Engine Malfunction- Awesome dealer response.

gadget · 03-27-2009, 02:14 PM

Last Saturday I got the increased emissions error and the check engine light goes on. The car continued to work perfectly with no issues. I went to my dealer who immediately took my car back and began to check the codes (see pics). The code suggested it was a fault with the idle actuator but the SA noted often, these are false alarms.

My SA was looking out for me. They reset the codes and suggested I go home. He said that if the error occurred again I could bring it back in when their best tech could work on it. Otherwise, I could leave it with them and have a rookie, yet still qualified, tech work on my car. I wanted the best for my engine so decided to take it home hoping it was just a false alarm.

Fast forward to Tuesday- I'm driving and get the engine malfunction error with reduced power error. I pull over restart the engine and it goes away. However this proves that there is an issue and decide to take it in since I know it would only be a matter of time before the error came back up.

I arrived at the dealer having only given them a few minutes advance notice that I was on my way. I had to go to work- they were out of loaners but called enterprise and within a few minutes was on my way in a Kia Sportage- more on this later

So later that day I get a call from my SA- He tells me that there is a problem with the idle actuator as noted in the original error I got on Saturday. He then tells me the part needs to be order from Germany which normally takes a couple weeks

Then he says it’s on back-order

and may take a lot longer- Before I could say WTF he tells me waitng tha long would not be acceptable- they had already started working on the solution.

They pulled an M3 of the lot, took apart the engine

and were in the process of taking out the actuator from that car to use in mine.

This is the type of service all dealers should give. Get it fixed no matter what. I got my car back on Thursday in perfect shape. They only put 5 miles on the test run. This makes sense not like the 20+ mile test drives others have mentioned.

Anyways, just wanted to share my experience.- It shows that not all SA’s are idiots and that some dealers are worth the premium. I could have saved a few hundred bucks buying elsewhere but stayed with this dealer because of their great service.

Also, it shows that being cordial and reasonable goes a long way. I’m sure if I would have been an arrogant prick, things would have gone less smoothly.

baarii · 03-27-2009, 02:28 PM

Can you please take down the VIN# of the car they took out that part from... hehehe, i wudnt buy ...
BtW i had the same problem waited 6 weeks before the parts came

foosh · 03-27-2009, 03:36 PM

That was just a terrific response from your dealer, but I do have to say it is appalling that BMW Corporate does not have in place a better parts system, so that a key component is on back-order for weeks. My last BMW was an '02 745i, which was the "car from hell" and eventually bought back. I swore I would never own another BMW because these types of problems were common then, and I didn't until a couple of weeks ago.

I was persuaded that the "dark days" were over at BMW, and I could purchase a new M3 with greater confidence. I hope your case is an isolated one

jm1234 · 03-27-2009, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baarii

Can you please take down the VIN# of the car they took out that part from... hehehe, i wudnt buy ...
BtW i had the same problem waited 6 weeks before the parts came

Sometimes cars are damaged during shipping and they are repaired at the port. Now, they guys at the port might be more highly qualified than at the dealership but the damage could be a lot more severe. Anyway, you never can tell how many times a "new" car has been "assembled". Best to assume this could happen to any car you buy.

psuwcc112 · 03-27-2009, 04:24 PM

Thats some outstanding cutomer service... I wish all the SA are like that..

gthirtyfizle · 03-27-2009, 04:31 PM

DCT

Haha just playing man. Thats great. Every dealer should b like this. Unfortunately, we all know that would never happen.

montreal red · 03-27-2009, 05:09 PM

i had the same DSC malfunction after doing donuts in a parking lot... the good thing is that everything went back to normal after less than 5 mins of driving.

Dascamel · 03-27-2009, 05:32 PM

Funny, they replaced my actuator, only took a couple days to get the new part.

wolftrouble · 03-27-2009, 06:53 PM

Sort of a tangent, but the only thing that really had me waffling on whether to buy an M or not (back before I realized it's the most awesome car I could possibly own) was a friend of mine, big car enthusiasm and big BMW enthusiast, a few years ago bought himself a brand spanking new E46. Drove it for like 6 months then, driving like a bonehead (his own admission) did a header into a telephone pole in it.

It wasn't totaled or anything close to it, but the impact severed with wiring harness between the headlights. So they do all the bodywork needed, go to replace the harness... And tell him they need to order a new one, from Germany, since they weren't available in the US. Oh, yeah, and they're backordered.

Fast-forward 2 months later, the shop gets the harness in... And it won't fit. A few back-and-forths with BMW later it turns out that his car was manufactured during this little interim period where they used this one kind of harness and not for the rest of the E46's. So they had to BUILD him a new one. By hand, or so he claims. No lie, this was the official line from BMW.

Long story short, his car was in the shop for 6 months, almost every day of that waiting for BMW to deliver some wires'n'plugs.

Moral of the story, however, is NOT: don't buy an M. It's don't wrap it around a telephone pole.

arcsynesis · 03-27-2009, 08:58 PM

Be aware that the same thing happened to my car several times. Each time it was the same fault codes etc. They used a car on the lot to scavenge an accuator off of, etc. It turned out to be the injector rails. So if you get the same faults, tell them that.

FYI, they also told me that the reason it is taking so long to get parts in is because BMW shut down their two distribution centers in the US thanks to the economy.

03-27-2009, 02:14 PM	#1
gadget Major 108 Rep 1,161 Posts Drives: 09 e92///M SSII DCT Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: US iTrader: (0)	Engine Malfunction- Awesome dealer response. Last Saturday I got the increased emissions error and the check engine light goes on. The car continued to work perfectly with no issues. I went to my dealer who immediately took my car back and began to check the codes (see pics). The code suggested it was a fault with the idle actuator but the SA noted often, these are false alarms. My SA was looking out for me. They reset the codes and suggested I go home. He said that if the error occurred again I could bring it back in when their best tech could work on it. Otherwise, I could leave it with them and have a rookie, yet still qualified, tech work on my car. I wanted the best for my engine so decided to take it home hoping it was just a false alarm. Fast forward to Tuesday- I'm driving and get the engine malfunction error with reduced power error. I pull over restart the engine and it goes away. However this proves that there is an issue and decide to take it in since I know it would only be a matter of time before the error came back up. I arrived at the dealer having only given them a few minutes advance notice that I was on my way. I had to go to work- they were out of loaners but called enterprise and within a few minutes was on my way in a Kia Sportage- more on this later So later that day I get a call from my SA- He tells me that there is a problem with the idle actuator as noted in the original error I got on Saturday. He then tells me the part needs to be order from Germany which normally takes a couple weeks Then he says it’s on back-order and may take a lot longer- Before I could say WTF he tells me waitng tha long would not be acceptable- they had already started working on the solution. They pulled an M3 of the lot, took apart the engine and were in the process of taking out the actuator from that car to use in mine. This is the type of service all dealers should give. Get it fixed no matter what. I got my car back on Thursday in perfect shape. They only put 5 miles on the test run. This makes sense not like the 20+ mile test drives others have mentioned. Anyways, just wanted to share my experience.- It shows that not all SA’s are idiots and that some dealers are worth the premium. I could have saved a few hundred bucks buying elsewhere but stayed with this dealer because of their great service. Also, it shows that being cordial and reasonable goes a long way. I’m sure if I would have been an arrogant prick, things would have gone less smoothly. Attached Images
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03-27-2009, 02:28 PM	#2
baarii Major 79 Rep 1,149 Posts Drives: .. Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: I-66 iTrader: (8)	Can you please take down the VIN# of the car they took out that part from... hehehe, i wudnt buy ... BtW i had the same problem waited 6 weeks before the parts came
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03-27-2009, 03:36 PM	#3
foosh Major 27 Rep 1,314 Posts Drives: 2008 M3 E93 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Annapolis, MD iTrader: (0)	That was just a terrific response from your dealer, but I do have to say it is appalling that BMW Corporate does not have in place a better parts system, so that a key component is on back-order for weeks. My last BMW was an '02 745i, which was the "car from hell" and eventually bought back. I swore I would never own another BMW because these types of problems were common then, and I didn't until a couple of weeks ago. I was persuaded that the "dark days" were over at BMW, and I could purchase a new M3 with greater confidence. I hope your case is an isolated one __________________
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03-27-2009, 04:24 PM	#5
psuwcc112 Major 444 Rep 1,061 Posts Drives: 2015 YMB M4 coupe Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Dublin, CA iTrader: (7)	Thats some outstanding cutomer service... I wish all the SA are like that.. __________________ 2015 F82 YMB M4 (Feb 28th ED, re-deliveried on Apr 18th) \|My 2015 YMB M4 ED Journal 2008 E92 SSII M3 Coupe (Sold) \| My long gone 2008 E92 SSII M3 2002 E39 SG 530i (Gone)
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03-27-2009, 04:31 PM	#6
gthirtyfizle Colonel 191 Rep 2,867 Posts Drives: E92 M3 AW Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: NYC iTrader: (4)	DCT Haha just playing man. Thats great. Every dealer should b like this. Unfortunately, we all know that would never happen.
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03-27-2009, 05:09 PM	#7
montreal red chris 278 Rep 12,144 Posts Drives: White Boat Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Toronto iTrader: (31)	i had the same DSC malfunction after doing donuts in a parking lot... the good thing is that everything went back to normal after less than 5 mins of driving. __________________ Current: 2013 F10 M5 & 2016 Mini JCW 2013 GLK350 (gone), 997.1 GT3RS (gone), 2009 WRX STI (gone), e92 M3 (gone)
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03-27-2009, 05:32 PM	#8
Dascamel Lieutenant Colonel 48 Rep 1,664 Posts Drives: 2008 e92 M3, 2010 e91 328i Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Bakersfield, CA iTrader: (0)	Funny, they replaced my actuator, only took a couple days to get the new part. __________________ 2008 E92 M3 Jerez Black,DCT,Fox Red ext,Prem,Tech,19", ipod/usb, CF roof and trim 2010 E91 328i Space Gray,Black int, M sport, most options 2007 Montego Blue 335i (retired)
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03-27-2009, 06:53 PM	#9
wolftrouble Private First Class 16 Rep 148 Posts Drives: 2008 M3 Sedan Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: San Jose, CA iTrader: (0)	Sort of a tangent, but the only thing that really had me waffling on whether to buy an M or not (back before I realized it's the most awesome car I could possibly own) was a friend of mine, big car enthusiasm and big BMW enthusiast, a few years ago bought himself a brand spanking new E46. Drove it for like 6 months then, driving like a bonehead (his own admission) did a header into a telephone pole in it. It wasn't totaled or anything close to it, but the impact severed with wiring harness between the headlights. So they do all the bodywork needed, go to replace the harness... And tell him they need to order a new one, from Germany, since they weren't available in the US. Oh, yeah, and they're backordered. Fast-forward 2 months later, the shop gets the harness in... And it won't fit. A few back-and-forths with BMW later it turns out that his car was manufactured during this little interim period where they used this one kind of harness and not for the rest of the E46's. So they had to BUILD him a new one. By hand, or so he claims. No lie, this was the official line from BMW. Long story short, his car was in the shop for 6 months, almost every day of that waiting for BMW to deliver some wires'n'plugs. Moral of the story, however, is NOT: don't buy an M. It's don't wrap it around a telephone pole. __________________
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03-27-2009, 08:58 PM	#10
arcsynesis Enlisted Member 1 Rep 32 Posts Drives: e92 m3 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: las vegas, nv iTrader: (0)	Be aware that the same thing happened to my car several times. Each time it was the same fault codes etc. They used a car on the lot to scavenge an accuator off of, etc. It turned out to be the injector rails. So if you get the same faults, tell them that. FYI, they also told me that the reason it is taking so long to get parts in is because BMW shut down their two distribution centers in the US thanks to the economy.
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