So I finally came over to the BMW side...Bought a 2006 530XI CPO with 7,800 miles Comfort Seats, NAV, Premium, Xeon, Cold Weather, Etc).....Owned the car for 5 weeks and its been in the service shop for 1 week. Issue: No Bluetooth and I Drive was quirky. After 1 week in the shop, BMW NA approved the new installation of the TCU Unit with CIP 25.02.

The Service Dept claimed that could not do anything further until BMW NA validated the issue and approved a new TCU.

This is unacceptable...
Should I expect to have my car in the shop for 1 week everytime I bring it in for service?

My first experience with BMW Service is far below what I expected. Is this typical with BMW Service?

Could be. You'll have to wait and see how things go next time.

Yep, thats typical of BMW's these days unfortunately. As long as you are under warranty u are ok :)

Well I will chime in saying it is NOT typical of my experience. My M-ASK unit (Radio/CD unit in the dash) was acting up causing sporadic CD player failures. Service rep filed a PUMA case and had it approved and the new unit installed in 2 days. A week seems excessive for any repair to be approved, sounds like someone dropped the ball, whether it was the dealer or BMWNA.

kscarrol,

I totally agree with you as far as someone dropping the ball. I had a case when local BMW was waiting to hear from BMW NA about some parts replacement and got an approval within 24 hours.

Mine had SOS Malfunction Error and Bluetooth no longer fails.. they are currently waiting for BMW reply itseems. (been a week)

I guess after certain amount they need approval from BMW to replace it. is TCU that expensive?

Yes it is. As I recall from some researching TCU's in an effort to get BT functioning in early model cars, they run upwards of $2,000. Do you still have your car while awaiting approval? At a minimum the dealer could (and should!) call the owner explain what's going on and offer to let them have their car back until fix is approved or part arrives, as long as the car is functioning safely.

Frankly with BT not working for the OP, I'm amazed their is any delay at all. If it were purely a quirky iDrive and BMWNA was trying to see if a software fix might resolve the problem, I could understand the hesitation somewhat.

I also had to have the TCU replaced in my '06 when it was just a couple of months old. My dealer got the approval in less than 24 hrs. and I had the car back in 2 days. This seems to be a common problem with the e60 but to this point the drive is worth it. I wish BMW would work out some of these kinks. The car is too expensive to be in the shop more than a Camry.