SilverBeam
10-27-2006, 10:19 PM
On 9/6 I took the car to Irvine BMW for an oil change, to get the coil packs replaced under recall, and to mention that the top struggles to rise after it is lowered. It takes it a second and then it catches and pops and finally comes up. To me it sounded like something simple, and I almost felt embarrassed for mentioning it. But my warranty expires at the end of this month, so I figured I should bring it up.
That small noise cost $2000 in parts alone! And what did I pay? Zero dollars under the comprehensive maintenance warranty. This ordeal started on September 6th, I just got my car back, after two weeks of being in service and bringing it back three times. A lot of time in between was waiting on special order parts. I actually have to go back next week, the rear apron they ordered that goes behind the roll hoops (the plastic piece the top latches into) is the wrong color, so it will be in on Tuesday or Wednesday, and after that, I should be done with this.
So these are the parts and prices ordered due to this little pop and struggle. I may be missing an invoice, but this is what I have.
First time it goes in:
54-34-7-043-873 left folding top lock $67.24
54-34-7-043-874 right folding top lock $67.24
54-34-7-043-869 folding top shaft $235.48
54-34-7-043-872 shaft $67.29
I get the car back from this trip, and while still in the service drive way, I open and close the top. It pops. I call over my service rep he calls out the tech, they play with it a little bit And we see that the top isn’t latching completely, and that it is having trouble coming back up. Okay, problem found… now how to solve it?
Goes back into the shop and gets:
54-34-7-122-954 bracket $9.00
54-34-7-055-413 covering left $26.23
54-34-7-055-414 covering right $26.23
And as an apology I get:
82-12-0-140-377 tire pressure gauge, my own 50 dollar value
So car gets these, and it is STILL not latching properly. So it goes under the knife one last time, and stays there for a full seven days… this time around she gets:
54-34-7-056-279 cover, folding top $1,506,60
And a few miscellaneous bolts and clips
After two techs, one shop foreman, and one rep from BMWUSA looked at my car, they determined that the top wasn’t folding properly and that is why it wasn’t closing all the way. So they replaced my canvas top with the newer, thinner one. I got my car back today, I closed it, and opened it. I got mad because I didn’t hear anything, I thought it was stuck and not coming up. But no… that’s how quiet it is as it rises! I never knew. The top came up so silky smooth and perfectly silent. Hopefully, it is fixed for good. All it cost the dealership was $2000 dollars in parts alone. As for the time of 4 different techs for 12 days, at 120 dollars an hour… we can only guess, but at an average of 2 hours a day, it would have cost me 3000 dollars… so I’m guessing it was far more than that.
Moral of the story: under warranty? Got a noise? Check it out! It may save you thousands later on!
That small noise cost $2000 in parts alone! And what did I pay? Zero dollars under the comprehensive maintenance warranty. This ordeal started on September 6th, I just got my car back, after two weeks of being in service and bringing it back three times. A lot of time in between was waiting on special order parts. I actually have to go back next week, the rear apron they ordered that goes behind the roll hoops (the plastic piece the top latches into) is the wrong color, so it will be in on Tuesday or Wednesday, and after that, I should be done with this.
So these are the parts and prices ordered due to this little pop and struggle. I may be missing an invoice, but this is what I have.
First time it goes in:
54-34-7-043-873 left folding top lock $67.24
54-34-7-043-874 right folding top lock $67.24
54-34-7-043-869 folding top shaft $235.48
54-34-7-043-872 shaft $67.29
I get the car back from this trip, and while still in the service drive way, I open and close the top. It pops. I call over my service rep he calls out the tech, they play with it a little bit And we see that the top isn’t latching completely, and that it is having trouble coming back up. Okay, problem found… now how to solve it?
Goes back into the shop and gets:
54-34-7-122-954 bracket $9.00
54-34-7-055-413 covering left $26.23
54-34-7-055-414 covering right $26.23
And as an apology I get:
82-12-0-140-377 tire pressure gauge, my own 50 dollar value
So car gets these, and it is STILL not latching properly. So it goes under the knife one last time, and stays there for a full seven days… this time around she gets:
54-34-7-056-279 cover, folding top $1,506,60
And a few miscellaneous bolts and clips
After two techs, one shop foreman, and one rep from BMWUSA looked at my car, they determined that the top wasn’t folding properly and that is why it wasn’t closing all the way. So they replaced my canvas top with the newer, thinner one. I got my car back today, I closed it, and opened it. I got mad because I didn’t hear anything, I thought it was stuck and not coming up. But no… that’s how quiet it is as it rises! I never knew. The top came up so silky smooth and perfectly silent. Hopefully, it is fixed for good. All it cost the dealership was $2000 dollars in parts alone. As for the time of 4 different techs for 12 days, at 120 dollars an hour… we can only guess, but at an average of 2 hours a day, it would have cost me 3000 dollars… so I’m guessing it was far more than that.
Moral of the story: under warranty? Got a noise? Check it out! It may save you thousands later on!