dfndr

I am considering the possibility of commencing a class action on behalf of 5 Series purchasers (including lessees) who relied on representations that the cars would be Bluetooth compatible. When I ordered my 545i in February of 2004, the salesman said the car would be Bluetooth compatible. I was aware that the car would come with steering wheel and i-drive controls for the phone. When the car was delivered in May of 2004, I was told that BMW was having problems with the BT technology, but that a solution was expected soon. Now I am reading that the extent to which you can use BT and the cost of making the car compatible depends on the date your car was manufactured. I think every 545i should have the same BT compatibility unless BMW disclosed that there would be differences. I would be interested in learning what you were told about BT before you made your deal, what you expected and whether you are interested in participating in a claim that BMW should bear the cost of retrofiting your car.

mrbelk

Frankly, I think that you have no grounds for suit. It's not BMW's fault that sales staff are ignorant of their products. There was never any official literature from BMW that indicated that BT would ever be available on MY04 US-spec 5er's. It certainly wasn't a selling point nor was it advertised as a standard or optional feature either in the product brochure or in the "Build Your BMW" section of the website.

In fact, there was an internal BMW memorandum that stated that BMW would offer BT for MY2005, and that they were working towards a resolution for MY2004 vehicles (not just 5er's) equipped with ASSIST.

FWIW, your May delivery (probably March build) 5er _should_ be eligible to receive the "Tel. Bluetooth" retrofit. One or two hours of labor to give you functionality that was never promised by BMW in the first place is a fair price, I think. Now, if your salesperson misrepresented the capabilities of the vehicle, and if your decision to buy the 545 was based largely on his/her claim of BT connectivity, you might have grounds for getting this retrofit done "gratis" by the dealership just as a show of good faith.

Also, class action lawsuits do nothing but line the pockets of the lawyers who bring them and limit the already small list of options that BMWNA will offer on US-spec BMW's. I've got to say, that unless there is some egregious safety issue (like gas tanks exploding or cars mysteriously going into gear and accelerating with no input, or some such), I think that class action lawsuits for stuff like this are useless.

BMW does disclose that there _could_ be differences; all over the place. They reserve the right to make any changes they want to w.r.t. equipment, spec, etc. at any time during the production run. All manufacturers do this; it's nothing new.

Oh, and the BT functionality _ROCKS_! With a phone that properly implements the Handsfree Profile, the operation is totally transparent. Call quality is excellent, and the voice dialing really allows me to keep my attention focused on the road and not on the phone.

-MrB

Hormazd

Exactly what MrB said. To add, the manual makes very clear reference to the CPT9000 for those buttons and none at all to BT.

wnrussell

It's already happening against Verizon, Motorola and Bluetooth.org about the V710 phone. I have been following the various phone group posts. Actually, I was contacted by a California attorney this week. Anyone interested should follow this thread, but we should really keep the pursuit out of this forum as it appears to be in good hands, and too much disclosure at this point could work against the cause.

I agree with Hormazd and the others that the BMW pre 3/2004 problem doesn't have much merit. BMW is at the cutting edge of Bluetooth technology and there are lots of compatability and standardization issues to be resolved. They are the only car manufacturer to offer the BT as standard equipment.

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php...threadid=530337

price9195

Sorry bluetooth doesn't work for you. I guess you should have tried it out on a demonstrator vehicle before you took a dealer's word for it. I've had zero problems with my Nov 04 build and my Motorola Razr. The setup was easy and what a nice bonus when I found out it has voice dialing.

wnrussell

Actually Bluetooth works fine, unless you are a Verizon customer, in which case you need to do tricks to make the phone work with BMW. You see, Verizon wants to make money from BT file transfers, unlike the other major carriers.

Read here for more:

http://www.nuclearelephant.com/papers/v710.html

MARCUS545

Frankly, I think that you have no grounds for suit. It's not BMW's fault that sales staff are ignorant of their products. There was never any official literature from BMW that indicated that BT would ever be available on MY04 US-spec 5er's. It certainly wasn't a selling point nor was it advertised as a standard or optional feature either in the product brochure or in the "Build Your BMW" section of the website.

In fact, there was an internal BMW memorandum that stated that BMW would offer BT for MY2005, and that they were working towards a resolution for MY2004 vehicles (not just 5er's) equipped with ASSIST.

FWIW, your May delivery (probably March build) 5er _should_ be eligible to receive the "Tel. Bluetooth" retrofit. One or two hours of labor to give you functionality that was never promised by BMW in the first place is a fair price, I think. Now, if your salesperson misrepresented the capabilities of the vehicle, and if your decision to buy the 545 was based largely on his/her claim of BT connectivity, you might have grounds for getting this retrofit done "gratis" by the dealership just as a show of good faith.

Also, class action lawsuits do nothing but line the pockets of the lawyers who bring them and limit the already small list of options that BMWNA will offer on US-spec BMW's. I've got to say, that unless there is some egregious safety issue (like gas tanks exploding or cars mysteriously going into gear and accelerating with no input, or some such), I think that class action lawsuits for stuff like this are useless.

BMW does disclose that there _could_ be differences; all over the place. They reserve the right to make any changes they want to w.r.t. equipment, spec, etc. at any time during the production run. All manufacturers do this; it's nothing new.

Oh, and the BT functionality _ROCKS_! With a phone that properly implements the Handsfree Profile, the operation is totally transparent. Call quality is excellent, and the voice dialing really allows me to keep my attention focused on the road and not on the phone.

-MrB
[/quote]

You go, boy.

pharding

Don't sue BMW on my behalf. The literature, manual, BMW web site, etc., all say BMW can change features at any time. That is good enough for me. Furthermore why would anyone trust a salesperson?

TMC

I don't agree with litigious culture you have over there, but it very much IS BMW's fault in this case.

Supposing the salesman had sold you cruise control, and intimated (like that very famous idiotic case) that you could put it on CC and just go to sleep or something. You (presuming you're from Alabama) put it in CC and go to the back seat and open a few brews. Car crashes, you have whiplash.

The power of the sue culture in the States would very much make it BMW's fault in this case, and I suspect would do in the BT case, were it more 'cut and dried' than it currently is. All sorts of variables are involved, including (in no small part) the phone service providers, manufacturers etc.

I'm at a crossroads in ordering my 5 series. I do want bluetooth, and I suspect any salesman will swear blind that my beloved model of phone will be compatible - but I don't take their word for it, and neither should anyone, IMO.

I do get a bit disheartened at the amount of posts in here threatening / promising court action over any small defect in these cars. Is this a world we want to live in?

pennetta

I don't think there are sufficient grounds either, however (winning) Class Action suits does punish the company getting sued and thats the main point. Lawyers get rich, which is OK, but plaintiffs usually get very little on an individual basis because the settlement is divided up over thousands of plaintiffs. If you think you have a great case then sue individually, and if you win you will get more money individually.