[CarLoverJosh]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

It's been about 4 months and close to 8000 kms. No issues as such. Saw some rust in the exhaust tip and took the car to Navnit, the advisor said it's a common occurrence as there is some chemical that spews out of it and he got it cleaned.

In bigger news, my brother drove down to pondicherry the other day and he managed to get an unreal mileage figure, i say unreal because the maximum I've managed to get is about 14kmpl. His average speeds were low as it was a rainy day.

Hi zombie driver, as an owner of X3, I can safely say that on highways I've got a mileage of around 15.2 to 16.1 kmpl as my best! That to in comfort mode with 5 people and luggage. Im extremely late but, congrats on your X1, my mom loved it but it was my dad who convinced her for X3. Both are really wonderful cars.

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by CarLoverJosh

Hi zombie driver, as an owner of X3, I can safely say that on highways I've got a mileage of around 15.2 to 16.1 kmpl as my best! That to in comfort mode with 5 people and luggage. Im extremely late but, congrats on your X1, my mom loved it but it was my dad who convinced her for X3. Both are really wonderful cars.

Thanks, These mileage figures were also not in the ecopro mode. Actually every time i've tried using the ecopro mode i end up with bad figures.

Congrats on your X3, Its a lovely car and I am probably going to look at it when its time to upgrade .

[KARR]

Hi zombiedriver, great car you got there. I specially love the color of the car. How is the refinement of the 20d engine? Can you feel the vibration when driving at low speeds?

[CarLoverJosh]

Originally Posted by KARR

Hi zombiedriver, great car you got there. I specially love the color of the car. How is the refinement of the 20d engine? Can you feel the vibration when driving at low speeds?

I think I can answer that for you on behalf of . The refinement is really good with the engine becoming audible at 2500 Rpms and trust me, it does sound good for a diesel. The engine itself feels as if it has no lag. I mean put it into manual mode, and shift to the highest gear till the Rpm is at 1100 or 1000. Then press the accelerator halfway and you will see the RPM needle with the speed shoot up as if the car was in turbo zone. The vibration are there at such low RPM's but are so little that you won't really notice them until you concentrate really hard.

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by KARR

Hi zombiedriver, great car you got there. I specially love the color of the car. How is the refinement of the 20d engine? Can you feel the vibration when driving at low speeds?

First off, let me Apologize for the late reply. Haven't had time to spend on TBhp of late. The color turns heads everywhere. I personally wanted a white but had to settle for the brown. In hindsight I think it's a better choice because white would've been lost in the sea of cars in Bangalore.

The engine is extremely refined for a diesel. It is laudable while idling but vibrations are very well controlled, you can hardly feel a thing. As you pick up pace the engine just sounds sweet. Even though the 3er comes with the same engine it sounds more refined because of the engine insulation it has. Unfortunately the X1 doesn't have that. But the refinement levels otherwise are the same

[zombiedriver]

It’s been a while since my last update. I didn’t have a reason to until now. The first service was done in the last week of September. I did not have any major complaints or problems with the car so I figured it would be a simple and hassle free job, but I was so wrong. It went on to be a month and half long ordeal.

It started with me trying to get an appointment for the service. I had to wait for almost 2 weeks and also not use the car for a few days just to avoid going over what the CBS was showing. On the assigned day, I took the car to Navnit motors and met the advisor assigned to my car. He did the mandatory once over of the car and asked me if I had any issues that needed looking into.
I just had 2 small things and I was not even sure if I should be concerned about them.

1. There was some kind of a rust/chemical formation on the exhaust tip. It had happened in the first 2 months of ownership and when I had the car sent to the service station at that point I was told it is normal as the exhaust spews out some sort of a chemical solution and it was cleaned up. This time I wanted a clear explanation for the same and of course have it cleaned up again because I wasn’t able to clean it no matter how much I tried.

2. The second thing was a bit of a worry. On 2 different occasions on the Highway, the car turned off while slowing down at a toll booth in-spite of the auto start-stop being turned off. A quick Google search said it could be an issue with the software and just needed an update/initialization. I pointed it out to the advisor who had no clue why it could’ve happened but said he would look into it.

I walk in to get a copy of the job card and of course a quote of how much it would cost. Boy was I in for a shocker. I got an initial quote of close to Rs.32000/- for the first service which was only supposed to be an oil change as per CBS. The list of things on the quote that were going to be changed just defied logic for a 7 month old car which had done about 11500 kms. Things that I thought were not needed

1. AC filter
2. Pollen filter
3. Engine degreasing and Enrichment
4. Windshield Enrichment and Disinfectant


And the cost for these came up to approximately Rs.9500/- +Tax

And there was a charge of Rs.1600+ Tax for wash and wax.

I let the wash and wax thing go. Just told the advisor I would get it done outside. I tried asking him why a car that has run only 11000 kms would require engine degreasing and windshield enrichment and why the AC filter and Pollen filter where also included when I had absolutely no complaints with the way the AC was functioning, especially since the AC and Pollen filter do not have any sensors. Even if I were to complain, they would need to be physically inspected to find out if they were clogged. I even called the service station in Coimbatore to get a quote from them as our other car goes there regularly. I was given a quote of approximately Rs.18000-Rs.20000 by them. And when I tried telling this to the advisor at Navnit, he was adamant that all these were mandatory for the first service. The attitude of the advisor got the better of my temper. I asked him not to do the wash and wax, engine degreasing and the windshield enrichment as I was pretty sure these things would not affect my warranty. I did not say anything about the AC and Pollen filter as I did not want to take a chance on my warranty. I walked out of there after very clearly telling him that I might as well spend a little money on fuel and take it down to Coimbatore the next time around.
The car was sent back home less than 3 hours later which I thought was quite a turnaround time. I wasn’t home, so the wife took delivery of the car. The total damage was about Rs.24000. She immediately noticed that the exhaust hadn’t been cleaned and the driver didn’t know anything about it. I work late and was disappointed to come back home and see that 1 of the 2 things that I had asked to be done was not done. This led me to doubt if the 2nd thing had actually been looked into.

That experience had left me infuriated and I sent out a strongly worded Email to BMW India clearly stating that I understood what CBS meant and there is no way that the AC and Pollen filter would need to be changed without a physical inspection. They obviously directed Navnit to look into it and I heard back from a lady in customer service in Navnit. She was not too knowledgeable about the mechanical bit so she requested for a day’s time to look into it and get back. She got back the next day and put me through to a service advisor who was supposed to give me an explanation for everything that was quoted and done. He obviously could not justify why engine degreasing and windshield enrichment was needed for a 7 month old car. He also accepted that the AC and Pollen filters do not have a sensor and would need to be physically inspected to identify if they need to be cleaned/replaced. I told him about the exhaust tip not being cleaned and he asked me to come in at any time and he would look into it. I took the car back in about 2 weeks after the service was done. I was introduced to the AGM for after sales. He personally came out to look into what I was referring to and he said there should be no chemical/rust formation on the exhaust and offered to replace it in warranty. He requested for some time as it had to come from Germany. I narrated my experience in terms of service and he acknowledged that they needed to change the format of the service quote so that a customer is aware of what needs to be done ,what a value added service is and of course what might need to be done after inspection.
As I said we travel quite a bit and the exhaust was not in Bangalore even after almost 2 weeks due to Dusshera.

The car drove fine, so I figured I would leave it for another day. Exactly a month and 1500 kms later the car broke down in Coimbatore at about 7 am in the morning. I was thanking my stars that it happened in a city where BMW had a service station and that it was my brother-in Law driving and not my wife. It gave a warning message (the image for the same is attached) and just stopped. It refused to restart and had to be towed to the service station. It took 3 days for them to get back to us saying that it could be a faulty EGR valve. Actually this is one of the possibilities that comes up when you do a Google search with that warning message. Google gives 2 possibilities

1. Faulty EGR valve
2. Faulty Air Knock Sensor

They replaced the EGR valve but the warning light wouldn’t go off. So then they called back to tell me it could be the Air Knock Sensor which would require a few days to procure and change. They had the car for a total of 7 days and said they had replaced the required parts and a test drive of about 80 kms was done to make sure everything was fine. I sent the driver over to collect the car on the 8th day only to find out they wanted a day more as the check engine light still wouldn’t go off even though the car was driving fine. They reckoned it only needed to be reset and could be done later at my convenience wherever I wanted to. I decided to get it back to Bangalore and get the reset done. They did not give me an Invoice which I had requested stating that they do not do that for in-warranty repairs.

As soon as I got the car back after Diwali, I fixed up an appointment with Navnit for the reset as well as to get the exhaust replaced. Meanwhile I was in touch with the AGM (after sales) at Navnit from the time the car broke down and was sent to Coimbatore and he had been following the issue with the Coimbatore service station. So he knew exactly what was done and what needed to be done. I again assumed it would be a day’s job for them to reset the check engine light. I was wrong again. They had a driver pick the car up from home and I did not hear back from Navnit even after 3 hours. When I tried calling them to find out who was assigned to my car and what was happening, I was passed from one person to another. I spoke to a total of 7 people in half an hour, none of whom had any clue as to what I was talking about. I was not able to get hold of the AGM since morning and this got me mad again. I ended up calling the GM who then directed AGM to call me back.

He apologised for the confusion and requested me to give him 2 hours. He called me back as promised to say that the EGR valve had not been replaced in Coimbatore and that is why the check engine light wouldn’t go off. They had only replaced the Air Knock Sensor.

He requested for a day’s time to get the EGR valve replaced and as promised he sent the car home the next day. He also sent me an Invoice pertaining to what was changed and the cost for the same. I did not have to pay anything as it was in the warranty period but it is always good to know how much it would have set me back otherwise. And also it is a good practice to have a record of any work carried out.

This entire experience has taught me a few things. I did not have a good purchase experience to start with and I have mentioned it earlier. My experience in terms of service has been very bad to say the least. And the break down has led me to be careful about where I fill fuel from as I am told the reason for the EGR valve going faulty could be adulterated fuel.

Can anyone tell me if they’ve had equally bad service experience with Navnit or BMW in general? Our 3er has done 94000 kms and gets serviced regularly at Coimbatore and has always been a good experience with them. Our E90 also did about 90000 kms before we sold it and it was also serviced in Coimbatore without any complaints. I am going to chalk off this experience of mine as a one off bad one at Coimbatore.

[zombiedriver]

This is the warning message that came up

[Akshay1234]

I guess there are rotten apples in every lot. I haven't faced bad service with BMW, but the good thing is that the company is responsive to sort out any issues faced.

BTW the ac and pollen filter (microfilter in BMW terms) are the same. And I would recommend changing the filters at every service.

I think you should raise the issue with BMW, about the fact that Coimbatore dealer had said they replaced the EGR, but then Navnit said its not replaced. You should get to the bottom of this.

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

BTW the ac and pollen filter (microfilter in BMW terms) are the same. And I would recommend changing the filters at every service.

.

Any particular reason to get the AC and pollen filters changed at every service? None of our other cars have needed a change before 30-40k kms. That's including the old E90 and the present F30.on my fiesta I distinctly remember it being changed only when I pointed I was not happy with the AC cooling.

My contention with navnit was that anyone who's paid so much for the car is not stupid. So its a good practice to differentiate between necessary, upon inspection and value added. I still do not understand why engine degreasing and windshield enrichment are even a part of the quote.

To be honest my friends F30 went in for its first service couple of months before mine and he paid the whole Rs.32000. He was shocked himself but he is not very technical and did as the service advisor asked him to.

His car is due for its 2nd service soon and I have spoken to him about my experience and now he's skeptical about navnit as well. This is because his previous BMW was serviced in cochin a few times and there the bills were considerably lesser because they didn't push the value added stuff.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

Any particular reason to get the AC and pollen filters changed at every service? None of our other cars have needed a change before 30-40k kms. That's including the old E90 and the present F30.on my fiesta I distinctly remember it being changed only when I pointed I was not happy with the AC cooling.

Well on my cars they have been changed every service. Frankly in our dusty and dirty conditions I'd rather get filters changed at the service, more as a preventive measure even if its not required. IMO its easier than finding the ac cooling less one day, and then sending it to the service centre again. Also each of the times the vehicle has come back from service with the filters changed, I have noticed a reasonable difference in ac cooling, which suggests that 1 year may be enough to warrant a change.

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Well on my cars they have been changed every service. Frankly in our dusty and dirty conditions I'd rather get filters changed at the service, more as a preventive measure even if its not required. IMO its easier than finding the ac cooling less one day, and then sending it to the service centre again. Also each of the times the vehicle has come back from service with the filters changed, I have noticed a reasonable difference in ac cooling, which suggests that 1 year may be enough to warrant a change.

I've had no problems with the AC. It's worked perfectly. Besides the car was about 6-7 months old at the time it went for service.

But I do see your point.

[kalyan_hyd]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

He apologised for the confusion and requested me to give him 2 hours. He called me back as promised to say that the EGR valve had not been replaced in Coimbatore and that is why the check engine light wouldn’t go off. They had only replaced the Air Knock Sensor.

He requested for a day’s time to get the EGR valve replaced and as promised he sent the car home the next day. He also sent me an Invoice pertaining to what was changed and the cost for the same. I did not have to pay anything as it was in the warranty period but it is always good to know how much it would have set me back otherwise. And also it is a good practice to have a record of any work carried out.

That was some experience. I am disappointed with BMW India. While this can happen with any car, how they respond and how accountable their staff should be in such cases defines the whole customer experience and it should have been 'JOY'. Its not like their service centers run brim with customers say like Honda or Maruti.

One point that I could think of, not sure if it happened in that order at Coimbatore:
1. They replaced the EGR valve first.
2. Knowing that this did not help, they then replaced the Air Knock sensor and put-in the old EGR valve back.

The fee for a paid service looks similar to what I paid for my car's last oil change service(Rs 24,000/.). I do not have the scanned copy of the invoice but it looks similar to the ones you put-up.

--Kalyan

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by kalyan_hyd

That was some experience. I am disappointed with BMW India. While this can happen with any car, how they respond and how accountable their staff should be in such cases defines the whole customer experience and it should have been 'JOY'. Its not like their service centers run brim with customers say like Honda or Maruti.

One point that I could think of, not sure if it happened in that order at Coimbatore:
1. They replaced the EGR valve first.
2. Knowing that this did not help, they then replaced the Air Knock sensor and put-in the old EGR valve back.

The fee for a paid service looks similar to what I paid for my car's last oil change service(Rs 24,000/.). I do not have the scanned copy of the invoice but it looks similar to the ones you put-up.

--Kalyan

Yes it does look like that is what happened. But they did not inform me of the same and I did not get an invoice to tell me what was done. Which was disappointing.

I still think that the replacement of AC filter and Pollen filter for a car that is 6 months old is absolutely illogical. Besides I have copies of my BIL's service bills of his 3er which shows about Rs.17000-Rs.19000 for regular oil change service.

[kalyan_hyd]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

Yes it does look like that is what happened. But they did not inform me of the same and I did not get an invoice to tell me what was done. Which was disappointing.

I still think that the replacement of AC filter and Pollen filter for a car that is 6 months old is absolutely illogical. Besides I have copies of my BIL's service bills of his 3er which shows about Rs.17000-Rs.19000 for regular oil change service.

You are right, the normal recommendation to change the filters is around a year and you didn't seem to have run-in so much in the 7 months period either.

But, giving the advantage to them. Lets assume they changed it hoping you would not be coming back for the next service for another 12,000 kms or 1 year. And then it could have been too late.

[Turbanator]

But they did not inform me of the same and I did not get an invoice to tell me what was done. Which was disappointing.

I still think that the replacement of AC filter and Pollen filter for a car that is 6 months old is absolutely illogical

But, giving the advantage to them. Lets assume they changed it hoping you would not be coming back for the next service for another 12,000 kms or 1 year

Yes , that's the way most of these guys work , BMW approves change of wipers / filters at service only & not any time in between for all BSI customers so it appears workshops have got used to this , they changed wipers of mine 7 series in less than a Year when it went for first service due to mileage ( costs over Rs 20K) but for non BSI cars they should have asked customer - perhaps you can raise these points when you get feedback mail and they are quite prompt on answers ( via Dealer )