# Engine trouble! Strange vibration and "Service Engine" light.



## milski (Aug 25, 2003)

Andy said:


> These ignition coils are dropping like flies... I wonder if it's the cold weather triggering this. BMW really needs to make a recall on these things. I assume the dealership is replacing the ignition coils with the same faulty OEM coils. Is that true or did they fix the glitch in the new coils?


Hm, I was thinking about the same thing, it was colder than usual yesterday.
My dealer did not have loaners available but they got me an S80 from Enterprise. :thumbup:


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## Marco (Mar 7, 2003)

rumatt said:


> Actually, now that I think about it, this is my SECOND problem that BMW knew about, but decided not to tell me. The other was the climate control bug.
> 
> And I got burned by both of them. :tsk: Am I being bitter here, or am I justified in thinking that BMW should have let me know about both of them?


About the coils.
Like for Audi a year back (?) the question is whether to take the bad publicity of a recall, or to hope that customers will keep trickling in enraged perhaps, but at a slow rate (Audi also had the problem of finding replacement coils fast enough). Audi issued the recall only after the bad coils had surfaced over and over in major newpapers together with the argument that they were a safety issue. (I remember that that was when I stopped considering an A4.)
Short of a recall, BMW could just send a warning letter to customers. BUT... if I received such a letter from BMW --saying that my coils "could possibly, perhaps, in some cases" go bad-- not wanting to be stranded in the middle of a trip, I would be on the phone with the dealer next day demanding full replacement. In all effects it would be like a recall.
(BTW) I wander if BMW and Audi use the same coil subcontractor.)
Now I think 'coils' every time I start the car.


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