Problems with 2013 X3

This is my first post on Bimmerfest. As you can tell by my username, I'm a previous Audi owner, 5 S4's in the past twelve years. I've always loved my Audis, but thought I would make a change so I bought a 2013 X3 xdrive35 M-Sport three weeks ago. The first morning I started it up cold I noticed a loud ticking sound coming from the motor that went away after about 3-5 minutes. This noise continued anytime the car was started cold, but was absent when starting it while the engine was warm. After about a week and 700 miles of driving I scheduled an appointment with my dealer to check out the issue and a major defect in the paint. I finally got a call today, the 8th day at the dealer, to tell me that they need to replace the entire head of the motor. They informed me that the parts should arrive late next week and it would take 2-3 days to install them. My best guess is that the car will be down 18-21 days by the time the repair is complete. At this point I am VERY disappointed in my overall BMW experience. In my twelve years of Audi ownership, my car never spent a night at the dealer and now in the first 10 days it will be down almost three weeks and have major work done on the motor.

My questions to everyone here is, what are my options? I've explored the state lemon law and it's not an option yet. I called BMW NA was shocked by the experience. Basicall, they took my information and said someone would contact me within 3-5 days! I can't believe the lack of customer focus throughout the experience thus far.

i would appreciate any advice or prior experience in dealing with similar issues. Ultimately I want a replacement car but son't feel that confident right now. Thanks in advance for your help.

I can't recall anyone reporting having a head replaced on an F25. Yours is the first problem like that that I've read about. At least they're making it right, as Audi would have done if you had a similar uncommon but serious problem with one of your S4s. They're providing you with a nice BMW loaner, right?

The words BMWNA, useless, t*ts, and the phrase "on a boar hog" apparently can all bit fit into a single sentence by some who have dealt with BMWNA. I personally have never had to interact with them, so I can't comment.

You have exactly three options. Ride it out (likely your best option unless things get worse), Lemon Law (gonna take more problems and down time to invoke), or eat the loss and sell the X3. The only advice that I can give you is document, document, document.

Maybe you can talk to another dealer for second opinion? My 2013 X3 has 2200 miles now, and everything is going great. Reading topics such as this...makes me worried.

It sounds like your lifters are ticking when it's cold which is something that is annoying, but normally does not call for any major overhaul like they are suggesting. Google BMW ticking lifters and see if it sounds like your issue. From what I've read, it is very common in BMW's. Hope it all gets sorted out for you

I hate to hear of your experience. My 3 week old X3 35i has been flawless. I do think however you should be able to discuss a free month's payment due to your car being out of commission for several weeks so early in your ownership. I've read of other owners getting this result when their cars were delayed so long. I too would be so disappointed to be without my new car for so long. Good luck to you.

I am glad you did not have to call Audi of USA for any matter like my friend did. The dealership he bought his Q5 from handed him the registration but forgot to register the car in the DMV database and so my friend spent close to 8 months driving an illegally registered car (looked like a stolen one). He then proceeded to get Audi involved, but he was unable to get to a live person or get any resolution, he dropped the case.

Document, document, document. Just in case this is a harbinger of things to come -- and I really hope it is not! In any case familiarize yourself with the state lemon law just in case. Good luck!

I hate to hear stories like this but faults can (and do) happen with all manufacturers.

Mechanical devices can have faults it is really how the manufacturer/dealership address the fault.

BMWNA has terrible customer service from my dealings with them. I get the impression they are low-paid call centre employees.

In any case, hopefully the dealership has given you a suitable loaner vehicle and at minimum the manufacturer should give you a free extended warranty on the engine.

S4 sorry to hear your dealing with issues like this. My 35i Msport has run flawlessly.

One question...you mentioned a paint defect. What was the issue may I ask? I noticed from day one the paint on my Alpine White Msport is rough almost gritty like. It shines up fine but its not buttery smooth even after sealant. It's almost like the clearcoat didn't cure right but I havent heard of any others complaining about paint issues so not sure what to think.

Dealer called me Friday and said they needed to replace the entire top end of the motor. Said it would be a week for the parts to arrive and 2-3 days for the install. I thought about my options and solicited input from friends and forums over the weekend to formulate my options and plans.

This morning I called the owner of the dealership directly and had a very nice conversation regarding the problem and the current situation. I politely stated that the best way to rectify the situation and take care of a me as a current and future customer was to replace the vehicle with a new one. One hour later I received a return call from the owner stating that they would in fact replace my X3 with a brand new one of the exact same build because they want to make sure and retain me as a loyal customer in the future. I was very pleased with the outcome and the overall level of customer service and sincerity. Tomorrow morning I will place an order for my exact car plus I'm going to add dynamic handling. Best estimate is that the new car will be here in Colorado the first week in December. In the mean time, I will continue to drive the X1 loaner I have now and then the repaired X3 until my new X3 arrives. Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better outcome given the situation and my limited options.

Wow! That's an amazing outcome!

Good luck on the next car.

Originally Posted by S4Avant

Tomorrow morning I will place an order for my exact car plus I'm going to add dynamic handling. Best estimate is that the new car will be here in Colorado the first week in December.

+1 on dynamic handling.

Dynamic damping control is really nice.The X3 has a newer variant of it compared to X5. It supposed to show more dramatic difference between different settings. That just it makes it so much more fun.

It is too bad X3 does not get adaptive anti-roll bar. That technology allows the axial to be decoupled during straight line. That makes it a complete 4 wheel independent suspension.

Replaced my X3 with an S4 and couldnt be happier.

Nice to see that I made the right choice.

Would have gone for another X3, but with no ability to modify the X3, no MT available, and only RFT's... BMW made the decision for me.

Sorry this occurred, and glad you have an ethical dealer that did the right thing.

Sorry I can't say the same for Passport BMW in MD.

Glad this turned out well...maybe you can post the name and locale of the dealership in response of his kindness? Hate to hear of these stories, but much better with a happy ending.

Dealer is COs BMW in Loveland, Colorado.

I have a new 2013 X3 and it also has the ticking sound when I start the car and is cold. It will get faster as rev the engine. roto BMW last week and they have heard the ticking when they started it up. Said it was coming from some pump and said BMW had a bulletin on it and said they put an insulatore cover on it. Noise is still there, When they gave me a new X3 loaner which was the same car as I had the noise was not there. I will schedule tho bring it back. Any ideas. Could it be the lifters?

Originally Posted by inix3

I have a new 2013 X3 and it also has the ticking sound when I start the car and is cold. It will get faster as rev the engine. roto BMW last week and they have heard the ticking when they started it up. Said it was coming from some pump and said BMW had a bulletin on it and said they put an insulatore cover on it. Noise is still there, When they gave me a new X3 loaner which was the same car as I had the noise was not there. I will schedule tho bring it back. Any ideas. Could it be the lifters?

Lifters.

Originally Posted by S4Avant

This is my first post on Bimmerfest. As you can tell by my username, I'm a previous Audi owner, 5 S4's in the past twelve years. I've always loved my Audis, but thought I would make a change so I bought a 2013 X3 xdrive35 M-Sport three weeks ago. The first morning I started it up cold I noticed a loud ticking sound coming from the motor that went away after about 3-5 minutes. This noise continued anytime the car was started cold, but was absent when starting it while the engine was warm. After about a week and 700 miles of driving I scheduled an appointment with my dealer to check out the issue and a major defect in the paint. I finally got a call today, the 8th day at the dealer, to tell me that they need to replace the entire head of the motor. They informed me that the parts should arrive late next week and it would take 2-3 days to install them. My best guess is that the car will be down 18-21 days by the time the repair is complete. At this point I am VERY disappointed in my overall BMW experience. In my twelve years of Audi ownership, my car never spent a night at the dealer and now in the first 10 days it will be down almost three weeks and have major work done on the motor.

My questions to everyone here is, what are my options? I've explored the state lemon law and it's not an option yet. I called BMW NA was shocked by the experience. Basicall, they took my information and said someone would contact me within 3-5 days! I can't believe the lack of customer focus throughout the experience thus far.

i would appreciate any advice or prior experience in dealing with similar issues. Ultimately I want a replacement car but son't feel that confident right now. Thanks in advance for your help.

You are wrong, if the car is brand new you should have asked for a replacement ... I asked for replacing a car as it stayed 3 days Ina service center for a faulty cluster, i refused to fix it and asked for a new car. It takes time ..but I litrary left them the car and said " call me when a new one is there for me" you paid a lot of money to enjoy the ride and not to sped days servicing your brand new BMW... Give it a go they care about their reputation ....make video and send it to the headquarters through YouTube

Kar, he got a replacement X3 after talking to the dealership's owner. I suspect (as in your case) there may have been other issues involved that would have required a longer service/repair time so the Colorado lemon law would have kicked in. Just my thoughts though, it may not have been that at all, just a dealer doing the right thing.

Wow, great service from your BMW dealer in Loveland! They did the right thing. We're using Shomp in Highlands Ranch and I'd have to say that I'd expect the same from them. There are businesses out there who value their customers and want them to return.

Odd noises, other than sweet whirling sounds, from the N55 cylinder head are a very bad sign. What with the Valvetronic intake and Double-VANOS stepless variable valve timing, it is a pretty complex and expensive piece of engineering. It is not at all certain that ticking sounds are something as simple as "sticking valves." Odd noises are very worrying and should be investigated immediately. I, like you, would be concerned with the resultant repair quality when replacing the parts and, perhaps more worrying, wonder what other parts of the engine are defective as well. Here's hoping that your new vechicle is like ours, pretty much perfect from day one.

Originally Posted by Want the Thrill

It sounds like your lifters are ticking when it's cold which is something that is annoying, but normally does not call for any major overhaul like they are suggesting. Google BMW ticking lifters and see if it sounds like your issue. From what I've read, it is very common in BMW's. Hope it all gets sorted out for you

Our 2008 128i does this if we start it and only let it run a short time, like backing it out of the garage. A quick run down the highway takes care of it. I find a can of gas treatment every 3,000 miles or so keeps the noise away. My F25 does not have the ticking, but it gets driven further on a daily basis and frequent trips out of town. Some of the certified preowned BMW on the lot had the ticking. I assume it was due to sort and infrequent drives which didn't let the engine reach sufficient operating temperature.

Originally Posted by henrycyao

+1 on dynamic handling.

Dynamic damping control is really nice.The X3 has a newer variant of it compared to X5. It supposed to show more dramatic difference between different settings. That just it makes it so much more fun.

It is too bad X3 does not get adaptive anti-roll bar. That technology allows the axial to be decoupled during straight line. That makes it a complete 4 wheel independent suspension.

Can you tell us more about the adaptive anti-roll bar? What are the benefits of decoupling the axial (what is this) during straight line? Also, doesn't the x5 have DHP same as the x3?

Originally Posted by Hud99

Can you tell us more about the adaptive anti-roll bar? What are the benefits of decoupling the axial (what is this) during straight line? Also, doesn't the x5 have DHP same as the x3?

Decoupling the axial in straight line improves the comfort of the ride even more because the bump in the left wheel is not transfer to the right wheel. It gives you a much more secure ride on the road. Why? You want the wheels without bumps to stay where they are on the road! The main benefit of adaptive drive is to enable a much better suspension trade off. So you get a nice ride and a good sporty performance. The video explains much better than I can.

Dynamic Damper is only one part of the suspension solution. The Adaptive Anti Roll Bar completes that by addressing other motion. Dynamic damper can help out in a roll by adjusting it to a stiffer mode. However, you still depend on passive anti-roll bar to fight the motion. You can only do so much. What you really need is the twisting actions (see video.)

Recently, I got a loaner BMW 328i F30 generation. The ride is not as comfortable as my X5 and it leans much more than my X5. That was shocker since 328i is supposed to have very little body roll. The X3 I sat in before had harder suspension than 328. It is pretty good in my book but still not as nice as my X5 or the 328i loaner.

Personally, BMW has always been about a very good sporty car with a touch of luxury. That also includes reasonable comfortable suspension while capable of doing a very sharp turn. Adaptive anti-roll bar + adaptive suspension completes that. Note, Mercedes ML and Porsche Cayenne also have it as an option.

Check this youtube video.

This seems to be an awesome addition to the X3, but won't this add an extra layer of expensive electronic repairs? That was the main reason why I didn't order it.

Originally Posted by glennk

This seems to be an awesome addition to the X3, but won't this add an extra layer of expensive electronic repairs? That was the main reason why I didn't order it.

Adaptive suspension (dynamic damper control in BMW) is pretty matured technology. Mercedes is putting adaptive suspension technology in some of their cars as standard. Lincoln is doing that with their Lincoln MKZ (entry level.)

In the case of BMW, they have dynamic dampers in BMW X5 for nearly 7 years and quite a few models before that. Although in X5, they claimed it was the first time they had 4 wheel independent adaptive suspension system. I did not find any post about dynamic damper failures from the research I did. You can look up the 7 series and 5 series. Those have it for a while. This technology has been around for at least 10 years now.

I see far more post about engine problem than adaptive suspension/drive problem. Its all about chances anyways.

Note, Air suspension is known to be problematic in Range Rovers and BMWs. So air suspension is supposed to be unreliable form of adaptive suspension.

Just to be clear, Adaptive Drive (dynamic damper control + adaptive anti roll bar) is not available for X3 or 3 series.