# ED gone bad, bad air intake hose?!!



## kaismaeel2000 (Dec 20, 2006)

JSpira said:


> That's great news - but how is your trip going otherwise? Have you been able to do something fun as opposed dealing with repair issues?


We drove to Prague, on Saturday, got back Sunday night. We will either spend today in Munich, or drive to cortina and be back late at night. Flying out Tuesday at noon. We are having fun, except that it's not M3 quality fun.


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## Kief (Dec 6, 2007)

kaismaeel2000 said:


> The real problem is that you can not communicate with the ED department staff in a situation like this, so they can guide you. For example, what paperwork to leave on the vehicle, keys (leave one or both), if you will not be doing the drop off. Also, who pays for insurance on the rentals, where to drop off the rental, etc... Those are some of the issues which roadside assistance could not help me with, simply because they do not know.


These are all great questions we need to find the answers to, and then perhaps place them in a sticky for future reference? (unless these questions have already been answered?). We can turn Kaismaeel's unfortunate events into a learning moment.

I recall a fellow 'Fester interviewing someone from the ED department a few years ago. Maybe they or someone else could conduct a follow-up interview?


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## chrischeung (Sep 1, 2002)

I think it makes a lot of sense to ask for the business card (and cell/mobile) of the delivery advisor. You've built up a quick relationship during delivery with them, and will be calling a person rather than a number. I admit that in the past the eagerness of hitting the road in my new car has be forgetting these sensibilities, but it's a good practice IMHO.


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

kaismaeel2000 said:


> We drove to Prague, on Saturday, got back Sunday night. We will either spend today in Munich, or drive to cortina and be back late at night. Flying out Tuesday at noon. We are having fun, except that it's not M3 quality fun.


I am truly glad to hear!

As I type this, your Monday is well underway so I hope that is fun for you as well. :thumbup:


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## wmo168 (Mar 26, 2009)

Sorry to hear that, this is going to be a problem when someone planning to drop off the car at another country and break down outside of Germany. It is going to be a nightmare getting a rental and continue on the trip.

I think it is a good idea to ask the personal business card of the person in ED office and ask them if the car break down which number to call in which country....


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## kaismaeel2000 (Dec 20, 2006)

Now, that I am back home, more updates:

I was contacted by the ED office in NJ and Munich, and I emailed them with a list of suggestions from my experience to make it as seamless as possible for ED customers who are unfortunate enough to experience a mechanical breakdown. Both offices are working on improving the process and customers will be advised on what to do and expect in such an event, at the time of delivery. Contracted roadside assistance specialists will be retrained on working with ED customers.

BMWNA customer relations called me twice, but again nothing has been done or offered, as we do not know where we are going with repair issues.


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## kaismaeel2000 (Dec 20, 2006)

*Please advise!!*

The vehicle will have been at the dealer's for a whole week by closing of business day tomorrow. They were very nice to call me today to let me know that they took the engine out and inspected the air intake line, which their diagnostics were pointing to as the culprit, but did not find any problem with that. They changed another part, but the engine still does not work. At this point they "have no clue" what caused the failure and opened a case with BMW AG engineers to figure it out. Bottom line, this is not a straight shot.

How much longer do I have to wait before getting BMW to order me a new vehicle? should I even take this vehicle if it takes another week of taking the engine out and putting it back in, going through the computer algorithms until they find the problem? Will this engine ever be reliable? I think I will give them a couple more days, but not more than that. I paid for a BMW quality product, not a factory lemon. :thumbdwn:

I started bringing up the idea, but they would like to wait, and I agree, but how much longer? I suggested they start looking into the logistics of doing this, so we do not waste a couple more weeks trying to figure out how, and who will pay, etc....

What do you guys think?


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## jsciv (Oct 5, 2010)

PA's Lemon Law says:



> It shall be presumed that a reasonable number of attempts have been undertaken to repair or correct a nonconformity if:
> 
> 1. the same nonconformity has been subject to repair three times by the manufacturer, its agents or authorized dealers and the nonconformity still exists; or
> 2. the vehicle is out-of-service by reason of any nonconformity for a cumulative total of 30 or more calendar days.


Start researching the law and get ready to invoke it if need be, I suppose.


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## chrischeung (Sep 1, 2002)

Personally - I'd strongly consider taking a car they have on the lot that has the same or slightly higher spec for the same payment. Likely they won't have one (I think the lease special has cleaned a lot of dealers out), or won't want to give it to you (it comes out of allocation after all) and a car will need to be built for you. In this case, you likely won't see a new car for 2-3 months I expect. They can't materialize an immediate production slot for you - you'll need to wait in queue. If a lease, they'll start it anew when the new car arrive. You may offer to take a E92 M3 at a comparably lower lease rate - but likely they'll reject that as well as being too complicated for them to manage.

Before you forget, send in the BMWCCA rebate request regardless. You've met the criteria to get it.


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## Me530 (Feb 17, 2005)

I'm sure they will figure out what went wrong and be able to repair it. I say give them another week before making any move.


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## rmorin49 (Jan 7, 2007)

Your experience makes the scraped front bumper on my Z4 seem almost insignificant. I feel your pain and hope they can fix your car quickly and get it shipped to the US. After another week I would definitely write BMWNA and ask about a replacement unless yours is repaired and on its way to the port.


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## fishskis (Dec 18, 2004)

It is too bad they didn't just find a simple solution to an easily diagnosed malfunction. I am sure you are very frustrated. But until they know what is wrong, or to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, until they know what they don't know, you can't really do anything. You should try to be patient, and trust that in all likelihood, they will do the right thing and offer you a solution to satisfy you (I speak from personal experience).

Of course, you probably just want them to give you a replacement vehicle; but if they can fix it, and confidently make the case that the car will be fine, plus add a little sweetener to compensate for the inconvenience and delay, that would seem reasonable, depending on what specifically the problem is. 

My advice is to maintain a cordial relationship with BMW, knowing that it is likely you will amicably work out a mutually acceptable solution. I would suspect that within a week or two, they will figure things out and make a proposal to you.

Good luck.


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## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

kaismaeel2000 said:


> *BMW assist does not work in Europe, and that's something that should be emphasized during delivery. *When I pushed the SOS button, idrive froze for at least 5 minutes, displaying "connecting" or something like that. I did it twice to see if the first time was just a communication error or so. During that time, you can not use iDrive.


Sorry to read about your troubles...

For me it was a given that a temporary Assist connection -for at least the 14 days ED basic limit- would be provided by BMWAG just because of ED. But it seems that it is not and that really concerns me as I will be doing a September ED as well.

That's simply idiotic.


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## whitem3/4 (Jan 14, 2006)

Wow. What an ordeal. If I ever get an allocation for my 1M on order, I am gonna def. make sure I have a "what to do list & phone #'s" if my 1M breaks down.

Sorry you had that happen to you, but thanks for sharing so others who follow can have an action plan if ours breaks down.

Chuck


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## chrischeung (Sep 1, 2002)

Technic said:


> For me it was a given that a temporary Assist connection -for at least the 14 days ED basic limit- would be provided by BMWAG just because of ED. But it seems that it is not and that really concerns me as I will be doing a September ED as well.


Read the FAQ - http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/Experience/Events/EuropeanDelivery/EuropeanDeliveryFAQ.aspx

"If your new BMW is equipped with this system, your Safety Plan services will not be available to you while traveling in Europe, due to different wireless technology standards and protocols."

From memory, my delivery specialists have always mentioned this.


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## Kar Don (Aug 4, 2004)

Wow sorry to hear about your experience! I guess that's what happens when you hand assemble engines.


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## HerrK (Jan 9, 2010)

AlBoston said:


> I guess that's what happens when you hand assemble engines.


In reality it happens because it is a BMW. They never have and probably never will be as reliable & trouble free as the Asian vehicles. If you don't accept that going into the purchase & ownership of one, you are likely setting yourself up for a disappointment down the line. Some things they do well and then some they don't. Paying big bucks for a vehicle doesn't always get you what you want or think your paying for.

Sorry for your problems kaismaeel2000.


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## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

chrischeung said:


> Read the FAQ - http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/Experience/Events/EuropeanDelivery/EuropeanDeliveryFAQ.aspx
> 
> "If your new BMW is equipped with this system, your Safety Plan services will not be available to you while traveling in Europe, *due to different wireless technology standards and protocols."*
> 
> From memory, my delivery specialists have always mentioned this.


That "reason" was correct back in February 2008 when in the USA the Telematics was CDMA, but after March 2008 there are no "different wireless technology standards and protocols" anymore... we have the exact same GSM telematics as in Europe now.

This is an issue of _cost_, not of technology.


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

Technic said:


> That "reason" was correct back in February 2008 when in the USA the Telematics was CDMA, but after March 2008 there are no "different wireless technology standards and protocols" anymore... we have the exact same GSM telematics as in Europe now.
> 
> This is an issue of _cost_, not of technology.


No, the telematics systems are completely different and incompatible between the two systems (BMW NA Assist and BMW Assist in Europe).


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## dalekressin (Sep 3, 2008)

Well, things are looking up.
Enjoy as life is no dress rehearsal.
You will have your M3 joy here.


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## 97X (Sep 19, 2007)

AlBoston said:


> I'm curious about the wheels. Are the std 18 inch M3 wheels now painted silver instead of the almost black color before?


Yes. 18 inch wheels are now silver.


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## HerrK (Jan 9, 2010)

kaismaeel2000 said:


> The dealership is closed till Tuesday, which will 18 days since breakdown. This is simply unacceptable. If by Tuesday morning, the car is not in perfect working order, I will be asking for a new vehicle. I am sure they will say we are getting ahead of ourselves here!!!
> 
> This is an engine that failed after two days and less than 300 miles of use, ruined my trip, so I think 18 days of repair attempts is enough. It's either fixed or not on Tuesday morning.


Well its Tuesday afternoon on the east coast and Tuesday evening in Germany any updates on your vehicle?


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## chrischeung (Sep 1, 2002)

Kaismaeel - did you make a claim through Alliance? They reimburse rental cars, hotels, travel etc., so you may have coverage you didn't think you had. However, I'm thinking that you may already know this, since they do run through it at the Welt, and you probably read every piece of documentation while waiting for the repair. Just making sure.

Also you could probably have rented an M3 from the Welt (BMW on demand?) or Sixt (http://www.sixt.de/php/res/topoffer...:11:22:115:225:110:23&rsgrep=&pusgrep=&rtyp=O) and be reimbursed by Alliance, or travel reimbursement via high speed rail. Were those options proposed or considered?


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## CarSwami (Oct 2, 2005)

After reading through all the postings, I do feel for the disappointment that the OP had to go through. It occurs to me that while it may be unrealistic to expect BMW to "reimburse" him for the "disappointment" part of his trip, it would not be unreasonable to talk to BMW about the possibility of extending the warranty on the vehicle to cover any future problems that may come up due to the mishap. If they replace the entire engine and any associated parts, then perhaps an extended warranty may not be necessary. But if I were in the shoes of the OP, I'd want to be sure that there are no long term effects on the reliability of the vehicle, and if any problems crop up, there is a warranty in place to cover the costs of fixing the car.

Kaismaeel2000, have you brought up the idea of extending the warranty with BMW? If yes, what was their response?


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

I'm guessing from the lack of updates that BMW offered the op some sort of deal in exchange for confientiality.


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## Andrews335ic (May 3, 2008)

Any updates Kaismaeel2000??? Very interested in what the current status is.....


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