same old style part out of need before the updated style pumps were available. And the vehicle does NOT want to come to a stop when the fault occurs, it just deactivates boost so it slows down. Not nearly as prominent as the trans failsafe many of us have experienced.

As for the turbos, I have never had to change one yet... the noise I believe they are talking about is just a minor rattle from the wastegate valve when you let off the gas that was quieted down via programming by way modifying the wastegate operation.

I foresee BMW being forced into a voluntary recall for all N54 equipped vehicles that have not received the new design pump yet, but have no idea where the turbo issue will go as I have not seen any info on any actual defects.

Hope they get it straightened out. I would have a hard time buying one of these first gen turbo cars; 135i, 335i or 535i if I wanted to own the car outside of warranty coverage. The 135i is tempting, but the turbo scares me as far as long term ownership is concerned.

I waited a year to buy my 535 when the 3.0tt came out, and missed some of the early problems. The high pressure fuel pump issue doesn't bother me much, as it only caused a reduced power mode for me and the replacement was warranted. The extra-extended HPFP warranty will help the next owner. The turbos don't worry me at all, as I was selling turbo diesel engines for my whole career. Naturally aspirated heavy diesels have been pretty rare for quite a while. Factory-engineered turbos are fine IMO, it is the aftermarket turbo kits that create more risk.

I think that given the complexity of the current models, I wouldn't want to own any of the current generation outside of the warranty period. It is partly why I don't understand the over-maintenance strategies designed to contribute to longer engine life, as I don't think the engines are the weak link, or rate-determining-step, in any vehicle retirement decision. I don't think there will be a lot of 300,000 mile current-model vehicles 10 years from now, due to software and electronic issues.

My 535 is 3 next month. Time to sell it with a year of warranty left on it, I think.

First off the Class action would have to prove real injury or an injury was directly linked to this. I wonder how they are going to prove that.

"So Mr. Bimmer driver, what your are saying is you were merging onto the highway and all the cars were doing 120 mph and your car just died and and another car/truck rear ended you"

"Yes Sir Mr. Lawyer, I always obey every traffic law to a T and did absolutely nothing wrong."

Verdict Mr. Bimmer driver.... haahaha

If this does become a serious issue, I can see BMW stepping up and extending the warranty on the HPFP and the trubos like what BMW did for E65 7 series owners for 2000 and 2001 models. It would be cheaper for them to put out a service bulletin stating the extended warranty on these two items. It will be a good will jester and will save them money in the long run.

They didn't just put out a service bulletin, they put out a letter. I haven't dug my copy out, but found this one on line and it looks just the same (some details may be different if I compared them). 10 years and 120,000 miles sounded fair to me. This was a year or two ago.

You are probably right about the declining long-term reliability of any modern BMW. I am going to be in the market to replace my 320,000 mile e36 in the near future and have convinced myself that the e92 328i would be the better way to go over a 135i or 335i as far as long term ownership is concerned. I have owned my e36 for 9 years and plan long term ownership for it's replacement. Since I tend to own cars for such a long period of time, I was thinking e92 over e46 just to keep it fresh for as long as possible (unless I say screw maintenance costs and get an e46 M3). I just don't see how the N/A six couldn't save me money over the long term.

What is the warranty on the hpfp these days? I thought I heard a crazy high number, like 10 years or something?

This is SO dramatized. I love how the use the word "tout" obviously trying to associate a negative connotation. This is a very typical lawsuit where somebody is looking to make quick $ from BMW. Yes, we know the problem does exist; however, I feel that it is much less common than they make it seem. Consider this, there are thousands of 1, 3, and 5 series with the associated "turbo" engine, yet we only hear of few cases. I think that if it was as big of a deal that this law firm is making it out to be, then the media would have caught wind of this a long time ago...

but then again, i'm bias, I love BMW

I think there are more than a few cases of the HPFP issue, but I also think BMW is standing behind their product. A lawsuit would only be warranted if BMW abandoned their warranty obligations.

The turbo issue isn't as clear to me. I don't think the wastegate rattle was a big issue (it was annoying to some owners). However, the fix bothered some owners because they felt that throttle response had been changed. I understood that they were able to go back to a previous software version in some cases. Owners were more upset about BMW changing the software than either the problem or the fix, on many boards. I have been happy with throttle response, and frankly I have no idea what software version my car is on.

I wouldn't limit it to BMW. I don't think many other brands with similar performance are much different. BMW is just a little worse IMO because of their love of technological complexity, which accelerates the obsolescence process. It is frustrating, because the engines themselves are brilliant, and could go much longer.