BMW dealer nightmare. Never again

KwackerJack

Never Again! Friends warned me, work mates warned me and the internet warned me hell even after all this the BMW sale man warned me!!


I bought a 2008 BMW 318D M-Sport (2.0 N47) From a Main BMW dealer 2 years ago. It was a used Premium BMW with a 2 year warranty, I wanted a small family saloon as I live in the city and my partner is also learning to drive. We wanted something small but also comfortable, powerful ( for a small family car ) and nice to drive, so the 3 Series seemed to be a good option.

I knew of the timing chain issues however after speaking with BMW they advised the TC was fully inspected and was in perfect order and it had a 2 year warranty so if it did go it would be replaced free of charge. I got a letter from BMW Ireland, with a welcome pack confirming all this and I was good to go.


Little did I know the crap that was about to start. 2.5 years on and it has had the below work carried out under warranty and in total spent just under 2 months in the garage.

• Timing chain x2 (Turns out it was done in 2015 also)
• DPF sensor x2
• Turbo
• Front suspension
• Driver’s Seat Base
• B+ Battery Cable
• Heater Cable
• Dash out due to lose bracket
• Clutch & Flywheel
• Turbo & Exhaust Gasket x2



It now needs the below, bar the wear and tear which is normal but some issues were missed by BMW last month. These issue were was discover by a BMW specialist and he will provide BMW Ireland with the list should they deny the issues.


• DPF Completely blocked – ( Missed by BMW - car now parked until work completed)
• Glow Plugs x2 (Missed by BMW)
• Glow Plug Relay (Missed by BMW)
• Rear suspension arms top & bottom (Normal Wear - BMW only said top arm)
• Rear differential oil leak
• Brake pipes wear and tear (Normal Wear)
• Intercooler & oil filter housing seals (Missed by BMW, they said oil leak no idea why)
• Rear nearside tyre (Normal Wear - replaced as 4 so maybe traction issues)
• Rear brake pads (Normal Wear)


I gave the specialist the entire history of the car on paper, he advised that the DPF was blocked on the last 2 inspections and this was not passed to me. In the first instance they replaced a DPF sensor and left it at that. Despite my complaints of constant power loss and hesitation I was told there were no other issues.

So the car had approx. €8,000 worth of work completed under warranty and now needs €2,000 to put it right again….the car cost €15,000


During all this the BMW dealer said it only had 1 year warranty, I called BMW Ireland and they said it was listed as 2 Year Premium however they said that the given the cars age and Mileage the Dealer should not have sold it as a Premium used BMW!!!!


Turns out this main dealer lost the sales contract due to buying cars from the UK and not pushing sales of new ones! If they were playing that game then god knows what else they were doing!!


So now my solicitor is dealing with it. I was sold a heap of unreliable crap or maybe they are all like that as I was warned by so many previous BMW owners to stay away from BMW!!


Also the past few months I have noticed truck after truck filled with English cars, a lot more than usual ( I work near the docks ) Seems like every dealer is now doing this on a much larger scale.

Borderfox

For a small saloon for around the city driving I wouldn't have selected a diesel but that's another story. Seems to have a been a real lemon of a car, hopefully solicitor will pull through for you

Henry Ford III

But was is an F60 MSport with the enhanced arse scratcher?

p.s. My sympathies - despite being thorough you appear to have bought a bad one. I hope the legal route sorts the issues.

ohnonotgmail

did they really replace a clutch under warranty?

ELM327

Clutch is a wear + tear item and I'm very surprised that was done under warranty.

Buying a 318D to drive around the city is asking for trouble and pretty much all of the above symptoms point to a car being driven in a wrong scenario.

nim1bdeh38l2cw

ELM327 wrote: »

Clutch is a wear + tear item and I'm very surprised that was done under warranty.

Buying a 318D to drive around the city is asking for trouble and pretty much all of the above symptoms point to a car being driven in a wrong scenario.

But... But... Chape Tax!

Agricola

Very unfortunate. I was in the market for a similar age diesel 3 series earlier in the year and purposely went with an older '06 due to the timing chain and DPF problems with the N47's. Hopefully you'll get a good result through your solicitor.

wonski

Do you mind me asking have you actually paid 15k for it at the time?

Sounds expensive for 2008 318 2 years ago.

Back to the topic of reliability a friend of mine bought petrol version and had a timing chain and all sort of other issues. I think he originally paid 7-8k at the time and the car started acting up just after the dealer warranty was over.

Bad luck really as I can't believe they all are that bad.

Reati

wonski wrote: »

Do you mind me asking have you actually paid 15k for it at the time?

Sounds expensive for 2008 318 2 years ago.

I bought a 2012 with 120Km 320 - mtech for 10.5k off a main dealer.

15K would be very dear for a 2008. I'd have expected 7 to 8.5 grand for that.

Toyotafanboi

There's a lot of harsh lessons there for the dealer and the owner to be fair.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Re-affirms my belief that BMW simply do not make good reliable cars anymore.

(Sits back and awaits the onslaught of BMW owners proclaiming never to have had a problem with their car...but will hold firm on my belief anyway.)

galwaytt

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Re-affirms my belief that BMW simply do not make good reliable cars anymore.

(Sits back and awaits the onslaught of BMW owners proclaiming never to have had a problem with their car...but will hold firm on my belief anyway.)

In fairness, it's not confined to BMW, quality seems an issue across many brands.

Reati

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Re-affirms my belief that BMW simply do not make good reliable cars anymore.

(Sits back and awaits the onslaught of BMW owners proclaiming never to have had a problem with their car...but will hold firm on my belief anyway.)

I have had 2 (if not 3) different urgent fix recall letters this summer for my bimmer. It's a bit hard to argue against ya!

Voodoomelon

Maybe I've rose tinted glasses on, but outside the timing chain, nothing on those lists seems wild to me for an 8-10 year old car, notably a German one.

R.O.R

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Re-affirms my belief that BMW simply do not make good reliable cars anymore.

(Sits back and awaits the onslaught of BMW owners proclaiming never to have had a problem with their car...but will hold firm on my belief anyway.)

I haven’t had a single issue with any of my last 3 BMW’s.


Granted, the oldest was a 181 from Feb this year...

bazz26

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Re-affirms my belief that BMW simply do not make good reliable cars anymore.

(Sits back and awaits the onslaught of BMW owners proclaiming never to have had a problem with their car...but will hold firm on my belief anyway.)

I think you need a bigger brush there.

ohnonotgmail

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Two Turbos and two DPF's isn't wild??

Doing only city driving in a diesel is asking for DPF problems.

ELM327

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Two Turbos and two DPF's isn't wild??

I've heard tale of e60 + e90 owners that had to replace both turbos so it's not uncommon


If you drive a modern diesel only for short runs it's probably expected functionality

MarkN

I've had 11 BMWs and one had a warranty issue, the rest were wear and tear items and several just required servicing and tyres. Not taking away from the OP he's either incredibly unlucky or I'm incredibly lucky!

bazz26

OP mentioned in the first list about 2 DPF sensors and a 2 turbo gaskets replaced alright but I read one turbo and one DPF replaced in the second list.

Sounds like the OP bought a lemon and paid over the odds for it. But to be a little fair, using a diesel car for mainly city driving can contribute largely to DPF blockages and eventual failure. There could also be a number of reasons why a turbo failed other than outright component failure, neither issue would be limited to just BMW either.

I had a second hand Volvo S40 diesel just over 6 months when the DPF got totally blocked and had to be replaced. I had a VW Passat CC that needed a new gearbox, clutch and flywheel at only 65k km too that luckily were covered under warranty. Funnily enough the 4 BMWs I owned up to now never given me any mechanical problems. One needed an oil level sensor replaced while another needed the iDrive controller replaced, both under warranty.

Toyotafanboi

KwackerJack wrote: »

Big yarn.

The whole thing stinks though.

Buying an 8 year old car from a main dealer seems silly, buying a diesel for city driving worse again, paying €15k for an 8 year old 318d, really really bad but the silliest thing of all is a main dealer retailing an 8 year old car to the public.

• Timing chain x2
• DPF sensor x2 - potentially user inflicted
• Turbo
• Front suspension - wear and tear
• Driver’s Seat Base - wear and tear
• B+ Battery Cable - this is a recall on those?
• Heater Cable
• Dash out due to lose bracket - old cars will develop rattles, most warranties don't even cover this type of thing
• Clutch & Flywheel - wear and tear
• Turbo & Exhaust Gasket x2 - just to clarify, this is 2x turbo gaskets and 2x exhaust gaskets, not 2x turbos.
• DPF Completely blocked – user inflicted
• Glow Plugs x2 (Missed by BMW) - consumable item
• Glow Plug Relay (Missed by BMW)
• Rear suspension arms top & bottom - wear and tear
• Rear differential oil leak - wear and tear for minor oil leaks on older vehicles
• Brake pipes wear and tear - wear and tear
• Intercooler & oil filter housing seals - wear and tear for minor oil leaks on older vehicles
• Rear nearside tyre - wear and tear
• Rear brake pads - wear and tear

So your actual issues are;

- Timing chain
- Turbo
- Heater dial
- some exhaust gaskets
- Glow plug CU.

(because again, just to clarify, one of those timing chains wasn't in your ownership?)

And of those, all of the above were replaced under warranty bar the heater plug control unit. You're solicitor had better be a good one i'd say.

You were definitely led down the garden path buying that car, for that price from that establishment but you paid your money and they help up their end. They sold you a used car (not a new one), it had issues and they fixed them. It's definitely a learning curve for yourself and possibly for the dealer if what you say about the imports etc is true.

I gave the specialist the entire history of the car on paper, he advised that the DPF was blocked on the last 2 inspections and this was not passed to me. In the first instance they replaced a DPF sensor and left it at that. Despite my complaints of constant power loss and hesitation I was told there were no other issues.

What i'd really love to know though is how the specialist knows, from reviewing the cars service history that the DPF was 100% blocked for 2 years previously and that the facts weren't relayed to you. He's making some huge leaps there. Ask him would he pop along to court to confirm that on the day for you and will he bring the crystal ball along, on the same day.

You've had a 'mare, as they say and you've bought a bit of a pig in a poke in terms of value for money wise and bought a car unsuited to your needs but other than that i'm not sure what the garage has done wrong. They sold a used car, it had faults and they fixed them.

It's all too easy to be lead away with "specialists" telling you x, y and z but it's very easy to put another garage down when speaking to a layman with shoulda, woulda's, particularly when they aren't there to defend themselves and i'm not saying that in defense of the dealer, just letting you know not to be lead away with what this specialist says unless he's willing to put it on headed paper and show up in court.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

2000 - 2010 was not a golden time for BMW reliability, a lot of new engines and new chassis. I have found that across the 10 I have had there have been some known issues especially the naughties cars. After 2011 the reliability has been a lot better.. However your car did seem to need a lot. What a BMW dealer was doing sell such an old car is beyond me, a 318d is likely to have had a hard life, by its very nature a company car driven by somebody doing high mileage and not giving a single feck about it. Also the dealer missing the blocked DPF filer would indicate that a number of the issues may have been related and failed to be diagnosed.

Sound like they honoured their warranty commitments, after 2 years its honestly a bit late to complain. Your solicitor can write a letter but I doubt it will get you anywhere, but your solicitor will make a few quid.

Farfromhome02

Sounds like a nightmare
I Never spend more than 1500/2000 on a car
Modern cars seem to be really soft and over engineered
Can't bait the old agricultural diesels

bazz26

Lets go back to the horse and cart, just to be safe. :pac:

sdanseo

My E90 was, luckily, old enough to be offloaded for scrappage when the gearbox gave out. In the <2 years I'd owned it the steering column lock error caused by a bandy battery was the only major issue but even that was enough to keep it off the road for a week.

In the end it's what drove me to buy new on PCP. The hassle of being tied to finance was just less than the hassle of being carless and constantly finding money for repairs.

Truckermal

Dacia Logan FTW they are great yokes everything else is rubbish!

bazz26

Another one buys a Ruster...

EPAndlee

I've had mine 2 years and I've done the chain,intercooler seals, oil filters housing seal,breather pipe,suspension arm,top mounts,modules, ibs because I'm too stubborn to sell it

HappyAsLarE

I’ve had two BMWs in the past 6 years and my opinion is that they are very good cars to own in years 1-4, after that best of luck.

selectamatic

My own experience since we're all chiming in...

184k miles on a 03 e46 320d
original:
clutch & flywheel
Turbo
Egr valve
Injectors
Intercooler & boost pipes
Coolant system

Maintenance:
oil and filters every 7k miles,
Turbo/crankcase filter changed to vortex style,
brake pads and discs,
Exhaust flexi,
some suspension components.

It's been one of the most reliable cars I've ever owned.

newmember2

selectamatic wrote: »

My own experience since we're all chiming in...

184k miles on a 03 e46 320d
original:
clutch & flywheel
Turbo
Egr valve
Injectors
Intercooler & boost pipes
Coolant system....

...everything else was replaced: :pac:

mickdw

I used to have a theory that e46 e90 e60 were reasonably good to around 140k miles then the expensive stuff would start.

Unfortunately, it would appear they have gone backwards more recently.

Clareman

Reading this post I don't know why anyone without buy a car outside of a dealers. The Op bought an 8 year old car, got a great warranty on it that he shouldn't have gotten and has had a load of work done under this warranty, I'd imagine a lot of other "dealers" would have told you to sling your hook.

On a side note, in every walk of life you hear about "specialists" who spot things that experts missed my cynical nature makes me question why they are so good and others are so bad.

sc86

wow 15k for a 08 318d two years ago - you must have really shopped around

So many parts of this story just dont add up , i actually dont know where to start

flatty

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Doing only city driving in a diesel is asking for DPF problems.

And inflicting harm upon all the inhabitants of the city, and occupants of the car.

ohnonotgmail

Clareman wrote: »

Reading this post I don't know why anyone without buy a car outside of a dealers. The Op bought an 8 year old car, got a great warranty on it that he shouldn't have gotten and has had a load of work done under this warranty, I'd imagine a lot of other "dealers" would have told you to sling your hook.

On a side note, in every walk of life you hear about "specialists" who spot things that experts missed my cynical nature makes me question why they are so good and others are so bad.

On the other hand he paid well over the odds in the first place.

Clareman

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

On the other hand he paid well over the odds in the first place.

He paid over the odds for a car that wasn't suitable for his needs (short city spins and a learner driver)

Leonard Hofstadter

Don't know much about the E90, but the worst thing about an E46 from a reliability point of view is the suspension, there's always something going in it. The rest of the car is perfectly reliable, though (so long as you avoid the four cylinder petrol engines and the automatic can be a bit iffy as well sometimes), you get the odd wear and tear item but it's to be expected with the age of them.

The big thing with BMWs is they need a bit of minding and they need to use OEM standard parts as a bare minimum. They don't take kindly to using cheap parts or skimping on maintenance. The service intervals, especially on the newer stuff, is far too long, I change the oil in mine every year because I do maybe 7 to 8k miles a year; if I was doing more than 9 or 10k a year I'd change it that often even though the indicator says I can do 15,525 miles on the same oil, and the newer cars are gone up to 30,000 km or 19,000 miles on the same oil.

All that said, the OPs one seems like a particularly bad one and that's a ridiculous amount of bad luck.

ohnonotgmail

Clareman wrote: »

He paid over the odds for a car that wasn't suitable for his needs (short city spins and a learner driver)

15,000 for an 8 year old 318d? If i paid even 10K for an 8 year 3 series i'd consider myself robbed.

Clareman

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

15,000 for an 8 year old 318d? If i paid even 10K for an 8 year 3 series i'd consider myself robbed.

Absoltely robbed, looking at CBG there are 2011 3 series for ~€15k asking price, assuming the Op is taking the cost of finance and any trade in he may have gotten into account I would assume that it didn't cost €15k, then again there may have been an extra cost for the warranty which looks to be well worth it now.

In my opinion, this car was not suitable for purpose not suitable for the drivers and over priced, but then again who am I to judge M-Sports with L Plates

ohnonotgmail

Clareman wrote: »

Absoltely robbed, looking at CBG there are 2011 3 series for ~€15k asking price, assuming the Op is taking the cost of finance and any trade in he may have gotten into account I would assume that it didn't cost €15k, then again there may have been an extra cost for the warranty which looks to be well worth it now.

In my opinion, this car was not suitable for purpose not suitable for the drivers and over priced, but then again who am I to judge M-Sports with L Plates

why are you looking at 7 year old cars? the OP bought an 8 year old car. An 8 year old 318d.

ExoPolitic

selectamatic wrote: »

My own experience since we're all chiming in...

184k miles on a 03 e46 320d
original:
clutch & flywheel
Turbo
Egr valve
Injectors
Intercooler & boost pipes
Coolant system

Maintenance:
oil and filters every 7k miles,
Turbo/crankcase filter changed to vortex style,
brake pads and discs,
Exhaust flexi,
some suspension components.

It's been one of the most reliable cars I've ever owned.

I have the same car, 2004 160k miles.

I have replaced the clutch and flywheel at 140k, but it wasn't because it failed, it was because it was getting loud.

All I've had is a crank shaft pulley failure, the part cost 60 euro including a new bolt and 40 to fit it.

Still going strong, service as you say every 7k miles and pads and discs 40k ago.

Clareman

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

why are you looking at 7 year old cars? the OP bought an 8 year old car. An 8 year old 318d.

He bought a 2008 car 2.5 years ago, giving him the benefit of the doubt that almost a 2011 now

ofcork

Sister had an 07 318d msport from new and a lot of issues with it over 62k new traded recently got 3.5k.

GreeBo

I bought an 09 A6 2.0D ~5 years ago and I only use it for city driving but have never had any issue.
Now and then it will get a spin on the motorway but its not getting huge mileage.

It had ~120KM when I bought it privately and I get it serviced when it tells me to!

(I paid 18K for it and only major outlay since was 4 new corners from oponeo)

Farfromhome02

GreeBo wrote: »

I bought an 09 A6 2.0D ~5 years ago and I only use it for city driving but have never had any issue.
Now and then it will get a spin on the motorway but its not getting huge mileage.

It had ~120KM when I bought it privately and I get it serviced when it tells me to!

(I paid 18K for it and only major outlay since was 4 new corners from oponeo)

Don't mention Audi the BMW lads wont be best pleased,have a Audi myself,best car I have ever owned
However mine only cost 1800 quid

josip

Clareman wrote: »

Reading this post I don't know why anyone without buy a car outside of a dealers. The Op bought an 8 year old car, got a great warranty on it that he shouldn't have gotten and has had a load of work done under this warranty, I'd imagine a lot of other "dealers" would have told you to sling your hook.

To me, it looks like the dealer built in the potential cost of generous warranty repairs into an inflated sale price.

Murph76

R.O.R wrote: »

I haven’t had a single issue with any of my last 3 BMW’s.


Granted, the oldest was a 181 from Feb this year...

Driving BMW since 3 and a half years now. Not having any serious issues though...

Cerco

Op, Even more unfortunate with this car:
Link https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=107689036

KwackerJack

1: The clutch and flywheel, were replaced as BMW said the flywheel was out of balance etc

2: I also drive to Mullingar a few times a Month and out of the city also at weekends, its mainly in the city but it does go on longer spins

3: Yes 15k was paid but that was through a main BMW Dealer with a full 2 year premium warranty, considering the car has had 10K+ worth of repairs I think it was worth paying the extra for it.

4: BMW Ireland admitted that the car should not have been sold as a premium used car. That is enough for me to go to my solicitor.

sdanseo

Murph76 wrote: »

Driving BMW since 3 and a half years now. Not having any serious issues though...

Yet.