Hi,

I'm due to pick up my '04 525D next week and I've asked the dealer to make sure that the software on the car is up to date as I plan on fitting the Gateway 500 iPod link to it, but I get the feeling he is giving me the runaround as he keeps coming up with excuses about getting it checked out with the service department.

Is a software upgrade straightforward and should I be expecting the dealer to just get on with it?

Thanks in advance!
Brian

 

Your dealer is probably reluctant to commit to updating your software because it can take anywhere from 3 to 7+ hours to do (and generally means that the car is left blocking a service bay for the day).

 

I wondered if that was the case, but am I right to insist on it before getting the car?

 

No, I don't think you can insist on having an upgrade unless the car has a known fault, in that sense the software upgrade would no different from insisting that the dealer fixed a cracked windscreen or some bodywork damage, etc. Unless, of course, you want to add the cost of having the work done to the price of your car or you can do some kind of deal...

 

+1 - that's the procedure. You need to pay for such an upgrade. Bug fixes are still free...

 

Ok, I'll back off on the dealer.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

Depends whether you insisted on the upgrade as a pre-requisite to buying the car, if he agreed to it, stick to your guns and refuse to take the car until it is done.

 

Too late, I took delivery of the car on Wednesday as I had some work scheduled for the car yesterday. I think we did just run out of time to get the upgrade sorted as I was quite fussy over the paintwork and had the car resprayed in a few places.

However I have the customer satisfaction survey to fill in and he is more bothered about how I fill that in than he was about losing the sale as well spec'd E61s aren't hanging around at the moment. I'm planning on using the survey as a bargaining chip to get what I want - I'm going to say that the iDrive keeps crashing and hence needs an upgrade - hopefully it'll work.

I need to get it resolved soon as I'm having the car remapped next month so I don't want to go through the hassle of going to the remapper again.

 

"..I need to get it resolved soon as I'm having the car remapped next month so I don't want to go through the hassle of going to the remapper again."

Which remapper are you using? I had exactly the same happen to me - my software upgrade overwrote my engine remap but DMS reinstalled it under their warranty without any fuss or bother.

 

I'm using E-Maps, I think they offer the same deal but I've managed to get it booked in at the dealer before the remap is due.