Bmw Steering Wheel Emblem defect?

[CobraR1339]

I am told by the service advisor that they see this a lot , and BMW NA denies the warranty as the emblem is part of the air bag. I guess the cost is too high

I really hate that it stares you in the face on a $60k car in 3 years.

What have others done?. Anyone get it replaced under warranty?.

[JPWEraser]

Mine has some marring like that, but not as bad. Not bad enough, in fact, to make me want to get it replaced so I have not asked my SA about it.

[MIKe86]

I got mine replaced under warranty. Tell them nicely to do it or you're goin to take all your service to the next nearest dealer and establish a new relationship with them.

It's a defect, you paid a premium for the car - why should you the customer care if it's a $5 fix or a $500 fix... Its their problem and responsibility to fix it unless they can show some neglect on your part which obviously isn't going to happen.

Really starting to loathe dealers these days. Good luck.

[CobraR1339]

Thanks, I guess I will have to fight with them. They said I would have to call BMW NA customer service as they don't have a regional rep program.

I said give me the number, the guy say's it's in your book. I say you have the book in the car. Then he say's let me try, but I really doubt it. They deny these all the time.

Plan B - Are there any stickers or overlays that fit that size emblem. They have the car and I was not expecting that, so I can measure it.


My experience has been . Dealers get paid by the OEM to do the warranty work. The dealers normally want as much as they can get at least the domestics do. They have zip coming out of their pocket. They do get audited on occasion via part inspection. But this would easily pass at Ford under warranty.

I also see the mfg side as they would have to re- certify the air bag if it was disassembled to replace the emblem. And or certify a fix with an overlay. At the end of the day, folks remember hassles and that becomes part of the next buying decision. May be cheaper for them to certify a fix than keep replacing whole bags or irritating customers, as I hear this same problem is on more than one model. I assume it will eventually do it again unless they figured it out.

For me the best service experience I ever got was with Infiniti on a G35 coupe. They were best in class every time. Two dealers, same great experience.

[Huz-Z]

I suppose the dealer claimed it was your fault for blowing the horn too much, and thereby wearing away the emblem with the palm of your hand?

[SHEEDI]

I have same thing but not that bad ,anyway i dont look at emblem and emblem doesnt look at me either. we dont look at each other......period

look for custom emblems
http://www.bimmian.com/LTR/
http://www.myhotbimmer.com/Accessories/Emblems

tip: when we do interior cleaning with interior cleaner spray and things, we should cover that emblem first and then clean the interior.

[tekmoe]

Yeah, my emblem is scratched up too. Do I care? Hell no. If it affected the way the car drives, then of course I would be pissed. But it's purely cosmetic. Quit staring at the emblem and drive your car; isn't that why you bought it in the first place???

[ZStig]

Mine looks like the picture originally posted, and it only has 33k miles on it. Just accept the fact that its a badly made part, and even if you go through the hassle of getting it replaced, it'll be ugly again in 2-3 years. If it really bothers you, I'd just get a sticker for it. I'd feel bad for making BMW pay to replace a whole airbag just for that

[chickdr]

Originally Posted by Roffle Waffle

Mine looks like the picture originally posted, and it only has 33k miles on it. Just accept the fact that its a badly made part, and even if you go through the hassle of getting it replaced, it'll be ugly again in 2-3 years. If it really bothers you, I'd just get a sticker for it. I'd feel bad for making BMW pay to replace a whole airbag just for that

The stupid thing is the emblem isn't sold as a separate part. They could have designed it to make replacement easy and then it wouldn't be a big deal. I had the same thing happen with the valve cover ///M emblem. Mine started bubbling and replacement was denied as they told me the whole cover had to be replaced. I found the emblem alone online and easily replaced it for about $20.

[tekmoe]

I have the solution - Quit being a purse carrying Nancy and DRIVE that motherfucker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[HpDellNestle]

Don't give them ideas. I bet that is what they will say from now on.

[jragan]

Mine looked like that at 15k.

[MIKe86]

Originally Posted by tekmoe

Yeah, my emblem is scratched up too. Do I care? Hell no. If it affected the way the car drives, then of course I would be pissed. But it's purely cosmetic. Quit staring at the emblem and drive your car; isn't that why you bought it in the first place???

Originally Posted by Roffle Waffle

Mine looks like the picture originally posted, and it only has 33k miles on it. Just accept the fact that its a badly made part, and even if you go through the hassle of getting it replaced, it'll be ugly again in 2-3 years. If it really bothers you, I'd just get a sticker for it. I'd feel bad for making BMW pay to replace a whole airbag just for that

You guys are way too nice. You pay top dollar for a car, at the very least they can fix a cheap little emblem on it that is DEFECTIVE. Don't make the warranty if you don't plan to honor it. If I wanted to deal with cheap defective parts that I had to replace on my dollar I would have bought a focus.


Btw, mine wasn't just scratched up it had all kinds of weird reflectivity and defectiveness.

[ZStig]

eh, I got bigger things to worry about.

[MIKe86]

Originally Posted by Roffle Waffle

eh, I got bigger things to worry about.

Yea... like finding spring perch drop hats that fit for the entire community! Hehe

Any luck or give up and throw the rear spring pads on?

[doozyj]

Mine has 8K miles on it and had it since 5K miles. Bothered me a bit at first, but after awhile you tend not to notice it.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by Soomro

I have same thing but not that bad ,anyway i dont look at emblem and emblem doesnt look at me either. we dont look at each other......period

tip: when we do interior cleaning with interior cleaner spray and things, we should cover that emblem first and then clean the interior.

Good tip. Blue painter's tape FTW.

I have the a similar deal with the bubble in my shifter nob--it goes into 2nd w/o grinding and I don't look at it.

[antennahead]

Mine looks worse. So it is a part of the cover and airbag and not sold separately. I am assuming that it is attached to the cover via double sided tape or some type of adhesive. Has anyone tried prying it off? I have seem many replacement steering wheel emblems sold on Ebay and Amazon ................ original style, black and white carbon fiber look, even "M" logo buttons, same size designed to stick on top of the original. I bet it will pry off so a replacement bought online can go right in it's place.

[MIKe86]

Originally Posted by antennahead

Mine looks worse. So it is a part of the cover and airbag and not sold separately. I am assuming that it is attached to the cover via double sided tape or some type of adhesive. Has anyone tried prying it off? I have seem many replacement steering wheel emblems sold on Ebay and Amazon ................ original style, black and white carbon fiber look, even "M" logo buttons, same size designed to stick on top of the original. I bet it will pry off so a replacement bought online can go right in it's place.

It is part of the airbag. Ask the dealer nicely to take care of it next time you go in for service.

[CFoote]

EBay does sell stick-on carbon fiber emblems, which is what I did. It looks great. Check EBay and you will find what you need to make your airbag (and emblem) look good again.

Chris

P.S. Haven't you figured out there's a lot of cheap stuff in the E85/E86?

[antennahead]

Originally Posted by CFoote

EBay does sell stick-on carbon fiber emblems, which is what I did. It looks great. Check EBay and you will find what you need to make your airbag (and emblem) look good again.

Chris

P.S. Haven't you figured out there's a lot of cheap stuff in the E85/E86?

How does the airbag deploy? Does the cover explode out of the way and the bag deploy from behind the cover? Or does the bag come through the middle of the cover and it split in half or something? If the cover flips out of the way and the bag comes from behind, I don't see any reason you can't pry off the old badge and replace it with a new one. Many, like you, are just sticking a new one on top of the old one........ not much difference to me, just not as clean an install.

[CFoote]

Originally Posted by antennahead

How does the airbag deploy? Does the cover explode out of the way and the bag deploy from behind the cover? Or does the bag come through the middle of the cover and it split in half or something? If the cover flips out of the way and the bag comes from behind, I don't see any reason you can't pry off the old badge and replace it with a new one. Many, like you, are just sticking a new one on top of the old one........ not much difference to me, just not as clean an install.

The cover of the airbag rips open when the airbag explodes. The force of the airbag is so strong that nothing will get in its way, including a emblem.

To be honest, the emblem covers the original one so well that I would be hard pressed to tell the difference other than the carbon fiber look rather than the blue. The emblem is so recessed in the airbag that it does not look like a tacky, aftermarket add on.

Chris