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Old 23rd July 2013, 13:15   #16
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re: Horrible BMW 520d ownership experience. Many issues, including brake failure!

Biggest takeaway: India needs a strong lemon law like the one in the United States.

Cheers,

Jay
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Old 23rd July 2013, 14:05   #17
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Re: Horrible BMW 520d ownership experience. Many issues, including brake failure!

I cant begin to imagine the mental anguish that you must be going through. This kind of treatment just spoils the entire ownership experience. Had this been the States , not only would they have to replace the vehicle, they would have to pay a fine too for putting your life and the lives of other people at risk.
If you are paying for a high performance machine and every time you step on the gas you keep thinking in the back of your head that if the brakes are going to work or not then whats the point in paying through the nose for this.
When you are paying a premium you need to be treated properly. They should have given you the loaner car for temporary use and then replaced it with a new one.
I just hope that the dealer and BMW wise up and stop treating its costumers in a step motherly fashion.
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Old 23rd July 2013, 14:24   #18
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Re: Horrible BMW 520d ownership experience. Many issues, including brake failure!

Quote:
Originally Posted by JayPrashanth View Post
Biggest takeaway: India needs a strong lemon law like the one in the United States.

Cheers,

Jay
Agree with Jay sir completely.

Dear Bharat Acharya sir,

My sympathies are with you. I understand it perfectly well when a customer buys an aspiring brand after years of hard work, and then everything goes wrong.

That said, BMW acted better than their german brothers (am speaking from real experience here). Although, they would win a lot of respect from me if they replaced your car.

I had a similar incident with Mercedes last year, when I was informed that the camshafts and solenoids in a relative's car were faulty and broken.

I had a heated argument with the dealer, shot mails to mercedes and tried high and low to make them understand that this had to be done under warranty since the car was still under one.

You know what merc's response was? Just one customary standardized email. That's it.

So, I think at least the response from BMW is better. That said, yes, the company should replace your car.

I have taken a stand not to buy any german cars (especially from the big 3) till we have better laws (like the lemon laws of U.S.)

Hope the matter gets resolved to your satisfaction.

Thanks,
Simple_car
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Old 23rd July 2013, 14:27   #19
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Re: Horrible BMW 520d ownership experience. Many issues, including brake failure!

Quote:
Originally Posted by JayPrashanth View Post
Biggest takeaway: India needs a strong lemon law like the one in the United States.

Cheers,

Jay
First and foremost, India needs judicial reforms, the current legal setup is a sorry mess, what good strong laws, if they cannot guarantee justice in the lifetime of the victim?

Cases like the Mumbai bomb blasts, which was on the fast track, taking 20 years to reach a verdict, go figure how many years it will take to get a verdict for something as trivial as a faulty car.

Don't we all know the experience of Harishv in his fight against Skoda? Why would anyone want to go through the ordeal of a court case in India?

I'd suggest, follow up with the company, incase there is no response, sell the lemon, cut your losses, and buy another car. Might be a huge hit financially, and might leave you feeling cheated, but hey, you're in India, where the law protects the bigger guy, so take it on the chin and move on.
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Old 23rd July 2013, 14:30   #20
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Re: Horrible BMW 520d ownership experience. Many issues, including brake failure!

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Originally Posted by Sahil View Post
At this point I would however ask them for a free BSI package of 5 years to ensure you are secure until the time you retain the car.
+1 to that, best you can squeeze out of them is a 5year/100k BSI package, maybe Secure cover as well.
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Old 23rd July 2013, 14:46   #21
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Thanks guys... I have posted this on several consumer forums! Hoping to make everyone aware of the treatment BMW gives to its customers! I wont let them wash their hand off this case so easily.

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Originally Posted by Maverick5490 View Post
+1 to that, best you can squeeze out of them is a 5year/100k BSI package, maybe Secure cover as well.
I did that, but Mr Sameer Jain (BMW INDIA WESTERN AFTER SALES HEAD) categorically denied it! As I said, i was left with no other option but to take back the car!

Last edited by ajmat : 23rd July 2013 at 16:21.
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Old 23rd July 2013, 15:11   #22
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Re: Horrible BMW 520d ownership experience. Many issues, including brake failure!

This is really bad.
Brake failure, engine replacement...
Even if they offer you complimentary BSI or anything, what about the root cause analysis? Why did this happen? And what after 5 years? Who will buy this car? Will you have to sell it to some unsuspecting buyer?

I think you need to follow up for a root cause analysis and a replacement.
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Old 23rd July 2013, 15:43   #23
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Re: Horrible BMW 520d ownership experience. Many issues, including brake failure!

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Not to defend BMW or anything - but from what you say, they are replacing any/all major components that failed rather than repair. Further they also gave you a loaner car. That is far more than what other car manufacturers do.
Mahindra gave me a loaner car when they were replacing my EGR valve on the Xylo.

Maruti gave me a loaner car when they were repairing my Swift zdi.

I am sending this link to a friend who is going to make payment for a 530d,

hope you get justice.

Last edited by beejay : 23rd July 2013 at 15:44.
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Old 23rd July 2013, 15:56   #24
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Re: Horrible BMW 520d ownership experience. Many issues, including brake failure!

I think you have got a lemon. The service reported is very bad for a luxury car. A car that has undergone so many major replacements at an Indian dealership will not be the same again. They should have done more for putting your lives at risk and the trouble you had to go through with all the issues.
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Old 23rd July 2013, 16:03   #25
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Re: Horrible BMW 520d ownership experience. Many issues, including brake failure!

BMW replacing the engine is not a rare case. My cousins one year old 760Li a year back refused to start, BMW could not trace out the exact issue and replaced the engine. In his case as well the car was at the dealership for a good 60 days waiting for the new engine to arrive from Germany while they sent a loaner 530d as BMW India did not have any extra 7 series to be sent as a loaner car. The 530d was never used even for a day and instead my cousin bought a S500L to replace the 760Li eventually.

At that time i had thought that since my cousin owns a media house, BMW did not want to take any chances of a media lash against them and had hence decided to replace the engine to be safe and as a gesture. However since then I have come across quite a few cases of BMW replacing engines for even minor issues and this I understand is primarily because they do not have the competence to handle the kind of technology that goes in their engines in India and also they do not stock most of the parts in India.

However Bharat if this can provide any comfort to you, my cousins 760Li after the engine change is running fine with no issues at all since then and has not been disposed off yet which was the original plan.

Regards,
VVB
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Old 23rd July 2013, 16:19   #26
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Sahil is right.


The best time to hold them at ransom would've been when the engine breakdown happened. The fact of the matter is that there was a fault in the engine, they replaced the engine and you accepted it ! If you had refused to accept it at that point, there would've been something for u.

That said, I'm not at all surprised at the dealers behaviour. As good as BMW may be, they have gone out of their way to choose the most notoriously pathetic dealers across the country. Do remember, The dealer will never ever solve your problem, someone from the head office might though.

PM me in case you still have problems with your car, I know someone very highly placed in BMW india. Could just be helpful.
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Old 23rd July 2013, 16:53   #27
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Re: Horrible BMW 520d ownership experience. Many issues, including brake failure!

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Originally Posted by sandeep108 View Post
Not to defend BMW or anything - but from what you say, they are replacing any/all major components that failed rather than repair. Further they also gave you a loaner car. That is far more than what other car manufacturers do. In any event, the technology is so complicated, they are unable to 'repair' their components over here, therefore the replacement. Plus due to our crazy laws and duties, they cannot keep major components lying around and have to import as required.

Yes, it is sad that so called great german technology is unreliable for Indian conditions, I feel it is simply too complicated for our conditions. I shudder to think what would happen after warranty (extended or not) periods end.

But still the three germans are continuing to sell, one sees ever more 520d/320d on the roads.

Hopefully once they now fix it, you will get many smiles out of your car. I am saying this because a friend of mine had a similar experience, but still says he will buy another BMW!!!
Please do not mind my saying this but you sound like BMW's lawyer. So many things have gone wrong and it's still ok with you. Wonder if you would say if it had happened to a Maruti or Tata? You ARE defending BMW. As for your friend buying again, well, like they say, there is no dearth of suckers.
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Old 23rd July 2013, 17:38   #28
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Re: Horrible BMW 520d ownership experience. Many issues, including brake failure!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bharat Acharya View Post
Thanks guys... I have posted this on several consumer forums! Hoping to make everyone aware of the treatment BMW gives to its customers! I wont let them wash their hand off this case so easily.


I did that, but Mr Sameer Jain (BMW INDIA WESTERN AFTER SALES HEAD) categorically denied it! As I said, i was left with no other option but to take back the car!
I too had a bad experience with the BMW sales team. Although it was only sales related, the car is beautiful. I'm sure you bought it for the same reason

I would suggest, now if all is well, you try and enjoy the car that youve paid so much for instead of making the experience of owning it more and more acrimonious by chasing this.

For future, please never ever speak to anybody from Sales for anything. I'm telling you this from experience. If at all you want to be heard, speak to someone who dealerships report to, or somebody from after sales. And next time, please do not take your car back till you've got what you deserve. If they dont listen, go to the authorities.

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Originally Posted by 2000rpm View Post
I think BMW here has matched Skoda, if not worse!
We get better service and reliability from products which are 10 to 15 times cheaper (read Alto). I totally understand your plight and emotions as I have suffered similar experiences with Fiat in recent past!

However, the BMW Brand value certainly must stand for much more!

With respect to replacements of parts, I think its unacceptable. With such experiences the entire car ownership experience is spoilt. Will you be able to love a car which has spent more time at the service station than at your home? Will you have the confidence in the car to do high speeds (sealink experience), or take the car for long journeys (where BMW service stations will be hundreds of miles away)
Wow! Comaprison with SKODA? These guys have really pissed you off huh?

Honestly, i think its a little unfair to be compared with SKODA. But i see where this is coming from. People simply do not expect that from a BMW. Even though BMW were kind enough to replace the parts instead of repairing them, it is utterly unacceptable for them to do such a shoddy job each time.

I have very little doubt, that most problems that occured, happened because of bad repair by the dealer. The least they couldve done was to ensure the car was in perfect condition, especially after they've harrowed the customer so much. Not to mention, even though your car is under warranty, the internal billing must have been HUGE and that needs to be justified.

This is a rare case, have hardly heard any other stories like this one for BMW. But nonetheless, If they want to maintain an image in the market, they need to go out of their way to make the customer happy. All 3 Germans, at this point, are doing the exact opposite, completely drowned in their pool of Arrogance.
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Old 23rd July 2013, 17:50   #29
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Re: Horrible BMW 520d ownership experience. Many issues, including brake failure!

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Originally Posted by Bluebeem View Post
Wow! Comaprison with SKODA? These guys have really pissed you off huh?
The least we expect from a new purchase (be it mobile, car, bike, LCD) is that it runs fine for atleast the first year without any problem. The term "German Engineering" is fantastic but without "Japanese Reliability" (or even maruti reliability) they are no good.

Look at the usage pattern described for the car. Its used very well in excellent driving conditions and failures like brakes are dangerous. Its like a PhD failing in a 4th standard exam.


Such incidents sometimes remind me of a dialogue from the Movie Fight Club (quoted below)

Narrator: A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.
Business woman on plane: Are there a lot of these kinds of accidents?
Narrator: You wouldn't believe.
Business woman on plane: Which car company do you work for?
Narrator: A major one.

Last edited by 2000rpm : 23rd July 2013 at 17:52.
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Old 23rd July 2013, 17:59   #30
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Re: Horrible BMW 520d ownership experience. Many issues, including brake failure!

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Originally Posted by pgsagar View Post
Please do not mind my saying this but you sound like BMW's lawyer. So many things have gone wrong and it's still ok with you. Wonder if you would say if it had happened to a Maruti or Tata? You ARE defending BMW. As for your friend buying again, well, like they say, there is no dearth of suckers.
I am no lawyer and neither am I employed by BMW. Things sometimes do go wrong. All I said was that at least they replaced the failed parts instead of repairing them and are attending to his complaints and provided him with a loaner which is in most cases is a lot more than others do.

It is a machine, built by humans - things can fail. If you buy high-end cars in India it is a matter of fact that parts / repairs can take time to resolve. While some other dealers may help, by and large most of them will simply raise their hands and do nothing or some jugaad, even though it is under warranty. My new Civic had umpteen problems and spent an initial almost 10-15 days with the dealer (and I never got a loaner), but once they were fixed, I enjoyed my car thoroughly.

He must insist new engine number is endorsed on the RC card with the RTO.

I wish him all the best and hope after the problems are resolved, his car gives him happiness whenever he uses it.
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