[Doge]

The car could not get more lime if you painted it yellow, I would say you try to sell it back as this thing has trouble written all over.
These cars are as delicate as a princess the German reliability thing is a myth.

[Santoshbhat]

As an owner of an F25 X3 30d reading about your bad experience makes me very uncomfortable.

High mileage + engine replacement + suspension replacement are way too many red flags while buying a preowned German. I guess you put your faith in BMW warranty coverage and went ahead. I believe these cars need good maintenance, care, a bit of understanding about what's good for the car and what's not and follow some good habits. That's why like many I am very uncomfortable with the idea of pre owned complex German cars as we have no idea how they have been treated by their previous owners. My X3 is now around 35K kms and barring a headlamp washer replacement, has been 100% reliable. Not saying that it will continue being reliable upto the 1 lakh mark that I intend to do with the car. All I can do is hope. My Laura too was bought new and ran reliably for almost 1 lakh kms!

Selling the car and forgetting the ordeal will be the easy way out. But I suggest you take them on legally. You paid a high price for this official warranty covered car and they are not able to give you a trouble free car. They can't just get away with it saying that the previous owner maintained it badly!

[v12]

Sad to hear about this ACM. You could try doing a VIN check and see if you are able to get aFull Vehicle History Report on this website :

https://www.faxvin.com/vin-check

Maybe it may pull up some interesting details on the engine replacement.

[Epic]

Originally Posted by ACM

The Engine and Gearbox both had been replaced for unspecified reasons at about 90,000 kms and the adaptive damper suspension too was renewed fully at that time.
Brake pads were almost new.
BMW provided 2 new tyres and I bought 2 new tyres right at the start. So all tyres, brakes, suspension, engine and gearbox seemed new.

I think the 'bold & underlined' points above were reasons enough to stay away from this car in the first place. While I can understand that Suspension can be replaced at 90,000 kms but an Engine & Gearbox replaced at 90,000 kms and no reasons specified or given? Didn't you bother to find out the reason for this or check vehicle history?

Originally Posted by ACM

2) Selling of the X3 and forgetting a Brand like BMW exists. (Oh! will miss scaping the X5 and X6 plans)

Why not sell this car back to the same dealer you bought it from? Even though they probably already know the history of this car and may low ball you with the buying price, you can probably try squeeze out the best you can considering you are a returning (happy or not) customer.

Originally Posted by ACM

Advice to others:
1) BMW warranty and purchasing a vehicle from authorised dealers is of no use if the car spends substantial amounts of time in the service centre

Even though it is too late now, but if I were you, I would have done a through check of this car; warranty or not, before taking the plunge. I had bought a pre-owned 2015 Feb manufactured Jetta in Sept 2016 through a dealer in Mumbai. Car was owned by VW Group Sales, just 17k kms on the odo, still under company warranty and even then I ensured I got the complete history of the car before giving the down payment.

[KMT]

ACM perhaps it is best that you ask the Dealer to buy back this car. You may have to book a loss but the frustration of having a 'premium' car that performs so badly is not worth it.
Looks like only Jap cars are worth the risk 2nd had.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by Epic

I think the 'bold & underlined' points above were reasons enough to stay away from this car in the first place. While I can understand that Suspension can be replaced at 90,000 kms but an Engine & Gearbox replaced at 90,000 kms and no reasons specified or given? Didn't you bother to find out the reason for this or check vehicle history?
Why not sell this car back to the same dealer you bought it from? Even though they probably already know the history of this car and may low ball you with the buying price, you can probably try squeeze out the best you can considering you are a returning (happy or not) customer.
Even though it is too late now, but if I were you, I would have done a through check of this car; warranty or not, before taking the plunge.

Originally Posted by KMT

ACM perhaps it is best that you ask the Dealer to buy back this car. You may have to book a loss but the frustration of having a 'premium' car that performs so badly is not worth it.

The dealer quoted 35% of the price at which I bought 20mths back.

As mentioned earlier this Gearbox from BMW while lovely to drive has a shorter life and many globally have replaced the same so that was not unusual.
The dealer did share service history with me but it was not clear why engine was replaced. I also think maybe service history was partial or covered up as an afterthought at my end.They did mention it was a non accidental car. The service history printout was provided but reason for engine change was not clear.

Anyways as BMW claims, engine, gearbox and suspension have not failed in my warranty period at least directly though coolant system, speed sensors are related.

Faults included the keys not being recognized properly by the car and needing to be replaced.

[sandeepmdas]

I am contemplating a choice between the X1 and Fortuner AWD AT. I did test drive the X1, and am planning to TD the Toyota this weekend. Looks like my decision-making process is now almost over.


ACM, as most of the members have suggested, I too think that you should end this story where it began. Return her back to the dealership and hand the keys over. You should also try to contact the original owner and find out what the reason behind the powertrain swap. If you or they can't locate the owner and his present whereabouts, (remote) chances are this could be a test drive car or used as a test mule.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

ACM, as most of the members have suggested, I too think that you should end this story where it began. Return her back to the dealership and hand the keys over. You should also try to contact the original owner and find out what the reason behind the powertrain swap. If you or they can't locate the owner and his present whereabouts, (remote) chances are this could be a test drive car or used as a test mule.

The insurance was transferred from an individual's name to mine so it was not a dealer test car. The dealership is quoting absurdly low for the car. Even lower than the pending loan amount.

Maybe the Endeavour will work for you between the X1 and Fortuner as a middle ground.

[KMT]

Really you are between a rock and a hard place.
You notionally have a 'BMW' but you cant drive it around confidently. So your money is sunk anyway.
Perhaps try a used car broker to move it, I am sure they will secure a better price than the dealership.

The dealers 65% price drop in 2 years sounds really unfair.

[GTO]

ACM,

I thought about your predicament a bit more. My frank advice to you would be to cut your losses, sell it off to a used car dealer / private owner and move on. Such a car just isn't worth any headaches.

The car is at fault, yes, but you should also have done your due diligence. Buying a high-mileage Euro with a replaced engine + gearbox is asking for trouble.

Open a "what car" thread and we'll point you toward something stress-free & reliable. God knows you need it after this BMW, Aria (link) and Laura (link). Time to go Japanese or Korean, brother. Or get that Endeavour 3.2!

[ToothyPetrohead]

With Due Respect ACM,
-I commiserate with your situation firstly and appreciate the fact as a good child u respected and took the advice of your dad ( The Advice is Golden always due to experience)
-But a high mileage car that too a premium one and as you said the gearbox, suspension replacement is one thing but engine also gosh you made a critical miscalculation .
-For one it should have rung a bell aloud "Danger" .
-At the same time you have spent a bomb of what i'd say hard earned money on a "Lemon" .
-Cut your losses and sell the white elephant as soon as possible (The dealer quoted 35% of the price at which I bought 20 months back) well NOW " Once bitten twice shy".
The dealer seems to be a "Narcissistic cajoling Thief"

-If I had the money would go in for a new reliable car may be a Crysta Innova top of line with bells and whistles ( the reliability of the brand and product) because Dad would be more comfortable with seating and a car required as necessity for emergency. It would last you a longer time even up to one Lakh KMS! and do not sell your ecosport for the time being.

On a Lighter note Its like Jimmy Soul's hit song of 1963 "If you want to be happy" never marry a pretty woman.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

I'm not rich enough to do this, but here's what I think I would do if I were in this scenario -

1. Sell the X3.
2. Retain the Ecosport.
3. Buy another reliable vehicle if a bigger vehicle is needed in the family.
4. Get that bike for fun, since you were contemplating one for a long time now.

Personal experience - Cars appear to be less and less fun everytime you return from a memorable motorcycle ride. So you might as well get a reliable and comfortable cage for such occasions when fun is not a priority.

[R2D2]

To my simple mind I always equated premium German automobiles with higher prices = higher quality, higher expectations and higher reliability. Guess that was back in the old days. Obviously the premium European car manufacturers think very differently in the 21st century.

My brother's good friend is trying to get rid of his circa 2010-11 Audi A6 with the 3.0L engine after he received an estimate of Rs 2L for a body control unit. The car is crippled and he turns to his trusty old Suzuki Grand Vitara for his travels.

After a Euro headache - here's some Japanese aspirin - get yourself a fully loaded Fortuner. She won't let you down and the maintenance outlay will be heck of a lot lighter on the pocket. And you can go to Leh/Ladakh without worrying about a messed up sensor busting your holiday mood and your wallet.

[androdev]

I got a call from BMW HQ to defend the brand here J/K!!

It is possible that everything that needed a refresh given the high mileage has been refreshed? You have not given enough details about the nature of the repairs and if they are recurring. Maybe the worst is over and your bet on new engine/GB/suspension will pay off and you will have a trouble free ownership. For all you know, your X3 now is as good as new depending on what all have been replaced.

I don't know about you, but it is human tendency to send the car to the dealer for every little glitch if it is under warranty. Nothing wrong with that as we don't want troubles to spill beyond warranty period but warranty only saves money, we still have to spend time and effort to get things fixed. It is best to pile up the minor glitches till scheduled service. My guess is if you didn't have warranty, you'd have had lesser downtime.

All said and done, it makes no sense to keep a German car if you wish to clock 30K km a year - that is strictly Toyota territory. Keep the X3 only if you can offload some of the mileage to another car in the garage. Most things in life come as a package - you need to know what's important to you.

[Epic]

Originally Posted by ACM

The dealer quoted 35% of the price at which I bought 20mths back.

As mentioned earlier this Gearbox from BMW while lovely to drive has a shorter life and many globally have replaced the same so that was not unusual.

No intention to rub salt in your wounds but let's give it benefit of doubt here and accept the gearbox change. But engine change? It's the heart of the car. Also, is the new engine number replaced on the RC?

Originally Posted by ACM

Faults included the keys not being recognized properly by the car and needing to be replaced.

I think this should be reason enough to sell it off asap.