[Turbanator]

Thanks to everyone for the support.

It appears my problems are not over yet, today morning when I tried to start the car, there was a message of Increased Electronic consumption on the screen, I don't recollect the exact error as I almost simultaneously had started the car and message disappeared.

I believe the normal stance of rejecting Battery claims by BMW dealerships will be citing driver profile as informed by BMW person on mail posted above i.e low running etc, which hold good for a relatively old vehicle but in my case, it appears they have not diagnosed the issue properly and have tried to simply blame my non-usage for couple of weeks as a reason for battery failure.

Chandigarh dealership is sending someone to check the new Battery now. Let's see what happens.

[4x4addict]

Hi Bro,

I totally understand your frustration. I am in the same boat. In fact was going to start a thread with my problem as well.

We have a 2 year old 5 Series which has done only about 35K kms. Two of alloys started flaking. The dealer said that they will try to scrape and paint it. However, that didn't come out as well as we expected. The dealer then said that they will put in a warranty claim.

BMW are stingy that they are denied the claim saying it is because of the location/climatic conditions. If so, whey only two alloys flaking. What about the other 2? Are they in a different location or climate? Does this mean that no one who is from Chennai climate can buy a BMW?

We bought a 5 Series and an X3 on the same day. Spent upwards of 1 CR with BMW on one day and this is what we get from them. For our next upgrade, we decided to switch brands. I am a huge BMW fan and totally enjoying driving them, but with this kind of customer care , I am not sure that I want to remain a customer.

[Turbanator]

So it appears there is some more issue, the new battery they put Yesterday needs an urgent recharge.

Battery % has dropped to 95-96%.

[GTO]

Bunch of fools. For a loyal customer like you who has owned so many Bimmers, it should have been a "give me 5 minutes and I'll get a new battery for you" kind of interaction. Instead, they dragged their feet and got you all angry. BMW's slow response is stupid, but even the dealer (keeping your business in mind) should have changed the battery and dealt with BMW later.

I find this especially surprising because I know BMW to be very generous with warranty replacements; even other BHPians have commented on the same.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Now, coming to present day, I was away from Car for a couple of weeks ( 4-5) and this Monday, when I tried to unlock the car, it won't open.

Strange, because the newer Bimmers switch off non-essential electric loads if the battery runs too low (when parked). This way, they retain enough juice to start the car.

At evening, they tell me their inability to deliver car today as the Battery is beyond Service but they don't have an approval from BMW and given the long weekend ahead it can take a while.

I have a feeling that if you'd waited, the clearance would have come. Not that it's excusing their delay - their top priority should have been to get your car back on the road.

Complete chain of E-Mails with BMW India and Bird Automobile and Battery + Service Invoice from Chandigarh Dealership

What a waste of time, energy & emotions.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

today morning when I tried to start the car, there was a message of Increased Electronic consumption on the screen, I don't recollect the exact error as I almost simultaneously had started the car and message disappeared.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

So it appears there is some more issue, the new battery they put Yesterday needs an urgent recharge.

That means something is draining the battery when parked. Meaning, wrong diagnosis by the dealer .

[Turbanator]

I know BMW to be very generous with warranty replacements

Very true, in past I have myself got couple of goodwill warranty claims including a battery change on my X6 despite having an adverse driver profile (per BMW parlance)

I have a feeling that if you'd waited, the clearance would have come.

I first raised the complaint with BMW on Tuesday and they have not answered until now, I gave go-ahead to BMW Dealership at Chandigarh to change the battery at my costs at almost 7 PM yesterday. Privately, I understand Chandigarh Dealership was in touch with concerned officials at BMW but they never got an approval, maybe they have some internal process or hierarchy to follow or have plainly refused, I won't know for sure but after this new fiasco, I don't think they can deny the claim. There are no additional equipment or changes done by me whatsoever.

Given the extended holiday, I or for that matter, any guy won't like to leave his car at the workshop for multiple days for such amount. If you check my old communications regarding oil change, I was very patient and waited for many days/ weeks but having a brand new car stuck on extended weekend

I categorically asked a senior person at Sales in Chandigarh to help but even she was very much firm on claims of batteries being difficult to get or possible. If they had even a slightest of the possibility of getting a claim from BMW, why will they raise an Invoice?

wrong diagnosis by the dealer

True, it appears the only reasons they can think of yesterday was non-usage of the car but now they will have to look elsewhere.


Definitely, things are different at BMW now. My younger brother, if reading, will be very happy today, he will always tell me to keep off these brands and is loyal to Japanese cars. He will always show me pictures of people stuck with their families on holidays and stuff and today this happened to me, I was to go back to Gurgaon and will now have to pick my Innova probably, 3 of my Beemers are down, X-5 suffered alloy damage on Monday when I was coming back from Delhi, X-6 needs an oil change and though I can use 7 for travelling, I will prefer to get 7 checked here at Chandigarh instead at Gurgaon.

[V.Narayan]

Dear Turbanator, very sorry to see this response and lack of support from the Bird Group and BMW and that too on a 7 series. I dealt with this Bird Group 3 years ago in a different industry and found their attitude & practices to be most unprofessional to say the least. I hope things work out in your favour. - Narayan

[Sahil]

This is really unfortunate and completely unacceptable. My experience as a corporate BMW customer having owned 4 has been great, in fact they even changed my e60’s transmission for free under goodwill warranty in its 6-7th year of ownership even though the car never had BSI. Hence I’m even more surprised why they would do this in your case for a part that costs way less.

My CLA in its first year of ownership had its battery to kaput. Even though this was not a car that was lying old in the inventory, intact the MFD was just a month before I registered it. MBIL replaced the battery immediately within a day without any long approval process. In fact the dealer changed it without an approval as he was confident it has to be approved.

Hope your issue gets resolved, it’s really unfair

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Very true, in past I have myself got couple of goodwill warranty claims including a battery change on my X6 despite having an adverse driver profile (per BMW parlance)

Sorry i know this is off topic to primary subject of this thread but what exactly is "ADVERSE DRIVER PROFILE" in BMW. Do they map driving style of each car? Is there any way we can check their system to see how our own car is tagged in the system?

Thanks.

[Turbanator]

ADVERSE DRIVER PROFILE

They connect the car to their system and it shows data from last runs, how many times car started and what distance it covered and when was the last time it was used and for what duration. If you are not running long distances often, then they can deny claims on batteries. Otherwise, despite being a wear & tear item, these are covered by Warranty/ BSI maintenance package. Since my car was last used 4-5 weeks ago, they apparently denied the claim

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

I was to go back to Gurgaon and will now have to pick my Innova probably, 3 of my Beemers are down, X-5 suffered alloy damage on Monday when I was coming back from Delhi, X-6 needs an oil change and though I can use 7 for travelling, I will prefer to get 7 checked here at Chandigarh instead at Gurgaon.

OT but this line is very very amusing. When all else fails, you can always rely on the Toyota.

[ACM]

On a slightly different note. My X3 30d is at the service centre for Battery replacement under warranty. It is in the 6th year. The battery was manufactured in 2011 and it has lasted l o n g. But their service is equally s l o w. Taking then generally 7-15 days for every fault diagnosis and resolution. Will detail some day in a separate ownership thread.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

....my problems are not over yet, today morning when I tried to start the car, there was a message of Increased Electronic consumption on the screen....

Your entire experience is reversing the impression a brand has made over 10-15 years !! I have only one thing to say : It could be a dealer specific issue, their diagnosis is completely wrong and they are still troubleshooting instead of getting an expert head look into the matter, even if its flying someone down from the regional office or head office. When will these brands learn to act fast after a serious issue is recognised ?

My personal experience is not a happy one till date. My car was produced at their chennai plant with day to day status being conveyed to me. It came as a hot cake from the oven but they are not able to spot and rectify an irritating metal clanking noise from the boot even after 1 year 4 months. 1st service report came back as 'no issues seen or heard'. Even if I have a serious issue with any of the parts, I fear to send it to the official service centre, rather ask my friend (Pavan-who is famous for restorations) to look into it !

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

They connect the car to their system and it shows data from last runs, how many times car started and what distance it covered and when was the last time it was used and for what duration. If you are not running long distances often, then they can deny claims on batteries. Otherwise, despite being a wear & tear item, these are covered by Warranty/ BSI maintenance package. Since my car was last used 4-5 weeks ago, they apparently denied the claim

Remarkable. Not so much that they have this data, but how they use it. I would argue, unless the owner manual spells out specifically what a short duration is and how often it must happen to void warranty, they cant make it stick.

Jeroen

[R2D2]

@Turbanator, if one or more of your lovely cars is/are experiencing low running it's probably time you considered buying one (or more) of these:

The Bosch C7

Compared to the price of a new battery for your Bimmers this gadget is a bargain.

[blackwasp]

Turbanator, sorry to hear it brother, but BMW has just made a fool of themselves. Not only have they just denied the battery but also mis-diagnosed the problem.

The Germans were always considered to be a bit lower in the reliability ladder, but most of the people I know with such cars got good service at their service points. Really surprising to see this happen, especially considering that you are a good customer of BMW as well of the local dealerships.

During delivery, we had once discovered 2 punctures in the tyres of a just to be delivered Ciaz. My sales manager first asked the service guys to immediately replace all 4 tyres along with the spare and hand over the car to the customer without delay. The claim was initiated later, but only 2 tyres were approved since there was nothing wrong with the others. I'm 100% sure that the cost of those 5 tyres would have been more than the margin on the car that the dealer makes. When asked, my manager said that there should be no complaints.