Newbiewan

Greetings All,

It is with great sadness that my first post to this very informative forum has to be a negative one

The Wife and I have grown to trust german engineering and quality based on very good experiences with Porsche over the years, so when it came time for the wife to upgrade her auto last summer, we thought it would be great to try out a BMW. We immediately fell in love with the 545 and started sizing up the options for the perfect used car. After searching for months...we finally stumbled across a beautiful '05 Black Sapphire/Black Nasca leather 545 CPO with all the goodies (Ventillated/heated seats, Comfort Seats, Active Cruise Control, NAV, Sport Package, Premium Sound, and last but not least Fold Down rear seats) with only 23k miles. A quick call to the dealer to confirm availability and we were off on our way for a test drive! Here is where our saga gets interesting...

1) Salesman meets us with the keys and starts up the car. I notice the idle seems rough, but the salesman assures me that it is normal. When I get behind the wheel I notice that the check engine light is on. Embarassed, the salesman has the service department immediately check tha car out while I take the wife to lunch. During lunch, salesman shows up driving the car and telling me that the service dept says the engine light was probably caused by a loose gas cap and not to worry. After all it's a CPO...right? Taking their word...after lunch we take it for a test drive. Everything is wonderful until about 2 miles down the interstate when the check engine light comes on again but this time it was accompanied by a staggering loss of all power and drivabiity (apparently it is some sort of fail safe mode). Anyway, after being picked up by the side of the road...we informed the salesman that we wer not interested in inheriting someone else's problems and to call us if they are certain that they understand what the problem is and fix the car. Upset and dissappointed over the experience we headed home.

2) After some followup phone calls from the salesman, we were notified that the problem was solved and that they would drop the car off at our home to test drive over the weekend. Shortly after it arrived...we happily started off for an evening of test driving only to be rudely awakened when the problem reoccured!!! Embarassed again, the salesman picked up the car and headed back to the service department for round 2.

3) After receiving assurances from the service department that the problem was a couple of servo motors in the valvetronic system and that parts were on order for the final fix, we went ahead and prepared an offer contingent upon successful resolution of the problem. They accepted the offer, we sent in a deposit and waited for the call to tell us the car was done! That day finally arrived a few days after signing the offer and we were glad to be done searching for our next auto. Like kids on the first day of school, we were very excited to go and pick up the car. After a quick test drive, we signed all to papers and headed home in our new (well to us at least) BMW! The next day, to our amazement the problem happened again...we thought $%#@ how is this possible...is their service department really that incompetant? We returned the car for round 3.

4) At this point, I had lost faith in the service department, so I forwarded some service bulletins I fould on this forum which seemed to describe the problem we were observing with the valvetronic system. Knowing how difficult intermittent problems cann be to troubleshot...I was careful to explain that I did not want htem to feel any time preessure and that the most important thing to me was finally fixing the problem. After 3 weeks of rarely returned phone calls, eventually the majority of the valvetronic system was replaced (eccentric shafts, intermediate levers, and other bits). The service department rep called me and infromed me the car was ready... By now you can probably guess what happened after we picked up the car...that's right, but not until the next morning Anyway...completely dumbfounded, we send it back for round 4.

5) This time, we sent instructions to the service department manager that we wanted the engine replaced or our money back (hoping that BMW would do the right ting and solve the problem once and for all). We scratched our head as the service manager explained to us how they can't just replace an engine without clear justification that it is the problem. Reluctantly we agreed to give them one last shot at fixing the problem. After 3 more weeks, and a visit by the Regional BMW service guru, it was decided to replace the sensors that monitor the valvetronic system (not sure what they are called). They replaced them and drove the car for over 200 miles fault free. Finally problem soalved right! Wrong! This evening we went to pick up the car and only got 3 miles away when it happened again!

Initial Conclusion...

My own fault...how stupid could you be for buying a car that breaks down during the test drive? (Answer...too much faith in service department and CPO)

Facts...

Dealer has agreed to refund our money if we wish.

Dealer has also commented that they would work with us if we are interested in a 335 or possible a 550, but no firm commitments.

Dealer gives us same song and dance about the possibility of completely replacing the engine!

Wife LOVE's the car when it is working properly...willing to wait for a proper repair.

Here is my delema...

After hours of searching for comparable cars...it's looking like it could be months more of searching ahead before the right car (used 545 with same options) comes along. Previous car has already been sold...other two cars are manual transmission and therefore wife can't/won't drive them.

Do we take our money and run...and absorb the cost of temporary transportation while searching (possible months) for the right car?

335 is too small for our needs and 550 is too expensive if suitably optioned (compared to what we paid for the 545) and it's not likely the dealer will be willing to make up the difference just to make us happy.

We just want the car fixed...why can't BMW just bite the bullet and replace the engine rather than using it's customers as guinny pigs while they troubleshoot without any real smoking gun pointing them to the source of the problem?

Wouldn't taking our money and running essentailly be encouraging BMW to take the easy way out of a difficult situation...? And even worse, passing on the costs of their service department's incompetence onto our shoulders in the form of a compromised short-term auto purchase out of necessity or the cost of temporary transportation?

Or should we just abandon BMW altogether? My gut tells me that we are just victims of an incompetent service department and clearly there are plenty of happy BMW customers out there...it's just getting very hard to listen to over the grumbling

Any of you have similar experiences? Any of you pushed for engine replacement with any success?

jordan23junkee

theres always a bad apple in the bunch , and unfortuantely you ran into one. Altho it seemed attractive and had all the options you both were looking for the engine light and second time occurenceshould have steered you guys away. I would recommend opening your options like maybe a 530i or the newer 535. The newer 535 has plenty of power and with the same options in your price range.

aybeesea

Looking at your topic title, remember this is not anything to do with BMW corporate.

This is a second hand car and you have to accept the risks associated with prior ownership when buying second hand. There's only so much a dealer can do to "tart up" a car prior to sale otherwise the economics don't work.

The dealer is probably franchised and it's up to them to provide good customer service to allow their own business to flourish but there's nothing BMW corporate can do in these circumstances.

ABC

EBMCS03

I'm sorry to hear... but yes there are good cars out there... including mine. I'm very happy with it and has been more reliable than my Lexus. Actually they're both been equally reliable... but I would suggest you dont give up searching. You should find a 2005 545. I have to say everyone needs to really drive a BMW to understand how awesome it is to drive... theres no comparison out there... except for porsche and beyond.

andy545

I had my engine replaced under warranty. No rough idle or mishaps, just some sound that sounded like valve tapping but which proved to be an out of tolerance cylinder.

If they offer you a definite engine replacement with at least a years' warranty on it - take it.
Otherwise, take your money, walk away and wait for another opportunity.

Welcome to the forum...

marklp

In the UK, BMW ran a TV advert campaign where the slogan was "it's only a car"

In your case, OP, I think you should take the refund and run. As BMW says, "It's only a car". You've lost all confidence in their ability to fix it, so you'll never be 100% that it'll be right. Last thing you want is for your wife to be stranded somewhere at night.

Or maybe you do...

wmbiii

I simply cannot fathom how you purchased this car; was there a shortage of available BMW's where you are? Any hint of an issue on a used car and everyone here would just move on to next available. I really hope you got a bargain on the car when you bought it. That said you need to get your money and move on. Look for another used car from another dealership as you will always question these guys; while I want you to stay with BMW, obviously you've been snake bitten and need a change. That is my advice. Do it quickly.

Uk525i

Any used car purchased from an authorised dealer should be 100% right. Thats what you pay a premium for when using the dealer network. Things will go wrong with a new one too, but you have been more then reasonable by giving them a chance to resolve the problem. If I was in your shoes I'd get a refund & start the search again. Quite inconvenient, but at least you should find a nice example which has not been molested in the workshop!.

aybeesea

The "100%" varies, particularly dependent upon the age of the car.

Dealers play the percentage game. Customer satisfaction against profit.

It's a hard game to play.

ABC

brandsb

I'd strongly suggest going to bmwusa.com and finding another CPO 545 with the options you like. I did this and found the exact vehicle I wanted in Kentucky. Drove from Michigan to KY and got exactly what I wanted in exchange for a 13 hour roundtrip. You're still stuck with your local dealer for service though.....