# BMW (ED) is breaking my heart (& tranny)



## tunafish (Dec 27, 2009)

Picked up beautiful Cashmere Silver fully loaded 535i July 2 at Welt. Made it halfway to Dresden (about 125 mi) when the transmission malfunctioned. Limped into Dresden Fri night with more warnings than Apollo 13. Car now only has about 2 gears (started with 8) and can't out accelerate a Trabby. Most e-systems are dead (cruise, adaptive suspension, DTC, you name it). Dresden dealer is only open for a half day Saturday, so I don't know if anything can be done to salvage my trip. I'm not sure I have a good email address for Welt to let them know what happened. Not surprisingly, the pix will have to wait a while. Any suggestions?


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## sivert (Jun 11, 2010)

I got these off the ED wiki here at BimmerFest:

Phone: 800-932-0831
E-mail: [email protected]

It's a US #, but it's a start. If you have wifi, you should be able to Skype the #.


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## BRAISKI (Jan 25, 2010)

Sorry to hear that... 

Are you staying @ Dresden for the weekend? Can you wait till Monday? I might be at Dresden Saturday/Sunday.


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## tunafish (Dec 27, 2009)

BRAISKI said:


> Sorry to hear that...
> 
> Are you staying @ Dresden for the weekend? Can you wait till Monday? I might be at Dresden Saturday/Sunday.


 No, off the Berlin soon. At this point, if they can't fix it, I'll do the rest of the trip by train, and catch up with the car when they fix it. But thanks for the thought.


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## dalekressin (Sep 3, 2008)

So sorry to hear of your situaltion.
My bet is that Welt folks will be willing to get wheels under you if you could head back.


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## tunafish (Dec 27, 2009)

dalekressin said:


> So sorry to hear of your situaltion.
> My bet is that Welt folks will be willing to get wheels under you if you could head back.


I suppose...but there is no way this car can be driven much further. It accelerates so slowly that it is dangerous to drive...


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## GOFASTR (Apr 13, 2007)

Dang Tuna, hate to hear this for you.....I've been waiting for your pics post since we're picking up the same 535i Cashmere Silver next week, but now I just hope you get back underway ASAP. Also hope this doesn't happen to us..


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## tunafish (Dec 27, 2009)

GOFASTR said:


> Dang Tuna, hate to hear this for you.....I've been waiting for your pics post since we're picking up the same 535i Cashmere Silver next week, but now I just hope you get back underway ASAP. Also hope this doesn't happen to us..


I do have the pix, but haven't had time to upload. Cashmere Silver is a fantastic color... a little bit different from that on the 7er, to my eye.


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## M FUNF (Apr 2, 2008)

Contact the Welt they will arrange for a loaner car for you, they have in the past and I am sure they will again.


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## ncarter124 (Dec 17, 2009)

Man that sucks! I was just reading your post a few days ago. I hope they get it sorted out ASAP. You might want to PM *'boothguy'* to see if he has advice. He had a transmission issue on his ED as well. Just a thought.


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## boothguy (Feb 1, 2007)

Tunafish:

Too bad empathy won't help in your situation, because I've got plenty of that. Here's hoping you can have your car sitting right at the door to the dealer's service department the minute they open Saturday and they get right on it straight away. Hopefully your car will talk to the diagnostic computer and it will turn out to be something easily fixable.

In my particular case, the Steptronic would do a hard 2-3 upshift and then refuse to go any higher in any of the transmission's shifting modes, including using the paddles. The I-Drive would give me a "transmission malfunction: drive moderately to the nearest BMW Center" message. When examined, there would be nothing obviously wrong, and the service departments (with guidance from BMW Continuation Engineering in Munich), would simply clear the codes and send me on my way - to my next breakdown.

After a lot of pushing from BMW NA ED, urged on by some of my friends, including my CA and the estimable Jonathan Spira, BMW Continuation Engineering got their heads back in the game. The problem was mostly solved by the replacement of a hydraulic pump-and-switch subassembly that lives in the lower part of the transmission as applied to my '08 335 E93. The transmission behaved itself for most of my remaining ED trip, but started acting up again a couple of days from the finish line. It was ultimately replaced.

Here's what I learned from my experience:

If you're in the immediate precincts of Munich, BMW ED Munich may be able to conjure you up a loaner from their press fleet or somewhere.

But since you're all the way in Dresden, I wouldn't count on that happening, even come Monday. I was hamstrung by the fact that I did not get a business card from my Delivery Specialist at Welt, and after several unsuccessful attempts to reach someone - ANYONE - there on the telephone, I gave up and worked other avenues for relief. I would hope that they now give out business cards or at least have improved one's ability to call in. Because I think that would be worth a try.

My next suggestion is to contact BMW European Delivery IN MUNICH. I believe the contact information provided above was for the BMW ED folks in New Jersey: great, helpful, concerned folks, but they're six hours behind you and your broken car. BMW ED Munich can jab people in your same time zone and get them paying priority attention to your problem, which is a major plus.

Clearly the biggest immediate hurdle is the fact that your local dealer's service department only has half a day to try to get you back on the road. But I did find that the dealership service folks are genuinely concerned and want to help. I wouldn't be at all surprised if someone stayed over on Saturday to try to get you on your way. Frankly, the biggest problem is that the modern motorcar - especially the German ones - are exceedingly complex pieces of machinery with all kinds of electronic gizmos that tell the car how to behave. Which means that the days of the grizzled old-time mechanic who has seen it all and can diagnose anything in a matter of minutes just from the funny noises it's making, are as dead as the dinosaurs. If the fault code doesn't lead to a solution that's already in the database (mine wasn't), the modern "technician" is going to be kind of at a loss. Therefore the "Continuation Engineering" guys, who are sort of like technical support staff for your computer-on-wheels. They give suggestions to the dealership service folks to diagnose and fix the problem.

Problem is, it's Saturday, with about 48 hours until All Hands are back at their posts Monday morning. Which means you have some decisions to make.

Best case scenario: the code pops up in the computer, the parts are on the shelf, the fix sticks and you're on your merry way. My fingers are crossed for this one. Seriously.

Worst case: they can't find the problem and you absolutely HAVE to be x-number of miles away from your current location come Sunday. This puts you at the tender mercies of the BMW Roadside Assistance program, which is actually Allianz - the insurance folks. Again: nice, competent, concerned folks, but understand they have NOTHING to do with getting your car fixed, or getting you two reunited once it IS fixed. They're administering emergency first aid to your trip, on the fly, and in the manner you'd expect an insurance company to work. Which is to say they'll arrange a rental car for you (I was offered a BMW 118 and when I complained loudly, got a somewhat battered X3 instead), will cover up to two nights alternative lodging, and will cover some certain costs associated with traveling to retrieve your car once it's again serviceable.

There are definite limits to the policy, which I'm pretty sure are spelled out in the fine, fine print of one of the pieces of paper you carried away with you from Welt. If you don't have it or don't quite understand, the folks on the phone will explain it to you. Be advised that there is some flexibility in terms of what may eventually be covered, or at least there was in my case. But it is NOT carte blanche.

If the worst case scenario ensues, my personal advice would be to stay put in Dresden at least through Monday. There's a good chance that 24-36 hours in the normal work week will get you back on the road; and the fact that you're still in Germany should help tremendously. The farther you get away from your broken car, the harder it's going to be to get you two re-united, and the costlier it's going to be to someone - maybe you.

It's important, though, to keep your cool. Europeans aren't used to strangers coming unglued and yelling at them and it _will not help_. Unless it's Italy and a traffic accident is involved, in which case it becomes opera - and you know how Italians LOVE opera.

Anyhow.

Be persistent, insistent and don't be afraid to escalate. Germans especially get the whole Higher Authority thing. Phone calls from you to the BMW ED department in Munich are probably your best bet to get the car fixed as a priority in the event you find yourself in the worst case scenario described above. The folks at Allianz can get you connected to them.

Sure wish I had a magic wand to wave in your direction, but sadly, all I've got is some first-hand experience, which I guarantee was no damn fun at the time I was gathering it. When things were at their worst, though, people kept telling me that eventually, BMW would come through and make it right. And you know what? They did.

All best wishes...


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## tunafish (Dec 27, 2009)

thanks, boothguy. My prob sounds a lot like yours. Like you, I didn't bother to get adequate Welt contact info before I drove off. more on this later...


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## boothguy (Feb 1, 2007)

Tuna:

I tried to download as much information as I could in one post, so you had the maximum available at the earliest time. Wish there was more I could add. Hope to hear a more optimistic report in the morning my time: afternoon-evening your time.


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## bounceit (Apr 22, 2005)

*BMW Bereitschaftsdienst and Roadside Assistance*

You European Delivery booklet should include a sheet for the Roadside Assistance provided especially by Allianz insurance. On top you can call the BMW Service Mobil within Germany 0180 23 43 234
Good luck and best regards:thumbup:


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## pharding (Mar 14, 2004)

tunafish, I feel for you. If it can't be fixed in hours, I would just take the train to Berlin. Berlin is awesome. don't let the car malfunction ruin your vacation.


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## dkreidel (Aug 24, 2005)

boothguy said:


> Phone calls from you to the BMW ED department in Munich are probably your best bet to get the car fixed as a priority in the event you find yourself in the worst case scenario described above. The folks at Allianz can get you connected to them.
> 
> .


+1
Sadly I too have had first hand experience with ED problems: an M5 that developed a bad case of spontaneous combustion. The ED people in Munich are your best bet, but this being the weekend may cause a delay. My M5 ignited on a Friday night and eventually the problem was mitigated over the weekend, but only through a series of escalating phone calls between my me, my CA and ED dept's in NJ and Munich.

Sorry this happened to you ....

Dick


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

tunafish, 
we all hopping that everything will be OK with your car and you can continue your ED!
Please, keep us posted!
Good Luck!


Happy 4th of July to all!!!


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## BRAISKI (Jan 25, 2010)

I am at Dresden now and will be here for 2 days. The person that I am staying with here has a tuning shop and works with BMW but thats not really useful for us that is doing ED since the car is under warranty. Anyways good luck, I am not sure if I am able to help but PM me if you need some assistance.

When I was done, I asked the Welt CA if she I can have a business card but they dont have one. My friend that is with me which is German, she told me that its not really common for ppl to have a business card here. Mostly only for ppl in sales or certain positions.


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## boothguy (Feb 1, 2007)

That at least solves the question about why it's so hard to get back to them, then. Which indicates that perhaps talking to the folks at the ED Department in Munich is the better route.


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## mgthompson (Oct 14, 2007)

My Welt CA gave me his business card during the delivery. I had an A/C condensate leak during ED that soaked the passenger side carpet. I was really worried about the ourcome of being closed up or three weeks during shipping. He was quite helpful and was very interested where we were going and how we liked the ED experience.


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