Worn out buttons, WTF?

The button I push the most is probably the small fan button to turn off the HVAC, when I start the car. Guess what, the small fan icon, it peeled off. During lunch I went to BMW of Beverly Hills without an appointment because this seriously pissed me off and it's down the street from me. Do you think they have to:
A - replace the button.
B - take apart the whole console and replace the entire HVAC face plate?

Replacing the button alone would be too simple - I can picture them taking apart the whole dash and doing the usual damage in the process. If that's the case, I would ignore the issue.

Wow, it took me a few minutes to see what was wrong. A little too picky????

I think it all depends on how BMW sells the parts. I know on the E60 some of these parts are not available individually.

That part won't be available separately. The whole unit would need replacing.

That aside, I'm amazed that someone living in California turns the climate control off everytime they get in the car... Seems astonishing to me!

Originally Posted by Emilner

Wow, it took me a few minutes to see what was wrong. A little too picky????

If I was leasing the car it would be another story, but I own this car, and I have an expectation that in a year a button should not be peeling off or fading. I have a 16 year old lexus and NONE of the buttons have faded or peeled.
Service Person: " Yeah I've seen this a lot. BMW uses a coating that they spray onto the panels and switches. When that plastic coating wears off the paint on top of the buttons is exposed and gets abraded and eventually wears off. A lot of the time lotions or hand sanitizers will chemically react with the coating and cause it to degrade. Other manufacturers inject paint into the buttons so it's not just sitting on the surface. "

Originally Posted by stevelup

That part won't be available separately. The whole unit would need replacing.
That aside, I'm amazed that someone living in California turns the climate control off everytime they get in the car... Seems astonishing to me!

Despite you you may seen on the Tele. In the morning it's 18C (65F). Amazingly the Air-conditioning doesn't need to be turned on in that temp. On most astonishingly nice days, I drive with the sunroof open and the window open.
Was there any real question as to the typical nature of these systems? The poll should have been a rhetorical question, sorry folks...

I had the exact same thing happen this weekend. Same spot. Not sure what caused it or what to do to resolve.

If it were me, i would not let anyone take apart the dash for 4 dots on a fan blade logo that's about 3/16" in diameter. I would imagine the chance that the dash does not go back together perfectly (fit/finish wise) would bother me more than those 4 dots on the blades.

My 2 cents

Aceman

Originally Posted by aceman67

If it were me, i would not let anyone take apart the dash for 4 dots on a fan blade logo that's about 3/16" in diameter. I would imagine the chance that the dash does not go back together perfectly (fit/finish wise) would bother me more than those 4 dots on the blades.

My 2 cents

Aceman

You make a good point. But every time I look down at the thing, it really freaking bothers me. I know it's a BMW, but seriously how hard is it to make a freaking button not wear out in a year, that's just garbage and totally unacceptable to me. This car is starting to irritate me.
The service department has been pretty kick-a$$ though. Must be all that practice.

If it's like my X5 control button for defroster in this case (although an '03), the button pops off and another goes in . It would seem odd that you would need to replace the face plate. I would have them do what ever makes it right for you. If me, I would accept a new button, if do-able. I had one shipped for under $20 bucks. I hope they haven't over complicated this with the need to replace the whole panel. If so, have it replaced.

Originally Posted by bmwarchitect

I hope they haven't over complicated this with the need to replace the whole panel. If so, have it replaced.

To the surprise of no one, yes. I thought I was gonna keep this car a long time. I have serious reservations about owning this thing past the warranty period. I really like this car, but these little fiddly things aren't something I'm willing to deal with. The car is a year old, can you imagine the tomfoolery in 5-6 years.

I am starting to see wear on some of my preset buttons. Especially the #8 button, which shows the nav screen. It's showing a wear "circle" in the middle. I'm not too happy about this either.

Originally Posted by TJPark01

To the surprise of no one, yes. I thought I was gonna keep this car a long time. I have serious reservations about owning this thing past the warranty period. I really like this car, but these little fiddly things aren't something I'm willing to deal with. The car is a year old, can you imagine the tomfoolery in 5-6 years.

Yup I can imagine,
this is an extra reason why I am moving to an M car.
with the EXCEPTION of the ULTRA FINE Napa leather, and the wood trim.
The whole dash including the rubberized material between windshield and panel,
i-drive, the nicely rubberized internal door handles (already start to worn out)

The doors when they close (usually 2 attempts)
everything feels slightly cheaper than the 2008 E60's / 2007 E90's

Observe the 'roots' of the seats how cheap the plastic is and ready to fall apart.

But not so cheap of course. You see, that napa leather corrects everything that may look wrong. Without the napa, the car looks 'plastic' to me especially if its black interior.

I would keep it till the M5 arrives (assuming you want to pay the extra $)


For the button issue you have, chances are you won't find an individual button and you may have to change the whole module.
But if you would like to make sure,
go to parts, and have the guy pull out on the computer the blueprints about these parts.
See if it is an individual part that can be ordered and then you know the answer.
Sometimes parts are lazy people and /a$hols
so sweet-talk them or do not hesitate to try different people or call/ go to different dealer.

Originally Posted by bmw_enthusiasm

For the button issue you have, chances are you won't find an individual button and you may have to change the whole module.
But if you would like to make sure,
go to parts, and have the guy pull out on the computer the blueprints about these parts.
See if it is an individual part that can be ordered and then you know the answer.
Sometimes parts are lazy people and /a$hols
so sweet-talk them or do not hesitate to try different people or call/ go to different dealer.

The Service adviser went to the parts department and searched for me. No individual button replacements, you have to get the whole panel replaced. They ordered if for me and said they'd call me when it arrives. The dealer has been amazing, they've been on top of everything.

Have them ship the old one to BMW in a body bag. That will send the message!

Originally Posted by bmwarchitect

Have them ship the old one to BMW in a body bag. That will send the message!

It's clear they don't care about quality and reliability. Why should they, most people lease and the ones who buy in the secondary market already know what to expect. As long as they make sexy good looking cars, that have moderate barriers to entry (favorable leasing residuals, MF's, etc...), people will buy/lease them. There's no incentive to change their behavior.

Originally Posted by TJPark01

The Service adviser went to the parts department and searched for me. No individual button replacements, you have to get the whole panel replaced. They ordered if for me and said they'd call me when it arrives. The dealer has been amazing, they've been on top of everything.

beautifull

He's not being too picky at all. Spend that much money on a car, and it should not have these issues in this short amount of time. Now I, I'm picky. The dealer will never change the oil in mine; I will with synthetic-every 4k. Valets and others won't get near it either. Call me crazy, but if I'm spending just short of 80k, it should last and be "right".

Originally Posted by TJPark01

It's clear they don't care about quality and reliability. Why should they,.

We are on a new era; quality is downgraded on every sector.
You can't find classic shoes anymore or cars or watches for the usual extra premium you used to pay.
you will need to pay 3-4 times that premium to get where you wana get.

The trick is they keep on advertising the brand for the premium but it has actually been downgraded.
so now, you need to buy an M5 at 100K if you want the quality.

I mean who can assure me that those worn out buttons are not made in china?
you will never know. it says 80% manufactured germany and the rest ?

kind of like swiss watches where there is a new term nowadays
indicating 'swiss made' vs ' swiss movement' ...

or shoes that say Made in USA by 'foreign materials'
so who can assure me that some materials in the F10 are not chinese?

Originally Posted by GARBAJ

The dealer will never change the oil in mine; I will with synthetic-every 4k. Valets and others won't get near it either. Call me crazy, but if I'm spending just short of 80k, it should last and be "right".

way to go! :thumb up:
to tell you the truth, because there is no deepstick anymore,
I am paranoid and can't trust that the dealer will always do a proper oil change...

Originally Posted by GARBAJ

He's not being too picky at all. Spend that much money on a car, and it should not have these issues in this short amount of time. Now I, I'm picky. The dealer will never change the oil in mine; I will with synthetic-every 4k. Valets and others won't get near it either. Call me crazy, but if I'm spending just short of 80k, it should last and be "right".

It's never been valet, or at a car wash and I keep it immaculate, never eat or drink anything in the car except water. If I'm handling the thing with kid-gloves and it's going wrong, what do you think the average person who is leasing the car, is going to incur down the line? Mechanically the car has been mostly good, but little stuff like this is a constant reminder that you are driving something overly complex.

Originally Posted by bmw_enthusiasm

so who can assure me that some materials in the F10 are not chinese?

I care less about where it's made, and more about if it works properly. My Ipod is made in China, it works brilliantly. It all comes down to quality control.

Do you put on hand lotions or use hand sanitizer alot TJ?

Originally Posted by TJPark01

It's clear they don't care about quality and reliability. Why should they, most people lease and the ones who buy in the secondary market already know what to expect. As long as they make sexy good looking cars, that have moderate barriers to entry (favorable leasing residuals, MF's, etc...), people will buy/lease them. There's no incentive to change their behavior.

I believe they make deals with other companies to manufacture parts (outsourced) and the quality control is not first hand as it may have been when they (BMW) may have manufactured more of the car. They likely have a contract with a performance specification, and the other companies cut cost and corners. BMW may or may not chase the fix, depending if they pass the problem back through the supplier. It may not come out of BMW's pocket directly.

In any case, my next BMW is probably a lease as you say. I don't know if any other manufacture does it any different or better these days.

Originally Posted by TJPark01

I care less about where it's made, and more about if it works properly. My Ipod is made in China, it works brilliantly. It all comes down to quality control.

True, I admit apple is the only case that has proven quality control.
Their facility is state of the art.
We can't say the same for the rest... beyond that you are paying a premium
for German labor as you may understand. Because Chinese labor is one order of magnitude less...so then why should it be well taken care?

again, we have no idea if your button is chinese I was just throwing this out
to highlight the 80/20% Germany trend and of course the south african / North Carolina plant... that expectedly quality control must be at least equivalent to apple's in china...
Coincidentally, with the appearance of those plants, and China's masked subcontractors,
we have a general drop in BMW quality..
just correlating...