6825786

Hi there, this is my first post and I just had a very poor encounter with warranty issues on my 2004 545. I purchased the car from the States and brought it down to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I paid BMW 500.00 for a recall letter and had the DRL activated from a BMW specialist since the dealer refused me an appointment for 2 months. After all was said and done, i wanted to complete some warranty work and was told by BMW Calgary that I would have to fork out another 3400.00 to get the DRL's activated by them and that they had to replace the instrument cluster to Canadianize their car in order for their software to function and "speak to the vehicle" this was the only way that they would honour the warranty . I was choked and thought I had no choice. By curiosity, I called BMW Edmonton, just to see what they had to sa. Go figure, i told them what I had encountered and they stated that you do not have to get the cluster replaced to activate the DRL's and that they would honour my warranty with the recall letter and registration. So guess where I'm driving to? As far as I am concerned, BMW Calgary just screwed themselves out of 1000's of dollars in service work, since I have many friends with Bimmers and I will make sure that BMW Calgary is exposed as a dealer that tries to hose their customers!

imposss

Canadian dealers are sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mhs525

WOW, that is bad...

EBMCS03

Thats good that you called and asked around!

Go BMW Edmonton!!

gabman

I am curious as to when your car was imported into Canada as BMW changed the rules back in November 2007. If your car was imported prior to this date then the dealer has no right to make these demands, if on the other hand you imported the car after this date and somehow managed to circumvent BMW's system ( Which I am not saying that you did) then this could be a problem.

Given that you car is a 2004, your warranty will probably be up soon, so this matter should dissapear with your warranty

ademitt

Not defending Calgary BMW or BMWCA, but their argument is that they need to replace the cluster so that DRL's are activated permanently. US configurations allow DRL's to be turned on/off via idrive. This is not permitted in CA. That is the argument given by the dealers. I personally think it has more to do with BMWCA trying to put the screws to importers of US registered BMW's than actual safety.

I have a friend who imported on 08 X5 and had to go through this BS as well. Perhaps he should have spoken to BMW Edmonton to get their opinion on what was need to "Canadianize" the car.

miguex

Yep right guys! BMW Calgary sucks.... They wanted to bill me the repair for over $7300 jsut to fix the ticking noise.. I am so pissed off!

Here is the post I submitted: http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=54019

now my 545i is stuck with the ticking noise and I am selling it "as is" until I got the cheaper way to fix it.

mrfva

Wow, and I thought my 545i issues with my dealer were bad. Sorry to hear about your problems.

6825786

Sorry I have been away for a bit...but here's the update.... i called BMW Canada and argued with them for an hour or so and a few days later I received a call from BMW CA and they stated that they called BMW Calgary and straightened everything out. I then (15 min later) received a call from BMW Calgary and they said that they had no problem honouring the warranty since they had permission from BMW CA and that my car came in Oct 29, 2007.

So all the BS that i was told about different software and such, BACKFIRED!!! BMW Calgary then went ahead and updated my i-drive, turned on the eyebrows, recharged the refridgerant for the AC, fixed a small leak related to the AC, and finally installed a new "module for the active steering. The Cost ? $0.00. When I was told this on the phone, I thought I had the wrong number. Thankfully the warranty was honoured, and now they are treating me exceptionally well...Go Figure!!! Make some noise guys and things will happen!!!