[TusharK]

Thanks to Raja for sending in the details. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP share page!

My friend bought a BMW 7 Series, which is under warranty from BMW. The piping in the rear seats has started melting, and it has started to stain the shirts. He reached out to BMW promptly, stating the issue.

BMW suggested to replace the seats for Rs 12 lakhs. Later, the dealer agreed to settle for 60% of the seat value, and they requested my friend to pay Rs 3 lakhs. Since the car is under warranty, my friend is hesitant to pay the same.

I am attaching the pictures and emails that were sent to BMW for your reference.

[wheelspinner]

For shirts, I don't think they'd compensate unless he goes to the consumer forum or something. Also, I'm curious to know which shirts in India cost $500 It doesn't sound credible to me. He mentioned that it spoiled seven $500 shirts, why keep wearing expensive shirts while sitting in this car if you know that this problem is present?

Since BMW has agreed to cover part of the cost, the owner of the car needs to escalate further to get total cost of the same. Legal route seems more favourable because of the value involved. He may also get compensated. All depends on whether he can prove his claims. I have never seen such an issue, and I have my doubts here. Maybe BMW is right in this case. Our family has owned several cars and parked them outside in direct sunlight and rains, but such a thing is unheard of. Some other factors could be at play.

Also, mods please hide the car registration number as one can easily find the owner's information with just that info.

[manu220194]

BMW should replace the seats free of cost, especially since the car is in warranty. Sun exposure can’t be an acceptable reason since the company should test its products before launching in a market. Non branded cleaner as a reason is also them shirking ownership - quite appalling, especially given this is their top of the line product.

A similar incident - A colleague of mine has a 2024 X1, and the integrated entertainment + instrument cluster failed thrice in one year of ownership. The reason given by the BMW expert diagnostic team was, “The car is being driven in traffic at slow speeds, and due to frequent start stop the cluster failed”. What a random reason for a brand selling cars in Mumbai.He left the car at the service center for over three months in one year of ownership. They clearly sold him a lemon. After desperate appeals to have the vehicle replaced and an inordinate amount of resistance from BMW, they agreed to give him 2 years of extended warranty. He had upgraded from a Honda City to the X1, and swears he will never buy another BMW again. Atleast from my perspective, BMW isn’t very bothered by such after sales experiences.

As someone who in the next 3-4 years will definitely upgrade to a German luxury brand, I will keep these incidents in mind before I decide to spend my hard earned money. I hope someone from BMW corporate is reading.

[Ravi Parwan]

we have had after market seats made from karol bagh in our earlier cars for upwards of 10 years. Those seats were cleaned by household detergents, no special car shampoo or anything. Yet those seats costing 4-5K for the entire car never had any such issues with beadings and such.

Shame on BMW and its dealers to try to have the client bear the cost of the seats, even partially. If the seats are not excluded explicitly from warranty, no questions asked replacements should happen.

Also why does the car owner need to park his car in the dealership for 30-60 days to wait for the parts to come? The dealer can request them to bring in the car for repairs once they receive the replacement seats.

In the meantime, car owner should buy simple vinyl slip on covers for the car, they should not cost more than $50.

Replacement of the wardrobe damaged by the seats should be done on goodwill basis only. I do believe the lax consumer protection laws in India allow companies to get away with this. If this was to happen elsewhere (read US), the car owner would, in addition to compensation for shirts, also get compensation for mental anguish and others.

[wheelspinner]

Originally Posted by Ravi Parwan

In the meantime, car owner should buy simple vinyl slip on covers for the car, they should not cost more than $50.

If I'm not wrong the the seats in the 7 series are ventilated and massaging, so it might affect those features.

[Ravi Parwan]

massaging will not be affected. You can forgo ventilation for the sake of saving your clothes from stains. This can allow the car to be used without the tension of staining the clothes, till the time the seats are replaced.

The owner can also use simple cotton covers, the kind used for official government vehicles. I remember in the 90's almost all government vehicles had the terrycloth or towel seat covers which were slip-ons and were washed every month to retain that pure white shine. Our old model M800 also sported such covers, on top of the Karolbagh covers for some time, LoL.

Please keep in mind all my suggestions are only for stop gap methods to allow the owner to use the car in the interim before the repairs are effected.

[SilverSmoke]

Shameful on the part of BMW for downgraded material quality. It's no way wise to spend close to 4L for the same - that too when you get flagship. Plus, the precious time & unnecessary mental engagement.

Genuine leather strips are available in matching / contrasting colors, can try those instead of covering whole seats.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by wheelspinner

Also, I'm curious to know which shirts in India cost $500 It doesn't sound credible to me.

Lol, most typical response expected, take it in a lighter vein Wheelspinner.

Google for Gucci/Prada/Versace shirts, very common these days amongst the top 3% population.

But shame on BMW firstly for making a below par product and them making the customer unhappy. No one is going to question if BMW re-upholsters the set in Karolbagh for 1Lac, it is well within the manufacturers purview to repair it in the way they deem 'acceptable' within the warranty clause - but the fact deny warranty is the 1st red flag.

I remember doing a SEMA spec Ford Raptor interior full leather upholstery in Dubai S.Z.Road (the workmanship can make the Bentley leather man go ) for 12,000 AED, around 2.5Lacs. Shame on BMW/dealer for not thinking out of the box and closing the case soon.

[UD17]

Originally Posted by wheelspinner

For shirts, I don't think they'd compensate unless he goes to the consumer forum or something. Also, I'm curious to know which shirts in India cost $500

Well a simple Louis Phillip luxure shirt costs upward of 4500-5000INR. I know because our company provide these shirts to sales guys and senior management with company branding.

https://louisphilippe.abfrl.in/c/lux...louis-philippe

BMW should replace the seats with newer one without any fuss. Its pity that BMW made themselves into the negative news, when their flagship product did not comply to quality. They should have taken care of their prime customers because word of mouth is very real in that customer segment.

Compensation for the costs of shirt though seems impossible.

[androdev]

If this was a manufacturing defect, you would find many such issues reported on BMW forums. I hope BMW offers maximum support but I don't believe this is a manufacturing defect. More likely to be a detailing job gone wrong.

[wheelspinner]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Lol, most typical response expected, take it in a lighter vein Wheelspinner.

Google for Gucci/Prada/Versace shirts, very common these days amongst the top 3% population.

But shame on BMW firstly for making a below par product and them making the customer unhappy. No one is going to question if BMW re-upholsters the set in Karolbagh for 1Lac, it is well within the manufacturers purview to repair it in the way they deem 'acceptable' within the warranty clause - but the fact deny warranty is the 1st red flag.

Originally Posted by UD17

Well a simple Louis Phillip luxure shirt costs upward of 4500-5000INR. I know because our company provide these shirts to sales guys and senior management with company branding.

Never heard of these brands, thanks for the tip. I personally buy the budget shirts on sale from Zudio, max Rs. 500 - Rs. 800, as they serve my purpose well. This car belongs to Poppy's Knitwear's owner if I recall correctly, so it won't surprise me if they do spend $500 on shirts. They are one of the ultra-rich people in the country. But demanding a company pay for your extravagance and negligence isn't fair (as you could apply some kind of slip on cover or, a sliding seat cushion to avoid this). It's fine to a reasonable extent to seek damages. That being said, BMW should do a root cause analysis on this as it seems to be a one off issue.

I remember doing a SEMA spec Ford Raptor interior full leather upholstery in Dubai S.Z.Road (the workmanship can make the Bentley leather man go ) for 12,000 AED, around 2.5Lacs. Shame on BMW/dealer for not thinking out of the box and closing the case soon.

2.5L for seat upholstery is an insane amount The most I spent, was around Rs. 5,000 on PU leather seat covers.

[AJ56]

Originally Posted by wheelspinner

Also, I'm curious to know which shirts in India cost $500 It doesn't sound credible to me.

I have never seen such an issue, and I have my doubts here. Maybe BMW is right in this case. Our family has owned several cars and parked them outside in direct sunlight and rains, but such a thing is unheard of. Some other factors could be at play.

Shirts can run into thousands of dollars from top tier tailors, let alone the big name brands. Within India, a custom tailored shirt from Brahaan for eg. (high end tailoring house in Delhi-NCR) will start at around $150 and go well past $1000 depending on the type of fabric chosen. You’re paying top dollar for custom tailoring that off the shelf retail shirts just cannot match fit and comfort wise.

BMW’s are known for mediocre interiors, ask any X3/X5 and F10 owner and they’ll tell you about the melting door handles and dash buttons, they improved this with G30 but I still see a few with their plastics flaking off. That too in examples that are barely 6-7 years old.

Dash plastics cracking is another common issue on older gen beemers, great cars to drive but interior quality was never their strong suit.

Originally Posted by wheelspinner

Never heard of these brands, thanks for the tip. I personally buy the budget shirts on sale from Zudio, max Rs. 500 - Rs. 800, as they serve my purpose well. This car belongs to Poppy's Knitwear's owner if I recall correctly, so it won't surprise me if they do spend $500 on shirts. They are one of the ultra-rich people in the country.

2.5L for seat upholstery is an insane amount The most I spent, was around Rs. 5,000 on PU leather seat covers.

One need not be ultra rich to spend a few hundred dollars on a shirt, ultra rich won’t even register a few thousand here and there, their private jet burns more than that in about 10 mins (320L /10 mins roughly).

2.5L/5 is 50k per seat, which is honestly absurdly low for a 7 series seat compared to buying new. Even 2.5L/seat would be low given all the tech inside it. When I had my amaze seats done a few years ago, I recall nearly 20k in labour alone, when you want it done correctly and hire out 4-5 skilled workers for a full day, it’s in line. Add in leather (material cost + taxes) and you’re easily at 50-80k for a high quality job on a cheap car itself.

Will add that all those suggesting he use seat covers, please don’t as aftermarket seat covers do not have built in tear points for the airbags integrated into the seats, it can mess up their deployment and reduce protection in a side impact.

Also, it will make ventilation useless, a vital feature given our 47 degree summers.

[Lone rider]

Whenever we give the car for washing may be even detailing we have to make sure what cleaning agent the shop is using, There are some harsh chemicals that get absorbed and will give cause the beading to melt. I have had bad experience where i found the idrive screen foggy when checked in the day light. Unfortunately there is no way to prove it.