BMW LEMON LOANER!!!

[Bmw 325i 7803]

The new transmission seems to have a power issue in 1st and 2nd. It seems more like a muffled "weak-slow-unfun-to-drive" car now. People often said the 325i was a slow underpowered car, it NEVER felt like that to me, now it does. It feels as if the engine can rev real high, but sound lower and not deliver as much power as it used to, it just feels that for the engine speed its not delivering enough power to the wheels....

You think that's the result of not being hooked up right? Just trying to paint a clearer picture, also in the engine cover there are 4 circular shaped openings now that weren't there..... never knew they had to pull out the engine to replace the trans; would have lived with the sliptronic had i known that....

 

[donmbmw]

OH ma Gawd! They put the engine in crooked WTF !! My SA called to tell me that the "repair kit" for the steptronic is in. I made an appointment for April. I will go totally postal if it comes back to me like yours did. Sorry to hear your bad news, but damn, do not let them get away with this. [headbang]

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

keep in mind NEVER GO TO BMW OF MANHATTAN FOR SERVICE EVER!

 

[Car_54]

Not so fast

OH ma Gawd! They put the engine in crooked WTF !! My SA called to tell me that the "repair kit" for the steptronic is in. I made an appointment for April. I will go totally postal if it comes back to me like yours did. Sorry to hear your bad news, but damn, do not let them get away with this. [headbang]

I caution you on accepting the "repair kit" option. This was originally called the "clutch pack" fix. They tried it on me and within a month the slip and hesitation was back. Thought by now everyone was being offered a NEW transmission? I think someone said that BMW now has a handle on this? Be careful.

 

[LarryE]

Re: Not so fast

I caution you on accepting the "repair kit" option. This was originally called the "clutch pack" fix. They tried it on me and within a month the slip and hesitation was back. Thought by now everyone was being offered a NEW transmission? I think someone said that BMW now has a handle on this? Be careful.

But there are also several people who have had clutch pack replacements that have successfully addressed the problem. The entire thing relies upon the date. The difference between the two is that the clutch pack replace costs BMW more because they don't do the repair themselves ... they actually have a GM certified tranny tech that must be called onsite to do this. The time required is closer to 1.5 days vs. 1.0 days for the tranny replace. Lastly, the clutch pack replace requires the tranny to be opened and repaired (vs. drop the old tranny out and replace with a likely rebuilt one). It's up to you what you want. Kind of a tough decision. I wasn't given a choice ... they replaced my tranny. But I suppose if they are having trouble getting a replacement tranny, the clutch pack replace option is good because you can get the problem addressed faster.

 

[Car_54]

? ? ? ?

But there are also several people who have had clutch pack replacements that have successfully addressed the problem. The entire thing relies upon the date. The difference between the two is that the clutch pack replace costs BMW more because they don't do the repair themselves ... they actually have a GM certified tranny tech that must be called onsite to do this. The time required is closer to 1.5 days vs. 1.0 days for the tranny replace. Lastly, the clutch pack replace requires the tranny to be opened and repaired (vs. drop the old tranny out and replace with a likely rebuilt one). It's up to you what you want. Kind of a tough decision. I wasn't given a choice ... they replaced my tranny. But I suppose if they are having trouble getting a replacement tranny, the clutch pack replace option is good because you can get the problem addressed faster.

How can you say in your previous posts that BMW has a handle on this? People are still being offered a the clutch pack which does not fix the problem. They tried it on me months ago. Trans now slips at highway speed. BMWNA now tells me that steptronic is a sealed transmission and that they would replace it but NOT repair it.

 

[LarryE]

Re: ? ? ? ?

How can you say in your previous posts that BMW has a handle on this? People are still being offered a the clutch pack which does not fix the problem. They tried it on me months ago. Trans now slips at highway speed. BMWNA now tells me that steptronic is a sealed transmission and that they would replace it but NOT repair it.

Read through the relevant posts on this board, and you will find that there are people who had their clutch packs replaced with success.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

I wouldn't say "drop" the tranny, since they pulled my engine and the only thing they dropped was a few seconds off my acceleration, a few neurons of sanity from listening to the tranny, and a few features like cruise control and volume control, and the handbrake. I ADVISE EVERYONE GETTING THIS REPAIR TO TAKE MULTIPLE ANGLE PICTURES OF THEIR ENGINES BEFORE THEY WORK ON IT! that and AVOID BMW OF MANHATTAN.

 

[Kirby]

BMW 325i 7803 -

I read your post about your engine apparently being pulled. Something is really weird about that. It seems odd that this was done and it really points back to your dealer, not BMW's standard procedure. Here are my experiences/thoughts as to why it is your dealer:

- When this first came up my SA explained that they would drop the drive shaft and remove the transmission from under the car.

- My dealer swapped my transmission in less than 5 hours. I dropped the car off at 8 AM and they called me at 1:15 PM saying it had been road tested and ready to pick up. There just is no way they could pull the engine, swap trannies, and reinstall the engine in that amount of time.

- After reading your post, I took a look at my engine. I saw the 4 plugs on the engine cover, mine are still in place. But more importantly, so is the very thin layer of dust that is on the whole engine cover. On further inspection, I can't find ANY signs of wrench marks, fingerprints, flexed cable bundles, etc. that invariable would show up if the engine was pulled. All I see is a VERY uniform thin layer of dust that looks absolutely normal for a 10 month old car.

- As I posted in another thread, I raced my car at an SCCA Autocross event today. The new transmission was noticeably BETTER than the previous. Unfortunately, I didn't think to ask the BMW tech I met at the track about your issue with the engine being pulled.

This is something that I would definitely complain to the dealer about and file a complaint with BMWNA.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

Oh and they dropped sport mode too...


Kirby thats exactly what Im gonna do, and the 4 engine plugs are NEW to me, it used to be a nice unscathed plastic cover piece. Thanks, your input is very helpful and well appreciated.

Also the car was brought in monday night and out wednesday night, as opposed to 5 hours.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

Turns out BMWNA and the dealership don't care about the loaner car situation, all I get is "We wouldn't want that to happen to any customer" and from the dealership I hear "The service manager took care of it" What I'd want to hear is: " We addressed the TIRE issue and your complaints about the vehicle, and will do our best to ensure this NEVER happens again."(maybe even provide some proof) But that is too much to ask for, infact the dealership hasn't even called, after me notifying them of my cars NEW problems and the replacement transmissions.

Also according to BMWNA the DEALERSHIP DENIES HAVING PULLED THE ENGINE or touched anything else but the transmission. So what could explain why the engine appears to be in crooked and the handbrake and wheel volume/cruise buttons have ceased to function???

 

[LarryE]

Turns out BMWNA and the dealership don't care about the loaner car situation, all I get is "We wouldn't want that to happen to any customer" and from the dealership I hear "The service manager took care of it" What I'd want to hear is: " We addressed the TIRE issue and your complaints about the vehicle, and will do our best to ensure this NEVER happens again."(maybe even provide some proof) But that is too much to ask for, infact the dealership hasn't even called, after me notifying them of my cars NEW problems and the replacement transmissions.

Also according to BMWNA the DEALERSHIP DENIES HAVING PULLED THE ENGINE or touched anything else but the transmission. So what could explain why the engine appears to be in crooked and the handbrake and wheel volume/cruise buttons have ceased to function???

What was their answer to these questions? About the engine appearing to be crooked?

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

BMWNA girl says she called up and checked with the TEchs and with BMW of Manhattan and they DID NOT pull the engine. This tells me nothing new, I already knew they were a bunch of liars. Like they were gonna admit they did something wrong.

Heres for their credibility.
"Brand-new off the assemblyline (tranny)" - BMW of Manhattan Customer Service Director.
turns out it was RMFD ( I simply asked if it was under warranty (which I knew) since I know the situation was futile so I could get the heck out of there quicker.

According to BMWNA Customer Service " someone misspoke" but I am going too far by calling them liars.

Anyhow tomorrow I should have spoken to the Customer Service Director again, and I'll have a better answer to the "engine pulled" question, maybe they can explain in person why an optical illusion is impairing my vision and making it appear tilting backwards.[fake]

 

[Kirby]

There may be a *possible* explanation here, but we need someone who is a little more experienced with E46 engine work to confirm it. I might be wrong, but I think what you see is a COVER over the top of the engine when you open the hood, where the 4 plugs are. Is it possible that they took the cover off for some reason, and put just the cover on crooked and never actually removed the engine?

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

Funny thing is the 4 plugs NEVER were there before, and for some reason I doubt it's the cover, but maybe*by some chance you just might be right. If I posted some pictures would it help?

Thing is based upon what BMWNA has relayed to me, they NEVER touched the engine. Which seems odd.

 

[Kirby]

The plugs were *never* there? That's odd. Not that I have seen a tons of new cars under the hood, but maybe a half dozen or so at the dealer showrooms. They all had plugs. Maybe your dealer pulls them and sells them on EBay?

I doubt that I could tell from a picture, maybe someone else could though. I haven't done any real work under the hood...yet. That will change in 3 years when the warranty expires.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

I realized at the dealership that the other cars had plugs too, I didn't. I always knew there was something special about my engine. Let me try and post a picture I took of the engine after it faithfully drove me 250 miles from NYC to PA.

NOTE: THIS WAS BEFORE THEY RAPED MY CAR.

I can't get it to fit the 50kb requirement. Shouldn't have bought a 4mp camera