2 months, 975 miles and its dead

[SonnyJack]

Hey OP, sorry for your troubles. Which dealership did you have it towed to? From my experience, the Tischer guys seem to be a bit better than VOB. Damn sorry to hear of your troubles.

Originally Posted by DavidZ

Did a search and the closest thread I can find to my problem is this one in Canada regional. At least he wasn't driving. I found others with loss of power but at least they could drive. Didn't find too many problem threads so I guess your cars are pretty reliable but mine isn't:
So I'm driving home from work, engine starts to hesitate and loose power and I pull over to the right lane just as it stalls and won't start again - it'll still turn over. Indicator warning (I don't have iDrive) shows EDC control system failure (I don't have EDC). Use BMW Assist to get towed to dealer. 20 years and over 300,000 miles with Honda and not a single problem. 2 months and 975 miles with BMW and a dead car.

[Joey]

I agree you should trade it for a Honda. It's a machine. They break. Get over it or move on I've owned tons of bmws and a few mbs I've had very few issues.

[RayC]

Almost a year with my car, driven very, very aggressively (in a country with no highway patrol)

Zero problems.

BMW

[DavidZ]

Originally Posted by SonnyJack

Hey OP, sorry for your troubles. Which dealership did you have it towed to? From my experience, the Tischer guys seem to be a bit better than VOB. Damn sorry to hear of your troubles.

I've heard nothing but good things about Tischer and nothing but horror stories about VOB but I was less than 2 miles away from VOB on a rainy Friday evening 30 minutes before closing. So I at least got it locked up at VOB instead of having to do the night drop at Tischer (bought it a BMW of Fairfax).

[SonnyJack]

Originally Posted by DavidZ

I've heard nothing but good things about Tischer and nothing but horror stories about VOB but I was less than 2 miles away from VOB on a rainy Friday evening 30 minutes before closing. So I at least got it locked up at VOB instead of having to do the night drop at Tischer (bought it a BMW of Fairfax).

Good luck with VOB.

I know it's got to be incredibly frustrating but hang in there and stay on them to get you a quick answer. Also see if they'll go ahead and do the 1,200 mile service while it's there. Save you a trip later.

[DavidZ]

Originally Posted by SonnyJack

Good luck with VOB.

Thanks. This is what upsets me most about this incident, is not the breakdown itself, but that the car is not in my hands anymore. Until now I have worked on all my cars myself. I'm worried my pristine car might get a a scratch or ding at the dealer. I haven't ready many threads where a car didn't return from a dealer unscathed. When they pushed my car backwards into a space, they pushed it from the hood. I cringed. When I push a car backwards, I open the door and push it from the B pillar. I'm also worried about joy rides. When I went to VOB to buy some license plate screws, a mechanic came to me at the counter to ask if that was my M3 parked in the lot. I said yeah and I asked why. He said "we want to hear your M performance exhaust." Went out to find 5 other mechanics waiting for me to start up and pull away. Curious to see how much more that 975 miles I have when I get it back.

[Totti]

Wow. Paranoid much.

[DavidZ]

Originally Posted by Totti

Wow. Paranoid much.

If you read the things I've read about VOB BMW, you might be. Besides, you're in another freaking country. I grew up 100 Km south of Darwin, NT BTW.

[DavidZ]

Originally Posted by SonnyJack

Also see if they'll go ahead and do the 1,200 mile service while it's there. Save you a trip later.

PS I specifically asked them not to do the 1,200 service yet if possible. I want to do the 1,200 mile service right at 1,200 miles with a dyno before and after to see if I get any results like this:

Hmm can't figure out how to embed this... here's the link:
Why do a 1200 mile service on new BMW M3?

[L-Altos]

If there is another dealer in your area that looks like less of a risk, then take it there. I have a dealer 5 miles from my house, but I go to the dealer 35 miles away.

Ive been through this myself, and there is nothing you can do. You have a warranty, the dealer is responsible for warranty work. Yes, when you leave your car there they will be less likely to treat it as you do, but you dont have a choice.

Get used to it, its part of the ownership experience.

[SonnyJack]

Originally Posted by DavidZ

PS I specifically asked them not to do the 1,200 service yet if possible. I want to do the 1,200 mile service right at 1,200 miles with a dyno before and after to see if I get any results like this:

Hmm can't figure out how to embed this... here's the link:
Why do a 1200 mile service on new BMW M3?

This topic came up in another thread and I think it was debunked rather strongly. However, as you stated, a dyno run before and after would be the only way to tell.

I can tell you that with my '09 there was no difference after 1,200 mile service. Maybe the MY '11 is a different animal.

[M3e93NYC]

Originally Posted by DavidZ

He said "we want to hear your M performance exhaust." Went out to find 5 other mechanics waiting for me to start up and pull away.

I'd be looking for another dealer asap. No doubt they will be revving the shit outta your car if not doing a few runs to hear the exhaust.

[crackberry]

ouch, ppl here are harsh.

sorry to the op for your troubles. i for one would not expect a car to be dead after 2 mos, esp after paying 70k. i empathize with you. good luck and please keeps us posted.

[M3e93NYC]

Originally Posted by E=mc2

No they won't. M3 is old news, nobody cares (at the dealership's service department) how its exhaust sounds. Stop stirring shit up please, the guy already feels bad enough.

I wouldn't call the BMW performance exhaust old at only 2 months. The fact that not a lot of people have it doesn't help either. Not trying to stir shit up, I just suggested finding another dealer especially since he hasn't hit his 1200 mile service yet and the techs seem highly interested in hearing his exhaust, what do you think will happen when they get ahold of the car? Redline.

[ttt]

Originally Posted by e46e92love

For those confused or upset about why BMW is leaving the world of making focused engines and high-revving engines for their ///Ms, this quote sums up why.....because the average consumer wants a fast Honda. They want the 200k reliability, push and play usability of these cars with performance of a sport car.

I like naturally-aspirated, high-revving engines as much as the next guy (who doesn't?) But if the price of admission is a major engine rebuild every 10k miles, it's too high for me. Every 50k? Maybe. Every 100k? I'm game. Like everything else, there is a balance to be had. Having said that, I still don't see why high-revving engine and reliability are mutually exclusive. Honda and Porsche seem to be able to build reliable, high-revving performance cars at opposite ends of price spectrum (s2k and gt3). E9x M3s even got top marks in Consumer Reports' reliability survey. So I'm having a hard time believing it's an impossible goal to achieve.

[Templar]

There are people who have driven tons of miles with no issues, then people such as the OP who have driven so few miles and have problems.

It's not fair to label the entire production series as unreliable.

Based on some of the earlier comments, it seems this thread may belong in the M3 vs. forum.......

[mdosu]

still waiting for diagnoses...let us know OP.

though VOB is not preferred, you have no choice...I hope that if the issue is a complex fix, they might actually send someone over to VOB to perform the task.
I also highly doubt the techs there are going to abuse the car. From what i've observed, they're so busy working on the scheduled maintenance of the other cars, they won't have time.

What I'll worry about it body damage..sometimes, they just shove as many cars as they can in a small space it's disgusting. I saw it first hand at Acura dealers in the area...all the cars have dings on them.

[DavidZ]

Fixed... crank sensor needed to be replaced.
Friday: dropped off evening at closing. Said they probably wouldn't get a chance to look at it 'til Monday.
Monday: crank sensor diagnosed as problem and replacement special ordered.
Tuesday: crank sensor arrived, replaced, problem cured and car picked up.

2 miles added to the odo and the car still seems to be in showroom condition. So far happy with VOB BMW. Thanks for reading.

[Seattle S65B40]

Originally Posted by DavidZ

Fixed... crank sensor needed to be replaced.
Friday: dropped off evening at closing. Said they probably wouldn't get a chance to look at it 'til Monday.
Monday: crank sensor diagnosed as problem and replacement special ordered.
Tuesday: crank sensor arrived, replaced, problem cured and car picked up.

2 miles added to the odo and the car still seems to be in showroom condition. So far happy with VOB BMW. Thanks for reading.

Glad to hear.

[SonnyJack]

Originally Posted by DavidZ

Fixed... crank sensor needed to be replaced.
Friday: dropped off evening at closing. Said they probably wouldn't get a chance to look at it 'til Monday.
Monday: crank sensor diagnosed as problem and replacement special ordered.
Tuesday: crank sensor arrived, replaced, problem cured and car picked up.

2 miles added to the odo and the car still seems to be in showroom condition. So far happy with VOB BMW. Thanks for reading.

Always nice when expectations are exceeded. Glad you're back on the road.

[taleof2bricks]

Nice to hear it all worked out.

I had a more serious incident, posted elsewhere, but will recap here, as there are similarities. Picked up an 08 with 26k or so, last month, drove about 700 miles & it, too "died". Towed to dealership & though they did not give a detailed explanation, they are replacing the short block, under warranty, of course.

I expect this will take some time, but I am not really making a 'big deal' over it. I doubt after 26k & all else OK, the car is a "lemon", and I realize these cars are, indeed, machines.

I was offered a BMW loaner, but I have a few modified Volvos that I had been ignoring for a while, so I passed. I got re-aquainted with my older rides, polished them up & am enjoying them all over again.

Granted, I did not shell out $70k, but I did pay more than the price of the best of just about any Japanese or American, brand new car out there. No regrets, and I know that once I get my ride back, I will be enjoying that unique driving experience that the V8 powered M3 offers.

[taleof2bricks]

Nice to hear. This is my first BMW, and so far, they have handled it well.