Author Topic: BMW broken down.. again!  (Read 9104 times)

BMW broken down.. again!
on: July 15, 2013, 23:49:36 PM
Well so much for german reliability 7 months after the last issue the car has broken again.

This time its the crank pulley that has given up (theres a rubber section to act as a vibration damper which has cried enough) meaning that there is no drive to the ancillaries, AC isn't an issue but I could use power steering and the alternator.. also the water pump is driven off that as well.. great, its effectively undriveable due to a small piece of rubber :(

around £300 for the part and looks to be a small nightmare to get to but will try DIY as I cant face the labour charges.

Luckily theres a heatwave on so I can get to work on the fireblade (hell yeah!!)

Bloody cars!

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Re: BMW broken down.. again!
Reply #1 on: July 16, 2013, 23:14:23 PM
BMW do seem to be having issues lately with reliability. A friend bought a 5 series or something from his local dealership and the wheel bearing was rusted through (which they tried to claim was normal and would happen over time as they had changed the metal used in them) and he had a terrible condensation problem and they told him he had to drive around with the aircon on permanently :lol:

Suffice to say he emailed head office about this, quoting their marketing material about emissions, performance etc and this claim by the dealership that he's supposed to drive with the aircon permanently on - they emailed back to say the dealership was going to get an official bumming and they would refund him £3k, fix the car or give him a new one, and give him a courtesy car to spec or higher!

Re: BMW broken down.. again!
Reply #2 on: July 17, 2013, 01:36:23 AM
I know a guy who got a brand new 5series (the one with the 6litre V12)

he had a warning light on so took it back to the garage he got it from (had only been a few weeks)

they kept mucking him about... so he went in for a look, and went straight in the garage round the back... there was his car, no engine in it, on windscreen, no dash, most of the interior was out and it had no doors on !

no idea what the problem was, he told them to keep it and give him his monay back (he's still trying to get it iirc)#


I think BMW have a pretty good reputation... 100k used to be easy on all cars, now costs are so low and with all the new emissions laws etc.. 100k is past it for a lot of other cars (ford etc...)


have you done many miles binary ?  it's still pretty new to you so maybe it's still just the new car teething troubles that are normal ? - everyone ignores problems if they know they're going to get rid of there car soon :-o

Re: BMW broken down.. again!
Reply #3 on: July 17, 2013, 19:02:10 PM
its on a 54 plate and done 131k miles  :muttley:

Re: BMW broken down.. again!
Reply #4 on: July 19, 2013, 08:24:38 AM
Same age and mileage as our accord and we've had 0 problems.  In fact all of my Japanese cars have been trouble free.
My X reg 54k Bora is riddled with problems, and the car had been looked after by it's previous owner.

I'm not buying German again.

Re: BMW broken down.. again!
Reply #5 on: July 19, 2013, 13:00:38 PM
Same age and mileage as our accord and we've had 0 problems.  In fact all of my Japanese cars have been trouble free.
My X reg 54k Bora is riddled with problems, and the car had been looked after by it's previous owner.

I'm not buying German again.

its done under 3k a year for its life. did you buy it off an old bloke who said it'd never been on the motorway? its only ever been to tescos and back!!! speed bumps and high revs with no clutch? etc etc?

Re: BMW broken down.. again!
Reply #6 on: July 19, 2013, 15:36:47 PM
Same age and mileage as our accord and we've had 0 problems.  In fact all of my Japanese cars have been trouble free.
My X reg 54k Bora is riddled with problems, and the car had been looked after by it's previous owner.

I'm not buying German again.

its done under 3k a year for its life. did you buy it off an old bloke who said it'd never been on the motorway? its only ever been to tescos and back!!! speed bumps and high revs with no clutch? etc etc?

It lived in London, and travelled to Majorca for 6 months of the year.  We know the previous owners.  It's an Auto too.
Germans car reputation is undeserved to be honest.  I don't know a single person with a german car that doesn't have issues.

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Re: BMW broken down.. again!
Reply #7 on: July 19, 2013, 17:22:22 PM
I think the problem is new cars in general, they have such narrow tolerances that its really down to the wire how long you can go before something packs in, whether its mechanical or electronic, or sometimes a bit of both with the hefty price tag to fix.

I do think Japanese cars are the more reliable though.

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Re: BMW broken down.. again!
Reply #8 on: July 19, 2013, 19:30:12 PM
My dads Merc is an 05 plate, he's had more issues in the few years he's had it than I have had in my entire 10 years with my MR2!

edit, he did get INSANELY lucky though, the turbo packed in (it's a diesel) with 10 days of the dealer warranty left.
Last Edit: July 19, 2013, 19:32:53 PM by matt5cott #187;

Re: BMW broken down.. again!
Reply #9 on: July 19, 2013, 21:16:30 PM
Cars back together now :)

I don't think its brand specific, just modern design, mate has a civic which had issues with the brakes, then the clutch went and it needed a new fly wheel (dual mass) then it had starting issues, electronic needed battery disconnecting to reset everything to get it to start.

Re: BMW broken down.. again!
Reply #10 on: July 22, 2013, 00:19:02 AM
You are at the same point as me on my golf basically stuff is starting to fail at 145k miles.

First it was the starter motor
Next the alternator pulley and the aux belt
Now its an indicator relay as well as bulbs are going one a week.

and its quickly approaching another timing belt change.



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Re: BMW broken down.. again!
Reply #11 on: July 22, 2013, 18:56:06 PM
Surely most cars are going to start having failures at this stage in their life, you'd kind of expect it on mechanical components like these?

Although I do agree that Jap cars over the years have given me the least grief :)

Re: BMW broken down.. again!
Reply #12 on: July 26, 2013, 12:57:14 PM
I think we'll start seeing it more and more tbh.  Now that cars with 1.2 litre engines with forced induction are the norm, the tolerances must be so small.

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Re: BMW broken down.. again!
Reply #13 on: July 27, 2013, 16:58:59 PM
I think we'll start seeing it more and more tbh.  Now that cars with 1.2 litre engines with forced induction are the norm, the tolerances must be so small.

Ford's new engine will fail in the long run.

And whats the whole point of these tiny engines to increase fuel economy and from what i have read the vehicles are not hitting the targets quoted.
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Re: BMW broken down.. again!
Reply #14 on: July 27, 2013, 18:25:55 PM
They might increase fuel economy if you are a grandad nipping round town, I'll bet they are bloody useless on the motorway.

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