[genesmasher]

Just wanted to share my experience with BMW warranty repair. My '11 328i sedan has a defective rear diff, that whines like a teapot at practically any speed. Its the worst between 40 and 60mph - most city driving. Brought the car in to the dealership in the middl of March (as soon as I bought it, as a former loaner car). The dealership acknowledged the problem and placed the order for the new diff. I was told it would take two months to get one - apparently they have to order it custom-made from some BMW supplier in Germany. OK, fine, I will wait - not like I have a choice.

THREE MONTHS LATER get a call from dealership - they finally received the package, but instead of my differential, they got some GM-branded transmission in the crate The CSR proceeded to blame everyone on Earth, including Fedex. Why would I care whose fault it is ? OK, fine -you lost it - order me another one, rush it in, right ?! That's what any good company would do ?! Instead, wasted a month waving hands, until I left a complaint with BMW NA and send an email to BMW GMBH, spoke with two reps, finally was told that the replacement was ordered.

Now, it has been almost SIX MONTHS since I showed up at the dealership with the problem and my car is still not fixed, with no firm ETA. Where is the replacement of replacement diff ?? Who knows. BTW, the first lost part was never found. What a pile of B.S. - I am 99% sure they are lying and know where it went. It is likely working perfectly, installed in someone's car, BMW just decided it is easier to continue screwing me over. The worst experience I have ever had in my life with a car repair UNDER WARRANTY. Nobody at the dealership or BMW NA gives a crap - ultimate incompetence. Maybe they are just waiting until my warranty expires...

[BavarianFanatic]

Wow. Conspiracy theorist much? Shipments get screwed up/lost every day. Do you honestly think they're doing this just to screw you over? OK, it's a ridiculous amount of time, but for certain is not intentional. A diff is not a normal wear item so I'm not surprised that it's a custom order.

[Surly73]

Well, it's just a noise and the car still works - it's not like you're without the safe use of your vehicle while they are sorting this out. It's annoying that it's not taken care of, but... It's surprising you've found so little traction escalating...

At least they agreed to fix it at all, even if they are botching up the timeline.

[bhmax16]

Sure it's inconvenient, but it's not like you're stuck without a car since your vehicle is driveable and if your diff took a complete dump they would surely hook you up with a loaner for an indefinite amount of time until your part is received. It's not like they're trying to deny you your warranty. It is frustrating, but there are only two possibilities here. Either the incorrect part got ordered, or the order was fulfilled incorrectly. Both honest mistakes, though admittedly it is hard to mix up a transmission for a differential, but many people that fulfill these types of orders are not "car people" and honestly would not know the difference between the two items. Frustrating, yes, but it's a fact of life. I do, however, find it hard to believe that it should take 3 months to get a differential from Germany, custom order or not. The same diff is used in much of BMW's line of vehicles, so you'd think there have to be plenty "on the shelf" for the picking

[SharkBait]

It doesn't take two months to get a diff. Even if you're car was 30 years old, maybe it would take a few weeks to source. And if there is some weird diff shortage, which I highly doubt, tell them to find one from a reputable dismantler that is of similar or newer age until they can locate their rare new diff.

[genesmasher]

Originally Posted by bhmax16

Sure it's inconvenient, but it's not like you're stuck without a car since your vehicle is driveable and if your diff took a complete dump they would surely hook you up with a loaner for an indefinite amount of time until your part is received. It's not like they're trying to deny you your warranty. It is frustrating, but there are only two possibilities here. Either the incorrect part got ordered, or the order was fulfilled incorrectly. Both honest mistakes, though admittedly it is hard to mix up a transmission for a differential, but many people that fulfill these types of orders are not "car people" and honestly would not know the difference between the two items. Frustrating, yes, but it's a fact of life. I do, however, find it hard to believe that it should take 3 months to get a differential from Germany, custom order or not. The same diff is used in much of BMW's line of vehicles, so you'd think there have to be plenty "on the shelf" for the picking

That's exactly what I told them many times. It shouldn't take three months to source a part that went into millions of 3-series over the years. The answer was: it is a known problem and they were all "gobbled up". My main problem with the whole situation is that apparently no honest effort was made to try and track down the first replacement that was ordered. This is what bugs me, maybe even more than the car that whines every time I drive it. It is just unprofessional. No, the correct part was ordered, that was not the screw up. Apparently, all parts form Germany go through some common distribution center when they arrive to the US, were they go through customs and repackaged before they are shipped to the final destination (beats me why they have to be repackaged, by the way). That's when it was lost. I am pretty sure it is not Fedex' fault - they keep good tracking information. The parts distribution center where the part arrived SHOULD have some tracking as well. I just can not believe that it is impossible to find a huge part - its not like it rolled under a sofa. You can call me crazy, but yeah, I think they are not telling me the whole story.

And even if that happened, the second order should have been rushed. It absolutely should not take another three months - this is just ridiculous.
No reputable company should make a customer wait that long. When a water pump in my wife's Audi Q5 broke for the second time, they said it would take 6 weeks to get it in. Well, it did take 6 weeks, but Audi covered two of our monthly payments on the loan (~$1500) and gave us free maintenance for two years (another $800), without me prompting for any of it, or calling their NA center once. And yes, we got an Audi loaner too. Just comparing experiences here. I love my BMWs - this is my second E90 in a row, and I will keep buying them because they are great drivers cars, but this is frustrating.

[genesmasher]

Originally Posted by Surly73

Well, it's just a noise and the car still works - it's not like you're without the safe use of your vehicle while they are sorting this out. It's annoying that it's not taken care of, but... It's surprising you've found so little traction escalating...

At least they agreed to fix it at all, even if they are botching up the timeline.

I am not paying $40K for a "safe car to drive". I am buying an "ultimate driving machine", and I should not lose 6 months of my experience with it to disappointment and frustration.

[Hoooper]

1) why would it take 2 months to get a diff? thats BS, are they paying someone to accurately chisel one from a billet or what?
2) The idea that its all good and your car is still driveable is asinine, a diff whine could turn into a diff grenade at any point in which case your car will have become definitely not "safe" to drive. Did they at least inspect the diff to see WHY its whining, or are they just assuming it will hold together long enough to get a new one in?

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by genesmasher

That's exactly what I told them many times. It shouldn't take three months to source a part that went into millions of 3-series over the years. The answer was: it is a known problem and they were all "gobbled up". My main problem with the whole situation is that apparently no honest effort was made to try and track down the first replacement that was ordered. This is what bugs me, maybe even more than the car that whines every time I drive it. It is just unprofessional. No, the correct part was ordered, that was not the screw up. Apparently, all parts form Germany go through some common distribution center when they arrive to the US, were they go through customs and repackaged before they are shipped to the final destination (beats me why they have to be repackaged, by the way). That's when it was lost. I am pretty sure it is not Fedex' fault - they keep good tracking information. The parts distribution center where the part arrived SHOULD have some tracking as well. I just can not believe that it is impossible to find a huge part - its not like it rolled under a sofa. You can call me crazy, but yeah, I think they are not telling me the whole story.

And even if that happened, the second order should have been rushed. It absolutely should not take another three months - this is just ridiculous.
No reputable company should make a customer wait that long. When a water pump in my wife's Audi Q5 broke for the second time, they said it would take 6 weeks to get it in. Well, it did take 6 weeks, but Audi covered two of our monthly payments on the loan (~$1500) and gave us free maintenance for two years (another $800), without me prompting for any of it, or calling their NA center once. And yes, we got an Audi loaner too. Just comparing experiences here. I love my BMWs - this is my second E90 in a row, and I will keep buying them because they are great drivers cars, but this is frustrating.

I absolutely believe that it could be "lost". I once shipped a set of MOUNTED wheels/tires via UPS. They lost one of them. UPS and FedEx have the most elaborate tracking systems on the planet, but if something is entered/labeled wrong then it's a lost cause. The fact that a different package was received means there was a labeling/entry issue somewhere along the line. They don't even attempt to resolve this stuff. I'd LOVE to know where the giant pile of homeless items is. I can only imagine what they've got.

That wheel/tire assembly was NEVER located by the way. They ended up compensating me for the new replacement value as an insurance claim.

[Braumin]

What the hell? Doesn't anyone actually fix cars anymore? "My car has a whine from the diff" "OK let's order a new diff"

Why don't they just fix the one you have? You could rebuild the entire diff including gears and bearings in a few hours. That's what they should have done. Apparently there's no one at that dealership that knows how to set up a diff? It's not that difficult.

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by Braumin

What the hell? Doesn't anyone actually fix cars anymore? "My car has a whine from the diff" "OK let's order a new diff"

Why don't they just fix the one you have? You could rebuild the entire diff including gears and bearings in a few hours. That's what they should have done. Apparently there's no one at that dealership that knows how to set up a diff? It's not that difficult.

While it's certainly possible, few manufacturers would do this on a warranty claim. Availability of individual components might be an issue as well. Hell, most manual transmissions these days are "non-serviceable sealed units". At least in the dealer world.

[litxus]

Wow, whiny diff will most likely fail at some point. Did they tell you if it is even safe to drive it as, did they check / replace the fluid? And yes I agree with you as you did not pay 2k for POS car and expect to behave it so, but whiny diff gets annoying real fast, and usually it will only get louder as time goes by. Have you tried to lookup diff options yourself, so you can buy and then they can install it?

[genesmasher]

Originally Posted by litxus

Wow, whiny diff will most likely fail at some point. Did they tell you if it is even safe to drive it as, did they check / replace the fluid? And yes I agree with you as you did not pay 2k for POS car and expect to behave it so, but whiny diff gets annoying real fast, and usually it will only get louder as time goes by. Have you tried to lookup diff options yourself, so you can buy and then they can install it?

According to the service rep, these differentials are custom made one a time by a contractor for BMW in Germany. Why it takes 3 months to make one, or why cant they make a bunch of them at once for stock, is beyond me. Yes, I was told the car is safe to drive in the meantime. And yes, the noise does appear to get worse, although it may be just me getting more and more annoyed with it. This problem is not unique - check out this thread:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=537362

To be fair, they did give me $1000 check for the inconvenience last month; but when asked for extended warranty instead, they said no. Frankly, for me peace of mind would be a more appropriate compensation, than cash. The main issue is that I still have the problem, and no end in sight.