JollyO

Well it was a hard choice between a merc E-Class 320 CDi and the BMW 530d M-Sport Saloon but made my choice for the bimmer partly based on Merc's reliability issues recently. So I decided to stick with BMW (previous one was 525 SE Touring).

How wrong could I have been :thumbsdown: !

I tought a share a story with you all.

Took delivery on 23rd Dec 2005 and was a pround owner. Family & friends were !!
Great handling, great power and a great head turner. Should be for ?38k car ! In

Exactly a week later, all five of us got in the car at 7 PM. Buckled up, all exicted (not just about going to party but going in our new chariot). Inserted the fob into the slot, pressed the Start Button and it fired and immediately stalled Hushly silence in the car -- all shocked by what just happened. "it's just the cold temp outside (-2 C) and diesels may be are sensative to the cold" I said having never owned an oil burner before. I pressed the Start Button again and let go. The starter just kept turning and would not fire-up the engine I had to press the button to stop the racket. Took the fob out. pressed the lock and then unlock; re-inserted the fob; pressed the Start Button and it fired and immediately stalled You can now imagine the embarrasement. Waited a couple of minutes. Wife was getting edgy and about to pile out but waited. I tried again and it started. Whew !! All was ok and completly forgot about it.

Till a week later...exactly the same problem except it took about 10 minutes wait to start (while I was waiting the BMW emergency service to call me back). Of course when they called it started They suggested I take it the nearest dealer and have them check it out. I took it to the dealer where the car came from. They hooked it up to their computer and said they need to keep the car for further tests. I asked why. They said they think it's faulty Injectors ! It's only two bloody weeks old and it's happened twice in that time I said. They had to order new injectors and kept my car. Gave a crappy 116i for 4 days. It came back supposedly fix. I would not call it happy motoring as every time I got in the car, I wondered if it start -- always anxious

Another problem crept in. Happily driving along at 50-55 mph. Start slowing down with the brakes. reaches ~ 35 mph and revs jump from 1000 rpm to 1500 rmp for a second or so and jump back to 1000 rpm while I'm braking ! it was almost reproduceable every time. It was as if the computer thought the car was about to stall so revv'ed the engine.

About a week later, we finished shopping; piled the trunk with shopping. Got in the car and yes you guessed it ....it would not start !! Wife was really p****d now We waited a few minutes and it started. The next day I had exactly the same problem. Waited for the BMW emergency service for 45 minutes. The guy came (he was not from BMW but some local hired tow-away trucker). I knew it would start but I wanted them to come out and explain. The guy did not even know how to start -- he had never seen a BMW with a Start Button !. Told him to put his foot on the brake peddle and press the start button...and of course it started for him.

Took the car in Monday 16th Jan. Made me wait an hour to run some tests. The guy came back gave me more details about the last time they had the car. cylinder 1, 2 and 4 were not firing properly and that's why they replaced the injectors. this time couple of the other were "playing up" and they wanted to replace them. But they did not now believe that's the problem. The fact that the new problem of revving up while slowing down crept it was "very interesting" to them and wanted to run more test and fix the starting problem. Gave me a temp 320 Cd in the meantime (BTW, very uncomfortable sports seats for changing gears).

Seems like I am a guinea pig as they have not seen or heard of this problem. Over a week later and they they still have my car. They cannot get the new DDE Control unit -- what ever that is. I am not sure that's going to fix it as they did not sound very confident. Told them I will be seeking my money back if there one more incident of this and if they don't fix it asap. Got call today and were very apologetic that the parts still have not arrived could be days to weeks ! In the mean time they have a 530d that they will lend me till mine is fixed.

What are the chances of replacing my car completely or better still get my money back (as this one is jinxed) ?

Simple1

wow sorrie to hear about this, if it happens agian you probably should look into the lemon laws for your country and see what can be done. this happens to all car companies unfortunately you just took the wrong straw (obviously you don't want to hear this as you just want your car fixed) and hopefully maybe nextime you'll be given the right straw.

colejl

Have you asked your dealer where you purchased the car from what they're going to do about it? (Either replacement or some form of financial compensation?)

If they won't help then I guess you need to contact BMW direct and then the legal route? You could of course just 'reject' the car under the sales of goods act - I'm not a legal expert but I'm sure there's lots of advice on the internet somewhere... It also depends on how the car is financed - if it's on HP then you have some other options I believe (as the car is tecnically owned by the finance company and they own the 'lemon'!)

In regards to the 'rev problem' - is this manual or auto 'box? I'm guessing auto - mine does do some strange revving when slowing but it seems to be 'normal' and doesn't seem to cause any problems?

JollyO

Colejl, I have told the dealer that I will seek a new car or the money back but all i got was "I understand but don't worry it will be fixed". The car is leased and I am going to take it up with them now and see what they will do about sales of good act.

It is an automatic and strange to hear it is 'normal' because it was not happening in the first two weeks.

Thanks for the advise.

colejl

I hope so too. Thanks for the kind words Simple1.


Colejl, I have told the dealer that I will seek a new car or the money back but all i got was "I understand but don't worry it will be fixed". The car is leased and I am going to take it up with them now and see what they will do about sales of good act.

It is an automatic and strange to hear it is 'normal' because it was not happening in the first two weeks.

Thanks for the advise.
[/quote]
Let us know what happens!

Well the auto-box does well but it never as good as a manual with a clutch in terms of getting every situation correct... But I have noticed if you just take your foot off the accelerator and let the car 'coast' the revs can be 'erratic' - e.g. dropping down to idle and leap slightly... Doesn't cause an issue that I'm aware of?

TexaZ3

There should be a lemon laws in every country, check what's yours. I believe, in US, if you car spent more than a certain number of days in service over a period of time (Don't remember exactly, but I this somehitng like 72 days in first year?) BMW will buy your car back. So, get a written statements of how much your car is in the service. I know that doesn't help you, but who knows...

JollyO

Latest update:

BMW 2nd and 3rd level engineers have a 1" thick diagnostics report on the problem and ordered the parts to fix.
It will take 10 days and the dealer has given a 530d till then.

Leasing company involved and they were pretty helpful. THey want to give BMW a chance to fix it. THe BMW sales person wants me to be happy and has almost agreed to one more chance and another failure of the same nature will result in a replacement.

So fingers crossed.

I am now keeping track of the days spent in their garage !

new-kid

Sorry to hear your problems - hope they get fixed.

Regaring the revs on breaking, the auto box does sometimes decide to change down to assist with engine braking. Has tended to happen with me when breaking moderately hard going down a hill (not sure if it has a level sensor, or simply deduces a hill). Quite difficult to predict when it wuill happen, but on certain steep routes it does regularly.
Could this be what you experienced.

The good news is a 530d should generally start OK, so expect this will get sorted (the bad news it is normally the electronics which goes wrong !)

Peter530i

sorry to hear this. I guess you get flaws every so often...... no production output is 100% flawless.
besides BMW 3.0diesel engine is by far the best on the world.
Your car was probably manufacter on Friday afternoon before the long weekend ...
wish you the best with the repair

katheikia

Sorry to hear about your problems. I know its tough to hate the e60 because its such a great drivers car, hopefully they will make it right for you, and all this will be history. Sounds like the dealer is on your side. Good Luck