W the F? General Rant

[Ajax-Prime]

Took my car in last Tuesday afternoon for a small list of things, none of which I expected to be too major. And they weren't, they were just focking annoying.

• State Inspection
• Left brake lamp malfunction
• Leaking washer fluid reservoir
• Ambiguous transmission/engine noise

The left brake lamp thing has been appearing and disappearing all winter long. After it came back for 2 weeks straight, I figured ok, maybe it's serious this time.

Momentum was supposed to fix the washer fluid reservoir during my last visit but, shocker, they didn't. It is such an utter pain in the ass to take the car in to them, I figured I would wait for some other crap to take it back in again.

The transmission/engine noise appeared recently when I was close to lugging 3rd gear (say 1500 rpm,) or was shifting pretty low in the rev band. For example, traveling in third, I'd have to slow down for a light, someone turning, etc. But as I would still be carrying enough speed that it would either turn into a high second, or low third, I'd let it ride in third (Our speed limits are pretty low in the area.) Kind of like a throw out bearing sort of noise. The first thing I checked on was the oil level, but the car says it was fine. I was a bit worried when the shop foreman told me he thought it was a detonation issue, what sort of gas am I putting in it, blah blah blah. Oh crap I think, as I see a reflash in my future.

Tuesday afternoon was a gimme, there was no effing way they were even going to crack the hood to take a look at anything. Wednesday afternoon and still no word, so I call 15 minutes before close to find Momentum has the 'service dept hours' recording already out and running defensive cover. Thursday morning, I call again. 'SA is with a customer but I'll be happy to put you on hold Mr. Ajax.' Operator comes back, I ask to go to voicemail, and voila, I am connected to the SA instead of his vm. He informs me that the shop's computer system has completely crashed, and they are 'dead in the water.' Great.

Friday afternoon I call again, 'SA is busy with a customer...' hold for awful music 'SA is still with a customer, can I take a message?' Gimme his vm, please.' Voila! I am magically connected to the SA! I am told he has not heard from the shop, and that I shouldn't plan on picking the car up.

This morning I am checking my phone, and have a Friday pm vm from the SA, saying that, miracle of miracles, the car is ready to be picked up! So I run down to the dealership to pick up the car. The brake lamp malfunction was due to a loose bulb, washer fluid reservoir due to an improperly connected hose, engine/tranny noise was not gas or detonation, but because the car was a quart low on oil (despite the iDrive and cluster saying the oil level was full.) Whatever, I'm a happy boy to be driving my car home with no control messages for a change. Into the garage we go, and I look forward to an evening of basketball.

Leave for dinner tonight, and *fring* Low washer fluid level. You have got to be f**king kidding me! Pull out of the garage, and sure enough, there's a big puddle on the floor. ****,****,****! But wait, it gets better! Leaving the restaurant, guess what else the car has waiting for me? *Fring* Low washer fluid level, *Fring* Right brake lamp malfunction.

AAAAAAAGGHHGHGHGHGGAAAAAAAAGHHHHHH

You know that finger thing Lewis Black does when he's on a rant? That's me while I'm typing this out. Words cannot describe how atrocious I think BMW's service is.

[Suprane]

I'm laughing and crying at the same time !!...Sorry to hear that. Seriously, shi__ty service!! Talk about frustrating....damn!

[M3twins]

I think most of us have been there.... hang in there it'll get fixed.

[J-9]

Crap service sucks and Lewis Black anger is frakkin hilarious.

Good luck regardless, bro.

[AMJ_77]

Hahaha, A+ rant

[Cab5er]

Whoa. I stopped reading after the second paragraph. Must have taken a long time to type all that up

[BCA]

Sorry to hear about your experience....

Yep, service is atrocious. Luckily I have a good SA at Momentum (from the sound of it, you must have someone else) but I still HATE having to take my car there. And every time it seems like there is some issue with the car when I get it back despite my SA knowing that I'm totally anal and typing "be extremely careful with car no wash no wash no wash" on the ticket.

Just a few weeks ago had my car in for idle control valve replacement at ~3,000 miles...car in and out same day within a few hours...all good, right? A few days later I noticed a bunch of clearcoat scratches on the passenger fender right at the edge of the engine bay, as if the tech just leaned in and out of my car repeatedly with no regard for the paint. #*@&*#% UGH! Just buffed it out yesterday. Ridiculous

[dimabimmer]

it's just another day at the office for BMW service...

...and they wouldn't have the slightest idea how to do it better.

If it was Germany, all Joes Shmos of BMW Service would be terminated already.

[JCtx]

Hey Ajax, can you explain in more detail what you meant by 'throwout bearing' noises? If your oil sensor reads full when doing a 'reset' with the engine hot, idling, on a flat surface, it's fine. Engine is not going to make any extraneous noise with 1 quart out of 9 low. Our cars have weird tranny/clutch clanking noises at very low rpm. Or could it be the differential noise when turning sharply? Let us know.
And honestly, you could have fixed all those little details yourself better than a dealer tech man. The reservoir is a PITA for sure, but at least you'd have the patience to do it right.

Just like BCA, the only dealer in town is my last resort. The only tech I trusted managed to kill himself recently while riding his bike drunk. Geez. I'm bleeding my brakes and clutch tomorrow 2 months early. And will also change my oil 'early' myself, but will wait a bit longer than a year, as I only have 3K miles on the oil. Maybe 15 months. It's not critical. Rather pay $100 than not only the inconvenience of dropping my car 40 miles away (no loaners here), but those clowns driving it for 20 miles, and possibly making a mess if they don't put the cap right, etc. Tired of putting up with crap like that. I'm going to pretend there's no maintenance on this car, and only take it when it's absolutely necessary, just like my other cars. I drive it so few miles a year it's not going to be a financial drain.

[Ajax-Prime]

Originally Posted by elp_jc

Hey Ajax, can you explain in more detail what you meant by 'throwout bearing' noises? If your oil sensor reads full when doing a 'reset' with the engine hot, idling, on a flat surface, it's fine. Engine is not going to make any extraneous noise with 1 quart out of 9 low. Our cars have weird tranny/clutch clanking noises at very low rpm. Or could it be the differential noise when turning sharply? Let us know.
And honestly, you could have fixed all those little details yourself better than a dealer tech man. The reservoir is a PITA for sure, but at least you'd have the patience to do it right.

Well, as far as describing the noise...if you've ever had a throw out bearing start to go tango uniform on you, you know what I mean, otherwise it's difficult to explain. If you have a 6mt, and notice the difference in the note between clutch engaged in neutral, and clutch released in neutral, then magnify it by about 100, that's the noise I'm talking about. It was a little chatter that went away quickly as the rpms went up. I could not replicate it by simply reving the engine in neutral. Only in gear and under load. It's definetely NOT the rear diff noise when making a turn. That was more a rumble, and I've had that one too. I have not noticed it in the brief driving time since pickup. It's most likely going to be another week before Momentum can get me back in, so there will be plenty of opportunities before then to see if it's still there. The more I think about it though, the more I expect it will be.

AAAAAGGGHAAAAGH again.

As far as the 'do it better myself' angle, meh. I fully expected the left brake to be some sort of a cluster replacement. I mean, it's an LED ffs, and LED's are supposed to last forever, aren't they? So....if I'm going in for something I expect will have to be replaced, a state inspection, and some general wtf-is-that? noise, I figured I might as well give them another shot at the reservoir. Now it's turning into a vendetta thing.

Seems like my entire week last week was death by 1,000 tiny pin-pricks.

[frankzlin79]

I've had to take my car in due to right tail lamp malfunctions that would go on and off like random. It turns out there is a technical service bulletin on it. There might be a TSB for the left tail lamp too.

You've had major bad luck with your car. Sorry. I have had no issues except for the right tail lamp and I've just recently passed 15,000 miles. Good thing the dealer didn't have to reflash your car. Would be a pain to get it tuned again.

[M3 4 ME]

Since you bring up momentum, I figured I would let my frustration out as well. Dropped the car off for my 1200 mile service on Thursday evening for a Friday morning appointment. Of course I tell them not to wash it and I request that the oldest tech on staff do the test drive after the service. So I get the car back Friday evening and there are only 3 additional miles on the odometer. Great! However, once I got the car home and washed the next morning, I notice a plethora of small black specs all along both sides of my roof and rear panels that cannot be removed with vigorous scrubbing. Gonna see if the detailer can get them out with buff and polish and see if momentum will foot the bill. The fact that the car is AW makes it that much more obvious and upsetting. On a side note though, the car is absolutely amazing in the higher rev range!!! Grinning ear to ear ever since.

[paul.r]

Which Momentum? I've taken mine (335i, my M3 is on order) to the Momentum West on I-10 and have been extremely underwhelmed with the level of service there. Advantage Midtown is nowhere near me, but I've been tempted to go even more out of my way to take it there in hopes of finding a better shop.

[e46e92love]

OP, I wish I could say I feel your pain but I can't, although my wife can. Until recently (got her into an X3) she was driving an Acua RL and the service department at the dealer was just incompetent. However, our BMW dealership treats us great, and really fixes things too. My father has had three 7s thru them, me two 335i's and now my wife's X. The one or two times we have had ongoing issues, they put in a PUMA before we got annoyed, as soon as they couldn't fix it, they are never afraid to bring in someone who can.

My SA rocks (a very smart and organized young woman) the SM is very calm and receptive, the head mechanic / shop foreman just exudes calmness and wisdom and they always make sure the same mechanic works on our cars (Ryan) who I love, does great work and we have formed a good relationship with. Its threads like this that remind me of how damn lucky I am.

Is there more than one dealer close to you? Is it worth driving a bit further to get to a better dealer?

Cheers,
e46e92

[Ajax-Prime]

Originally Posted by paul.r

Which Momentum? I've taken mine (335i, my M3 is on order) to the Momentum West on I-10 and have been extremely underwhelmed with the level of service there. Advantage Midtown is nowhere near me, but I've been tempted to go even more out of my way to take it there in hopes of finding a better shop.

I'm talking about Momentum off the SW freeway, but when I lived out thataway, I have also been to I-10. It's pretty much the same. I work downtown, but wouldn't think I would get a loaner from a different dealer...Advantage is not part of Sonic is it?

Originally Posted by frankzlin79

I've had to take my car in due to right tail lamp malfunctions that would go on and off like random. It turns out there is a technical service bulletin on it. There might be a TSB for the left tail lamp too.

You've had major bad luck with your car. Sorry. I have had no issues except for the right tail lamp and I've just recently passed 15,000 miles. Good thing the dealer didn't have to reflash your car. Would be a pain to get it tuned again.

I HAVE had major bad luck. This car has been the worst I've owned, sorry to say.

Originally Posted by e46e92love

Is there more than one dealer close to you? Is it worth driving a bit further to get to a better dealer?

Cheers,
e46e92

It may be worth it going forward...they are pretty stingy about loaner cars down here though. That would be major hassle in and of itself.

[JCtx]

Originally Posted by Ajax-Prime

If you have a 6mt, and notice the difference in the note between clutch engaged in neutral, and clutch released in neutral, then magnify it by about 100, that's the noise I'm talking about.

Definitely not normal then, but since it's not repeatable, doesn't seem like a big deal. Probably a loose fastener somewhere, or something stuck that dislodged itself, etc. One thing I've learned is to NEVER take a car to a dealer without being able to duplicate an issue, or you'd probably be wasting your time. Any clutch or engine related problem is not going to go away.

As far as the taillight, brakes are NOT LED man; only the parking lights. And yes, there's a TSB that calls to change the socket, but many folks fixed it in 5 minutes without removal. Search for that.

The most time consuming issue is the washer fluid reservoir, but it sounds very weird you're having problems all of a sudden. Has your car been involved in an accident? The reservoir is right behind the right front fender, and removing it requires wheel/fender/fender-liners (2 of them) removal. But you might be able to fix a hose problem by only removing the wheel and front part of the fender liner, and loosening up the rear one (removal requires dropping strut from the top -or cutting the liner) to gain enough access to the reservoir. In fact, you need to get the reservoir out of the way to get to 2 fender bolts by the door hinges if you want to remove fender, so I'm almost sure you should fix anything other than a reservoir leak without fender removal. But you might leave that to dealer if you're not into DIY . Good luck man.

[Ajax-Prime]

Originally Posted by elp_jc

Definitely not normal then, but since it's not repeatable, doesn't seem like a big deal. Probably a loose fastener somewhere, or something stuck that dislodged itself, etc. One thing I've learned is to NEVER take a car to a dealer without being able to duplicate an issue, or you'd probably be wasting your time. Any clutch or engine related problem is not going to go away.

As far as the taillight, brakes are NOT LED man; only the parking lights. And yes, there's a TSB that calls to change the socket, but many folks fixed it in 5 minutes without removal. Search for that.

The most time consuming issue is the washer fluid reservoir, but it sounds very weird you're having problems all of a sudden. Has your car been involved in an accident? The reservoir is right behind the right front fender, and removing it requires wheel/fender/fender-liners (2 of them) removal. But you might be able to fix a hose problem by only removing the wheel and front part of the fender liner, and loosening up the rear one (removal requires dropping strut from the top -or cutting the liner) to gain enough access to the reservoir. In fact, you need to get the reservoir out of the way to get to 2 fender bolts by the door hinges if you want to remove fender, so I'm almost sure you should fix anything other than a reservoir leak without fender removal. But you might leave that to dealer if you're not into DIY . Good luck man.

Oh it was repeatable. I took one of the shop 'foremen' out for a drive, and was able to repeat it at will. It took him a little while to figure out what I was talking about, but once he localized which noise I was talking about, he could hear it every time as well.

I'm surprised that the brake lights are not led. Seems kind of backwards to go to led on the E46 (2004 or 2003.5 wasn't it) and then go to bulbs in the E9x.

The fluid reservoir isn't a new thing, I've just lived with it. I think it was caused by my unintentional center-jack-mount-delete-mod about a year ago. I hit an elevated manhole cover in my neighborhood. That busted an o ring in my power steering fluid system, and the washer fluid started about the same time. I brought up the reservoir when I took the car in for the ps issue.

Bad luck all around with this thing.

[M2381]

I have the left brake lamp problem also..

[BCA]

Originally Posted by M3 4 ME

Since you bring up momentum, I figured I would let my frustration out as well. Dropped the car off for my 1200 mile service on Thursday evening for a Friday morning appointment. Of course I tell them not to wash it and I request that the oldest tech on staff do the test drive after the service. So I get the car back Friday evening and there are only 3 additional miles on the odometer. Great! However, once I got the car home and washed the next morning, I notice a plethora of small black specs all along both sides of my roof and rear panels that cannot be removed with vigorous scrubbing. Gonna see if the detailer can get them out with buff and polish and see if momentum will foot the bill. The fact that the car is AW makes it that much more obvious and upsetting. On a side note though, the car is absolutely amazing in the higher rev range!!! Grinning ear to ear ever since.

On my 1200-mile service, I waited on the car and there was no test drive. By the time I got an oil reading, I was near the Galleria and got the "overfill" message. So I went right back and was pissed, needless to say. Turns out they overfilled by a quart or so but luckily that wasn't enough to make a mess or do any damage.

I have had some "overspray" issues in the past there also. And I had what looked like "rust" specs all over my old 330i (also white) once after it was serviced there. Clay has always removed all of it...get yourself Clay Magic fine grade clay (blue) and a good lube and you should be all set.

Originally Posted by paul.r

Which Momentum? I've taken mine (335i, my M3 is on order) to the Momentum West on I-10 and have been extremely underwhelmed with the level of service there. Advantage Midtown is nowhere near me, but I've been tempted to go even more out of my way to take it there in hopes of finding a better shop.

Southwest on 59. I've heard that the service at West on I-10 is horrendous (worse). Luckily I have an awesome SA at Momentum SW (Shef) but he can't exactly control what all the techs do. I recently considered trying Advantage Midtown but when I posted in this Southwest section asking for an SA recommendation, I ended up getting some "stories" about their service too. So since it seems that sub-par service is everywhere, and I already know I have the best SA, I'll just keep going to Momentum and cross my fingers each time.