Saturday, October 3, 2015

BMW 335 Engine Light Troubles


Image result for bmw yellow engine light


It all started back in the spring, I was driving up the road one day and my engine light came on.  I pulled into the nearest parking lot and consulted the owner’s manual.  According to the manual the yellow engine light indicates loss of power.  I could actually feel the loss of power but at the time I was thinking it was just one of those strange quirks with the BMW.  I turned the car off and back on again and the light was gone so I dismissed it.

A couple of weeks later I was merging onto the highway and again I felt the loss of power and the yellow engine light came back on.  Again once I stopped and turned the car off the light went away.  I called BMW to set up an appointment to have it checked at that point.  I brought the car in, they couldn’t replicate the problem so they just told me to call them back if it happened again. 
So of course it happened again and again so in May I brought my car back in.  The diagnosis was that I needed to update the DME software before further diagnosis could be done.  They charged me $213.50 for the diagnosis and sent me on my way.  The software update would run me about $350 so I went away to mull it over knowing very well my car had a REAL PROBLEM not a software update problem.

The light problem continually worsened to the point it would come on under all heavy acceleration such as going uphill or merging onto the highway.  In August I brought it in for the DME software update but when I went to pick up the car they told me the software update didn’t resolve anything and that they noticed the wastegate on my turbo was seized shut.  This basically means there was no exhaust gas passing through the turbo so it was not functioning at all.  This explains both the engine light and loss of power.  They told me this is the first time they have seen a malfunctioning turbo and they would have to replace it, the good news is it was probably covered under warranty.  They also noted one of my control arms and ball joints could use replacing but they were also covered under warranty…. probably.

The next step was to bring my car in so the warranty company could inspect it to make sure I did not cause any of the damage.  This on top of the multiple trips I had already made was really starting to agitate me but I went in, they did the inspection and low and behold the repairs would be covered under warranty.  They said overall the vehicle was in great shape, which I knew.  I saw the quotes they had done for the work and the turbo work was $5,500, ball joint and control arm were about $1,000 each so my $4,000 warranty was seeming to pay itself off in short order.

Now I had to wait for the parts to come in so they could do the work.  Two weeks later they called and said it was ready to go so I brought my car in, and as of right now that was two weeks ago on Friday September 18.  At that time I was given a loaner car, a 2013 Hyundai Elantra…… I guess if you don’t buy your BMW from BMW they just stick it to you at every opportunity, but at least I had something to drive.

My first call to check on the vehicle was the following Tuesday, September 22, and I was informed that they were waiting on fittings for the repair job, apparently they had the parts but not the nuts and bolts to install them.  So this was not going well.  I called back on Thursday, September 24, and they said they had the fittings but were having some minor issues and there were a couple of hoses that were seized, so they had to replace them and they were NOT covered under warranty to the tune of about $300.  On Friday, September 25 at 4 PM or so I received a call from the service manager, which is never good.  He told me they could not get the turbo installed, their hoses and fittings would not work with it because it was not an original equipment turbo they had received.  He apologised profusely, told me they would make it up to me blah blah blah.  My car was gone for a week and we were back to scratch.  He said he was going to call the warranty company and make sure they sent the proper part and would call me with an update next week. 


So I waited until the following Wednesday to give them a call after I hadn’t heard from them.  The service person told me they were still waiting for the turbo to be MANUFACTURED by a company in Quebec.  The service manager was off that day who would have had more information on it.  At that point I knew it would be into the next week for sure until any progress was going to be made.  So here it is Sunday October 3 and my car is really no closer to being fixed than it was when I brought it in 16 days ago.

Monday, September 21, 2015

It's been too long.....

I've been out of the blog post business for too long, I really have no explanation as to why I haven't kept it up but I am going to make a concerted effort to do some catch up.  Maybe I just needed a year's worth of new material.

I've got lots of interesting topics such as.... my new 2011 BMW 335 Coupe and the ups and downs that come with owning a FGC... my son's adventures into the world of motorcycling.... lessons learned about how irresponsible traffic tickets can cause you years of angst (and money).... and a raft of new car care products I have tried.

There are several subset topics to my BMW such as how to drive a 335 responsibly, the necessity of an extended warranty, and how to make your awesome ride look even more awesome!