2017 G31 540i issues

2017 G31 540i issues

Author
Discussion

SlightlySlanty

Original Poster:

4 posts

21 months

Monday 20th February 2023
quotequote all
I bought a 540i Estate (2017, HPI clear, 1 owner, 70k miles) from CarGiant in London 10 days ago and I am having a host of issues. It is booked into RSV (Chester BMW specialists) for a full diagnostics next week but I’d be interested in the forums view. Currently it’s 50:50 if I reject the car.

It had a quick look over at RSV last week and:
Front left tyre was a repaired Bridgestone runflat, now replaced with a new * marked Bridgestone run flat. Other tyres are from Bridgestone (4mm tread), Pirelli (4mm tread) and Goodyear (3mm tread)….I am a bit nervous about damaging the x-drive, especially since I’m driving 600 miles per week at the moment. CarGiant paid to replace one but would not do the rest. I will replace the other three if I decide to keep the car.

RSV noticed it has new (adaptive) suspension dampers all around (BMW parts). This seems very expensive for a car worth £20k unless it was done under warranty? The alignment is also miles out on all measurements, originally the steering wheel was pointing slightly left but this was corrected when the tyre was replaced. The rest of the alignment still needs doing. The car is HPI clear and I can’t imagine a crash that would destroy all 4 corners but not write off the car.

Driver assistance has been restricted and now disables immediately every time I start the car, this happened in the CarGiant carpark as I was leaving from collecting the car.

The satnav thinks I'm 100 miles away and pointing in the wrong direction.

I am getting 33-36mpg on 70mph long motorway cruises. I was expecting low MPG, but this seems lower than most other reports I have seen.

Kwik-Fit pulled an error report when they changed the tyre, there is a long list. There were no errors on my short test drive so I wonder if the battery was disconnected causing all the calibration issues during preparation before I drove off?

Would really appreciate any thoughts, my hope is this can all be explained as:
• Adaptive suspension failure, was replaced under warranty but they didn’t do an alignment
• Was bought by car giant with illegal tyres so they chucked a load of part worns on it
• They disconnected the battery (for whatever reason) between my test drive and me collecting it and that has caused lots of electrical issues such as with the driver assistance, and only a calibration is required to have the car back in working order.

Do I need a reality check? Error and undercarriage images here: https://imgur.com/a/eZckQU4

AlpinaB5

85 posts

72 months

Monday 20th February 2023
quotequote all
I had a 2017 540i last year. Absolute bag of spanners and got rid after 8 months and I bought it from a BMW dealer with Premium warranty. Swore I would never have another BMW after. Kept taking it back and the problems were never solved.

Your mpg sounds about right to be fair.

As for the X-drive I was told my my local dealer there can't be more than 1mm difference in tread depth between the tyres or as you said it could damage the X-drive.

As for your other problems maybe it just needs a system reset or reprogram. Your specialist should be able to tell you.

Having sworn I would never buy another BMW I just bought a 2019 G31 540i 3 weeks ago and it drives much nicer than my older one even though it has more mileage. Still has some of the same issues like creaking steering though frown

Good luck!

SteBrown91

2,573 posts

136 months

Monday 20th February 2023
quotequote all
SlightlySlanty said:
I bought a 540i Estate (2017, HPI clear, 1 owner, 70k miles) from CarGiant in London 10 days ago and I am having a host of issues. It is booked into RSV (Chester BMW specialists) for a full diagnostics next week but I’d be interested in the forums view. Currently it’s 50:50 if I reject the car.

It had a quick look over at RSV last week and:
Front left tyre was a repaired Bridgestone runflat, now replaced with a new * marked Bridgestone run flat. Other tyres are from Bridgestone (4mm tread), Pirelli (4mm tread) and Goodyear (3mm tread)….I am a bit nervous about damaging the x-drive, especially since I’m driving 600 miles per week at the moment. CarGiant paid to replace one but would not do the rest. I will replace the other three if I decide to keep the car.

RSV noticed it has new (adaptive) suspension dampers all around (BMW parts). This seems very expensive for a car worth £20k unless it was done under warranty? The alignment is also miles out on all measurements, originally the steering wheel was pointing slightly left but this was corrected when the tyre was replaced. The rest of the alignment still needs doing. The car is HPI clear and I can’t imagine a crash that would destroy all 4 corners but not write off the car.

Driver assistance has been restricted and now disables immediately every time I start the car, this happened in the CarGiant carpark as I was leaving from collecting the car.

The satnav thinks I'm 100 miles away and pointing in the wrong direction.

I am getting 33-36mpg on 70mph long motorway cruises. I was expecting low MPG, but this seems lower than most other reports I have seen.

Kwik-Fit pulled an error report when they changed the tyre, there is a long list. There were no errors on my short test drive so I wonder if the battery was disconnected causing all the calibration issues during preparation before I drove off?

Would really appreciate any thoughts, my hope is this can all be explained as:
• Adaptive suspension failure, was replaced under warranty but they didn’t do an alignment
• Was bought by car giant with illegal tyres so they chucked a load of part worns on it
• They disconnected the battery (for whatever reason) between my test drive and me collecting it and that has caused lots of electrical issues such as with the driver assistance, and only a calibration is required to have the car back in working order.

Do I need a reality check? Error and undercarriage images here: https://imgur.com/a/eZckQU4
Thats your problem - avoid like the plague. Return and run.



SL550M

610 posts

117 months

Monday 20th February 2023
quotequote all
Oddly enough I was going to post something similar about my experience with a 2017 540 x-Drive, bought from a main dealer. It's had a litany of issues in my 18 months ownership and I have at times wondered if it bordered on unacceptable. The only blessing is my local dealer (not the one I bought the car from) has managed to get goodwill gestures out of BMW covering some parts and labour. Only in the last few weeks, though, my headlights are going full disco mode when in the auto setting. I'm worried another driver is going to get out and thump me for flashing my headlights at them! smile Anyway, that's going to be yet another visit to the dealer to get fixed. It's all a bit of a shame, because I think they're great cars.

edthefed

729 posts

74 months

Monday 20th February 2023
quotequote all
You can find x drive tyre tolerances on line.

From menory

Star rated
All Same make and tread pattern
Max 2mm difference tread depth across tyres on same axle
Max 2mm difference tread depth difference front to rear.

I had a 540i x drive as a courtesy car i got about 38 mpg on a 20 mile motorway cruise.

They are a big heavy car !

Bertrum

473 posts

230 months

Monday 20th February 2023
quotequote all
The Battery is fubarred. Fit a new battery, this will need to be coded and reset the faults.

They prob just charged it up before you collected it, low battery’s play havoc with modern electrics.

Alignment that would be from them changing the dampers and not resetting the suspension.

Stick some now tyres on it.

She’ll be fine .

ClubsportStr

378 posts

82 months

Wednesday 22nd February 2023
quotequote all
SlightlySlanty said:
I bought a 540i Estate (2017, HPI clear, 1 owner, 70k miles) from CarGiant in London 10 days ago and I am having a host of issues. It is booked into RSV (Chester BMW specialists) for a full diagnostics next week but I’d be interested in the forums view. Currently it’s 50:50 if I reject the car.

It had a quick look over at RSV last week and:
Front left tyre was a repaired Bridgestone runflat, now replaced with a new * marked Bridgestone run flat. Other tyres are from Bridgestone (4mm tread), Pirelli (4mm tread) and Goodyear (3mm tread)….I am a bit nervous about damaging the x-drive, especially since I’m driving 600 miles per week at the moment. CarGiant paid to replace one but would not do the rest. I will replace the other three if I decide to keep the car.

RSV noticed it has new (adaptive) suspension dampers all around (BMW parts). This seems very expensive for a car worth £20k unless it was done under warranty? The alignment is also miles out on all measurements, originally the steering wheel was pointing slightly left but this was corrected when the tyre was replaced. The rest of the alignment still needs doing. The car is HPI clear and I can’t imagine a crash that would destroy all 4 corners but not write off the car.

Driver assistance has been restricted and now disables immediately every time I start the car, this happened in the CarGiant carpark as I was leaving from collecting the car.

The satnav thinks I'm 100 miles away and pointing in the wrong direction.

I am getting 33-36mpg on 70mph long motorway cruises. I was expecting low MPG, but this seems lower than most other reports I have seen.

Kwik-Fit pulled an error report when they changed the tyre, there is a long list. There were no errors on my short test drive so I wonder if the battery was disconnected causing all the calibration issues during preparation before I drove off?

Would really appreciate any thoughts, my hope is this can all be explained as:
• Adaptive suspension failure, was replaced under warranty but they didn’t do an alignment
• Was bought by car giant with illegal tyres so they chucked a load of part worns on it
• They disconnected the battery (for whatever reason) between my test drive and me collecting it and that has caused lots of electrical issues such as with the driver assistance, and only a calibration is required to have the car back in working order.

Do I need a reality check? Error and undercarriage images here: https://imgur.com/a/eZckQU4
If you bought it across internet you have 14 days to return it. With all those issues I be handing it back for a full refund and looking for another one !

NeilMick

153 posts

136 months

Thursday 23rd February 2023
quotequote all
Sorry you're having problems, I actually was first to reserve this car as it was so cheap and walked away when I got down there and got my £99 back.

Hope you manage to get it sorted as it was a steal at the price they had it but there were a couple of things which put me off.

AAD44H

417 posts

166 months

Friday 24th February 2023
quotequote all
NeilMick said:
Sorry you're having problems, I actually was first to reserve this car as it was so cheap and walked away when I got down there and got my £99 back.

Hope you manage to get it sorted as it was a steal at the price they had it but there were a couple of things which put me off.
I saw the car as well and was also tempted given the price, saw that the car was no longer reserved, thought about it for a few hours and then noticed that it was the reserved again! Have just put a deposit on an approved car with Park Lane.

SlightlySlanty

Original Poster:

4 posts

21 months

Saturday 25th February 2023
quotequote all
What put you off Neil? I didn't have any issues on the test drive, they all happened after I'd bought it! I noticed there was a repainted scuff on the driver side front quarter panel but nothing else.

NeilMick

153 posts

136 months

Saturday 25th February 2023
quotequote all
It was the poor repair to the drivers arch as you've already said and the front bumper fitment on that corner. Just my own point of view that I wasnt comfortable with it.

I don't think it has been hit on all four corners as there was a scratch on the drivers side rear bumper and some blue paint transfer oh the passenger side rear.

All of those things could be rectified and it would still be good value. Hopefully the electrical gremlins are sorted by a new battery and you still end up with a bargain. 👍

SlightlySlanty

Original Poster:

4 posts

21 months

Saturday 4th March 2023
quotequote all
Thanks for getting back to me, much appreciated!

Tango222

138 posts

197 months

Monday 6th March 2023
quotequote all
Cargiant do buy non recorded light damaged cars at times and repair in their bodyshop . Knew someone who worked there who confirmed.

And it sounds like it needs an ADAS calibration too