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      02-04-2011, 03:55 PM   #23
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It will indeed. But not as much as stalling who-knows-where and then having to wait for an unplanned tow!
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      02-04-2011, 04:02 PM   #24
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Agreed...I'm looking at the reviews of the towing company that BMW set me up with. OH GOD. LOL.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/a-fast-towin...ce-los-angeles
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      02-04-2011, 04:22 PM   #25
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Oh geez....
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      02-04-2011, 04:59 PM   #26
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Wow... I don't think I've ever seen yelp reviews so universally bad! Good luck!
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      02-07-2011, 11:34 AM   #27
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OK so update here. They took the car on Friday around 2:30pm. It took a while for the guy to get it on the flatbed because, although it's stock height, it still is pretty low. He had to use wood as ramps.





I got to the dealer maybe 45 minutes later with traffic and the SA was really nice. He didn't know if they had an M technician when I asked but he said he thought the shop foreman was going to be working on the car (not sure if this is true or he just said it to appease me but w/e). He spent a lot of time with me even though his phone kept going off and he had to squeeze me in that afternoon without an appointment. He even mentioned that my warranty was expiring in ~7 months and wanted to know if they should check for any leaks or other items while the car was in so of course I agreed. I also asked if there was a way they could check to see if the valve adjustment was done, other than from the computer. I explained how the last place I went to was supposed to do it in the Inspection II but I doubted they actually completed it since I had such a bad experience with them and they only had my car for less than a day.

So dropped it off and got my loaner car. I wasn't expecting much since the last two I got at the other place were both bare bones 328 sedans but I was wrong...







That's right, it's a 135i convertible! Complete with Premium package, M Sport package, Navigation, Heated Seats, and even Comfort Access. I didn't have the top up once the whole weekend. I never had driven a convertible before or even been in one except once so it was a lot of fun. Automatic sucks but it is great for the crappy commute I have. It actually took me nearly three hours to get home on Friday because I left at 4:15 and got home at 7pm.

So they called me on Saturday and wanted to confirm what I said had happened and then told me that they had nothing...so they're going to keep looking around I guess. He said he would call me back Tuesday...I'm not sure why today..I think maybe he isn't in today or something. Hopefully they can figure it out but at least I'm not stuck with a crap loaner. My only gripe so far is with the iDrive...it's such a pain. I was fighting with the radio presets this morning and apparently the ones I thought I had stored previously weren't stored because I didn't do it right and then I was struggling to get my iPhone cable into the USB slot and ended up breaking it LOL. Oh well.
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      02-07-2011, 11:54 AM   #28
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^sad to hear about ur unfortunate and inconvenient incident, am hopeful the dealer will take proper care of the situation. nonetheless, enjoy the n54! drove an e92 335i before this for a short while in colorado, and the low end torque was pretty darn special.
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      02-07-2011, 12:14 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by r4gs View Post
^sad to hear about ur unfortunate and inconvenient incident, am hopeful the dealer will take proper care of the situation. nonetheless, enjoy the n54! drove an e92 335i before this for a short while in colorado, and the low end torque was pretty darn special.
Great loaner car! It is a lot of fun to drive, great low-end torque, good around town, top down fun (and weather to go with it). It's great as a loaner, but man, I'd never own one! Talk about having issues--those high pressure fuel pumps are notorious for poor reliability.

Sounds like you must have hit the one decent guy at the towing company if he made sure it didn't scrape. Yay! I was a bit concerned based on those Yelp ratings.

I'm not sure why they'd say "they found nothing" since that code has to be stored. Maybe "nothing" in the sense they haven't found the cause for the code and the stall? (Like I said in an earlier post it's one reason I really like having the BT cable--so I know exactly what issues the ECU is reporting before I take it in.) That's neither here nor there though, and this dealership sounds like it's got the customer service thing down pretty well based on what you've seen so far, so I'll take that as a good sign they'll figure things out for you.

Last edited by Finnegan; 02-07-2011 at 12:20 PM..
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      02-07-2011, 12:15 PM   #30
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wow, i get my car back and yours is gone! sorry to hear

i still need to do inspection ii and I am well outside of warranty if it makes you feel better LOL!
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      02-07-2011, 12:26 PM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Finnegan View Post
I'm not sure why they'd say "they found nothing" since that code has to be stored. Maybe "nothing" in the sense they haven't found the cause for the code and the stall? (Like I said in an earlier post it's one reason I really like having the BT cable--so I know exactly what issues the ECU is reporting before I take it in.) That's neither here nor there though, and this dealership sounds like it's got the customer service thing down pretty well based on what you've seen so far, so I'll take that as a good sign they'll figure things out for you.

Well basically they said "we got nothing", as in, they don't know what's wrong with it.
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      02-09-2011, 12:39 PM   #32
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OK didn't hear from them yesterday so I gave them a call left a message, then ended up hunting my SA down yesterday afternoon and he told me that they replaced the crankcase ventilation valve but they're still trying to duplicate the problem of loss of power/stalling because they said that the crankcase ventilation valve wouldn't cause that.
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      02-10-2011, 10:16 AM   #33
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Alright picking the car up today during lunch. My SA called me back at 4:10pm yesterday but I didn't get his message until I got home at 5:30pm, at which point I was not prepared to drive back to South Bay to pick up my car...and probably wouldn't have made it before they closed at 6:30pm anyway. My SA seemed a little disappointed and mentioned they'd like to get the loaner back but I was calling all day to try and get a hold of him and couldn't so if I had known earlier I would have went and picked it up!

He mentioned that there were a couple things that I should have done before my warranty is up:

Flush of the air and fuel induction system ($279.95)
Power steering fluid flush ($249.95)

I thought they would be covered since I thought he said "before warranty was up", implying they were warranty items but then I asked and he gave me the above prices for the services. Do you guys think I should have them done? If I do I will probably do myself or take to an independent shop to avoid paying dealer prices.
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      02-10-2011, 11:00 AM   #34
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Alright, I'm about to rant.

I'd wonder why they didn't do it while you still had the warranty. If those items are necessary to the car's health, why didn't the "experts" that maintain BMWs for a living tell you about it?

Stuff like that is bullshit. It shouldn't be up to the customer to make sure all required service is done on a car covered under a full factory maintenance program; it should be up to the techs who spend years in school learning to work on these cars... the "experts." New BMWs (the ones with the warranty) are marketed towards people with higher incomes, and typically a better-paying job is more important and requires a lot more commitment. Those owners shouldn't be expected to have the time to mess with figuring out if the car needs an air and fuel induction system flush because the car has x miles on it. BMW takes full advantage of this, and unless the customer specifically asks for it the "required" service isn't performed.

The only reason I know anything about these cars is because I scour the forums daily. Most owners don't, and have no idea what their cars need. They end up getting screwed, and BMW makes bank on their ignorance.

My biggest frustration came with the interior trim. I paid more for a CPO car, and then I got ripped on the maintenance package (after the recommendation of a friend) for another $3000. CPO supposedly adds another $2000 to the price of the car. After paying $5000 on top of buying a BMW from a BMW dealership, you'd think that when the steering wheel tabs, plastic molding between the seats, and area around the shifter started to crack, BMW would cover it. Wrong. I found this out at just over 50k miles. The problem had been there for a while, and no one ever said, "Hey, want us to fix this?"

Now part of this is my fault for assuming that interior trim was covered under extended mx/CPO warranty that I paid a terrible amount of money for after being told it was an "extension of the factory warranty to 6 years/100k miles." Lesson learned. However, if BMW won't recommend fixing things that are clearly visible, what about the items that aren't visible? Shocks, control arm bushings, etc.? If I'm paying $5000 out of pocket up front to have BMW maintain this car, I shouldn't have to go through the car (and warranty terms) with a fine-toothed comb to figure out what's broken and then fight with the dealership to fix what I've technically already paid for. I should be able to bring the car into the tech and have him say I need "this, this and this." Unfortunately it doesn't work that way, and nothing gets fixed unless the customer complains about it.

I'm not advocating a customer should be completely ignorant of their car. I am saying that if they paid for a service, the provider of that service shouldn't consciously avoid performing it and then essentially try and charge the customer twice to do it post-warranty. It's immoral and terrible business practice. Just because other companies do it doesn't make it right. Loyalty is bred from bending over backwards to help the customer out. It's pretty sorry that I will never buy a new BMW because they wanted to nickel and dime me out of a few pieces of interior trim. Sorry about the slightly off-topic rant.

*****************************

Ask him why it wasn't performed under warranty or an inspection. I'd pull the "I'm just a girl" card if I were you, and ask him how you were supposed to know about anything mechanical (although pulling codes will probably destroy that argument ). Unfortunately, even if you succeed in getting them to do it for free, the dealership will probably have to eat the cost as there is no way in hell BMW will reimburse them.

Last edited by pokeybritches; 02-10-2011 at 11:06 AM..
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      02-10-2011, 11:01 AM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikki View Post
Alright picking the car up today during lunch. My SA called me back at 4:10pm yesterday but I didn't get his message until I got home at 5:30pm, at which point I was not prepared to drive back to South Bay to pick up my car...and probably wouldn't have made it before they closed at 6:30pm anyway. My SA seemed a little disappointed and mentioned they'd like to get the loaner back but I was calling all day to try and get a hold of him and couldn't so if I had known earlier I would have went and picked it up!

He mentioned that there were a couple things that I should have done before my warranty was up:

Flush of the air and fuel induction system ($279.95)
Power steering fluid flush ($249.95)

I thought they would be covered since I thought he said "before warranty was up", implying they were warranty items but then I asked and he gave me the above prices for the services. Do you guys think I should have them done? If I do I will probably do myself or take to an independent shop to avoid paying dealer prices.
so what was the issue? and ya don't pay the 500 bucks. I think an indy shop will charge 100-150 to do both jobs
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      02-10-2011, 11:01 AM   #36
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I'm still under warranty. (Sorry i realize I posted "was" instead of "is". I just changed it above.) They're claiming these things are not covered under warranty.
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      02-10-2011, 11:04 AM   #37
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so what was the issue? and ya don't pay the 500 bucks. I think an indy shop will charge 100-150 to do both jobs
They don't know what the issue was. They said they replaced the crankcase ventilation valve, which is what would have caused the light to come on but they couldn't duplicate the problem of stalling/loss of power and don't think that would be caused by the crankcase ventilation valve.
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      02-10-2011, 11:10 AM   #38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikki View Post
I'm still under warranty. (Sorry i realize I posted "was" instead of "is". I just changed it above.) They're claiming these things are not covered under warranty.
I wish I had taken a bunch of those little advertisements that said, "This piece of paper costs more to maintain than a BMW." If it's required maintenance, what is their reasoning for not performing it?
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      02-10-2011, 11:13 AM   #39
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Originally Posted by pokeybritches View Post
I wish I had taken a bunch of those little advertisements that said, "This piece of paper costs more to maintain than a BMW." If it's required maintenance, what is their reasoning for not performing it?
I don't know, I didn't get into on the phone with him but I can ask. I guess he was saying it is "suggested" or "preventative" but not "required".
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      02-10-2011, 11:26 AM   #40
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I still wouldn't accept that. Maintenance is maintenance no matter the terminology and adjective placed in front. I believe it was Mike Miller that had a great quote- something along the lines of (not a direct quote), "Anything can be maintenance-free. You just have to pay for the repairs caused by neglecting the maintenance." Whether it's considered "preventative" or "required," they should maintain it. I know it won't change anything because BMW won't reimburse the dealership. Now I'm going to be fired up for the next hour, thanks . Maybe it's too much coffee.
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      02-10-2011, 11:27 AM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikki View Post
Alright picking the car up today during lunch. My SA called me back at 4:10pm yesterday but I didn't get his message until I got home at 5:30pm, at which point I was not prepared to drive back to South Bay to pick up my car...and probably wouldn't have made it before they closed at 6:30pm anyway. My SA seemed a little disappointed and mentioned they'd like to get the loaner back but I was calling all day to try and get a hold of him and couldn't so if I had known earlier I would have went and picked it up!

He mentioned that there were a couple things that I should have done before my warranty is up:

Flush of the air and fuel induction system ($279.95)
Power steering fluid flush ($249.95)

I thought they would be covered since I thought he said "before warranty was up", implying they were warranty items but then I asked and he gave me the above prices for the services. Do you guys think I should have them done? If I do I will probably do myself or take to an independent shop to avoid paying dealer prices.
Don't have either done. Neither are on the inspection schedule, and if they were, BMW would cover them under the maintenance plan! Geez, is there any stealership out there that doesn't try some ****?

You don't need either done NOW and this is just a way to put pressure on you to spend money. Generally speaking anything with the word "flush" means "flush money out of your pocket and to the dealer at a huge profit margin."

If, and that's a huge if, there's some advantage to "flushing" the power steering, have an indy shop do it. (I'm not convinced this is even needed or a "might need".) It will cost, at most, 1 hour labor and the cost of fluid (about 150 bucks). Alternativelly, DIY it, and pay 10 bucks for the fluid.

Last edited by Finnegan; 02-10-2011 at 11:35 AM.. Reason: Added Inspection Schedule Link
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      02-10-2011, 11:28 AM   #42
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Quote:
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Generally speaking anything with the word "flush" means "flush money out of your pocket and to the dealer at a huge profit margin."[
I like that. I'm going to save it in my bag of quotes.
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      02-10-2011, 11:41 AM   #43
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BTW I must add that the convertible 135i with automatic is INCREDIBLE as a daily driver for my commute. I'd say it made my commute about 65% more bearable and having the top down with the sun and open sky was a huge + in the happiness department.

I love my coupe though, for its rigidness, looks and performance aspects. It would be nice to have a more practical daily but I think I just need to fix my commute. Right now it's about an hour and consists ENTIRELY of stop and go.

My only complaints about the 135i were these:
1. Still not sold on styling, especially the rear and especially in convertible form with the top up.
2. USB plug really difficult to get open and once I did I broke it so the little flap wouldn't go back down. All that just to realize...
3. USB plug isn't compatible with an iPhone!
4. iDrive is a pain in the a$$ and not entirely useful for me at least. It took me half an hour to figure out I wasn't actually saving my radio presets correctly by pushing and holding the number buttons. The traffic info it popped up weren't relevant to me at all because they were all on completely different freeways far away and the route I was on doesn't show green, red, etc. like Google Maps or SigAlert.
5. I was expecting the gas mileage to greatly surpass my M Coupe but sadly, I averaged between 12-18mpg, whereas with my M Coupe, I average ~15-19mpg. I guess this could be blamed on my jamming on the gas to get the automatic to downshift and the fact that it was brand new (had less than 400 miles on it when I picked it up.)
6. Body roll and lack of rigidity, especially on the freeway...but I think this may just have been really noticeable due to my lack of experience driving in a convertible and also being used to my M Coupe's firmness. I noticed that if I was changing lanes around 55mph+ especially it would want to keep going into the lane next to it and I actually got beeped at a couple times because apparently it looked as though I intended to change two lanes at once rather than one.

Things I love:
1. TOP DOWN IN LA KICKS A$$
2. Comfort access...god this is SO useful for a girl always fishing in her purse. I really miss this feature that I had on my e90.
3. Really smooth, useful power delivery for a daily driver, although the automatic took a while to get used to. I hate having to jam on the gas to get it to go anywhere because it's in 6th gear while I'm going 35mph.
4. Fast...actually...really fast. I mean it's no where near as fun to drive or as raw as the M but its low-end torque delivers really usable power that definitely exceeds the need of the average commuter.
5. It turns heads, especially with the top down...most notably when I was on the 101 and a motorcyclist passed me, and then proceeded to stick his leg out to the left and do practically a full body turn to stare at me while going about 70mph. He looked like some kind of owl the way he managed to turn around. On a separate occasion, I also got a wave from another black 135 convertible driver. And when I got an incredible spot parked up front at a packed grocery store right by the sliding doors, a good number of people walking by were staring at the car.
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      02-10-2011, 11:43 AM   #44
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Quote:
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I like that. I'm going to save it in my bag of quotes.
LOL it's funny because my coworker said the same thing! "don't forget they want to flush your wallet too"
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