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37K views 57 replies 22 participants last post by  mSRS 
#1 ·
On January 28, 2014, my F10 M5 caught on fire driving 6 miles on few inches of snow, I parked along the street as I saw smoke coming from the vehicle and brake warning lights were being displayed. When I got out of the car, I saw a fire under the right rear wheel well. Gladly my 5 year old was not in the car, as I myself got out right before everything locked up!! My car was totaled!!

I tried working with BMW NA, and my case was assigned to a Jay Hanson, who told me they would need 6 months to do their investigation!! Meanwhile, no one had offered to provide me with a loaner vehicle or otherwise offer any other solution to this problem. eventually I gave up on waiting on BMW NA and my insurance took care of me.
This was my second M5, I still own an X5 and M3. researching around I found many incidents of BMWs going on fire. Are BMWs really safe?
I cannot understand or accept the poor customer service provided to any customer, especially by a company selling luxury and performance vehicles and a customer who bought at least 13 BMWs and was a big time BMW fan! I guess BMW has become a mass market company who forgot what made them who they are!
Has anyone else dealt with BMW fires and were assigned a Jay Hanson?_a_
 
#36 ·
Makes sense, that it is part of the reason I originally thought it’s the Traction/Stability Control. The first thing I did right after I got the warning light before I stopped the car was the parking brakes and it was off. On 2013 M5s the parking brakes button goes off the minute you press on the gas and the car starts to move even if it was on. I will always wonder what caused this fire, the sad thing is that Jay Hanson who BMW assigned to the case did not even care to see this video.
 
#37 ·
Makes sense, that it is part of the reason I originally thought it's the Traction/Stability Control. The first thing I did right after I got the warning light before I stopped the car was the parking brakes and it was off. On 2013 M5s the parking brakes button goes off the minute you press on the gas and the car starts to move even if it was on. I will always wonder what caused this fire, the sad thing is that Jay Hanson who BMW assigned to the case did not even care to see this video.
Does the parking brake use the same calipers as the main brake in the m5?

Either way we are looking at an electronic mechanism here to release it, and a software-controlled at that. Lots of opportunity for error. Plus a caliper can get stuck, I know my brakes weren't very happy last winter.
 
#39 ·
I have no idea if an M5 uses the same calipers as the main brake or not, but I do agree with your comment "Lots of opportunity for error" to the point that the car goes on fire in minutes.
They do, I read interesting articles saying how you have to hook up the computer interface to change the brake pads (because the parking brake is engaged and stays that way, now that they say it sound almost logical).

I see lots of opportunity here for the computer or a mechanical problem to bevel one of the brakes for a while.
 
#43 ·
Chris Blocker is still there, at least he responded to an email from me two weeks ago. Saad is another great adviser over at Hendrick. Holly is great too, but I don't think she is technically a service adviser. I have dealt with Luca and Matt as well, both great.

I did not want to deal with Luca again though, probably because he had the unpleasant duty of trying to tell me that the excessive use of oil in my B7 Alpina was normal (second time in 1200 miles I had to add oil) and tried to hand me something from BMW that said it was normal. I said thank you very much, but why in the world would I take a piece of paper from the Company that manufactured and services the car as proof that the car is "OK" to burn through oil every 750 miles. I certainly was not OK to me and should have been communicated by the sales associate if that was something I should have expected that I would not see with a non-turbo car. It was a bit patronizing and was the turning point of when I started talking with Chris Blocker.

I love my M5 now and totally agree that BMW NA would have been better served not to have made any comment at all.
 
#48 ·
Sooma - I had multiple issues with the car and ended up turning it back in. Chris helped me get a timely resolution that I was happy with. I am now driving an M5 and I really love the car. The B7 and the M5 are totally different cars. In my opinion, Alpina's changes to the 750 ended up not working with respect to engine/fuel/transmission management. Alpina made some real changes, but they had some issues with integrating them into the BMW engineering or failed to anticipate the problems some of their changes taken as a whole would cause.

I am pretty car saavy, especially when something does not "feel" right and the BMW engineer that test drove my B7 could feel it as well. They (BMW NA) just did not make it a priority to figure out what the problem was. They would rather take the car back and sell it on to someone else in hopes that they do not feel the same problem.

That being said, the only B7's I see now are being driven my oooold people and they may not be as sensitive to the issues.

Chris helped me get to a quick resolution and ran interference with BMW NA so that I did not have to deal with them.
 
#49 ·
Sooma - I had multiple issues with the car and ended up turning it back in. Chris helped me get a timely resolution that I was happy with. I am now driving an M5 and I really love the car. The B7 and the M5 are totally different cars. In my opinion, Alpina's changes to the 750 ended up not working with respect to engine/fuel/transmission management. Alpina made some real changes, but they had some issues with integrating them into the BMW engineering or failed to anticipate the problems some of their changes taken as a whole would cause.

I am pretty car saavy, especially when something does not "feel" right and the BMW engineer that test drove my B7 could feel it as well. They (BMW NA) just did not make it a priority to figure out what the problem was. They would rather take the car back and sell it on to someone else in hopes that they do not feel the same problem.

That being said, the only B7's I see now are being driven my oooold people and they may not be as sensitive to the issues.

Chris helped me get to a quick resolution and ran interference with BMW NA so that I did not have to deal with them.
Glad you like The M5 better -;)
My experience with Hendrick is great so far except when it comes to buying a car from them -;) As they do mark their cars up a lot, and you can probably get same car for 5% less elsewhere and they know that but they depend on you not shopping well !
 
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#55 ·
Reading this thread a bit late, but thought I'd respond anyhow.
Firstly, sorry about the loss OP...glad you are ok!

The way BMWNA has handled this is a utter shame. Not very encouraging for the rest of us BMW owners and enthusiasts. I really hope that your insurance goes after them.

Regarding the lame response from BMWNA on this thread - like many others, I am extremely surprised to see them respond on a public forum. Do we have any confirmation that it is actually BMWNA? I am not aware that the forum requires confirmation of identity of any sort.
 
#56 ·
Reading this thread a bit late, but thought I'd respond anyhow.
Firstly, sorry about the loss OP...glad you are ok!

The way BMWNA has handled this is a utter shame. Not very encouraging for the rest of us BMW owners and enthusiasts. I really hope that your insurance goes after them.

Regarding the lame response from BMWNA on this thread - like many others, I am extremely surprised to see them respond on a public forum. Do we have any confirmation that it is actually BMWNA? I am not aware that the forum requires confirmation of identity of any sort.
...never mind - looked up the user and his activity. Seems like the real deal :dunno:
 
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