wingfan919

Background:

Car - 2004 545i Manual 6 Speed

Purcahsed - USED Jan. 29th 2006 with 8k Miles

I purchased this car from BMW Bel-Air in Maryland. This car had never been titled and was sold as a promotional car that was used by BMW NA. I've put 5,500 miles on this car since with 2,000 being all highway miles. Leaving 3,500 miles of light driving over the past 7 months.

BMW Erhard in Bloomfiled Hills, MI is where I took my car to get serviced after I noticed my clutch was slipping. I dropped the car off and, Bob Ufolla, my service advisor said that this might not be under warrenty. I was confused. He said that excessive or abusive wear is not under warrenty. I mentioned that I purchased this car used as a BMW North America car and that didn't do anything.

He claims that if it was a defect it would be under warrenty. However, in order to determine if it is a defective clutch, he needs to take the trans. apart which takes 10 hours. In the event that excessive wear exists, I'm responsible for paying the entire labor charge, just to have the trans. taken apart, even if I decide not to change the clutch.

A few points, I think that BMW NA should replace the clutch as it was a demo car and only 5k miles after I purchased it, the clutch goes out. The service warrenty should cover this, right?

Advice please.

largeface

A friend of mine had a similar incident.
To begin with, he did have a speeding problem and laying rubber down problem. He had a 540i with manual shift. One day the tranny simply couldn't take it anymore and the clutch just stuck to the ground and didn't move at all. The car came to an immediate stop and was flat bedded to the dealer. After a few computer diagnostics the technician simply refused to repair the damage under BMW warranty. My friend was told that his driving habits were the cause of the damage and the repair was to be paid for at the owners expense with no exception.

I guess our cars have a black box?? Good luck my friend, although this was not much help. I'm sure there can be a solution if you contact the dealer that sold you the car. Where there is a will there is a way.

houbmw

i think thats ridiculous, BMW is responsible for any part under warranty. Just because you drive your car hard does not mean that you should not get your clutch replaced. If this is the case, then we are not getting free maintance and warranty, they are still charging us for the nooks and crannies. I personally think that these cars are meant to be driven hard and BMW needs to change their position on this issue. Try taking it to a different dealer and see what they say.

ImolaRedM

I think there is a difference between driving a car hard and beating the $h1t out of it.

I would call BMWNA and see what they can do for you. If it's a program car there may be some limitations but BMWNA is generally good about setting things right and they do work with people. Just remember that you can get more flies with honey.

Jeffs

I have a BMW 545i 6sd also. And yes, service manager told me that if your clutch starts slipping and you need a new clutch it is considered a wear and tear issue and you will have to pay out of pocket. I find it weird because they give us free brake replacements anyway but not the clutch. I have driven my car for 41,000 miles and trust me, I have done my fair share of aggressive driving, aggressive shifting (power shifting) and even taught my friends (2 of them) how to drive stick on my car and that causes alot of wear and tear and till todahy my clutch has yet to slip. I find it unacceptable for a clutch to slip only after 10K miles. Chances are it may be a clutch issue but this is a hard decision to make for you because money is involved. Do you have any information regarding previous drivers? Maybe it might be that the clutch wasn't broken in properly. Either way it sucks but I hope you have no problem getting it fixed because driving a car with a slipping clutch may cause potential hazards for you and/or other drivers. Good luck my friend.

branie555

Dear Houbmw: Please explain your avatar. I have seen it many times and of course it is unique, but what exactly do you mean here?

houbmw

what do u think it means?????

Rudy

Honda television sets are hard to carry?

1600

Your clutch issue seems peculiar. In normal operation I have never had a clutch go before 40,000 mi.
Maybe a clarification from BMWNA is in order. Was there any indication of a problem at all when you purchased the vehicle? Also, if a similar problem occurred with an automatic BMW would fix the transmission at no cost and no questions asked. Strange

nickolas_g

I must say that I side with BMW on this. You bought a demo car. You have to expect every knucklehead that drove it was pushing it to its limits from mile one.

Its like looking for a potential wife in brothel.