[norcruiser]

I have a 3 year old F type BMW 320d sparingly used, around 20000 km (cannot tell exact mileage as no meter working ...)

Well last week when I started the car, I saw nothing working on the instrument cluster (speedo, tacho, fuel/temp gauge, km, time etc). The i-drive is working fine but not receiving any input from cluster so no service or journey info. Initially I thought it was a fuse blown, checked it locally, found all intact. Then next took the car to NAVNIT motors, Mumbai dealer where car was bought & serviced always. They could not figure it & claimed never to have seen this kind of failure. They suggested renewing the cluster (quoted 1.2 lac initially) after checking it.

Of course my warranty was over (just completed 3 years & 4 days). Anyways i told them this is not acceptable for a high end car like BMW, they said they would get in touch with BMW india technical team & asked me to collect the car till they get a reply, which i did. After few days i got impatient & called BMW india & reported same issue, got same answer regarding consulting technical team & getting back to me. Finally they got back & offered 50% discount on the part & sent me a quote, part 1.02 lacs, 50% off, so i would pay 50k odd plus labor, total estimate 60k..!!! for a failure which should never occur. I complained to them but they said your car is out of warranty & it is an electronic part!! Totally unacceptable of a reputed maker like BMW, they should in principle replace this part FOC & be ashamed that such a failure can happen.

It is unsafe to drive without knowing fuel/temp/speed/no diagnostic data, no indicators/lights showing though they work. How can they not take responsibility for this failure for a low mileage car, never tampered, serviced regularly by them. On top of that dealer said it will take 10-12 days to get the part & wants 50% advance, as though i am going to run away after ordering it.

Anyways i have no choice, so agreed to order it & get it replaced. But this is the state of consumers in our country, sad but true...
hope by this forum i get some advice/help in making BMW accountable for their product.

Frustrated & helpless at the mercy of dealers/makers!!!

[Jaggu]

Really unfortunate and sad to hear, maybe you should check with an independent expert garage once. And in worst case situation, maybe source the part from abroad, most often it is half the price than quoted in India.

Reassures my belief, always have extended warranty and maintenance package for these german cars.

[Akshay1234]

Don't pay the 50%. Your car is far too new for a failure like this. Write a mail to BMW India. Be patient and stick to your guns. They must replace this under goodwill warranty.

[VW2010]

Dont take a hasty decision to pay. Write to BMW india, Europe or wherever you can get attention and keep pushing for good will.

VW had and still has an infamous ABS pump failure and they do good will even now for MK4 and MK5 cars.

They will test your patience.

[GTO]

Damn, the wretched reliability of the luxury Europeans! Just plain sucks. As Jaggu posted, maximum extended warranty is a must-have with these brands as any replacement (just about any) runs into 6 figures. Why didn't you take the 6 year extended warranty? Would cost barely 1.2 lakhs for a 320d.

Now that you have already agreed to pay 50%, they won't change their mind. But you should definitely have pushed for goodwill warranty since your car is only 3 years old. Mercedes did carry out free repairs on my C220 in the 3rd year.

FYI: Someone on another forum removed & reconnected his battery and the meters started working (related post).

Lastly, unless you somehow get extended warranty now, it's time to familiarise yourself with online part stores .

[vinodh_eee]

As GTO said, please try to remove the battery and connect it back after some time. One of my friends' issue was resolved this way

[RSUDARSANAN]

Originally Posted by norcruiser

I have a 3 year old F type BMW 320d sparingly used, around 20000 km...

Hi, pardon my saying so, but why was an F30 bought if it wasn't going to be used the way it should
IMO, a sparingly used car spells trouble.
I have a 2010 e90 with nearly 100k (35 kms short as of today) on the odometer, i.e. 60k s-mile-s

...it is an electronic part!!

Yup, "electronic part" life is anybody's guess.
My radio unit failed, fag end of 6th year -
BSI Ultimate to the rescue - replaced at no extra cost :-)

Originally Posted by Jaggu

...maybe you should check with an independent expert garage once. And in worst case situation, maybe source the part from abroad, most often it is half the price than quoted in India.

FNGs not my cup of tea for such vehicles.
Experiment at one's risk.

Reassures my belief, always have extended warranty and maintenance package for these german cars.

Absolutely !
As soon as I bought the e90, purchased BSI Ulimate Plus for 5yrs/80k kms, later extended to 6 yrs/120k kms.
It has proved to be VFM
Also purchased their RSA (Roadside Assistance) package in the last two years.
Availed twice - flat bed promptly dispatched to retrieve the vehicle for transportation to dealer workshop.

Originally Posted by GTO

Why didn't you take the 6 year extended warranty? Would cost barely 1.2 lakhs for a 320d.

Oh no, please stand corrected: 6 year extended warranty for e90 as on 01 Aug., 2012 was Rs. 4,18,878/-

[ToyotaFan]

Originally Posted by RSUDARSANAN

.



Oh no, please stand corrected: 6 year extended warranty for e90 as on 01 Aug., 2012 was Rs. 4,18,878/-

Do u feel you did avail 4L+ of warranty repairs. Most people use a luxury car sparingly as they have a beater car at home for short runs. The said expense is of 60k. Do u feel such a hefty premium is worth it and do so many things fail when the car is used let's say 60k in 6 years?

[DieselFan]

Isn't this too many incidents on German cars. I have a 9 year old swift which has given no problems what so ever other than the regular replacements of oils, filters. clutch, brake pads and rear suspension once. The only electronic failure was the after market Nippon security system that I got it installed at MASS during delivery of the car. We have another car i10 automatic and it has done just 20000 kms in 6 years and not an issue so far except for regular servicing. I used to have Hyundai Santro 2001 model and till 2007 I had done 60000 kms and again had no issues with it except for regular servicing. When Japanese and Koreans and Indians can produce reliable cars for India then what is the shortcoming of German engineering that they are not able to provide a reliable car for the kind of money we shell out buying one. Absolutely preposterous.

[RSUDARSANAN]

Originally Posted by ToyotaFan

Do u feel you did avail 4L+ of warranty repairs. Most people use a luxury car sparingly as they have a beater car at home for short runs. The said expense is of 60k. Do u feel such a hefty premium is worth it and do so many things fail when the car is used let's say 60k in 6 years?

Any car, not just a luxury car, is an electro-mechanical unit. The "luxury" tag doesn't, IMO, make it any less infallible than standard vehicles, though arguably, expectations are much higher.

That said, extended warranties are in the nature of insurance.
Within the agreed time-distance frame, Owner's expenses are capped and protected from price hikes. It also covers unexpected failures.

It is for the Owner to take a call, based on usage, risk appetite and an assessment of his cost-benefit analysis.

Sparing use of car doesn't mean things wont go wrong. How much and to what extent is anybody's guess.

Q&A:

Q. Do u feel you did avail 4L+ of warranty repairs -

A. High usage ensured I got the most out of my BSI Ultimate package, not just warranty repairs but also more condition based maintenance services.

Q. The said expense is of 60k. Do u feel such a hefty premium is worth it -

A. IMO, I pay the hefty premium and buy peace of mind. This assures me that no matter what the repair (routine/unexpected) or its cost, the car is restored back to its original condition, whenever required, at no further expense to me, by the dealer.

Today, the said expense it is 60k; who can predict the next expenditure.

Cheers

Originally Posted by DieselFan

Isn't this too many incidents on German cars..

Expectations are so high, that reactions are even higher

[GTO]

Originally Posted by RSUDARSANAN

Oh no, please stand corrected: 6 year extended warranty for e90 as on 01 Aug., 2012 was Rs. 4,18,878/-

Originally Posted by ToyotaFan

Do u feel such a hefty premium is worth it and do so many things fail when the car is used let's say 60k in 6 years?

4.18 lakhs was for warranty + service package. I'm speaking of the warranty only which is listed for 1.5 lakhs in this price sheet. It's a must-have with the Germans. As we saw in this thread, even an instrument cluster runs into the 6 figures!

[norcruiser]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Really unfortunate and sad to hear, maybe you should check with an independent expert garage once. And in worst case situation, maybe source the part from abroad, most often it is half the price than quoted in India.

Reassures my belief, always have extended warranty and maintenance package for these german cars.

Thanks Jaggu, I did check with independent garage, but prefer to stick to authorized service centre.

Thanks, am still pursuing them to do it under goodwill warranty, hope they agree.

Thanks for the suggestion, will try to disconnect battery & see what happens. Hope for a miracle.
The reason I did not take extended warranty was the cost at that time seemed too high & I knew the car would run less, I trusted the BMW quality, I guess I was wrong. The BSI package is VFM for someone who uses the car extensively. In my case, I travel a lot so unable to justify mileage/cost of BSI.

[aveemashfaq]

Hey norcruiser,

I am so sorry that it had to happen to you. Be sure to try out the foresaid troubles and if you are really brave, take a screwdriver and check if all the connections are intact. Try disconnecting and reconnecting them.

One brave advice I can give you is to go for a cheap hack that requires only 5k rupees. Go to the internet and get a wifi-enabled OBD scanner. Stick it into the OBD port of your beamer. Buy a cheap 7 inch chinese android tab or phone and connect it to the wifi of the OBD scanner. If you fire up a "torque pro" app that is usually supplied on a CD with the OBD scanner in your chinese tab, you get all the statistics you want and what's more, you can customize the layout of the guages. Now, you can install it on top of instrument cluster with a two-way tape or go with a suction mount.

Or else, you can also go for a OBD port Heads up Display which also costs nearly the same price and gives you a heads up display of all the readings and guages.

[RSUDARSANAN]

Originally Posted by DieselFan

.. car for the kind of money we shell out buying one. Absolutely preposterous.

Yes, thanks to the myriad of desi duties and taxes, the kind of money we shell out for these German cars is about double the prices prevailing in Europe / US markets.

Absolutely preposterous

Originally Posted by aveemashfaq

Hey norcruiser,
One brave advice I can give you is to go for a cheap hack....

@ norcruiser, my advice: Don't rush in where angels fear to tread

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by aveemashfaq

Hey norcruiser,

I am so sorry that it had to happen to you. Be sure to try out the foresaid troubles and if you are really brave, take a screwdriver and check if all the connections are intact. Try disconnecting and reconnecting them.

One brave advice I can give you is to go for a cheap hack that requires only 5k rupees. Go to the internet and get a wifi-enabled OBD scanner. Stick it into the OBD port of your beamer. Buy a cheap 7 inch chinese android tab or phone and connect it to the wifi of the OBD scanner. If you fire up a "torque pro" app that is usually supplied on a CD with the OBD scanner in your chinese tab, you get all the statistics you want and what's more, you can customize the layout of the guages. Now, you can install it on top of instrument cluster with a two-way tape or go with a suction mount.

Or else, you can also go for a OBD port Heads up Display which also costs nearly the same price and gives you a heads up display of all the readings and guages.

I don't understand?

Take a screw driver and check what connections? You want him to take the instrument cluster out himself? (though not too difficult its not recommended).

Also I sincerely hope you are joking about the second bit