[Wanderers]

Originally Posted by Divya Sharan

So, BMW Ranchi dealership invoices/registers the car with Bokaro (JH 09) RTO? Can it be done?

Technically No.
The car needs Temporary Registration under Ranchi RTO (DTO as they call in Bihar/Jharkhand)
And yes we paid Rs 2500/- for Temporary Registration (Ranchi) as can be seen from Performa Invoice given by the dealer.



However in Bihar Jharkhand, RTO/ DTOs needs revenue and one can do one of following

1. Get car registered in the district where dealer is located. The address can be of any other place in same state. (Nothing wrong with this as during resale within same state, RTOs do the same. They only change your name and address)

2. Ask the dealer to provide the RTO forms and Invoice addressed to the local RTO in your district and registration can be done without any temporary number from RTO in which dealer is located.

In our case the Ranchi dealer tried to match the quote from Deutsche Moterein, Delhi, who had shown temporary registration charges. Since dealer took money for same, we asked them to provide temporary number, otherwise we are good to go like option 2.

[SUPERSPORT]

Are you sure that the tyres didn't hit anything? From the outside it looks like there is a slight curb damage. Also on the inside there's another skid mark(may be because the car got dragged once the shaft snapped). These slight damages should never cause a failure like this though. Such a breakdown shouldn't have happened in the first place and the dealers response couldn't be worser. BMW should cancel the dealership licence for these guys ASAP before they do further damage to the brand.

I dont think you need to worry about not choosing the q3. X1 is a lovely vehicle and you will fall for it once you start munching miles especially after the Run in period. There are enough differentiating factors from the Audi & it's also a newer car. If the car had wrappings on the roof & bonnet there is no chance that it would've been used as a TD car. When my car was allotted to me, I made a surprise visit to the dealer days before delivery just to check my ride & it was all dusty with wrappings & the car in transport mode. Pirelli tyres will have enough spikes on them.

Hoping your car gets back on the road soon. Most probably it's a part defect which is not expected a from a premium brand, but there are no other damages and your family is lucky to have experienced this at a lower speed.

[GTO]

Any update, Wanderers?

Originally Posted by Wanderers

BMW X1 is still hot selling and 6 month old inventory looks remote.

Using an online VIN decoder? It could be the date of the CKD kit in Germany, and not its assembly in India. My car's VIN shows a 3 - 4 months earlier date than the manufacturing month on the invoice / RC book.

Originally Posted by shajufx

The speed you mentioned over the speed breaker is more than double from normal for a vehicle with 160-165 mm ground clearance.

Agreed. 20 - 30 kmph is too fast for a speed breaker. I'm usually in the low single digits.

[bullrun87]

Originally Posted by GTO

Any update, Wanderers?







Agreed. 20 - 30 kmph is too fast for a speed breaker. I'm usually in the low single digits.

I guess the appropriate speed for a speed breaker depends on the speed breaker too. In some cases it is possible to drive over them even at 30 kmph especially in an SUV/softroader that the X1 claims itself to be.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by Wanderers

But now he is also having a doubt and will check during next visit to dealership.

Unless there is foul play by the dealer about the tires, the other things seem to be line for a new car. The wraps were in place (they cannot be refixed), the navigation wasn't enabled and the odo wasn't tampered. However, getting a copy of the dealer invoice will help clarify your doubts.

Looking at the photos, it looks like the drive shaft has just snapped off from the GB. on account of a shock resultant impact.

Coming to the resolution, what is the update from BMW? They are generally not slow and are pretty professional as well.

PS: I noticed that your email mentions your age as 70 years. Hats Off to being young at heart and buying a performance brand at a relatively remote city.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Wanderers

Took some time to access the situation as it was dark with no street lights around. The car was now immovable as front axle/drive shaft has broken. Please see photographs to guess the damage, we are still to receive the finding from BMW. As you can see there was no damage to Alloy or Tyre and for that matter anything else including people inside car.

Attachment 1679629

Attachment 1679630

Attachment 1679634

Attachment 1679635

This is NOT a drive shaft failure, but the front suspension failure which caused the driveshaft failure. The front strut slipped right through the hub carrier assembly and knocked the drive shaft down. This is why:

1) You see the fender resting on the wheel
2) The brake hose stretched and pulled high up like that.
3) The drive shaft knocked down. If the strut is in its current position it can't be put back in.

Some vehicles such as this BMW uses a carrier assembly which does not have a solid bottom which the strut bottoms out/sits on. Instead the carrier assembly grips the strut all around and there are will be some pins/indents which helps locate the strut correctly in place. So if the hub carrier assembly does not grip the strut tight these failures happen.

In the picture, a BMW XI strut. if you look closely you can see where the hub carrier assembly is supposed to clamp (marked in yellow). In OP's photos you can see that part way down. Also the label in on the strut in OP's photo is almost all the way inside where the strut is clamped by carrier assembly.




This is a manufacturing defect, or assembly defect. Jumping a speed breaker (unless its built like a kerb or a miniwall) even at 60KPH or more shouldn't cause this kind failure in any car unless its put together delicately.

[VW2010]

Sorry to see you having to endure this mental torture at 70 years old. Having said that i think judging a person based on looks is inappropriate and posting a picture for the forum to judge that same person is even worse. Kindly take the picture down of that guy who was ordered to pick up the car. He is probably paid a paltry salary to do this job and it is not his fault the 24/7 road service is pathetic. Blame BMW for the same.

Hope BMW resolves your issue. Honest advice dont expect miracle in this scenario. You will at the best case get this car fixed on BMW's expense and get it back on road. There is no way i see this story ending with BMW replacing this car with a new car.

And BMW is known for such attitude. They hardly take effort to sell their car and their cars simply sell on their own. I have witnessed this attitude in chennai BMW. Sales is the only good experience you will get till you drive that car out of the drive way (few cms). Even sales doesn't care.

[Turbanator]

but the front suspension failure which caused the driveshaft failure

Thanks for the explanation, now I can correlate, Have been through a similar incident, many years ago. It was around 2008 on my Brand new 3 Series. I passed on little higher speeds on speed bumps that we see just before toll road, after paying toll my car was pulling to Right. I checked but found nothing wrong and continued from Panipat to Chandigarh and next day took the car to the dealership. Went for a test drive and apart from slight pull on Right nothing else was found. Sales advisor thought of checking underbody and the moment we load it on the lift whole front assembly just comes out. When we open the bonnet, the assembly where shocker is fitted had got damaged. Even though it was because of an impact, BMW replaced under goodwill warranty. Maybe I could drive because there is no front axle on 3 series or perhaps design is different. If Wanderer can get more pictures from engine bay it should be visible clearly.

This is a manufacturing defect, or assembly defect. Jumping a speed breaker

Appreciate the way you have identified the root cause and explained here and most likely this should be the reason but my past experience this should have nothing to do with a manufacturing defect. It must be due to Impact, now it's another question if these cars are such delicate and why does this not happen regularly on other BMW's

Many thanks for this detailed root cause analysis. I hope BMW does the same.

Can you get some more photographs from inside?

In mine case where this part is bolted to the chassis got sheared off due to impact.

[Wanderers]

Originally Posted by SUPERSPORT

Are you sure that the tyres didn't hit anything?

Yes the Tyre did not hit anything before. Even we thought about the tyre marks and concluded that this could be from mud filled potholes sometime before.

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Coming to the resolution, what is the update from BMW? They are generally not slow and are pretty professional as well.

No email from BMW so far, will shoot a reminder. We talked to service guys and as per them BMW has asked for their findings. Till yesterday dealer had not submitted anything.

Originally Posted by n.devdath

PS: I noticed that your email mentions your age as 70 years.

Good observation on email but you should have checked my profile.

All along I wrote this incident for my in laws. The email was signed by my father in law as he is the registered buyer of the said car. He is a car enthusiast and love to drive but still to try his hand on this one.

Originally Posted by Sankar

This is NOT a drive shaft failure,

Many thanks for this detailed root cause analysis. I hope BMW does the same.

Originally Posted by VW2010

Having said that i think judging a person based on looks is inappropriate and posting a picture for the forum to judge that same person is even worse.

Concern already addressed by Team-BHP Moderator. Post has been edited. The picture can remain as information about road side assistance.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Appreciate the way you have identified the root cause and explained here and most likely this should be the reason but my past experience this should have nothing to do with a manufacturing defect. It must be due to Impact, now it's another question if these cars are such delicate and why does this not happen regularly on other BMW's

It definitely could be due to impact. But how strong of an impact would it take to collapse the front suspension without damaging the tyre/wheel. I think suspension should be more robust to handle some minor abuse, especially since its a crossover SUV.


Many years ago during one of the Bangalore night drives I jumped a speedbreaker in a Yellow Lancer SFX, there was a Black Lancer SFX (a fellow tbhp member) for company but he braked in time. The speebreaker was unmarked and I did not see it and it was one of those mini hill types. The speed was definitely more than 40KPH when I hit the speedbreaker and the car landed with a loud thud enough to cause a scare. I was pretty sure the suspension was shot, but fortunately nothing happened to the car.

[Turbanator]

But how strong of an impact would it take to collapse the front suspension without damaging the tyre/wheel

Well in mine case, nothing happened to tyres or alloys as well, I don't recollect if I had to even do tyre balancing after this incident. And that was in 2008 and RFT were prone to damages due to lower profiles, I don't have photographs but I recollect clearly how I was amazed to see the whole suspension coming out from the car next day and since that instance, I have been a BMW fan. I mean, I travelled 150 Km or so on a broken suspension and then the way BMW Dealership/ Company handled - they won me over. I will say it depends on the attitude of local dealership also, we are lucky that way, apart from stray incidents, Krishna Auto at Chandigarh meets or exceeds expectations. I think Dealerships, where owners are involved in day to day working, are better than say large corporates like Bird Automtove where they have professionals who keep on changing jobs. Even in this incident had dealership tried to provide a dealership car and support, they would have better chances of satisfying a customer. I remember being helped at Toyota dealership in changing one of my RFT near Hissar. They could not open any job card as it was a non-Toyota car but allowed me to park my car and when I got the new tyre, they changed and balanced it without a charge. Small gestures of helping others in need are our culture and do not necessarily have to be taught or demanded.

BMW is not doing any good by retaining such dealership which spoils the brand image and must be taken to task.

[Gildarts]

Originally Posted by Sankar

This is NOT a drive shaft failure, but the front suspension failure which caused the driveshaft failure. The front strut slipped right through the hub carrier assembly and knocked the drive shaft down. This is why:

1) You see the fender resting on the wheel
2) The brake hose stretched and pulled high up like that.
3) The drive shaft knocked down. If the strut is in its current position it can't be put back in.

Nicely diagnosed. I was wondering why a drive shaft failure should cause the car to drag. Did not notice the fender resting on the wheel. The fender is even slightly damaged from the impact.
@Wanderer - Sir, Hope the issue gets resolved very soon and you get to enjoy the car in the festive season.

[Rohan24]

Originally Posted by Sankar

This is NOT a drive shaft failure, but the front suspension failure which caused the driveshaft failure. The front strut slipped right through the hub carrier assembly and knocked the drive shaft down. This is why:
.
.

Brilliant analysis, sir! I didn't even notice the fender resting on the wheel.

Originally Posted by Sankar

Jumping a speed breaker (unless its built like a kerb or a miniwall) even at 60KPH or more shouldn't cause this kind failure in any car unless its put together delicately.

Exactly. No car is built that poorly to just disintegrate after an odd speedbreaker jump. Max that can happen is alignment issues, maybe.
Just today, I hit a speed-breaker at 50 in my Fiesta, as I noticed it too late and decided not to brake and load the front wheels. Cars are made with certain factors of safety and some rough usage must definitely have been taken into account.

This seems to be nothing but a manufacturing defect. The dealer should have handled it better. Be it any brand, any car, no matter how expensive or cheap it is, if there is a failure of such massive proportions, the dealer has to promptly respond and help the customer. What a complete lack of professionalism.

[sumeethaldankar]

I hope and pray they replace your car with a new one altogether. Suggest pasting this thread's link on twitter and Facebook link for BMW. Get their attention if they are not responding via social media.

[amoghchaphalkar]

Originally Posted by Sankar

This is NOT a drive shaft failure, but the front suspension failure which caused the driveshaft failure. The front strut slipped right through the hub carrier assembly and knocked the drive shaft down. This is why:

1) You see the fender resting on the wheel
2) The brake hose stretched and pulled high up like that.
3) The drive shaft knocked down. If the strut is in its current position it can't be put back in.

This will probably get deleted because it is not adding much value to the discussion.

But you Sir, would have made Sherlock Holmes proud! Brilliant analysis