My BMW had a safety recall in March and they did not have the remedy for it until last week. So I had the car towed to the dealer on Tuesday morning and because of the inconvenience caused by this recall they returned the car to my house on Thursday morning.
A few days before my bmw was towed to the dealer the car had engine light and low battery warnings so I asked the dealer to check them out. They charged me to diagnose the engine light and said there was nothing wrong with it but the light came on because the low battery caused it to misfire. So they changed the battery and found a few other items that needed immediate attention which were replacing the gasket housing because of an oil leak and to replace the underlying coils between battery and engine which had become corroded. Since it wouldn’t be safe to drive car if these issues were not corrected and they told me that everything else was ok I approved those repairs.
When car was at dealer they charged me a diagnostic fee for the check engine light and told me it was just a misfire from battery being weak and there is nothing wrong with the engine. Well today the check engine light is back and the car now feels rough when driving it. If I call the dealer they would tell me to take it there and I don’t want to drive it that far in this condition. So I plan to call a local mechanic to check it out. Whatever it is the dealer should have caught it while they had the car. That is why I hate having a car that is so far from the dealer. It is very frustrating because prior to authorizing the repairs I asked the dealer if everything else was ok and they said yes
However, even though I don’t want to drive car to dealer I am planning to call them tomorrow morning.
Unless it is still under warranty, I would find an independent shop for service and repairs. I hate dealing with dealers of any brand, and I have a BMW.
“the underlying coils between battery and engine which had become corroded.” sounds like a crock. I assume the newer BMW’s, like most cars, have one coil per cylinder, the odds of all of them going bad at the same time is astronomical.
The problem is that I am afraid to drive it to the dealer because I have to take the expressway to get there which would be a problem if the car broke down on the way. On the other hand, if something happened on the way to a local mechanic I wouldn’t be stranded on an expressway far away from home
AAA towed it for me last week when it wasn’t safe to drive because of the recall. It is too far for basic AAA membership but I have AAA plus which tows up to 100 miles. However, I would feel funny calling AAA again a week later but that might be an option.
if you have a local mechanic that you trust have them check the codes and ask them to see if dealer did all the other work. If your car is out of warranty trade it in and get a nice Mazda and save money on repairs and get a great car
Auto zone does diagnostic tests for free, I think. On a side note, I once had a car the check engine light came on and it was because my gas cap wasn’t screwed on tight enough.
I would like to add this to my previous post quoted above.
Part of my problem is that I still have some emotional scars from when I was attacked at a gas station in dec 2020 so the possibility of being stranded on the expressway by myself on route to dealer terrifies me. Especially now that my husband died a few months ago.
I made an appt to have the car dropped off at the dealer today and had aaa tow it from my house to the dealer this morning.
Just checked status on link dealer sent me this morning and it has been at inspection in progress for a few hours. I don’t know if that is good because it means that they are being thorough this time or bad because it means that they can’t find the cause of the problem
On Wednesday morning I called AAA to have my car towed from my house to the BMW dealer. The dealer brought my car back on Thursday afternoon. This time they installed new spark plugs, installed new ignition coils, installed a new gasket cover and sleeve because engine valve cover was leaking. They didn’t charge me for the work they did this time because they told me that some items were covered by a warranty that I didn’t know I had and the others had no charge because of “good will to a longtime loyal client”. I bought my first BMW from this dealership in 2004 and have purchased two other BMWs from them since then.
I am glad that I belong to AAA because it would not have been safe for me to drive the car to the dealer and I was much better off taking it to the dealer than a local mechanic for this particular situation. The BMW service advisor who took care of my car for me this week is the same one who took care of it last week. So she knew what work was done then, as well as what they charged me for it.
BTW - If I only had a basic AAA membership it would not have covered these tows because the dealer is too far away. However, I have their plus membership which covers towing up to 100 miles.
Little aside. As an undergraduate, I worked briefly for a market research company, mostly just as an interviewer. My favorite project was for AAA, we had clients come in and we basically showed them cards and such to get a sense of which AAA services they knew about and which ones they cared about in terms of renewing their membership.
Also got to show people movie previews and ask questions about them. I’m dating myself, but one of them was Mrs. Doubtfire.
We also have the Plus membership, well worth it IMO. If you have a basic membership they will tow it any distance but you’ll pay per mile after what’s covered.