Safety defect confirmed this AM by BMW

[LipSmacknGOOd]

Our fears have been realized. BMW confirmed this morning that our new 330Ci needs a transmission. Not a headlight. Not a radio knob. THE WHOLE TRANSMISSION!

Why didn’t my dealer or BMW contact me and tell me of the problem? "On a customer complaint basis only, replace the transmission"? Why is the consumer expected to do ensure the car is safe? I guess BMW will only replace the transmissions for owners of cars that are smart enough to complain about it. This is not right.

 

[izzyracer]

Welcome to the club buddy! My car is with the dealer (I miss it) awaiting arrival of the new transmission too. My salesman can't show face for selling me a car with the defective tranny but his only explanation was no one knew! sure! We knew and we don't even work for BMW.

Question: For BMW owners who has had change there tranny. How long did it take for
your Dealer to finish the job from the time they ordered the transmission?

I also, just received a letter from BMW NA concerning our BMW assist. Stating it may have a malfunction. Until the system is repaired at your BMW center, it may not be available for use below a temperature of 32ºF. I live in S. California and it will hardly if not go below that temperature, but if I take a trip up north or the East coast that can poss a problem. Up until my one year service is over anyway. Well, better tell my service man while it is still in the shop.

 

[LarryE]

Welcome to the club buddy! My car is with the dealer (I miss it) awaiting arrival of the new transmission too. My salesman can't show face for selling me a car with the defective tranny but his only explanation was no one knew! sure! We knew and we don't even work for BMW.

Question: For BMW owners who has had change there tranny. How long did it take for
your Dealer to finish the job from the time they ordered the transmission?

I also, just received a letter from BMW NA concerning our BMW assist. Stating it may have a malfunction. Until the system is repaired at your BMW center, it may not be available for use below a temperature of 32ºF. I live in S. California and it will hardly if not go below that temperature, but if I take a trip up north or the East coast that can poss a problem. Up until my one year service is over anyway. Well, better tell my service man while it is still in the shop.

Very difficult to say for me. The tranny was on site about 10 days after ordering it. But then it took another 3 weeks to get an appt. with a loaner car available. So all together, maybe 6 weeks. But wouldn't count the time I waited for a loaner.

 

[Bigerr19]

It took my dealer one week to get the tranny for me. He got my car in immediately for the replacement and it only took a day for the swap. It only took a week and a half from my first complaint about the transmission until completion.

 

[izzyracer]

Very difficult to say for me. The tranny was on site about 10 days after ordering it. But then it took another 3 weeks to get an appt. with a loaner car available. So all together, maybe 6 weeks. But wouldn't count the time I waited for a loaner.

Holy Cow! Sales Rep said it should not take more than 2 days to get the transmission in the shop, hopefully by Thursday and maybe bolted in a day. I hope it won't take that long in my case.

 

[IMPORTERofRECORD]

Our fears have been realized. BMW confirmed this morning that our new 330Ci needs a transmission. Not a headlight. Not a radio knob. THE WHOLE TRANSMISSION!

Why didn’t my dealer or BMW contact me and tell me of the problem? "On a customer complaint basis only, replace the transmission"? Why is the consumer expected to do ensure the car is safe? I guess BMW will only replace the transmissions for owners of cars that are smart enough to complain about it. This is not right.

Sorry to learn. Have you filed a complaint with NHTSA and contacted an attorney? Seems to me you have an open and shut case. Remember the safety bulletin and know that BMW and the dealer knew about the defect.

Someone else on this board already mentioned a class action suit. This would not only help you but all the others that BMW does not think are worthy of being notified.

 

[LarryE]

Holy Cow! Sales Rep said it should not take more than 2 days to get the transmission in the shop, hopefully by Thursday and maybe bolted in a day. I hope it won't take that long in my case.

Once the tranny is there and they have a time slot to do it, it should take one day or less.

 

[LipSmacknGOOd]

Sorry to learn. Have you filed a complaint with NHTSA and contacted an attorney? Seems to me you have an open and shut case. Remember the safety bulletin and know that BMW and the dealer knew about the defect.

Someone else on this board already mentioned a class action suit. This would not only help you but all the others that BMW does not think are worthy of being notified.

I have contacted Consumer Protection Bureau and our attorney. Our attorney cautioned me we will incur further loss when we try and sell the car that had a deffect. I agree that the class action suit is probably the way to proceed. Very, very angry.

 

[Felicia68]

Wow, that's too bad for you guys. I'm so glad I stuck with my 6 speed manual. This is definitely crap for all of the folks out there who bought a car with a known defect.

 

[cdotger]

LipSmacknGOOd,

If the tranny is replaced then the car is whole again.... I understand all of this shouldn't have happened.... But just like any car repair, the part is swapped and fixed... So not quite understanding the further loss in selling.... 2- 3 years from now no one will even remember. I mean they are giving you a new tranny. Maybe you can elaborate on what your attorney said for us.

 

[Car_54]

I have contacted Consumer Protection Bureau and our attorney. Our attorney cautioned me we will incur further loss when we try and sell the car that had a deffect. I agree that the class action suit is probably the way to proceed. Very, very angry.

Your attorney is correct. Resale value on a defective car will be negatively affected.



.

 

[jarelj]

My new tranny took 3 days to arrive, and the dealer replaced it the next day. Drives great now, no further issues. I would rather have not had to do that on a new car with only 900 miles on it, but I'm not all in a tizzy about it. I'm with cdotger, I don't see any reason why getting a new transmission in the car will have any future impact on the residual value of the car. I think many of you are trying to squeeze the juice out of a dry lemon.... no pun intended. Just get your car fixed and be happy with it. It's clear that BMW does not view this as a "safety" issue, they view it as a "nuissance" issue. If it was truly a "safety" issue, they would likely have pursued a different path. It's not like the Pinto with the exploding gas tank..... now THAT was a "safety" issue.

 

[Susie520]

Tranny affected?

What transmission is affected here, only the steptronic auto? Also, where do you find TSB's for BMWNA?

 

[BMW_Driver22]

You over simplify

My new tranny took 3 days to arrive, and the dealer replaced it the next day. Drives great now, no further issues. I would rather have not had to do that on a new car with only 900 miles on it, but I'm not all in a tizzy about it. I'm with cdotger, I don't see any reason why getting a new transmission in the car will have any future impact on the residual value of the car. I think many of you are trying to squeeze the juice out of a dry lemon.... no pun intended. Just get your car fixed and be happy with it. It's clear that BMW does not view this as a "safety" issue, they view it as a "nuissance" issue. If it was truly a "safety" issue, they would likely have pursued a different path. It's not like the Pinto with the exploding gas tank..... now THAT was a "safety" issue.

Of course the resale value will take a beating. You have to take the entire drive train of the car apart. Disengage from the engine, torque converter and drive shaft. Do you know how many cables, clamps, hoses and lines have to be disconnected?? After they yank out the old and put in the new they still have to reconnect everything. Too much chance for error. It should also raise questions about the production run in general. If a car was manufactured with a defective transmission what else is defective on it? I play golf with a wholesaler and they would never take a chance on a car with such a huge problem. There are also liability issues. Bottom line, I would never buy a car with a transmission replacement. 0.02

 

[jarelj]

You're opinion, not fact...

I think there are only a handful of people (in relative terms) who know about/are concerned about/will remember this issue into the future, and they're all posting on this board. I guess we'll see a few years down the road, but I'd bank on this issue going away after all of the "defective" transmissions have been sold/repaired. I am not concerned at all. To each his/her own.

 

[jrt67ss350]

I don't quite understand the "I would never buy a car with a transmission replacement" sentiment. When buying a used car, people usually look at replaced parts as a good thing. Would you ever turn down buying a used car because the clutch had been replaced and say, "No, I'd rather buy a car that still has the original clutch even though it won't last as long as if it were replaced." I don't think so. If given the choice between two identical cars, one of which has had the transmission replaced, and one with the original transmission, I'd pick the one with the replaced transmission, because that car has newer parts that will probably last longer.

Yes, replacing a transmission is a big job, but it certainly isn't rocket science - removing and replacing an automatic transmission in a rear wheel drive car is usually easier and less prone to error than replacing a clutch and resurfacing a flywheel in a manual car, provided you have the equipment to handle the heavier automatic transmission. If they can manage to connect all those cables, clamps, hoses, and lines on the assembly line when they are cranking those cars out and mutliple people are mindlessly working on the assembly, then I think the trained technician at the BMW dealer can handle it by him/herself just fine and with few problems.

I seriously don't think the desirability of the cars with replacement transmissions will be harmed. Yes, resale value will be hurt by a car being defective. However, if the defective transmission is replaced, the car is no longer defective.

 

[LarryE]

I don't quite understand the "I would never buy a car with a transmission replacement" sentiment. When buying a used car, people usually look at replaced parts as a good thing. Would you ever turn down buying a used car because the clutch had been replaced and say, "No, I'd rather buy a car that still has the original clutch even though it won't last as long as if it were replaced." I don't think so. If given the choice between two identical cars, one of which has had the transmission replaced, and one with the original transmission, I'd pick the one with the replaced transmission, because that car has newer parts that will probably last longer.

Yes, replacing a transmission is a big job, but it certainly isn't rocket science - removing and replacing an automatic transmission in a rear wheel drive car is usually easier and less prone to error than replacing a clutch and resurfacing a flywheel in a manual car, provided you have the equipment to handle the heavier automatic transmission. If they can manage to connect all those cables, clamps, hoses, and lines on the assembly line when they are cranking those cars out and mutliple people are mindlessly working on the assembly, then I think the trained technician at the BMW dealer can handle it by him/herself just fine and with few problems.

I seriously don't think the desirability of the cars with replacement transmissions will be harmed. Yes, resale value will be hurt by a car being defective. However, if the defective transmission is replaced, the car is no longer defective.

In fact, the case could even be made that a car with a replaced tranny is worth MORE than a car that doesn't have one. Think about it. A new or rebuilt tranny placed in a car with say 10,000 miles on it. Means that the tranny on the car should last even longer than the original. Whether this would truly be a realistic perception in today's world I don't know.

 

[jarelj]

And even more likely is that at the point the car is sold later on, no one will know or care that the transmission had been replaced and it won't make a bit of difference in either direction.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

Actually I had the transmission replaced and now I have MORE problems than before, infact the "new" (which is actually remanufactured) transmission makes a strange whine noise in gears 123 and it slips in cold weather, not to mention it rolls back if u take ur foot off the gas when pulling out of a parking space.

Also my handbrake has problems now and is loose (already was tightened before) again. Not to mention attempting to prove the above transmission problem (noise) to the dealer ended up having my cars computer reprogrammed and messed up my climate controls. So much for an e-z Tranny swap......

 

[jarelj]

That sucks, I'd take it back and get another one.