Quote:
Originally Posted by Nitronium 1) The car has been infuriatingly expensive to maintain and own.
2) First up, because of some complication that I have barely understood, we stand to renew the BMW Secure package only this March.
3) The ABS warning light blipped on automatically (in red) and we panicked. We took her down to the service station and were told that it's merely a computer glitch. Relief. However, the problem persisted, and on further inspection were told that there was a problem with the FR brake caliper. 22 grand, gone.
4) There was an incessant squealing noise from under the bonnet whenever we started the car . Fan belt timing we assumed. Checked her up and they told us that the V belt was wearing out along with a few other mechanical component. Est repair costs? 33k. (To be done in April)
5) HOWEVER!!! I can understand that mechanical failures are possible given the difficult running conditions in our cities. But that is no excuse for the intreriors falling apart. 3 out of 4 AC vent knobs have fallen off. Seriously? On inspection I, with my Engineering student knowledge found that it was a simple case of snapping them back on, with the right tools though. We took the car to the service station and were told that they wouldn't repair the vents, instead, they'd have to replace the whole AC vent panel. Estimated cost. 30 grand. 30000/- ??? For a bloody AC knob falling off? BMW does millions of kms of testing and they give us shoddy two pence engineering on the inside?
6) It doesn't stop there. The Rear left door stopped opening from the inside. Another service center visit. (18 kms away btw).
7) We've lived in Chennai for a while, so Tamil isn't an issue with us. The service center employees though seem to know ONLY Tamil though. What about those who don't speak the local language? Pardon me for sounding like a bit of a prude, but we expect to be entitled to hassle free service. They call for the payment and ramble on in Tamil.
8) The sales team is as good as the service team is bad. The clot who was to deliver our car home got hit on the right door by a scooter. Thankfully because the service center driver was at the wheel, they covered expenses.
9) This car is supposed to rum 100000 kms without critical components wearing out. What have BMW given us then? Many a time we've thought twice about taking the car out because the absence of Secure scares us. Even so, our experience with the car has been mixed. We hope the car doesn't continue being a white elephant. Or else it may just have to find another home! |
1) Well, its true. As you go higher up the segments, the cost become so high one tends to think what material they use. After reading the figures, I always think that somebody is extracting profit in huge amount by selling parts that are very very expensive.
In March 2009 issue of ACI I have read that in some cases the bonnet is less expensive than OVRM. Now isn't that fantastic way to eat money ? I wonder if the standards are similar for developed markets.
2) May be the BMW secure is non transferable.
3) Not supposed to happen so early in its life. Its just disguisting to read this. Its still understandable if the car has covered 70-80K kms.
4) Will this be covered in BMW secure ?
5) German Quality. Sorry for crude language, but AC vent knob falling off cannot cost Rs. 30K. If its designed that way ( which I believe is impossible ) then this is design and engineering fault. Again high price of parts, specially true with German manufacturers. This is height of robbing customers.
6) I this can be a safety concern also. What if one has to quickly escape out of the car ? Wont normally happen, but then door not opening from inside also does not happen. Reminds me of old Ambassador and Padmini days.
Is the problem traced ?
7) Some sort of Ego I suppose. Things are supposed to be better.
8) This is serious. I wonder if the employees of the A.S.C. know how to drive. Things can also get worse in this case. And after all your car took the hit without any reason.
9) These are not workhorses, but delicate show pieces. This is not the first time I am hearing of a knob falling off. I think somebody else had a similar issue in A4 and he had to wait for sometime before that part arrived.
One certainly expects higher level of quality in cars that do cost high. Even GTO had some issue with his earlier C. IIRC, somebody did complain of some suspension part breaking off when the car hit bump at 40 kph. in 5 series.
If you have to think twice before taking the car out only because of Secure pacakage being absent, then IMHO, it defeats the purpose of spending so much on a car.
Call me paranoid or any thing, but sometimes I feel that high end German manufacturers did not test their cars here and thought that their engineering standards are good enough for any country. And then priced the spares insanely.
Also I think Japanese and Korean cars Below Rs. 10 lakh are more reliable. Yes, its very difficult to make a straight comparison like that, but that is what I have read on TBHP and on the net.
I hope your car get back into good shape and does not eat into your wallet.