NIGHTMARE with my new BIMMER

[CUTiger2003]

OK...this is going to be a long post but you will be absolutely amazed. For starters...my car was delivered to me on June 9th...I have a 2004 330 Cic and I was sooo in love! Well...a month ago I happened to be driving down the road and I noticed that my turn signals were not working...then one would come on and get stuck in the on position and I was unable to turn it off..the radio controls on the steering wheel were not functioning properly either. I work nights at the hospital so I was on my way to work...called the dealership and let them know that I would be by in the morning when I got off of work. Well in the morning I went to the parking deck and realized that my dash lights had remained on all night even though the headlights were off and the car itself had no key in it!!! This is where the nightmare started...TAYLOR BMW of AUGUSTA, GA service department trip from hell. I pull up at the service department and explain everything that was going on to the service manager who shakes his head and acts as if surely there is something simple wrong with the car...gives me a 325i loaner and sends me on my merry way. He said that he would call later that afternoon and let me know the status. No phone call that day...no phone call the next morning! So i finally call them. To make a VERY long story much shorter...the entire BODY WIRING HARNESS had to be replaced on my car. They said that it was due to something that I spilled in the trunk that leaked on the wires. A month before this problem occurred...about 1/2 a cup of car wash fluid was spilled in the trunk which I vacuumed out with a WET VAC immediately. They initially told me that no matter what happened that all this work would still be covered by the warranty. Now a MONTH...a MONTH later...my car is STILL in the service department and the assholes are saying that I now have to pay $5500 for the repair job. I am absolutely outraged. Needless to say the mechanic that is working on the car has never done this procedure before and the entire car will probably be faulty when and if I ever get it back. I am thinking about getting some legal involvement in the matter...any lawyers out there with advice?? I just think this is absurd!!!!!! Such an awful thing!

 

[MyHarley]

I thought the wiring harness was under the dash.......[???1]

 

[Bryan330i]

Wow, I am not even sure what to say. That is terrible. It sure makes you question the quality of the car and tells a story about the quality when the service guy said it is because you spilled something in the trunk.

I have had so many cars in my life and I remember throwing snow boots in the trunk, spilling all kinds of crap, having things leak, wet skis, you name it.

I am just not sure what to think. It has become a joke around my house. It was raining and my wife said "can you drive the BMW in the rain or will the paint wash off." It is funny and certainly not at the same time.

Best of luck to you. I know I have spend more time in the dealership service department in the last 5 months than in the previous 10 years with a number of other vehicles combined.

PS-I did have significant problems with another car about 14 years ago. It was my first new car and an attorney did a fantastic job at resolving the issue and getting the car returned and all my money back. This was outside the lemon law. The thing you need to do to be successful with an attorney in this situation is find one that can get you some media attention of any kind.

 

[recognize]

Have you tried contacting BMW of North America to complain? I can't believe a half cup of fluid can destroy a $40k car's electrical system..wtf is that??? How is that possible? Good luck to you and keep us posted.

 

[bmwrocks]

I am so sorry to hear about this nightmare, how terrible. You need to fight this tooth and nail. If you haven't already done so, I would ask to speak with the owner/gm of the dealership and try to resolve the whole thing with him/her. My experience with BMWNA is they want you to exhaust all possibilities with the dealer and give them the chance to fix it first.

As recognize has stated, there is no way a half cup of fluid can ruin the entire main wiring harness especially since you cleaned it up right away before it even leaked down anywhere.

What is their justification for making you pay? Surely they would have to show this is your fault by showing you the faulted harness and the damage that was done supposedly by you. In fact you should demand it. So ask to be shown the faulty parts and a detailed explanation of the cause of the problem they exposed. I would expect soap soaked wires and connectors at the very least.

One last thing is to try and be as nice as possible about the whole thing especially to the higher ups as you will get a lot farther that way.

Take this all the way to the top in BMW management if you have to.

Also a month in their service department is off the chain. A week at most for the repair you describe. Thinking about it some more, sounds to me like they screwed something up in the repair and are trying to stick you with the bill for their screw up.

 

[frolf]

wow dude, that really really sucks. best of luck to you sir, please let us know how the process is going.

 

[CUTiger2003]

Well thanks for your encouragement but I'm actually not a "sir"...lol. Thanks guys...glad to know that I am not the only one that thinks this whole shananigan is insane! I have already spoken with the dealership owner who is a woman that owns about 5 dealerships in town. She did not seem too concerned about the problem. I also have a friend from Germany that works in the BMW plant in Spartanburg that is trying to get me some help. I definitely think that my next step is an attorney that will threaten with some media attention because we all know that these dealerships want to keep a solid gold reputation. You better believe when BMW NA calls with the customer service survey this time they will be getting all ZEROS. I have already told everyone I know never to buy a car from them so spread the word over the southeast. This has been an absolutely awful experience. My argument is that a freakin hard rain or the bottom of a wet cooler could have done the same damage if they are saying that the wetness was what caused it. Are you no longer allowed to carry COOLERS in a convertible sports car??? Damn I must have missed the warning! They are saying it should be ready on Friday but I am guessing that then their excuse will be that Thursday was Thanksgiving so they missed that day to work on it. Never been so frustrated in my life!!!!!

 

[bmwrocks]

CUTiger2003, please read this thread as I had a water leak that left my battery dead.....maybe you have a missing seal in your taillight assembly that your incompetent dealership didn't find?

http://www.bmwboard.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2966

While searching for the above thread I came across your original thread:
http://www.bmwboard.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3408

That was back on October 27th (as if you don't already know that!!). I remember reading it but of course figured you were all set by now since you hadn't posted recently about it again.....

An attorney threat will probably get them to at least waive the $5K they were going to charge you......

I know you will, but just a reminder to go over that car with a fine tooth comb inside and out as I can't imagine they didn't do some other cosmetic damage in the process of fixing it. Like scratches on the outside and dirt on the interior and such. Good luck ma'am.

 

[flashinthepan]

Tiger,

That sounds like a warranty item, I would seek 1) BMWNA 2) an Attorney

But I would not pay for that....no freakin' way !!!

All the best

 

[MrElussive]

CUTiger2003, I am sorry this is happening to you, it must be absolutely terrible. But I must ask, did you tell them about spilling the car wash fluid, or did they tell you that they saw you spilled some fluid?? Because if they spotted the fluid on the wires and they asked you about it before you even mentioned it or brought it up, it must be legitimate (meaning the problem didn't start on its own).

 

[paddyLV]

Something smells rottin' in Denmark... or should I say Minich.

I would think something like that [damage] would of happened if you left the trunk opened

going through a car wash, but not from a minor fluid spill.

After all, this is a BMW and not a Daewoo...

 

[Bryan330i]

Good point Paddy...I don't think this should happen. Simple common sense would say that wires should NOT be placed where such a small spill could cause such problems. Just think about it, you have something flammable in your trunk, any number of household items purchased at the store, and one leaks on the way home and your whole car goes up in flames. I am not an engineer but I sure can see flaws in this design for sure.

And another thought about leaving the trunk open. What if it is raining or snowing and you need to remove things from your trunk. It's like sorry we cant unload the trunk, it's a BMW and it will cost 5000.00 if any moisture gets in the trunk.

 

[Bryan330i]

Hey, where is Kirby he may have some good input on this problem.

 

[PuShAkOv]

This is pathetic.. its a trunk and if you spill anything there it should not cause any damage. Its their design fault!!

 

[GGM]

 

[MrElussive]

And another thought about leaving the trunk open. What if it is raining or snowing and you need to remove things from your trunk. It's like sorry we cant unload the trunk, it's a BMW and it will cost 5000.00 if any moisture gets in the trunk.

Whenever it has been raining on my car and I need to open the trunk, none of the water falls into the trunk. The excess water rolls onto these side gutter places and flow down the sides. My Jetta was the same way...snow and water never got into the Jetta trunk and the Infiniti trunk. If VW can pull that off, I'm sure BMW is the same way.

 

[PuShAkOv]

Why does it cause damage in the first place?

Are there open wires or something for a short circuit?

Water in trunks is not such a weird thing in older cars.... if this is the case all BMWs will die painful deaths when their seals start to fail

why the hell am I writing in red..

 

[BMWdude]

why the hell am I writing in red..

Because you are a soviet communist.


But anywyas, this is a freakin trunk, this shouldn't be happening. This is what you get though when bmw tries to save costs by having some cars assembled in africa or some other country that knows next to nothing about cars.[fake]

 

[CUTiger2003]

Well we shall see what happens...my car is SUPPOSEDLY going to be ready today...yes...a month and a half after I left her there. If it so much as rattles more than it used to when I go over a speed bump...I am going to be that dealerships worst nightmare!!! I am so mad I can't even begin to explain it!

 

[zman]

I am sorry this thing happened to you.

My advice is when you go back to the dealer, bring a tape recorder and let them know that you are recording your conversation as evidence.

Good Luck