BMW 760Li Mail Bag:

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MG writes:
Just an email this is the first time seeing BMW and faults being used in the same sentence. BMW  please fix the problems

DC writes:
To Whom it may concen, I have the same accelerator problem in my BMW 325 2001 and was told the same thing by the dealership "driver error" They made it sound like it was my fault and I did not know what I was talking about, I love my car but don't know if I would purchase another one the dealership that I bought my car from wrecked it and they did fix it. but I could not get any responce from BMW, they won't even return a phone call or e-mail, I guess they sell so many cars they don't need my $50,000. Cash but they were glad to take it at the time of purchase.

EW writes:
I stumbled on your website by accident.  BMW is back to their old tricks! I worked my way through college at a local BMW dealer in the late 70's and early 80's.  This was when the first generation of electronic six cylinders came out: The 530i, the 320i, the 6 series....and even the first 7 series, the 730i.  The were great cars..for the first 12,000 miles.  Then all hell broke loose.  Among the many problems:

The camshafts would wipe as early as 24,000 miles.  To replace a cam and rockers, the head would have to come off.  This was not cheap.

The heads would crack at about 50,000 miles.  Antifreeze would leak into the cylinders after it was shut off and create clouds of steam on start up.  Customers would come in assuming they had a blown head gasket.  The head gaskets never blew, the heads cracked.

The cooling system could not accomodate the heat from rush hour traffic with the AC on.  Even in the 80's, we had to take out the thermostats and install a home made plug to totally block off the bypass channel.

When they came up with the "diagnostic center" information panel, the circuit boards were such trash that we would have to hard wire the circuits to get them to work.  We had one customer with a 533 who was nuts about his car.  Everytime a light came on, he would bring it to the dealer.  Every time, there was no problem, and he was told to ignore the light.  A month later, the car came in on a tow truck-no oil !!  The service manager asked how, in spite of all the warnings, he could let the car run out of oil???  His response, the diagnostic system is supposed to tell when he was low on oil, it did not.  The oil light came for oil pressure (the same old system), but he said, every time a light came on, you told me to ignore it!!

I could go on...but the issue is, when we would go to "BMW School" in Montvale, NJ. we would ask what they were doing about all these problems.  EVERY time, the response was, "We are not aware of any problems with our cars" or the problems we addressed.  The warranty in those days was 12/12, and they stuck every owner with the full boat of getting these repairs done.  I they screamed loudly enough and there was money left in the BMW warranty budget, the MIGHT pay for parts.  I was disgusted by BMW's arrogance-many times they would blame the owner for the problems even though they had done nothing wrong.  One owner of a new 733 got to 25,000 miles and cracked a head AND wiped a cam in spite of using Mobil 1 from the time it left the dealer.  BMW stuck him with the repair and refused to contribute anything.

I had several 2002's that I resurected-they were geat cars.  Simple, fast, and fun.  BMW like to stay on the cutting edge, but the cutting edge is where the problems are.  All that "cool" stuff if very problematic, hard to diagnose, difficult to replicate for a mechanic (sorry-I was proud to be a mechanic, not a "technician"), and hard to translate from symptom to solution.  The really sad thing is that BMW goes so far out, overcomplicates and overengineers simple systems and makes technological marvels that are wholly impractical until they can figure out what is causing the problems.  Even on a 2002, the flasher unit that made the turn signals flash was a big black box with lot of wires coming out and a huge harness plug.  It was about $50 in 1979.  US cars used a flasher that could be purchased for about $2.00.  I never noticed a big diference in the way US and German cars blink....Anyway, the proof od BMW diception came to me when I went back to Montvale and, after all of our complaining about the head problems and their repeated denials, our instructor stated, "We have fixed the problems with the heads!"

I always had to wonder at the owners who were conned into thinking that they had to accomodate these expensive machines.  After all the money they paid, they should expect more. As blame was placed on their shoulders for the problems or unacceptable performance was explained away as a characteristic of the brand, I would look at their wife's station wagon parked out front, probably a gallon low on coolant, 2 quarts low on oil, no service for 30,000 miles, but starting and running faithfully. If a Buick produced the same problems, the owners would scream bloody murder!

I know several owners of the new 5 and 7 series.  One was told by their dealer that each seems to have its own unique "characteristics."  (This on the 5th trip back to the dealer in the first 12,000 miles.)  At my suggestion, he took the loaner and told them to keep the car until they could guarantee that it was fixed.  He still has the loaner.  I feel sorry for the dealers and the mechanics.  The dealers make a slim margin on the sale but get the brunt of the anger.  The mechanics really want to fix the problem, but the BMW has created a new world.

They are great cars, but never buy the first 3 years or more of new model.  I had a 71 2002, a 74 2002 (they had bad blocks), and a 96 328i.  I would not touch  "new" model for anything.  BMW will not stand behind their mistakes-they never have...

Good luck.  If I were you, I would take the loaner and throw them the keys to your car.  Tell the BMW rep (not the dealer) that you want a guarantee in writing that they will fix it or buy it back.  If they cannot do that, what does that say about their confidence in their product??

EB writes:
I bought an X5 3.0 2001 model in September 2001. After a couple months without any problems, the car started to exhibit what was to become a long litany of HUGE problems that threatened my and other cars' security.

1) Three times in the span of 3 months, the engine just stopped while I was driving. Just like that, every thing just shut down. Luckily, I wasn't taking a corner on the highway at 140km/h, because when the engine stops, so does the electric steering assist, and I don't want anybody to experience what I've experienced: a feeling of helplessness as the car is still rolling but you are unable to steer it. Brought the car to the BMW dealer who each time told me the problem had been fixed, without ever being able to explain to me exactly what was wrong (software problem they said). Well, it happened again and again.

2) Smell of gasoline in the car. One day I entered the car only to smell a very potent gasoline stench, as if somebody had just open a can of gasoline and spilled it in the car. Brought the car to the dealer who told me that from now on, I was not to shut down the engine without first turning off the air con, which was the reason why the car smelled gasoline (??? Go figure??). Puzzling, but it worked. Yet, I am asking why is it than in a car that costs US$80,000 (when you include taxes where I live), I have to make sure the air con is shut before I turn the engine down ... that seems a bit restrictive.

3) X5 has hydraulic suspension with three height settings: low (for loading), normal, and high (for off-road). I can recall 7 instances when the suspension went crazy: 3 wheels on the high setting and 1 wheel on the low setting. The car must have looked like a crab from outsiders, and I can guarantee you that it looked terrible when it was parked. 7 times I brought the car to BMW who each time told me the problem was fixed only for it to resurface again 2 or 3 weeks later.

In addition to these problems, I've also had problems with the radio, the electrical windows, and of course with the general level of service at the BMW dealership. First and last BMW I bought, that is for sure.

Please E-Mail BMW and request that they take care of their customers

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