Agreed. But if it were me, I'd fight tooth-and-nail to get them to repair it. Like someone else said, unless your friend was driving like a bonehead, it should be covered. Tell him to get a lawyer. It'll be much cheaper than paying out 16 Gs! How do his tires and rear fender wells look?

 

I just took my manual 550i to the dealership complaining of the proverbial pedal squeak and a small amount of judder when parking or operating at very slow speeds. The dealer replaced the clutch and dual mass flywheel under warranty with no questions asked.

BMW history with clutches
The clutch on the E39 M5 was famous for blowing out
I have read on this forum where many clutches were replaced on 545/550's
It goes to reason that BMW has still not developed a proper clutch for its high horsepower/torque models.

Abuse would be a very weak case for them since verifying would be extremely difficult. They may check the rev limiter but again, not conclusive fro clutch/tranny abuse.

Bottom line, this should be a warranty issue.

 

The burden would be on the dealership and BMW NA to prove it was negilgence. If it was, then your friend is liable. Has he tried taking it to another dealer?

 

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