My Story...3 months and no car

[jojogoya88]

Update:

Insurance Adjuster called me today. Turns out Paul did the estimate of what it takes to install a starter. He put down 7.6 hours. The adjuster told me he asked if he could send a check directly to Paul @ BMW, but he denied the request. So adjuster told me the check (for somewhere around $8xx) will be here in 2-4 days.

So the total for putting a starter in is $562 + $8xx = $1400 ????

Is that right? 7.6 hours?? $1400??

[M3Captain]

Originally Posted by jojogoya88

Update:

Insurance Adjuster called me today. Turns out Paul did the estimate of what it takes to install a starter. He put down 7.6 hours. The adjuster told me he asked if he could send a check directly to Paul @ BMW, but he denied the request. So adjuster told me the check (for somewhere around $8xx) will be here in 2-4 days.

So the total for putting a starter in is $562 + $8xx = $1400 ????

Is that right? 7.6 hours?? $1400??

After reading all this, let me offer some advice and keep it simple.

You have an insurance claim, therefore you have to pay your deductable. In your case it was $500. You pay this ONCE, ONE TIME, NEVER again, if there is work that needs to be done afterwards its added to the adjustment.

Two,
It is the responsibility of the insurance adjuster and the shop doing the work to resolve all issues pertaining to the claim i/e labor rates, additional work etc...... Call your insurance adjuster and tell this individual do to his/her job.
Any additional work needed that is from the original claim is to be paid to the shop doing the work directly. You need to make your insurance company work for you not the other way around.

Three,
All you need to know from the dealership is when is your car gonna be ready for pick up. Yes you are interested in the work being done, but its your insurance paying for all of it. If you feel that the dealership is taking too long to complete the work then you have a valid complaint.

Four,
The realization of this incident has nothing to do with BMWNA, and it is unlikely that you will get any lease payments back. If the dealership could not fix the car, and it took an abnormal about of time to get resolved, then yes you may get a lease payment returned. This was an unfortunate incident that occured, and its being handled by your insurance company.


This is a huge wakeup call for all individuals concerning car insurance. All these companies spending hundreds of millions on ads about how much money they can save you blah blah blah. Its when you have a claim and put your insurance company to work for you, is when you realize just how good your car insurance really is.

You get what you pay for in life.....

To the OP good luck with getting your claim resolved in a timely manner and make your claim adjuster work for you. If the end result is not to your liking, I would suggest you seek an attorney.

P.S. I just remembered that you will get a phone call from BMW requesting a service survey, once this is all resolved. Make sure you SLAM your SA on the survey and discuss everything. SA's get paid commissions on surveys and their performance at work is based on this.

[jojogoya88]

I picked up the car yesterday! Paul was out, and Dealt with another service advisor. Told him my situation and essentially told me that it would be a hassle if i was to make a big deal out of whats been going on...and i agreed.

I can't find the first BMW receipt from the $8000 fix, but i do have the receipt from the starter replacement. Heres what it entails...

$885.00 for Labor (Odd how the only thing stated on the receipt is the price, nothing else)

- """Found Starter hanging up when starting, sometimes starter does not engage just spins replaced starter assembly""".
--- RMFD Starter Motor $549.72
--- Core Charge $50.00 (Core exchange -$50.00)
--- And 2 clamps totaling to $7.00

They looked over the car, listening from clutch chatter but it states they heard nothing...Now when your a BMW tech; actually if your mechanically enclined to the slightest, wouldnt you be able to hear this ODD SOUND? They also filled up my oil too high, it says its at its maximum level.

Can someone please help me diagnose what this could possibly be? It is slightly annoying, and can be heard from the outside very clearly. How did BMW miss/dismiss this sound? how???...after being in the service center for almost 4 months.

[jojogoya88]

Originally Posted by GotM1491

sad

Isn't it...

[JCtx]

You got to be an idiot to say that sound is normal. Engine seems to respond fine, but something is grinding. Could be a myriad things, like the flywheel hitting a bolt too long, or some crazy crap like that. That's exactly what happens when an engine as complicated as ours is torn down by an amateur.

Definitely escalate the matter, and either demand a new engine or totalling the car. It's very easy to prove the sound is not normal. No other M3 is going to sound like that. What a freaking nightmare. Good luck man.

[Possible Hero]

The moment people jerk me around when it involves my own cash. They immediately go into my bad books....

Thats brutal mate, I hope next time you get the car back its perfect and you can enjoy it for the awesome M3 that it is

[Finnegan]

Good god man, that thing sounds terrible. Like others have said, could be anything, but there's one thing that's certain, the car was not repaired properly. This stealership you've been working with is clearly incompetent and dishonest. How could they possibly give you a car that sounds like that and say it's fixed. What a bunch of incompetent crooks.

[jojogoya88]

Thanks for your sympathy everyone. The only problem that i have with bringing it in again, is that theyl take forever to diagnose the problem, then go through the whole insurance process again if its because of the accident.

However, i wonder if it could be a lemon because its in the shop three times for the same related incident???

--i dont want to get rid of it, i have another 10 months of it...AH!

[Kyoshi71]

I dont want to piss in your Cherios because what happed to you really, really blow and unfortunately, I dont think your car will ever be the same. But, I have known Paul for close to 15 years and have to say he's one of the best SA's I've ever dealt with. I'm not telling you this to anger you but to make you aware that it's BMWNA that's probably pulling the circle jerk, not Paul.

I've seen your car there several times. I cant get over how bad this is.

[F82_SID]

Talk to BMWNA. Be direct with them and they will take care of me. They were very understanding and helpful with my 335 lemon. If you got your car in 08 then I would say it might be time to move to a 2011. Or at least, you definitely should get all 3 of those months back.

[Kyoshi71]

Originally Posted by SehrSchnell

I don't know that place, but if they listen to that engine and think it's normal, they have no business fixing cars, let alone M models.

All dealerships suck. And with the recent economic downturn? Forget it. Cost cutting yields shitty mechanics and switchboard girls who chew gum in the phone.

I posted this last month for a good reason:

...All these dealerships suck now. My dealer, Hassel BMW in NY used to be incredible with service. Now they have a valet company (who doesnt habla) checking your car in with dirty uniforms. I've also seen the car washers/swirlers using rags that were piled up on the fucking floor! I brought my car there for an inspection recently. All I asked was for the sticker to be put on strait. Wouldn't you know, it now looks like a yield sign.
But the absolute stupidest thing they do is have prompts on the phone when you call. I dont know about you, but most of my calls to the dealer happen when I'm driving and remember something or hear something, etc. Why have prompts where you have to jeopardize yourself pushing God Damn buttons?????

[OC3]

Originally Posted by Kyoshi71

All dealerships suck. And with the recent economic downturn? Forget it. Cost cutting yields shitty mechanics and switchboard girls who chew gum in the phone.

I posted this last month for a good reason:

...All these dealerships suck now. My dealer, Hassel BMW in NY used to be incredible with service. Now they have a valet company (who doesnt habla) checking your car in with dirty uniforms. I've also seen the car washers/swirlers using rags that were piled up on the fucking floor! I brought my car there for an inspection recently. All I asked was for the sticker to be put on strait. Wouldn't you know, it now looks like a yield sign.
But the absolute stupidest thing they do is have prompts on the phone when you call. I dont know about you, but most of my calls to the dealer happen when I'm driving and remember something or hear something, etc. Why have prompts where you have to jeopardize yourself pushing God Damn buttons?????

Yep. Dealership service, personnel, and quality level thereof have fallen far below the quality of cars they're selling.

[jojogoya88]

My car is great except for the sound coming from the engine bay. Does anyone have a clue to what it could be/where it could be coming from? I put my ear to the engine, and it sounds like its coming from/underneath the charge pipe/intake area...

On another note, i dont want to go back to service about the sound because who knows when il get my car back!

[osteome]

Originally Posted by 1sikbmr

... Paul is my SA and he has always been great... He just needs a little pushing...

Sounds like Paul is not great and just needs a new f*cking job....

[jojogoya88]

Originally Posted by osteome

Sounds like Paul is not great and just needs a new f*cking job....

Hey but hes got a nice framed certificate congratulating him on being an outstanding employee for 5 years!

[jojogoya88]

Car got towed to BMW today, more problems...big problems. Write more later

[Reedomn]

[GewoW]

Originally Posted by jojogoya88

Car got towed to BMW today, more problems...big problems. Write more later

f*ck man, sorry bro....at least I guess now the underlying issue may have surfaced and may be fixed...completely..

we'll see good luck

[jojogoya88]

Remember when i mentioned how they filled up my oil to the maximum level when i took delivery of it last week??? Well...

Was heading over to M3Alpine's place to pick up the Mesiterschaft x-pipe that i was going to install today. I noticed during the drive that the engine oil temp was a bit high (maybe by 5 degrees). I didnt think much of it....I got to M3Alpines, and popped my hood to find OIL EVERYWHERE! We were both shocked! I cleaned it up as best as i could and went straight to my mechanic shop where the install was going to be done.

I called my friend just to ask a couple questions, he told me to drive easily and not get on it. The oil temp during the drive back to Long Island kept going up/down 5-10 degrees...i was terrified. I got to the mechanic shop where the guys checked it out and suggested i shouldn't even drive it and have it towed. The oil was all over the engine bay, on top of the engine block, under the manifold. It wasn't just a simple leak, something went wrong...

By the time i got to the shop, my oil level was HALF FULL! Yes...Half in a matter of an hour and a half. They refused to install the x-pipe because who knows what BMW would possibly try to pin on me.

So....it took 5-7 calls to Hassel Service Dept., until they finally transferred me over to...guess who..PAUL!!!!! I told him what happened, in a very rude manner. He said i shouldn't drive the car (no shit), and have it towed (no shit), and theyl look at it first thing monday (fml). When i moved the car to position it for the tow truck, a nice puddle of oil was cleaned up. Heres a couple pics of the car and some oil...

[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
Now at this point im furious. Almost 4 months total that i have not had my car, and im still paying for the months. Im going to call BMWNA and tell them nicely what is happening, etc. Also going to call insurance and let them know the deal.

Remember guys, once a flooded car....DONT TAKE IT!

[kaykay]

OK, I've glanced over this thread:

1) Call BMW NA ASAP and have them write you a check for $5-$10,000 for the 3-month+ inconvenience, problems, headaches, negligence, safety concerns, etc. Threaten them with legal action if they don't want to give this to you. (My buddy with a 135i had his differential replaced twice, on the third time, BMW cut him a check for $8k because of all the noise he made).

2) Get a lawyer if #1 doesn't work. It's in their best interest to compensate and work with you. This is absurd.

[ideliver]

so sad...your oil may have foamed and now have some bad bearings...

[foosh]

Originally Posted by kaykay

OK, I've glanced over this thread:

1) Call BMW NA ASAP and have them write you a check for $5-$10,000 for the 3-month+ inconvenience, problems, headaches, negligence, safety concerns, etc. Threaten them with legal action if they don't want to give this to you. (My buddy with a 135i had his differential replaced twice, on the third time, BMW cut him a check for $8k because of all the noise he made).

2) Get a lawyer if #1 doesn't work. It's in their best interest to compensate and work with you. This is absurd.

I assume you didn't miss the first post, where he drove into a flood. From the initial post, it sounds as if the car was essentially trouble-free until it's trip into a pond.

None of the repairs were warranty-related, but flood damage-related, thus, BMW-NA is not responsible. BMW can take action against the dealer for failing to uphold their maintenance stds. (unlikely), but legally, they are not responsible, in any way. Dealers are independent franchises, and his issue is with the dealer, but you're right that it sounds like it is time to involve expert counsel, who will aim at the correct target.

As other have said, that noise coming from the engine in the video you posted is just not normal. It does sound like engine internals were damaged, likely as a result of water ingestion. On the other hand, oil all over the engine compartment has also happened to many others because a dealer failed to properly seat the oil fill cap.

I'm sorry for your troubles, but lemon laws do not apply to cars as a result of accident damage.