BMW Garage in Sligo didn't fix my car! What can I do?

joe2010

Hi,
I have a BMW which I always take to non-BMW garages and have had no problems.
I was driving around Sligo and the car overheated.
I went to the BMW Garage in Sligo called Martin Reilly Motors.

They charged me 360 Euro to replace a rubber hose in the engine.
They said the coolant was leaking and once the hose was fixed it would be fine.

Well it overheated again today the first time I went for a good long drive.
And this is only 2 weeks later!!!!!

I live in Dublin, I cannot even drive it back to Sligo now... it will overheat for sure.
What can I do?

Should they refund my money?

Should I just forget about the 360 Euro and bring it to a garage in Dublin?

I am considering small claims court... is this a bit much?


Any experience or advice appriciated.
Joe.

Mr.Diagnostic

It is not unusual for there to be an underlying problem which causes overheating. Overheating could have caused the hose to go or the hose going could have caused another problem like headgasket which did not show up until now.

The bottom line is that if it lasted 2 weeks there was most likely nothing wrong that could have been seen by them at the time.

Basically, its your problem and no ones fault.

pounder770

joe2010 wrote: »

Hi,
I have a BMW which I always take to non-BMW garages and have had no problems.
I was driving around Sligo and the car overheated.
I went to the BMW Garage in Sligo called Martin Reilly Motors.

They charged me 360 Euro to replace a rubber hose in the engine.
They said the coolant was leaking and once the hose was fixed it would be fine.

Well it overheated again today the first time I went for a good long drive.
And this is only 2 weeks later!!!!!

I live in Dublin, I cannot even drive it back to Sligo now... it will overheat for sure.
What can I do?

Should they refund my money?

Should I just forget about the 360 Euro and bring it to a garage in Dublin?

I am considering small claims court... is this a bit much?


Any experience or advice appriciated.
Joe.

Firstly,I must disagree with your description of events....surely Sligo to Dublin constitutes a "long drive"? for a problem to re-occur two weeks later is hardly the garages fault...it left them in running order,and assumedly behaved itself thereafter....job done!! If the hose wasn't the initial problem,you wouldn't have made it home!

If the car did indeed overheat quite badly,then it is reasonable to assume possible water pump or head gasket damage as a result...this is possibly the cause of your new issues. the only way for any garage to avoid this would have been to change both,at considerable additional expense,and quite possibly for no good reason.

These are just my opinions,but they are reasonable conclusions to draw from information received.....the dealer did repair the fault found....your accusations seem unfounded????

MarkR

They fixed a problem. May or may not have been the only problem in your car. They would check the obvious, considering the fault described / symptoms. Unless while fixing it they didn't put everything back correctly, no way would you be getting money back. Even if you found a note under the bonnet at this stage saying "Sorry, I owe you one coolant park - Garage Guy" unless you bring it back to them, there's nothing to do but bring it to someone you trust locally.

joe2010

>>"your accusations seem unfounded???? "

I brought the car to the garage for overheating and they said they fixed it and it is overheating still. I don't think they are unfounded, perhaps mislead at best.
but regardless I appreciate all your replies.

I guess I will just have to forget about it and go to another garage.

Thanks.

Muckie

So they garage you went to just replaced the coolant hose,
did they mention why your car was overheating in the 1st place.
Overheating on a car can be the result of a lot of things.
On a few cars i've had i've wired up the fan motor to work on a switch
from inside the car, some times even removing the theromstat from
the car can do the trick. Hope you can get it sorted.

joe2010

Thanks Muckie.

I know nothing about cars so I am at the mercy of the garage.
If they say it's a hose then all I can do is believe them.
Obviously in this case, it was more than just the hose.

I will post back what is actually wrong, once I find out for sure...

Avns1s

Muckie wrote: »

So they garage you went to just replaced the coolant hose,
did they mention why your car was overheating in the 1st place.
Overheating on a car can be the result of a lot of things.
On a few cars i've had i've wired up the fan motor to work on a switch
from inside the car, some times even removing the theromstat from
the car can do the trick. Hope you can get it sorted.

Both of these solutions are "bodges" and should not be taken as advisable!

The fan should be controlled by a thermostat, if its faulty replace it.

If you remove the thermostat from the cooling system, then your engine will run cooler, burning more fuel, and you will likely have problems with emissions and other items!

Muckie

No worries Joe, least they can do is tell you what the exact problem is
and fix it. There "Bodges" alrite Avns1s, but they've worked for me in the cases of a few cars where the Garage bill would have bein more than the car was worth, one such job on a Ford Escort gave it another 3years ruinning.
Even pasted 2 NCT's with no thermostat. Each car and make is different.
There only suggestions, each to there own i say.

mickdw

Im not one to stand up for garages but in this case I cannot see what they did wrong except perhaps warn you that they were repairing the obvious fault and that there could be an underlying fault or damage done due to the overheating.
No sense in thinking about getting money back, the hose was leaking and they charged you to fit a new one.

joe2010

Yes it seems that is the general consensus.

Now, I have no intention of going back to them for money or any other reason.

A friend of mine said he thinks it's an air lock and he bleed the coolant system for me.

The temp is good now...but time will tell...

mickdw

joe2010 wrote: »

Yes it seems that is the general consensus.

Now, I have no intention of going back to them for money or any other reason.

A friend of mine said he thinks it's an air lock and he bleed the coolant system for me.

The temp is good now...but time will tell...

Actually if it was an airlock, I would then get annoyed with the garage. Cannot see how it ran fine for a week or two if air trapped in system though

JHMEG

Contact the garage in Sligo - they might offer a goodwill gesture.

madmac187

Nothing you can do man, car probable needed the pipe anyway. Forget about it I think. Best thing to do is take to another garage. Sounds like thermostat or the head is going on the engine either.

EPM

JHMEG wrote: »

Contact the garage in Sligo - they might offer a goodwill gesture.

+1

Best you can hope for to be honest from them

joe2010

Yeah I think I should just put it down to a learning experience.

I think the real problem is my lack of knowledge of cars. I just assumed it was fixed.

Everyone on the site has been very helpful. Thanks again.

As for an air lock... I only drive 30min to work on M50 in morning and 30min back in evening... is it possible that it could be an airlock for 2 weeks?

Now when I turn on the ignition, the red temp light stays on for a few seconds, even when the needle is in the blue. It didn't do that before. I found a thread below that says it is the block heater?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=266218&highlight=overheat+red+light+temperature&page=2


I need to take it for a long drive and see what happens...

Mac 3

If you have to take it to a garage in Dublin, give these guys a call.

AC cars

Phone: +353 (01) 453 1433


Address: White Swan Business Park, South Circular Road, Dublin 8

They're a BMW specialist and would probably be cheaper than a main dealer. A lot of the BMW enthusiasts use these guys and find them good.

What kind of Beamer is it?

the merchant

surely reilly's did more than fit a rubber hose if it came to 360??? - even with coolant etc. And if they did charge that much they should have pressure tested/sniffer tested the cooling system.

More info please OP.

Wheelnut

joe2010 wrote: »

I know nothing about cars so I am at the mercy of the garage....

I am always slightly amused by people who take a pride in knowing nothing about cars! :rolleyes:

Joe, just think about where you were when the car overheated: if you were moving slowly or stopped in traffic then the most likely thing is that the fan failed to come on. If you were at speed on the open road then it's likely to be the water pump or a loose drive belt.

....on the other hand you have given no detail of what happened on the first day in Sligo, so if you really cooked it, you could have blown the head gasket!

I don't think the chap is taking pride in knowing nothing about cars, he is just informing readers of his level of mechanical knowledge.

JohnThomas09

joe2010 wrote: »

I live in Dublin, I cannot even drive it back to Sligo now... it will overheat for sure.

take from a Sligo local,Reilly ain't going stand by it.He is a cowboy.I'd say you would be best forget it because its a long road without a bend trying to get compensated.

Henry Ford III

I'm baffled why anyone would pay €360 for a rad hose.

Marlow

In general you're always better off with a BMW Specialist (instead of a BMW dealership).

They are usually mechanics, that have worked and been trained at a BMW dealership, but started off on their own and a lot of them are BMW enthusiasts + it's around half the money.

/M

joe2010

>> I'm baffled why anyone would pay €360 for a rad hose.

Well it was 360 for a hose, coolant and an oil change (which I didn't even ask for)

And it was not even the real cause of the overheating problem.

Yes Mad I know!

Captain Slow IRL

If you didn't ask for an oil change, why was it done?

joe2010

>> If you didn't ask for an oil change, why was it done?

I really don't know. I guess they felt I needed the oil changed, for whatever reason...

Captain Slow IRL

So, they did it without your permission?! That's a bit cheeky.

joe2010

They called Thursday evening said 360 Euro. I said holy **** that's a lot- and she said the hose is in a bad position and there's a lot of labor involved. She said they also changed the coolant and oil and I can collect it tomorrow. So that's all the warning I got about the oil.

joe2010

For anyone who's interested...

I brought it up the M1 this evening, just to test it out.
Was doing around 90 miles/hour (4000 revs)
Got to the end of the motorway around Navan and the roundabout...

Once I started going slow at roundabout the needle started in the red quickly,

so I had to pull over, unscrew valve beside coolant and let steam out.
Wait 10 min and fill with water and start. Temp perfect again.

When I got into Dublin again, at the first set of lights it just started to move towards the red, so I put the foot down and it start going down towards the blue quickly.

It was like that Speed episode of Father Ted

So obviously when I drive slow it gets hot...

No clue why but I will bring to garage and see what they say...

Hopefully this doesn't sound like it's too serious (Head Gasket)??

anon11

Viscous fan maybe, if it has one

Seth Brundle

JohnThomas09 wrote: »

take from a Sligo local,Reilly ain't going stand by it.He is a cowboy.I'd say you would be best forget it because its a long road without a bend trying to get compensated.

Thats a bold accusation - on what grounds are you basing this?

joe2010 wrote: »

They called Thursday evening said 360 Euro. I said holy **** that's a lot- and she said the hose is in a bad position and there's a lot of labor involved. She said they also changed the coolant and oil and I can collect it tomorrow. So that's all the warning I got about the oil.

Whilst it possibly should have been done after they boiled, were you told that they were going to do this?

anon11 wrote: »

Viscous fan maybe, if it has one

I dunno if a dodgy viscous clutch would cause this when still driving. Maybe if sitting in traffic but not really when moving and I don't think it would go up that fast (as the fan would still be turning).
When the rad in my car went last year (slight leak), the needle stayed vertical (as it should) when moving (even slowly) but slowly crept to the right when sitting in traffic.
Anyhow, the OP should forget about Reillys and take the car somewhere where it will be pressure tested and possibly diagnosed. Expect to have the oil and coolant changed again, etc..

joe2010

Yep the needle definitely was moving into the red while I was still driving...
although very slowly maybe 10 miles/hour.

I might go to AC cars as Mac 3 suggested. Although I won't be able to go until next week.

Just to put my mind at rest until then...

does this sound serious? or not a big deal?

Thanks.

Seth Brundle

It is serious! Overheating can easily damage the head resulting in big bills. My advice would bt to not drive it if at all possible! The disadvantage of driving to AC is that its likely that the car will overheat on the way there - try and arrange a tow!

Captain Slow IRL

joe2010 wrote: »

... is it possible that it could be an airlock for 2 weeks? ...

I don't think this would be possible, as MrDiag said earlier on, any faults would be present when you left the garage.

Is the coolant level dropping by a significant amount?

Is the car overheating with the heater on, at max temp and max fan speed - a dodgy water pump could be the culprit.

Ger the man

I once owned an E200 Merc and had the same problem as yourself. Fine while driving at speed - needle in the red while stuck in traffic. I put the heaters on hot blowing full blast to cool the engine (not nice on a hot day!). I replaced the viscous fan and it solved the problem for a while but it came back after about 1 month or so. There were no leaks or air locks and plenty of coolant too. I know a BMW and Merc specialist who informed me that overheating is common in both makes.

joe2010

I can drive to work and back.. .did today with zero problems, it's 30 min on M50.

It only goes on longer drives or maybe also depends on how fast I go?

Not sure if Coolant is dropping much, using water now.
When it overheated this evening I opened the air valve for the coolant and loads of steam came out so I had to put a lot of water back in...
Got back to Dublin and as soon as hit lights it started to get hot... and I doubt the water has all gone so I don't think it's coolant or leaks or air locks.

>>"There were no leaks or air locks and plenty of coolant too. "
yep sounds very similar problem to me. Did you just end up selling it?

Ger the man

>>"There were no leaks or air locks and plenty of coolant too. "
yep sounds very similar problem to me. Did you just end up selling it?

Yes I sold it - and good ridance to it too. Caused me a lot of stress, I drive a jap car now.

joe2010

Thanks Ger... I might follow your lead!

Ger the man

joe2010 wrote: »

Thanks Ger... I might follow your lead!

I always wanted a Merc but maybe I ended up with a lemon of a car that was badly abused? Either way I was very disapointed, Im now the proud owner of a well cared for Mitsubishi Galant. I have it 4 years and do about 16k miles every year, Ive never put a spanner to it and it sailed the NCT twice. She has full leather interior, auto transmission and a host of other goodies, I bought it with the same mileage on the clock as the Merc. I get great pleasure crusing along and treat it with respect.

joe2010

Well if I bring to garage and the problem reappears I think I will sell it.
I don't trust this car anymore... maybe never will again... like a cheating girlfriend

Muckie

Overheating is common on alot of cars(just like girlfriends cheating).

I guessing now, but your saying as your driving the car is fine, just once

sitting in traffic it starts to over heat(not losing coolant in the mean time)

Sound like your rad might need replacing or the switch for the fan is faulty.

Hope you get it fixed. Once did a Starlet similar problem, needed a new

rad cost €80. Be interested to know what it was.

joe2010

I REALLY AM AN IDIOT.

I put water in last night.

Started driving to work this morning - overheated on the M50 - not good or fun!

Rang the free tow and they gave me some water and I made it to work.

A friend at work had similar problem and a garage beside work fixed it,
so going to bring to them at lunch time, to see what they say.

I have no idea what's going on with this car!

MojoMaker

Had the same on two different E39's before.

Two potential problems.

(1) The car is overheating because another coolant hose has perforated in addition to the one the garage replaced. Why not? - hoses are probably same age. This is an inconvenience but you should still avoid driving as much as possible until all the hoses are checked. Joe Duffy charged me 340 to change a hose on my 535i. The hose itself was €14, the rest was labour + VAT. The hose was in a tricky position. Usual Stealer BS - glad to see they're consistent at least.

(2) You have a cracked cylinder block.

A faulty head gasket wold not lose coolant as fast as you describe. Either you have a faulty hose somewhere with a non-trivial hole in it or you could have a hairline crack in your block that has developed over time into a bigger issue. This is terminal for the engine by the way so let's hope it's not that. Quickest way to find out is to order a compression test from the garage across all cylinders. If one is cracked under the block it will show up immediately.

joe2010

Ok brought it to garage my friend recommended, who fixed his overheating problem.

They said there are no leaks anywhere and they think it's the Thermostat.

They said it will be ready tomorrow. Then I will drive to Newery again...

It's reassuring to know you were charged roughly the same as me for the hose.

That compression test sounds like a solid idea. If it fails that it's curtains! :eek:

Seth Brundle

How did they check for leaks if they didn't do a pressure test? I presume from what you said that they lookedm around the engine bay for visible signs of a leak!

joe2010

The guy from the garage rang and said he is sure there's no leaks.

I have no idea what kind of test he did, he didn't say at all.
I hope he did a pressure test...I should ask what test he did.

For all I know he could have submerged the entire car in the huge basin of water and squeezed all the tubes looking for a puncture

Seth Brundle

So where did your coolant go then?

joe2010

I'm guessing (and this is a guess and I've been wrong every time so far but...)

Well I have been using water since it blew up.

When I open the coolant valve (not where you actually put the coolant)

loads of "steam" comes out, so I guess it just boiled the water and I released it as steam when I opened the valve?

Does that sound plausible? probably not...

Tigger

i've seen this before
there was an airlock in yer system the hose needed changing but the system should have been bled afterwards
then when you left the car standing the air slowly found itsway to a point where it cause the thermo to show the overheating

but yer car has been spot overheating since the hose went on

same thing happened to me last time si had a belt and pully change

big airbubbly that displace a load of cooland when the bubble rises (after the car is sitting for a couple of days) the coolant shows that it is low

360 to fit a hose ? would you like to invest in some bulgarian apartments i have available?

joe2010

Thanks Tigger those apartments sound great, but I've invested all my cash in some magic beans... Once they come through the skys the limit

joe2010

CAR FIXED.

I brought the car to Blanchardstown Auto Repair as my friend recommended.

They put in a new Thermostat for 160 Euro and was ready next day.

Drove to Newry and back, and tried my best to make it overheat by curb crawling around the estate. Got a few funny looks!

So the moral of the story is:

If you want your car fixed cheaply and properly don't bring it to Martin Reilly Motors!

Bring it to Blanchardstown Auto Repair.

Case closed.




For anyone who's interested...

Blanchardstown Auto Repair.
Porter's Avenue,
Coolmine Industrial Estate,
Blanchardstown,
Dublin 15.