X5-Woes: Service Visit Gets Worst Each Time

Recently I had my SAV 2008 X5 (brought new 11/11/08) in the shop to repair a noisy panoramic roof when closed, but not when tilted. here's what happened:

October 26th: Took my X5 (only 19,000 miles on it) in to take care of a noise coming from the back glass panel in the panoramic roof. The dealer kept the car over the weekend and gave it back to me October 29th. Got the car back and the passenger lining was not clipped in properly (still not today). Additionally there were other issues incurred such as cracking the windshield(when they tried to put things back together?) and scratches in my fenders/doors and interior(too funny to get into details). Dealership took care of the windshield and scratches, but the noise from the roof was still there and now it was making the noise in both tilt and closed positions.

November 6th: Took the X5 in to get the noise taken care of again with captured video of the noise taken from my phone. This time they replaced a seal which was part of a service bulletin and adjusted the back panel glass. The noise went away for a couple days but it came back. This time I also noticed I can't close the roof from the tilt position (at times which I captured on video) and also it "pops" when I try to tilt or open the roof.

November 19th: Took the X5 in the morning to get the roof fixed, test drove with the technician, he noticed the sound from the back panoramic glass and said they will need to possibly replace a rail(?). That afternoon I get a call from the Service Tech(Matt) indicating that since the X5 is now out of warranty, they need to get approval from BMW.

November 23rd: I still have yet to get my X5 back and they have not even started on the the work. They still say they are waiting for BMW district approval.

Dealership location: Littleton, Colorado

Need some opinion folks, I talked to the Service Manager and indicated that the next time I hear from them (Nov 26th), they need to tell me they are working on it. I also said that if anything, just fix it and I'll pay for it and go after BMW for the bill. What do people think? I know I was a little upset, but I just want my X5 back.

BTW, they gave me a 2012 550i to drive the whole week, but it just doesn't feel right as it's not mine. Any thoughts what I should do next? Pay for it and get a lawyer? Be patient?

I think a lawyer is extreme. Call BMWNA yourself and make some noise.

Originally Posted by SDBounty

Recently I had my SAV 2008 X5 (brought new 11/11/08) in the shop to repair a noisy panoramic roof when closed, but not when tilted. here's what happened:

October 26th: Took my X5 (only 19,000 miles on it) in to take care of a noise coming from the back glass panel in the panoramic roof. The dealer kept the car over the weekend and gave it back to me October 29th. Got the car back and the passenger lining was not clipped in properly (still not today). Additionally there were other issues incurred such as cracking the windshield(when they tried to put things back together?) and scratches in my fenders/doors and interior(too funny to get into details). Dealership took care of the windshield and scratches, but the noise from the roof was still there and now it was making the noise in both tilt and closed positions.

November 6th: Took the X5 in to get the noise taken care of again with captured video of the noise taken from my phone. This time they replaced a seal which was part of a service bulletin and adjusted the back panel glass. The noise went away for a couple days but it came back. This time I also noticed I can't close the roof from the tilt position (at times which I captured on video) and also it "pops" when I try to tilt or open the roof.

November 19th: Took the X5 in the morning to get the roof fixed, test drove with the technician, he noticed the sound from the back panoramic glass and said they will need to possibly replace a rail(?). That afternoon I get a call from the Service Tech(Matt) indicating that since the X5 is now out of warranty, they need to get approval from BMW.

November 23rd: I still have yet to get my X5 back and they have not even started on the the work. They still say they are waiting for BMW district approval.

Dealership location: Littleton, Colorado

Need some opinion folks, I talked to the Service Manager and indicated that the next time I hear from them (Nov 26th), they need to tell me they are working on it. I also said that if anything, just fix it and I'll pay for it and go after BMW for the bill. What do people think? I know I was a little upset, but I just want my X5 back.

BTW, they gave me a 2012 550i to drive the whole week, but it just doesn't feel right as it's not mine. Any thoughts what I should do next? Pay for it and get a lawyer? Be patient?

First, THANK YOU for the details in your post...it makes giving advice easier..AND it establishes you as the type of person that can likely prevail with BMW. (detail oriented, ready to document, logical)

I assume that this issue was first fixed under warranty? And that is why they are doing it under warranty now?

You need to read and understand the lemon law in CO... so states allow for a lemon claim even if the warranty has expired, provided the issue first appeared under warranty. You need to understand the ins and outs here...just so you can use this as leveage if necessary. This may be a necessary tactic to keep BMWNA engaged.

Next, you are an idiot if you pay for it and 'go after' BMW. You clearly dont know how legal fees work. Lawyers charge 3-4 TIMES what a dealer charges per hour. You will spend $15000 to 'win' $3000 from BMW to fix the window.

Also, DONT think your local guy is telling the truth or is on your side. Do you realize THEY may be on on the hook for the repairs?????????? BMWNA may tell them "you guys F'd this up, YOU pay for it- we won't"...then the service manager turns around and says "Sorry, BMW says they wont cover it"...But we feel bad so we are going to do it at our cost, $2500."

Then you hire a laywer, spend $5000 to just file a lawsuit and find out BMWNA's position is that the DEALER was at fault..then you go after the dealer.

You get the idea.

My advice? Be patient. When they say the car is done, 'stop by' for a test drive during lunch WITHOUT the loaner, 'just to make sure' it is fixed. Also, get as much as you can into the BMW RECORD. The misc damage they did at first SHOULD have been explicitly stated in the next Repair Order (RO). They live and die by the document record. The first thing a lawyer will ask is "what does the paperwork say?". If you press BMW on the issue, they will simply pull the work orders and figure out their liability. If you create a damning RO history, you can leverage them dramatically. If you've not done this, they'll just say "you need to talk to your dealer, this is their area of expertise"

Anyway, understand there is "the dealer" and "BMW"...and they are two different companies with conflicting motivations.

GL

A

Yeah I agree, hence needed additional views from other BMW owners. I will see what they come up with on Monday. Ive sent an email to BMW customer relations yesterday with the details. Im hoping some progress is made next week. Already thinking of getting rid of the X5, an excuse for new one... Its too bad, the car was great at 19k miles with no issues other than the noise that came from the roof which became worse after service touched it.

Originally Posted by SDBounty

Yeah I agree, hence needed additional views from other BMW owners. I will see what they come up with on Monday. Ive sent an email to BMW customer relations yesterday with the details. Im hoping some progress is made next week. Already thinking of getting rid of the X5, an excuse for new one... Its too bad, the car was great at 19k miles with no issues other than the noise that came from the roof which became worse after service touched it.

I know which dealer you're working with and they have always been very good to work with. They recently repaired my out of warranty X5 picking up 1/3 the tab themselves, BMW picked up another 1/3, and I paid the rest. They went to bat for me (vehicle had been out of warranty almost a year but had low miles on it) with BMW.

I'm surprised they need to confer with BMW regarding the repair now that it's out of warranty. If I read your post correctly it appears you first had this issue serviced while it was under warranty. Did I understand the timeline correctly? If so there's no question this remains a warranty issue as it doesn't appear it was ever fixed.

I'd hold off on a lawyer for now...this particular dealer has always been good to me and others I know. Give them a chance.

I had a starter on my e53 which I complained about every time the car went in. They told me that it was operating as designed. The minute the car was out of warranty, the car was in and the told my my starter needed replacing. I then told them to look at my service history and for 2 years, I was complaining with comments that customer stated it was grinding. They went from me having to pay for it to BMW magically replaced it as a courtesy. Keep pushing and don't pay for it yourself. It will be hard to get your money back. Get BMW NA involved

Originally Posted by sunny5280

I know which dealer you're working with and they have always been very good to work with. They recently repaired my out of warranty X5 picking up 1/3 the tab themselves, BMW picked up another 1/3, and I paid the rest. They went to bat for me (vehicle had been out of warranty almost a year but had low miles on it) with BMW.

I'm surprised they need to confer with BMW regarding the repair now that it's out of warranty. If I read your post correctly it appears you first had this issue serviced while it was under warranty. Did I understand the timeline correctly? If so there's no question this remains a warranty issue as it doesn't appear it was ever fixed.

I'd hold off on a lawyer for now...this particular dealer has always been good to me and others I know. Give them a chance.

Yep, it was brought in before the warranty expired. Actually i indicated the issue to BMW service back in Summer, they indicated they will look at it during the final warranty service around October which i was fine with. Sounds like folks who are not emotionally attached is giving me sound advice to wait and work with them. Thx. I hope BMW comes through on Monday(Nov 26).

Update Folks...

On November 26th I got a call from the service tech that they will start work on the roof. Today November 28th, I finally got my X5 back. Basically they rebuilt the entire Panoramic roof (tech indicated the cartridge), they found that the rails were cracked causing the noise. The tech told me they were ready to go on November 19th and had the parts to complete the work, but was stuck waiting for BMW to approve. So basically, the work took only 1.5 days, but waiting for BMW to approve was 7.5 days. Oh well, the X5 is back in my garage.

Unfortunately, the ordeal did cost me, a faint scratch about 1/2 inch appeared on the top by the glass roof, they indicated they can get it painted, but I opt'ed out as it would be can of worms matching it. I settled for an exterior detail job to take care of some minor scratches (discovered today) around the fenders caused by replacing the windsheild from the first visit - read above.

Overall experience with the dealership was pleasant, I do not knock them on the various incidents. They were very courteous, but at times seems helpless to their own environment such as the windsheild guy caused more damage then fixing the glass.

Something else that was interesting, I had an opportunity to talk to the manager before leaving, he indicated to me that BMW has yet to approve the roof repair, but instead he escalated to the Service Director and got it approved, so the dealershp currently picked up the bill. Ironically, I finally got email from BMW customer relations today indicating my case was assigned to someone, but later a voicemail indicating the case was settled according to the dealership. Settled, but somewhat exhausted.

Originally Posted by SDBounty

Update Folks...

On November 26th I got a call from the service tech that they will start work on the roof. Today November 28th, I finally got my X5 back. Basically they rebuilt the entire Panoramic roof (tech indicated the cartridge), they found that the rails were cracked causing the noise. The tech told me they were ready to go on November 19th and had the parts to complete the work, but was stuck waiting for BMW to approve. So basically, the work took only 1.5 days, but waiting for BMW to approve was 7.5 days. Oh well, the X5 is back in my garage.

Unfortunately, the ordeal did cost me, a faint scratch about 1/2 inch appeared on the top by the glass roof, they indicated they can get it painted, but I opt'ed out as it would be can of worms matching it. I settled for an exterior detail job to take care of some minor scratches (discovered today) around the fenders caused by replacing the windsheild from the first visit - read above.

Overall experience with the dealership was pleasant, I do not knock them on the various incidents. They were very courteous, but at times seems helpless to their own environment such as the windsheild guy caused more damage then fixing the glass.

Something else that was interesting, I had an opportunity to talk to the manager before leaving, he indicated to me that BMW has yet to approve the roof repair, but instead he escalated to the Service Director and got it approved, so the dealershp currently picked up the bill. Ironically, I finally got email from BMW customer relations today indicating my case was assigned to someone, but later a voicemail indicating the case was settled according to the dealership. Settled, but somewhat exhausted.

Good to hear. I've been pleased with the dealership in question. Sorry to hear about the scratch.