View Full Version : Issues with 2003 330ci Coupe
My wife bought her 2003 330ci Coupe in February from a dealer here in the LA area. This car has been nothing but throuble from the get go so we have kept an overview of the problems with this car and the actions we took resulting from those problems. Here is the list with issues:
- Transmission stalling (but corrected by BMW)
- Remote control opening of doors not working properly
- Weird creaking noises in dashboard (turned the car in 5 times still the same problem)
- Both front chairs are loose (turned in 3 times and still not fixed)
- Window sealant came loose on passenger and driver side
- Sunroof sunvisor broken, cannot open sunroof
- Xenon lights not turning on (fixed after 5 attempts)
In addition to these problems I noticed a plume of blue smoke when my wife fired up the car in the morning...
We have spoken to BMWNA various times and they were very helpfull. They have actually assigned the car to be serviced at another BMW dealer then the one we bought the car from. I'm not mentioning names but we are really close to writing another letter to BMWNA with all these complaints...
Any advise would be welcome!
Mike
The HACK
12-04-2003, 09:35 AM
Trade in the car while you still can. :thumbup:
mickey513
12-19-2003, 02:04 PM
Blue smoke usually means engine needs rebuilting which = $$$$$.
cruztopless
12-19-2003, 02:35 PM
What did they do to fix the xenon lights? I have a problem with my left light refusing to turn on unless I "flick" the switch off then back on. Then it comes on ... sometimes ... after a few seconds.
Sorry to hear about your troubles.
DxBimmer
12-21-2003, 07:50 PM
I'm sorry to hear about all of your problems.
You should be aware of the lemon law here in California. It states that if the dealership has documented the same problem three times and has failed to fix the problem, then by law they are required to provide you with a new replacement car and to declare the old car a "lemon". This is my crude understanding of the law and I'm sure that there are numerous other legal criteria that need to be met. If you search under "lemon law california", you should find out the details.
good luck.
I'm sorry to hear about all of your problems.
You should be aware of the lemon law here in California. It states that if the dealership has documented the same problem three times and has failed to fix the problem, then by law they are required to provide you with a new replacement car and to declare the old car a "lemon". This is my crude understanding of the law and I'm sure that there are numerous other legal criteria that need to be met. If you search under "lemon law california", you should find out the details.
good luck.I know about the lemon law, I had a 2001 ford Focus that went back to Ford... which led to me buying a 325ti Touring! :D
The law says that it has to be four times for the same problem and needs to be something that really disrupts the operation of the car... the xenon light is not that important but I do agree that it was very annoying :mad: I told my wife to go through the lemon law but she is waiting till the next service and will take action then...
With regards to the blue smoke, I cannot believe that a February 2003 model car's engine needs a rebuild... or something has to be really wrong like with the engine of my friends 2002 M3...
What did they do to fix the xenon lights? I have a problem with my left light refusing to turn on unless I "flick" the switch off then back on. Then it comes on ... sometimes ... after a few seconds.
Sorry to hear about your troubles.
After all the repair attempts they called in the Cavalery... Franz is a german guy who replaced the xenon unit and ever since it has been working like new... :thumbup:
Well we are almost 8 months down the road and my wife wrote a long letter to BMWNA, we have to bring it in for a final repair attempt.... If the car is not fixed probably lemon law... :(
Bavarian
02-26-2004, 06:38 PM
I had the problem with the key for about 2 months. Basically, the key would sometimes work perfectly (opening first my door, then the rest upon a second click). But at other times (maybe even 5 minutes later), the key would give off NO wireless signal of any sort. Or another time, it would unlock my door, and then go dead. But I could still lock wirelessly, and unlock the front door. It just ignored the rear doors!
I took the key to the dealer...and they "reset" some s*it or other and now it works again. It's been working fine for a year now and counting...
Tell the dealer to re-program the little POS.
Update of the 330ci problems:
Wife brought the coupe to BMW for addressing of the issues listed above, they kept the car for almost 2 weeks because it had so many problems, this is what it reads on the Service log:
1. Maitenance per service light
2. Customer states the pass side door is hard to open.
Seems out of adjustment check and advise
RT door outside door handle cable came apart.
Replaced RT door outside door cable.
3. Customer states there is a creak in dash (right side)
Check and advise (one person is car) (see Chet)
Bad spot weld in front bulkhead below windshield.
Creak from right lower corner of windshield inside of car
roadtest and apply presure to windshield when noise happens
no change. remove dashboard. Roadtest, noise still present.
road test with chassis ear attached to different areas of
R/S A pillar. Bulkhead. Kick panel, firewall, shock tower and
fender. moved chassis ear pickups to various spots
during road testing. No difference in noise could be
detected. Remove microfilter housing. Inspect inner cowl
area. Found uneven gap in seam between upper and lower
Sections of upper bulkhead just below windshield. Install
wooden wedge in gap. Roadtest. Noise gone. sublet to body
shop to weld seam. Road test after welding. No noise.
Reinstall dashboard and associated trim.
4. Customer states the speakers in the rear rattle
Check and advise (any music)
Refer to SIB 65 13 01
Performed SIB 65 13 01 installed Velco
5. Customer states the sunroof shade is off track
ALso rattles while driving check and advise
Defective Sunroof liner and clips. Came apart
Replaced Sunroof liner and clips
6. Customer states the driver and pass side seatbelts rattle
at the A-Pilar check and advise
Refer to SIB 72 01 01
Performed SIB 72 01 01 Installed bothside seatbelt spacers
7. Customer states the driver side door seal is coming loose
Check and advise
Defective LT Door Seal, cloth came apart
Replaced Lt door seal
8. Customer states there is a rattle under car while starting
Check and advise
Checked Susp. Found Ok Road tested aprox 3 - 4 miles found
ok, unable to duplicate the problem at this time
9. Customer states the brakes squeak when backing up
Check and advise
Brakes Squeak when hot from both frt and rear
Replaced both Frt and rear pads
10.Customer states the oil level light comes on
Check and advise (see Chet)
Oil level Low
Please see line 1
11.Customer states the driver and pass side windows make noise
going up and down check and advise (clunk type noise)
Defective Lt and RT window regulators. make clunk noise 3
Replaced Lt and Rt window regulators
12.Customer states there is blue smoke coming from exhaust when
Starting check and advise
Ck exhaust system started veh. unable to detect any blue smoke
And guess what, my wife just called me that the noises are still there.... WTF :mad:
The HACK
03-19-2004, 12:54 PM
Those are all minor and COMMON issue amongst all cars. Something with that many moving parts and move down the freeway at 65-70mph regularly and you expect it to be completely rattle and noise free?
Heck, the 2004 Nissan Maxima I had for a week to drive had MORE than that list of problems, and it's barely got 10,000 miles on it. It's not like you bought something THAT special.
Should've taken my advice and traded in the car.
something THAT special....
My 325iT doesn't make any of those noises nor does it have all those little problems like the coupe... When you bought a Ford Focus for $15k in 2000 maybe you can expect that kind of issues but a 330 coupe for $45k...?
We do not expect the car to have no problems at all, but to bring it in every couple of weeks is rediculous... and guess what, we are following your advise and go to a lemon lawer (told my wife that 7 months ago too)...
:yikes:
Sorry your having so many problems man. :(
Yep it gets a little depresing, my wife wants to drive my car all the time... :cry:
sorry about the lemon...
one question, i noticed you lived in pasadena, which dealer do you use?
sorry about the lemon...
one question, i noticed you lived in pasadena, which dealer do you use?I bought my 325iT from Assael and I have no problems (sales & service).
My wife bought her 330ci at Assael too and had nothing but problems, (sales wise and service wise) service for her car is now with Century West.
eBean
03-24-2004, 12:30 AM
Hi there, my car too has had many problems, but the main reason was that the car wouldnt start. i gave them all the chances and everything, but it still persisted.... so we went the lemon way, and BMWNA will buy back the car. Although yours dont seem to be that serious, but you should give it some consideration.
Hi there, my car too has had many problems, but the main reason was that the car wouldnt start. i gave them all the chances and everything, but it still persisted.... so we went the lemon way, and BMWNA will buy back the car. Although yours dont seem to be that serious, but you should give it some consideration.
Yeah, I told my wife various times to do that... I worked with a lemon lawyer two years ago for my Ford Focus that I bought for work... please let me know who you used (lawyer) by pm... thanks! Michael
Another update, after various long calls to BMW NA they will take the coupe back and put my wife in a different car... either an X5 3.0 or a 330i sedan... (let's see how this one unfolds...) :confused:
alpinewhite325i
03-31-2004, 01:56 PM
Another update, after various long calls to BMW NA they will take the coupe back and put my wife in a different car... either an X5 3.0 or a 330i sedan... (let's see how this one unfolds...) :confused:
Even swap?
Even swap? I hope so, we are not going to put any more money into that car... either even swap or lemon law...
If it's an X5, maybe a 2002 with 20k miles that would still be ok. Or a 2003 330i with same mileage... no problem anything else LL...
I have a 2003 BMW 325XI Sport Wagon. Just when I pulled back the sunvisor I felt that it had some added resistance I was not used to. I then opened the sunroof and heard plastic crack. I closed the sunroof and immediately noticed that the sunvisor was off track and was very loose. I tried to put the sunvisor back in it's track. Now the sunroof won't even close. Do you know how the BMW service department replaced the sunvisor? Was it covered fully by the warranty? I hope that they don't have to replace the whole sunroof cause it's a major leak waiting to happen. Can you share your experience with your defective sunvisor?
-Brandon
Your car has to be covered by the warranty & service so just bring it in and have them fix it. No problem.
Well, for the last 2 weeks our Coupe has been at the dealership and they have absolutly took it apart.... then put every part back while spraying it with Silicone spray... :D
Now the car makes no more noise and is a dream to drive...:thumbup: on top of that BMW NA gave us a 3 month credit on the lease ($1,600) so that's really cool... :p we expected one month credit of the lease payment but three is great!!! Thanks BMW NA!!!
Another sad update on our 330ci... :( My wife was driving on California Blvd in Pasadena when the car stalled and just shut off, everything, like there was no power... they towed the car to the BMW dealer... we are waiting to hear back... :dunno:
doeboy
05-03-2004, 04:16 PM
Another sad update on our 330ci... :( My wife was driving on California Blvd in Pasadena when the car stalled and just shut off, everything, like there was no power... they towed the car to the BMW dealer... we are waiting to hear back... :dunno:
Yikes... what is the build date on your 330Ci? Mine's been doing well relatively speaking... (knock on wood)
Build date is January 2003... They figured out what was going on, the gas pump failed and needed to be replaced... nice when that happens on a long trip... :confused:
LeucX3
05-12-2004, 12:25 PM
Geez, all this really sucks. Wanna bet that your car was built on a Friday at 3:00pm? :eek:
Geez, all this really sucks. Wanna bet that your car was built on a Friday at 3:00pm? :eek:
I suspect that the car was not build in January 2003 but in October 2002 Round the time of "Oktoberfest" in Munchen :eek:
You know what they call the drunks at the time of Oktoberfest "Amtlichenbierleichen" :beerchug:
I suspect that the car was not build in January 2003 but in October 2002 Round the time of "Oktoberfest" in Munchen :eek:
You know what they call the drunks at the time of Oktoberfest "Amtlichenbierleichen" :beerchug: Car will be returned to BMW in the next month got all payments back... easy process...:thumbup: My wife will probably buy a new BMW because we trust the brand...:)
The car has been returned to BMW, we purchased a new X5...:thumbup:
ketchup
05-12-2005, 12:07 PM
The car has been returned to BMW, we purchased a new X5...:thumbup:
Well I'm glad they did the right thing and took the car back :thumbup:. Congrats on the x5, sweeeeet.
congrats on the new car, i hope it works out better for you and your wife.
p.s. i avoided assael during my purchasing, somehow they just came off as jerks from the get-go...
SergioK
06-16-2005, 09:00 AM
They figured out what was going on, the gas pump failed and needed to be replaced... nice when that happens on a long trip... :confused:
That actually happened to me when I drove Xcountry. I just happened to be about two miles from a BMW dealership in the Florida panhandle when my fuel pump went out. It still took them 2 days to get the pump.
That actually happened to me when I drove Xcountry. I just happened to be about two miles from a BMW dealership in the Florida panhandle when my fuel pump went out. It still took them 2 days to get the pump.Yes they had to order it so we had a loaner for about 3 days...
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