spiros

Yeah, i don't get it myself. Are they making them in house or have an external supplier for the pumps i wonder ?
Either way it is disgraceful for a company of that size and status

Kzang

Because a large number of BMW customers aren't car enthusiasts like us. Majority of buyers/owners are business men and women who rather appreciate the BMW badge than the actual performance.
That would be my guess as to why they would eliminate the turbo or supercharger sounds if they did add superchargers to their cars.

spiros

^^^ So true ..

fastkevin

Update: About a week or so ago, the car started idling rough again(which has always been a precursor to either the pump or injectors going out), and although I figured I'd just wait and see what happened, my wife called me on Monday saying that her 'low oil' light lit up. I told her to call the dealer since the fuggin thing was just in there, and the woman on the phone stated that although it's common for this to happen, and it's probably just a tiny bit low, she'd send someone to my house to top it off. Funny thing was, I went into i-drive and checked it when she got home, and it said plane as day it was 'ok'. I gave my wife shit about it, and when they guy showed up the next morning, the damn thing took 2 freakin qts of oil. So either they didn't fill it all the way back up(which they said they did, and since a BMW rep was there for the repair, I'm thinking they did), or it's now added burning mass amounts of oil to it's repertoire. The tech also checked out the rough idle, and he agreed that something was up(again). So I then called the dealer, spoke with the same woman and told her this was it. The deal was we were to give them one more chance to fix it...we did, and they did, and now it's up to it's same old tricks, plus a new one. She told me to call BMW, which I did. I heard back from them today, and was told that they've agreed to buy it back, or "re-purchase it" I should say. As far as I know(and I'm hoping) we'll get back all the money we've spent on it. The down payment, and all the subsequent monthly payments.
I'm hopeful that this is the beginning of the end, and they'll follow through. Since I didn't know how long it was gonna take, and don't remember when the next payment is due, I asked her if we're supposed to keep making them until they come up with a check. She said that she'd already notified BMW Credit, and they're aware of what's going on, so not to make any more payments.
So I gotta pull off the bitchen 20" black Time Attack wheels I put on it, re-install the stockers, and just wait.
Hopefully I'm not counting the chickens...but hopefully this ('nightmare' is too extreme) 'bad' dream is over.

v_therussian

So, uhm are you getting another 535i?

Don't wanna say congrats until its official, but am glad to see that BMW is finally taking the right steps here.

fastkevin

Surprisingly, BMW made it quite easy.. Today they e-mailed their settlement offer, and they wanted to keep roughly $5800. California provides them to charge "X" per mile for usage. The total they owe me is around $17k, and their offer basically hit us with 42 cents per mile. I felt that was a little too high, and told them I'd accept what amounts to 10-cents per mile(letting them keep $2300). I simply asked the rep if this 'offer' was a 'take it or leave it' kinda thing, in which case I'd talk it over with my attorney, or if it was just an 'offer'. She said that she'd be more than happy to take my counter-offer to the powers that be, and actually called me back less than 15 minutes later. They accepted my counter offer, and it looks like it'll go down next week.
As far as which car my wife's gonna get, in one of the most surprising moves I've seen her make, she told me she just wants to buy a used Civic, and drive that around while she thinks about what she wants to do. This is coming from a woman that always had to have an expensive Euro car. She's gone from a Mercedes, to a Cayenne to an Audi S4, to a Land Rover(her attempt at buying an SUV for the kids), to the 535.
The Merc and the Audi were relatively reliable, but were too small for our family once the kids started getting bigger, and the rest of 'em were P's.I.T.A.
She's apparently so burned out with all the hassle involved with owning these things, she's given up, and no longer even cares about enjoying her vehicle. She's now strictly looking at it from a practicality side. I have an Avalanche, which she'll drive when hauling the kids around. I ride a motorcycle most of the time anyway.
I've been pondering a 3-series diesel while we've been going through this, as I have a history with diesels, and their way above average reliability. Why I think that'll equate to a BMW diesel I don't know, but because they were so good with standing behind their vehicle, we might look at one. I think it'll be too small, but there's also the Merc 320D as well. We looked at those before, and she found then 'soul-less', so that probably won't be an option, but Who knows...?
The car was a total bag 'O piss, but (so far at least) BMW has stood behind it, and taken responsibility for it's problems. Gotta give 'em credit for that. We went through a similar deal with Land Rover, and they were the polar opposite. They showed they weren't above doing or saying anything to force a customer to keep a pile of shit.

Gene

Glad to hear the ordeal is finally over with...sorry to hear you had so many problems with your 535i, but like you stated, nice to see BMW did the right thing...


GL with your future purchase decision....

hope you wouldn't mind posting one last thing regarding your 535i...

https://5series.net/forums/index.php...opic=54257&hl=

tripitaka

A superb thread with many lesson contained within it.

Certainly it seems like your car was a lemon and I think it is reasonable to assume that the 535 range has more than it's fair share of lemons due to what appears to be common design faults.

On the other hand, you have experience of both sides of the coin in terms of dealer assistance and BMW come out as being reasonable and considerate. This is also my opinion of BMW in the UK although as always, some dealers let down the network in general.

Surely what you would be looking for would be a great, reliable car supported by a caring dealer? I think this leaves the list fairly short and definitely subject to your own opinions.

I think in this case, I would remain engaged with BMW on one last point that may enhance your deal further. Talk to them about your feeling and ask them to consider making you an offer in addition to and separate from, the settlement on the 535. Talk to them about the reliability issues and ask them if you were to remain with them with say a 550 or a diesel, what kind of offer would they be prepared to make?

They won't be expecting this at all. They are in damage limitation currently and retaining you as a customer is an option they dare not consider, so just give them a chance and see what happens. They may just make you an offer that is hard to turn down. If not, you lose nothing.

It will be interesting to see how that would pan out.

fastkevin

Thanks for the info..it's definitely worth considering. Not with a gas motor, however.. I'm totally burned out on 'em, and would prolly be in a perpetual panic attack

fastkevin

No sweat..
On second thought...lemme get my money back before I post up the VIN on the WWW.