30 complaints settled after alleged fault in BMWs, says lawyer

Comhrá

Story on Indo today.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/30-complaints-settled-after-alleged-fault-in-bmws-says-lawyer-37704117.html

Shane Phelan

January 12 2019 2:30 AM


BMW is said to have settled 30 complaints from Irish motorists over an alleged fault that caused cars to suddenly lose power and stop.

A lawyer representing the motorists said the settlements related to the alleged failure of timing chains in certain BMW models over the past six years.

The German car-maker has been facing legal threats over its refusal to carry out the repairs for free, estimated at around €6,000 per vehicle.

Dublin solicitor Dermot McNamara told the Irish Independent the settled cases were among a tranche of more than 50 where civil proceedings had either been in train or were being contemplated.

He said in settled cases the motorists got the cost of their repairs and associated expenses, such as replacement car hire and some legal costs.

"If a timing chain breaks, then the driver loses all power from the engine with a resultant loss of assisted braking and power steering," said Mr McNamara.

"In many cases, the vehicles have experienced catastrophic engine failure while travelling at speed and we have some owners who have reported that their timing chain has failed on a second occasion."

A spokesperson for BMW was not immediately able to comment.

Three civil actions have already been before the District Court. Two have been settled while one is still ongoing.

The court heard the problem affected the timing chains on models with N47 engines.

The civil action still before the court involves Co Monaghan motorist John McConville, who is seeking €8,700 in damages. He claims significant damage was caused to his BMW 5 Series car travelling on the M7 when the vehicle suddenly lost power.

He says he had to take emergency measures and pull over and wait on the hard shoulder for a tow truck for over an hour in darkness.

Mr McConville claims there was a defective engine design that prevented inspection and maintenance of the timing chain and his car needed extensive repairs.

jmreire

The question's are: Has it been solved? and if so when? I have heard that while the incidences have been reducing, there were still reports of timing chain's snapping in 2014. But as BMW introduced the new B47 engine in 2014, I would think that it was the older N47 engines fitted to 2014 cars which had timing chain issues. As it has now been in use since 2014, has anyone heard of a B47 engine having this problem?

Cee-Jay-Cee

Didn’t BMW in the uk admit there was a problem and offer a replacement/repair programme to address the problem with the N47 engine?

Why are people having to fight this, surely it should be a case of presenting your busted engine and them fixing it (maybe not that simply but you know what I mean, people shouldn’t have to go to court over it!)

jmreire

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Didn’t BMW in the uk admit there was a problem and offer a replacement/repair programme to address the problem with the N47 engine?

Why are people having to fight this, surely it should be a case of presenting your busted engine and them fixing it (maybe not that simply but you know what I mean, people shouldn’t have to go to court over it!)

I'd say that they are working on the principle of replacing the engine's only when they absolutely have to....and not giving a blanket recall, ( which they should do by right, as it's a design fault ) so in this way, they are reducing their costs. But brand -wise, it has been done irreparable harm. In America, as far as I know, it has been giving a no quibble repair / replace engine. But in America, the LAW really protects consumers. And this was never more apparent than when VW got caught out in the emission scandal. All the affected vehicles were bought back, or the owners compensated.

galvo_clare

A friend sent me this. In the Indo yesterday apparently.

colm_mcm

galvo_clare wrote: »

A friend sent me this. In the Indo yesterday apparently.

That’s the article quoted in the OP

Toyotafanboi

colm_mcm wrote: »

That’s the article quoted in the OP

It was a new thread and I dropped the post into this one! Shoddy moderation really

galvo_clare

colm_mcm wrote: »

That’s the article quoted in the OP

Sorry, missed the original post.

turbbo

jmreire wrote: »

I'd say that they are working on the principle of replacing the engine's only when they absolutely have to....and not giving a blanket recall, ( which they should do by right, as it's a design fault ) so in this way, they are reducing their costs. But brand -wise, it has been done irreparable harm. In America, as far as I know, it has been giving a no quibble repair / replace engine. But in America, the LAW really protects consumers. And this was never more apparent than when VW got caught out in the emission scandal. All the affected vehicles were bought back, or the owners compensated.

I assume you are guessing this?
I wonder what happens an Irish owner who has this problem today? Do they just call a bmw garage - get a replacement car for the inconvenience and drop own car in to be fixed? BMW Ireland are being very quiet on all of this. It was a massive problem that never went away on the smaller diesel engines - dare I say it - it's probably still a fault on new models - they just don't have the millage up yet.

Gravelly

I assume BMW had their actuaries calculate the cost of standing over their product versus the cost of business lost due to brand damage, and decided that it was less costly to take a hit on brand image. I think they may have miscalculated though - BMW has lost a lot of it's sheen, and I for one, would never buy one again, and I can only imagine that is a fairly widespread view. I know a lot of beemer lads that shrug it off, and it won't affect their brand loyalty (and I wouldn't have been a BMW man anyway, having only ever owned one), but you'd have to be fairly invested in the brand to ignore how badly BMW have handled this.

turbbo

Gravelly wrote: »

I assume BMW had their actuaries calculate the cost of standing over their product versus the cost of business lost due to brand damage, and decided that it was less costly to take a hit on brand image. I think they may have miscalculated though - BMW has lost a lot of it's sheen, and I for one, would never buy one again, and I can only imagine that is a fairly widespread view. I know a lot of beemer lads that shrug it off, and it won't affect their brand loyalty (and I wouldn't have been a BMW man anyway, having only ever owned one), but you'd have to be fairly invested in the brand to ignore how badly BMW have handled this.

Have you had this issue? if so what car and millage. Name and shame - only way.

Gravelly

turbbo wrote: »

Have you had this issue? if so what car and millage. Name and shame - only way.

I haven't - I bought an f10 and ran it for a few months before moving it on, but I wouldn't buy another as I simply wouldn't trust it. They are a pain in the ass for electrical troubles too.

Stallingrad

Gravelly wrote: »

I haven't - I bought an f10 and ran it for a few months before moving it on, but I wouldn't buy another as I simply wouldn't trust it. They are a pain in the ass for electrical troubles too.

I just sold my F10 owned for a few months for much the same reasons. Too many future headaches and generally underwhelming to drive, probably my biggest ever motoring disappointment.

turbbo

Stallingrad wrote: »

I just sold my F10 owned for a few months for much the same reasons. Too many future headaches and generally underwhelming to drive, probably my biggest ever motoring disappointment.

Eh what did you drive before that was better?

Stallingrad

turbbo wrote: »

Eh what did you drive before that was better?

Skoda Superb 3 1.4tsi ACT 150.
More refined, more spacious, better ride, more nimble, better ergonomics, better infotainment, no RFT's, cheaper to run. I could go on?

turbbo

Stallingrad wrote: »

Skoda Superb 3 1.4tsi ACT 150.
More refined, more spacious, better ride, more nimble, better ergonomics, better infotainment, no RFT's, cheaper to run. I could go on?

I've heard enough thanks.

Old diesel

Stallingrad wrote: »

Skoda Superb 3 1.4tsi ACT 150.
More refined, more spacious, better ride, more nimble, better ergonomics, better infotainment, no RFT's, cheaper to run. I could go on?

Nice car the Superb.

Great refinement and and and a feeling of been in a much more expensive car when specced well.

They look nice too imo.