We purchased a new 525xi from West German BMW in 2006. The car included a service warranty We always had service performed timely and by the dealership. While driving the car, the car reported an error that it was overheating and to stop driving. My husband pulled over within 5 minutes and stopped the car. He allowed the engine to cool but did not drive. The error message remained so we had the car towed to the dealer.
The dealer claimed that the engine oil and antifreeze had mixed together. To determine the damage, they estimated a fee of $3,000 - $8,000. The upper end of the range was purported to be "worst case scenario".
A few days later, the dealership called and reported that the repair would cost $18,000 as we needed a new engine. We had the car in for service two weeks before and no issues were identified! How can the repair equal the value of the car. We currently own two BMWs and have been good customers of the model. However, BMW will not
accept any responsibility for the repair and will not negotiate the repair costs. They claim that the computer reported an overheating message 6 times but we only got the message once. The car does not date to time stamp the warnings so I am not buying it! Can someone help? It seems criminal to me that BMW can charge this much for a repair particularly when we have been good customers and have always serviced the car timely through the dealer. Has anyone else had this issue or suggestions on getting some consideration from BMW?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
We purchased a new 525xi from West German BMW in 2006. The car included a service warranty We always had service performed timely and by the dealership. While driving the car, the car reported an error that it was overheating and to stop driving. My husband pulled over within 5 minutes and stopped the car. He allowed the engine to cool but did not drive. The error message remained so we had the car towed to the dealer.
The dealer claimed that the engine oil and antifreeze had mixed together. To determine the damage, they estimated a fee of $3,000 - $8,000. The upper end of the range was purported to be "worst case scenario".
A few days later, the dealership called and reported that the repair would cost $18,000 as we needed a new engine. We had the car in for service two weeks before and no issues were identified! How can the repair equal the value of the car. We currently own two BMWs and have been good customers of the model. However, BMW will not
accept any responsibility for the repair and will not negotiate the repair costs. They claim that the computer reported an overheating message 6 times but we only got the message once. The car does not date to time stamp the warnings so I am not buying it! Can someone help? It seems criminal to me that BMW can charge this much for a repair particularly when we have been good customers and have always serviced the car timely through the dealer. Has anyone else had this issue or suggestions on getting some consideration from BMW?
- geary, Ambler, PA, US