Strange m3 breakdown and now warranty issues
Discussion
My e90 has always had an intermittent issue where maybe once every 6 months it won’t start - put key in press the start button and nothing happens. I have to leave it 10 minutes and then it starts. Reading online it happens to others (the lady at BMW I spoke to even said it happens on her 1 series).
A week ago it happened but this time it also gave a warning sign “transmission fault - can’t find P” or something like that, but this time would not start even after 24 hours.
Called AA who said it’s likely the battery, they do strange things to the electrics when they start to go (made sense as I have witnessed this previously). Put battery pack on and it fired up perfectly, however it would then cut out a few seconds later, running really rough for a few seconds like no fuel getting to it.
Towed to BMW who said it was a corroded earth strap - £200 - didn’t fix it, now suggested spark plugs - £300 which my Indy says it won’t be but BMW saying that it’s worth trying as there’s nothing wrong with battery, nothing coming up on faults or diagnostics, and after this it’s a case of paying them £100 an hour to start stripping the car down searching for the fault.
I have an extended warranty but they saying that I pay for their stripping down etc it’s not a warranty claim, I’ll have to pay.
Feel a bit stuck re warranty - I know not everything is covered but is how they should be dealing with the issue with me?
Also, the fault seems electrical to me, the car has some electrical issues as seen in previous examples but this just seemed a bit more extreme. Surely they should investigate this rather than “stripping the engine down”?
When it first fires up it sounds perfect - then just starts chugging and cuts out.
I’d take it to my independent who I trust but if it is a warranty claim then I’ve missed the opportunity for recovering the costs!
Any similar experiences / advice please?
A week ago it happened but this time it also gave a warning sign “transmission fault - can’t find P” or something like that, but this time would not start even after 24 hours.
Called AA who said it’s likely the battery, they do strange things to the electrics when they start to go (made sense as I have witnessed this previously). Put battery pack on and it fired up perfectly, however it would then cut out a few seconds later, running really rough for a few seconds like no fuel getting to it.
Towed to BMW who said it was a corroded earth strap - £200 - didn’t fix it, now suggested spark plugs - £300 which my Indy says it won’t be but BMW saying that it’s worth trying as there’s nothing wrong with battery, nothing coming up on faults or diagnostics, and after this it’s a case of paying them £100 an hour to start stripping the car down searching for the fault.
I have an extended warranty but they saying that I pay for their stripping down etc it’s not a warranty claim, I’ll have to pay.
Feel a bit stuck re warranty - I know not everything is covered but is how they should be dealing with the issue with me?
Also, the fault seems electrical to me, the car has some electrical issues as seen in previous examples but this just seemed a bit more extreme. Surely they should investigate this rather than “stripping the engine down”?
When it first fires up it sounds perfect - then just starts chugging and cuts out.
I’d take it to my independent who I trust but if it is a warranty claim then I’ve missed the opportunity for recovering the costs!
Any similar experiences / advice please?
I can’t really offer much help re the issue, but this is exactly where the extended warranty falls down with older cars.
If the issue isn’t obvious they want you to agree to cover the costs for stripping, which as you say means you could be left with a bill of many hours of labour only for them to say that it isn’t a warranty issue. BMW also seem to be happy with the parts cannon approach as you’ve experienced.
These engines are fundamentally old these days, like my N54 and are the same age as some of the techs! Personally, in this case I’d be taking the car to an Indy who really understands them and suck up the bill on the basis that they’ll diagnose it first time rather than just chuck parts at it.
If the issue isn’t obvious they want you to agree to cover the costs for stripping, which as you say means you could be left with a bill of many hours of labour only for them to say that it isn’t a warranty issue. BMW also seem to be happy with the parts cannon approach as you’ve experienced.
These engines are fundamentally old these days, like my N54 and are the same age as some of the techs! Personally, in this case I’d be taking the car to an Indy who really understands them and suck up the bill on the basis that they’ll diagnose it first time rather than just chuck parts at it.
torqueofthedevil said:
My e90 has always had an intermittent issue where maybe once every 6 months it won’t start - put key in press the start button and nothing happens. I have to leave it 10 minutes and then it starts. Reading online it happens to others (the lady at BMW I spoke to even said it happens on her 1 series).
A week ago it happened but this time it also gave a warning sign “transmission fault - can’t find P” or something like that, but this time would not start even after 24 hours.
Called AA who said it’s likely the battery, they do strange things to the electrics when they start to go (made sense as I have witnessed this previously). Put battery pack on and it fired up perfectly, however it would then cut out a few seconds later, running really rough for a few seconds like no fuel getting to it.
Towed to BMW who said it was a corroded earth strap - £200 - didn’t fix it, now suggested spark plugs - £300 which my Indy says it won’t be but BMW saying that it’s worth trying as there’s nothing wrong with battery, nothing coming up on faults or diagnostics, and after this it’s a case of paying them £100 an hour to start stripping the car down searching for the fault.
I have an extended warranty but they saying that I pay for their stripping down etc it’s not a warranty claim, I’ll have to pay.
Feel a bit stuck re warranty - I know not everything is covered but is how they should be dealing with the issue with me?
Also, the fault seems electrical to me, the car has some electrical issues as seen in previous examples but this just seemed a bit more extreme. Surely they should investigate this rather than “stripping the engine down”?
When it first fires up it sounds perfect - then just starts chugging and cuts out.
I’d take it to my independent who I trust but if it is a warranty claim then I’ve missed the opportunity for recovering the costs!
Any similar experiences / advice please?
My F31 is under extended warranty…A week ago it happened but this time it also gave a warning sign “transmission fault - can’t find P” or something like that, but this time would not start even after 24 hours.
Called AA who said it’s likely the battery, they do strange things to the electrics when they start to go (made sense as I have witnessed this previously). Put battery pack on and it fired up perfectly, however it would then cut out a few seconds later, running really rough for a few seconds like no fuel getting to it.
Towed to BMW who said it was a corroded earth strap - £200 - didn’t fix it, now suggested spark plugs - £300 which my Indy says it won’t be but BMW saying that it’s worth trying as there’s nothing wrong with battery, nothing coming up on faults or diagnostics, and after this it’s a case of paying them £100 an hour to start stripping the car down searching for the fault.
I have an extended warranty but they saying that I pay for their stripping down etc it’s not a warranty claim, I’ll have to pay.
Feel a bit stuck re warranty - I know not everything is covered but is how they should be dealing with the issue with me?
Also, the fault seems electrical to me, the car has some electrical issues as seen in previous examples but this just seemed a bit more extreme. Surely they should investigate this rather than “stripping the engine down”?
When it first fires up it sounds perfect - then just starts chugging and cuts out.
I’d take it to my independent who I trust but if it is a warranty claim then I’ve missed the opportunity for recovering the costs!
Any similar experiences / advice please?
Beginning of May I could smell hot and there was smoke coming from the back quarter of the engine and that was after about 15mins of driving…
Phoned Bowker BMW (my local dealer) and they asked to have it brought in. Agreed to cover an approx £300 bill for investigation work, which was if they didn’t find any issues…
They did and it all then got enveloped under the extended warranty & I just paid the £250 excess. It ended up having about £2ks worth of work being done to the engine (approx, inc labour)
So I’d keep pushing them to do what they need to do and then sort it all through warranty. You’ve got it for this very reason. Don’t just roll over
Keep us posted as to how you get on
This is a common thing with any extended warranty including BMW's product, they all want you to pay for the diagnosis work and if it does transpire to be a warranty issue they will cover the lot, but if it isn't a warranty issue then you wish you went elsewhere.
I had a similar thing with my BMW M240i and a rattle on the exhaust which turned out to be a faulty valve controller, not covered by the warranty. I cancelled mine not long after and (touch wood) it has turned out to be the right decision.
I had a similar thing with my BMW M240i and a rattle on the exhaust which turned out to be a faulty valve controller, not covered by the warranty. I cancelled mine not long after and (touch wood) it has turned out to be the right decision.
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