MaTRiX

Heres part 1 - http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=20184&hl=

Part 1 happened on New Years. 1 Month, 24 days later , same thing happened AGAIN! Engine Malfunction, Engine Overload, DRIVE MODERATELY. I parked, turned off car, tried to restard, it wont.. Catalytic converter broken????? WHAT??? AGAIN! Ok, so i call up BMW Assist, I was stranded 1 hour 20 mins from where i live ( At Niagara Falls , FREEZING! ) Took me 5 minutes to get on with the BMW Assist operator, they as usual transferred me to the towing company.... Why cant BMW automatically know where i am at? Why do i have to tell them where i am at? Why can BMW not know where i am if i give them the coordinates from the IDRIVE that shows up when i make the BMW ASSIST Call? Last when i got stranded on the on ramp of the most famous highway in canada... The Towing Company that BMW chose did not even know where its at... The guy wouldnt leave his office even.... Thanks to the Highway Police, he got us a towing truck... ( BMW Assist Claimed they will re-imburse me) But i still havent received the money. So today being stranded even much further, i asked them will my transportation be arranged? Answer : No, we dont do that???????? It was pretty obvious that the guy i spoke to via BMW Assist had no idea what he was saying.. After 10 minutes of him repeating the EXACT same answer.. and me asking to speak to someone who knows more, a manager.. him keeping refusing, I finally exchanged a few last words, at which point some manager came on the second line and said "Mr Jilani", we cant arrange your transportation, but i can give you the number to a taxi company, and we will "Probably" re-imburse you. The charge for a cab was $143. Dealing with BMW assist can be the most frustrating thing ever.....

As for the car, i think its a lemon. If i paid 95k for a car, i EXPECT reliability. Now that the SAME thing has happened twice, im actually scared to drive it anymore... Its pretty obvious now its a lemon... The engine started SHAKING like hell just like before, and same message of engine malfunction came on.. .so its PRETTY obvious by now that engine will keep malfunctioning.. Basically if i didnt find a good location to get stranded, i wouldve been screwed because the car woulda shut down pretty soon by itself.

Does anyone know the lemon laws in Canada? What do you guys recommend i do? Ive given up on this car totally, too afraid to drive it anymore, Its just not reliable. Im actually really afraid how bad the M6 can be, judging from my 5 series record, as M6 is just brand new technology. I am REALLY pissed at this whole ordeal. BMW ASSIST SUCKS!

drjochen

Don't blame you at all. You have every right to be pissed!!!!!!!!!

caf

I think the saddest thing is that the E60 gives you NO clue as to what's wrong when something like this happens. If the car had a basic coolant temp. gauge, and an oil pressure gauge, the driver could potentially figure out what's going on. At the least, they would know to check the coolant level, and oil levels, look for leaks in the appropriate system, and have some idea of whether it's safe to proceed.

I am insulted that modern BMWs assume that I'm a mechanical idiot and that any information about MY car would be "dangerous". Sure, that might be true with many drivers, but there are some of us who would benefit by knowing more, not less.

jksanford

This is sooo funny: I got a letter asking to renew BMW Assist. I thought, what the heck. I like using the concierge service for concerts, etc. Well, I've switched credit card companies since last year. I pressed the button to talk to someone about renewing and updating my credit card info..... Nothing happened for the first 5 times I pressed it. Then I got a TCU error message on screen, and THEN the Gwinnett County 911 service came online.

Not good. I was furious. What if I had been in a wreck and needed it. I was just at the dealer a week before for service. Wouldn't they check that kind of thing? I wonder how long it wasn't working and I was paying for it? I renewed it last april when my year was up. Now I'm thinking twice about this.

Also, I hope the TCU is dead and they have to replace it with a new 'bluetooth' capable one.

James

arthurk

Oh my...you are scaring me. Not just the quality of the BMW assist, but also the problems associated with your car. I will get mine in a couple of months. Hopefully, I don't get a lemon like you did. Which dealer in Toronto did you goto?

In terms of lemon law in Canada, there is none. You can perhaps look into CAMVAP "Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan" or Sales of Goods Act. Check out the Better Business Bureau in Canada.

ademitt

I just received a letter from BMWCA notifying me that all BMW Assist services will be terminated on my car next week. My subscription ran out in early Dec and I did not renew it as I thought $199 was too much for the services provided (In CA we do not get the concierge service or the stolen car locator). The letter stressed that I would no longer have roadside assistance via Assist and that I would have to call in for help on a cell phone.

Judging by the service you received, looks like I made the right decision.

With respect to the reliability problem, tell your dealer you want to meet with a zone service rep to go over your car. If they do not want to do this, give customer relations a call and insist on such a meeting. That may give you some resolution on this matter.

das

Not to diminish anyone's problem here, but I'm always amused when people get "worried" when someone else has an isolated problem. Please note I am NOT diminishing the original problem. But everything under the sun has problems, and unless there's reason to believe it's widespread, there's no reason to worry about anything. Discussion forums like this tend to bring out problems because, well, we talk about them here. But most people who get any E60 (or anything else from BMW for that matter) will have zero problems. Now, occasionally there ARE common issues or "known problems". This isn't one of them.

EBMCS03

Yup! I got 3 calls and the same letter and said mine will be out March 6th... I should just for the heck of it press the button to see if it still works. Like you I chose not to renew. $199 for things that I wont even use is a lot. Only thing I like is the airbag notification. I can use a cell phone to call BMW Assist not a big deal. BUT I am EXPECTING not to have to use it... for $65KUSD this car better not break down. *knock on wood*

w8pmc

Sorry to here about your problems. Defo sounds like a recurring problem with your car.

As for BMW Assist, i've not had to use it in anger or an Emergency, but i've been playing with it as i'm on my 1st 6 months free & i have to say it's pretty cool. The locator functionality is bang on, as they knew i was sat on my drive when i first called them.

I need to understand better exactly what it/they can do, before deciding on whether to renew later thsi year, but i think i quite like it.

MaTRiX

Das im experiencing rapid problems one after another after over 1 and half year of ownership. In The first 1 and half years, the the only problem that occurred was the window trap thing which isnt major whatsoever. So maybe the first year models engine become faulty after 35,000 kms? I dont know. But im leaving shortly to discuss this with my dealer.
It could also be that maybe the service guys might have somehow messed it up, because it was the most reliable car i had owned for the 1st 1 and a half year of its ownership. I am really clueless why this is happening. But id say 2 engine malfunctions is a pretty serious thing. Last time the service guys said that some bolts came off or something, and the catalytic coverter was not replaced. Now its in a different BMW Service Dept, so maybe they can do a better job, im not sure, but time will tell.