Well, BMWNA called me regarding the letter I sent them last week. Again, they said they will not reimburse me for anything. I explained to him the vehicle has been well maintained, not modified and had just 45k miles when the problem occurred. It was Friday evening. I was leaving on a family trip and the easiest, most reasonable decision for me was to have the vehicle repaired at the German Auto specialist shop next door. The part is defective and obviously a known problem. He said they would not do anything because it was repaired by a third party.

I then explained to him I was only seeking reimbursement for the part ($870). I have the defective part in my possession and I can send it to them for inspection. Whether the part is on or off the vehicle, it is still defective. Again, he said, they won't reimburse... and there is nobody else at BMWNA that I can speak with. I thanked him for his time and told him I would still like to pursue this further.

So... I do realize BMW has no obligation as the vehicle is out of warranty by 4 months. But I would've expected a luxury car manufacturer like BMW to have premium service to match. I am not completely upset by all this because it is not a huge amount of money. But it is enough for sway my decision to not buy another BMW, unfortunately. The wife wants an X5 and I want a diesel... so the X5 X-drive 35D would've almost made sense.

If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them.

 

That sucks. I had same kind a problem with BMW NA. When my E46 M3 had leaking right rear LED light, so it was replaced by CPO, then less then month later another LED leaked, but CPO expired like 3 weeks ago. I went BMW dealer and had a long conversation with shop manager, so he offered me a just half price labor and part. I asked how about just half priced part and I would replace it myself, he said no. Then I called BMW NA, they said sorry to hear, even I said it's M3 and should not be leaking LED lights.
So ?. Them. I?m still pissed by this CS. How in the world 55,000 miles M3 could have leaking rear light assy. Is it a cheap Chinese made lights or should be that German last forever quality? Where is it?
Consumer had been screwed big time for last decade with all this technologies. Just as example : Kitchen Aid refrigerator is last only three years (pump), when used same fridge last like 10 years or more.

 

That is one of the issues if you go to a third party repair shop. If you wanted to get reimbursed then you should have gone to the stealer and bite the bullet. See they need to document everything and time stamp the repair that way it is all kosher. I had the same thing happened to me on one of my cars with the tranny and the advisor actually made it happen and I never had to talk to anyone else. I am not siding with BMW just stating the facts. Also lets be fair put yourself in their shoes, how do they know this part came of your car or wasn't damaged by the repair shop etc, remember there are no Authorize BMW repair shops besides the BMW stealership. At the same time, it is kind of unfair to blame them for not assuming responsibility. Like I said they honored my request and replace the tranny at no cost. With BMW is all about documentation and repair history and they are pretty fair when it comes to that, of coarse that is my own experience with my stealership.

All and All I think it is a good lesson learned for all of us!!!

 

Yes, I can put myself in their shoes and in hindsight, towing the vehicle back to BMW would have given the best odds of BMW covering the repair. However, the circumstances at the time... late Friday, with my two toddlers and late for my trip, dictated I just have all taken care of right there and deal with it all later. Yes, I could've taken some extra time, made a few extra phone calls and gotten it to BMW.

On my last visit to BMW, I was told I needed a spark plug change. Okay fine, how much? They quoted $360 to install 6 plugs. I know the Bosch plugs are about $10/ea and so $300 in labor? The thought of taking it back to BMW for repairs out of warranty was a bit unnerving. I realize the customer has to authorize the repair for they begin work but had they not covered it, and I decided to repair it elsewhere, I would've been charged for the tow... and then for another tow to get it to the independent shop. So, it was a bet on my part... and no telling what would've been the outcome even if I brought it to BMW.

But, yes, a lesson learned. Again, I'm not completely upset since I can understand their position from a business standpoint. But the part is known defective... there appears to be at least 5 different/updated part numbers for the LCI e60 gear selector switch. They probably still don't have it perfected. In my mind, they simply aren't standing behind their product. I paid for labor, they could at least cover the cost of the defective part.

 

Hi

Looks like I might be having this trouble myself.

I bought a 535d with sport auto transmission from new in Sep 2007 (LCi model). The car was manufactured in August 2007. Car now has 55k miles.

Over the past week, we haven't been able to select D from park. Even if I don't put my foot on the brake there is no warning chime. However, if I shift to neutral, I can then shift to drive. Note that I can do this by putting foot on the brake, selecting N then D, or not using the brake, selecting N (accompanied by the warning chime) and then applying the brake and selecting D. Re-selecting park reproduces the problem although a couple of times its worked straight off.

Does this seem like the same problem to you?

Also, the service bulletin refers to two transmission options, would these match the transmission in my 535d?

Lastly, I note the SB refers to the problem being worse in cold ambient conditions and it is cold in the UK this week...

Thanks
Barry

 

It does sound like the same problem to me but I'm no expert with this. You'd better have a mechanic check it out before it leaves you stranded.

 

Hi all,

had my car in for diagnostics today. Showing fault code 51AB on some missed up shifts of the lever but generally (they say 9 out of 10 times) it's working fine. This is slightly different to the behaviour on the road in that I cannot get it into drive from park 1st time without fail. That said, I assume they are saying that it's missing some upshift requests from the gear lever. This I wouldn't know because it's usually in D all the time, except on the occasion when I want to boot it and I use the steering wheel paddles for this?

Anyone know what 51AB is, or how I find out?

My independent garage is suggesting re-programming as first port of call, followed by changing the gear stick unit but for now I'm asking for quotes and will go to BMW to see what they have to say from a warranty perspective (4 years old 55k miles).

Thanks

Barry

 

I had the same issue months after I bought my 2008 528i and the dealer replaced the "gear selector switch" under warranty. Now I'm having the same issue again 5 years later and I have to pay $1350 for out of pocket money to have the same problem fixed! Obviously, the part is defective based on my experience and MANY other owners complaints. We should all file a complaint and have BMW take responsibility.
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/Vehicl...nt/index.xhtml

 

 

@Dave Brock I'm glad that worked for you. Thanks for chiming in. I've never heard of "reflowing." I learned something new.