BMW 3-Series Maintenance and Repair

shipo

You've got to go to the dealer and have them set up a key for your car, there is more to it than just cutting the key surface itself. Said another way, if you simply bought a blank and then had the surface cut, the first time you tried to use it, the car's anti-theft features would think you were trying to steal it and shut itself down.

Best Regards,
Shipo

radar2

I'm planning to purchase a 2004 330i MT sp via carmax w/ 21K miles on it. Does anyone know if BMW will sell the maintenance program on a used vehicle if it was NOT purchased through an authorized dealer? Thanks in advance.

kyfdx

Anyone can buy the maintenance program... It's the extended warranty that you can't get.

I think the prices on the extended maintenance are going up, this coming Monday. Better check on it, quick.

melody3

My friend bought her BMW through CarMax and learned that the 100K/five year warranty follows the car. It is the warranty you are talking about, no?

I bought a 2002 BMW from the dealer that was too old to certify, but bought a 100K warranty for about 3K financed over 5 years.

Hope this helps.

Melody

windies

When I went to the dealer, he told me that Control Arm Bushing on front suspension needs to be replaced and gave estimate of about 500$. I looked for the spare parts online and found that it costs merely 40$/pair. Does anybody know where can I get it repaired in Tampa Bay area in FL?

socalsabo

I believe you were going to court over this transmission design defect....Any luck? I am in the same boat and don't quite know what my next step is!

radar2

Just got off the phone w/ the local bimmer dealer-you're correct on the price hike due to take affect on 6/18/07(as if there was ever a doubt):shades:. The extended program for two additional years (til 2010 or 200K miles) is $985.00+tax. Carmax was initially trying to sell me their extended service program for $1,879 (60 months and/or 75K miles over and above the manufacturer's warranty/free maintenance period). Now it's off to Carmax to inspect the 330 as it has just arrived from shipment from their GA store. This vehicle will be a significant upgrade from my '03 passat gls 1.8T MT, so to say I'm stoked would be an understatement. Should be quite a belated bday present indeed (38 this past 06/10)!

ftroha

This will take a bit of explaining. My attorney recommended small claims court (Rye, NY), so I took my case there even though BMW headquarters is located in New Jersey. The judge in small claims court told me that even though BMW has a service facility within the jurisdiction of his Rye court, my case was filed against BMW -- the entity -- and so I need to specifically sue the local BMW service center directly OR go after BMW corporate in the appropriate small claims court in NJ. I have now decided to go against the local BMW service center and will have a "conference" with the judge and someone from the service center in September. The judge said he'd try to mediate a solution. If that doesn't work out for me, I'll travel to the appropriate small claims court in NJ and file a claim against BMW corporate there. I have quite a number of complaints against the local service center anyway, so I might as well go for broke in terms of their having provided me with poor service in the past (swirl marks in the car's finish, unauthorized brake work, etc., etc.) not to mention ignoring me when I went in-person to complain about the faulty transmission. On the upside, BMW saw fit to send their own attorney from New York City to small claims court simply to assert that my case was out of the proper jurisdiction for a suit against BMW corporate. (I had named the CEO in NJ the small claims suit.) Live and learn. My attorney did not do me any favors by advising me in terms of suing BMW corporate in Rye, but my effort to be reimbursed for the faulty transmission will continue. I suggest that anyone else who has experienced problems with their transmission failing to engage in reverse pursue the matter. The owner's manual states: "Lifetime fluid, no fluid change required." Consequently, while my car was under warranty, the service center didn't do anything with the transmission. Shortly after the warranty expired, I encountered the same kind of transmission failure so many other owners of the 2000 3-series have experienced -- or are about to experience, especially if they don't have their transmission fuild replaced ASAP.

Mr_Shiftright

I didn't think they allowed attorneys into Small Claims Court.

joyrider147

I have an '86 BMW 325es with a RARE automatic trans. I think this tranny has the "Auto Mode," "3 Speed Sport Mode," and the "Manual Mode." During driving on the highway, the rear seal on the tranny went. I didn't know this, even though the tranny was kinda quirky, but I thought the tranny was downshifting when decelerating.

When I found out, I went to an automotive parts store and filled the tranny with the proper ATF fluid, and continued to maintain proper level on the way back home and I stopped driving it, even though it didn't seem that there was much damage to the tranny. Any ways, if this seal went, what kind of damage could've happen to the tranny if the car was driven 10 miles before adding ATF fluid in this condition? What type of damage definitely have happened during this trip? Would the tranny pump the ATF fluid through the gears for lubrication even though the rear seal went? What would be needed to be replaced to fix those problems?

Mr_Shiftright

Depends how much fluid you lost. The enemy of automatic transmissions is heat, and your oil is part of the heat transfer to the radiator. For you to have lost significant amounts of fluid, the bottom of your car would be a real mess right now...

roadburner

I didn't think they allowed attorneys into Small Claims Court.

Depends on the jurisdiction. When I was in private practice I represented defendants in Small Claims court from time to time. FWIW, in my county all the court clerks refer to small claims court as "The Gong Show". That's usually a pretty accurate description... :P

socalsabo

Thanks for info... I, too will continue to pursue. My independent BMW service agent replaced the defective transmission (at only 28,000 miles..) actually took pictures of the "defective transmission/oil" and wrote on the service order "defective transmission" and "very BLACK,! nasty" ...I am waiting for the trade magazines to post this as a problem, and have been told, it will be this month or next..??? I will share when I receive the info.

ftroha

Thanks for your post and for following up with me. Your service agent discovered a key aspect of the transmission problem due directly to BMW's negligence. That is, if the transmission used in our model of BMW has any hope of lasting beyond very low miles, the trans fluid has to be replaced regularly. (The fluid is not good for the life of the car, as BMW claims and as we've discovered.) The bigger problem may well be that the design of the transmission is simply bad and would fail prematurely -- regular fluid change or not. Also, thanks for writing to the trade magazines. I'll continue to pursue my legal options and will also file a complaint with the BBB, just to get in on record. The more complaints in the public eye the better.

lr123

I would be interested in any information you can provide as well on this issue. This exact problem happened to me on June 21sth. My 2000 BMW 323 has 70,000 miles on it and suddenly quit going into reverse. I bought this car brand new and followed up with all the scheduled maintenance. In addition to this transmission issue I had several issues with the regulators on the windows (which had to be replaced 4 times) and seems to also be a problem on this car. When the transmission failed a couple days ago,
I researched the issue and saw all the posting on the http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/bmw_trans.html
website and was appalled. My car is sitting at the BMW dealership right now awaiting a response from BMW-NA customer service. Of course I am not naive enough to think after reading everyone's experience that this will be taken care of. It is just incredible to me that they would deny any defect to the transmission based on everyone's experience. It is also incredible to me that this car is considered as a good used car buy!

kevdaug

If your 3 series from 1999 or 2000 suddenly loses reverse, contact consumer affairs (just Google BMW transmission problem), but don't get it fixed by BMW. Your car and the tranmission may be very valuable as evidence in the class action suit being drawn up just now by the consumer affair attorneys. They certainly would like to disect your transmission (built by General Motors) to show how the defective part was improved in 2001 and the problem went away. I have done a lot of research on my own, and other auto manufacturers that used this transmission took care of the problem. Only BMW denies there is a problem.

ftroha

I've described my transmission problem and the action I've taken to date pretty extensively on this site. If you enter "ftroha" in the search box of this site, you should access all the information.

ftroha

Glad to know a class action suit is being drawn up, and that other car makers that used the same transmission have made things right with their customers. Thanks for posting this. In the meantime, I'm going to pursue the matter with another small claims court appearance and additional postings on the Internet (Better Business Bureau, complaints.com, and anywhere else I can post).

gbrostek

Hi

My 2000 323 just experienced teh reverse problem. The dealer wants $5200 to fix it. Did you get anywhere arguing your case? Do you know if there is a class action suit in the works?

Gerry

gbrostek

Hi

Misery loves company
The reverse gear on my 2000 323 failed Monday. How did you do in court? Can you help me get HASSEL BMW of Freeport NY to repiar it for free (or less than teh $5200 they want)?

Gerry

gbrostek

Hi

My 2000 323 just lost its reverse gear on Monday
Is tehre a magic word or phrase to get the dealer (HASSEL BMW OF FREEPORT NY) to own up to the defect and fix it?

Gerry

ftroha

The $5,200 sounds pretty expensive. Suggest you shop around your area transmission shops for a better price, and I recommend checking the BBB website to see who might have complaints filed against them. As for my case, I'm headed back to small claims court in September for another hearing. "kevdaug" on this site mentioned a class action suit being initiated but I don't know anything more about it. I suggest that you search "kevdaug" and "ftroha" within this site regarding the class action and the steps I've taken so far against BMW. Good luck, and it might be a good idea to file a complaint with the BBB through their website as well as here: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ The more complaints against BMW concerning the defective transmission, the better.

lr123

Sorry to tell you that you are not likely to get anywhere. My quote was $4500 to repair. It is interesting how the cost varies from place to place (people have said their costs have been anywhere from $3500 to $7000). My dealership was able to negotiate $1,000 off the price of the repair. Not really adequate but giving the fact that hardly no one has gotten anywhere, I guess that's better than nothing..

joyrider147

Aside from the 323i, what other years and models BMW 3 series (318, 325, 328, 330, 335) or other BMW models (5 series, 7 series, M series, Z series) have these defective trannies?

Of these defective trannies, are these JUST the automatic and NOT MANUAL OR IS IT BOTH?? Instead of suing BMW, would it be a better court move to cut out the middle man and go straight after General Motors since they were subcontracted by BMW to build these stupid trannies?

Are these trannies permanently sealed and NOT MEANT FOR SERVICE AND REPAIR? Is there any way to cut the tranny open, fix it, and seal it with gaskets?

davidd3

I'm in a loaner 328xi for a week or so. Happened to check tire pressure and found they gave me a car which was about 8psi under-inflated on every tire. So I went to a gas station and added air to attain proper level showing on driver's door jam. Now a warning indicator is showing in the dash. It's the triangle with an exclamation point in the middle. If memory serves, that's the tire pressure one. I think I need to do a reset, but I couldn't find owner's manual in this car. I can't remember how to do it. I think it is a little tricky. Could I trouble someone to confirm what this symbol means and, if it's what I think it is, post the instructions for the reset procedure.

Thanks.

jtla

When I had the tire pressure warning came on, it was a big red tire symbol with the exclamation mark inside. There was also a small triangle with ! above the trip odometer. I think that it is what you see.

To reset the TPMS, push the middle button on the turn signal lever up or down until you see a tire symbol with the word "RESET" beneath it. Press the side button on the lever to select this option; press and hold the side button again for 5-10 seconds until a check mark comes on next to the word "RESET". If the word simply disappears, you will need to press the side button for a third time, or start the reset procedure again. I am not sure about the procedure if your loaner car is with i-Drive, but I would imagine the procedure similar with menu selection. Hope this helps.

shipo

None of the Manual Transmission equipped cars have these problems. Period, full stop, the end.

Regarding the Automatic equipped cars, while I have heard about a few of the 1999-2000 vintage 328i models with the problem, fully 95% of what I've read indicates that it's the 323i that is fully affected. Said another way, if you have a 1999-2000 vintage 323i with the original Automatic transmission, it's not a matter of "IF" it will fail but "WHEN".

Best Regards,
Shipo

davidd3

Thanks for posting the requested info. Seems to be just what I needed. I'll give it a try today.

socalsabo

How do I "join" the class action suit, as this has happened to me - 200 323I with only 28,000 miles! Thanks

gbrostek

I dont know how to find the class action suit, I am having problem navigating around teh edmonds forum

But I know the problem is pervasive, if you can find anything hit me up at gbrostek@aol.com.

ftroha

All I know is what someone who calls himself "kevdaug" -- Message 3352 -- wrote on this forum. I've cut and pasted it below. Suggest you contact him by going to message 3352 and replying to his message.

Message 3352 posted by kevdaug:
If your 3 series from 1999 or 2000 suddenly loses reverse, contact consumer affairs (just Google BMW transmission problem), but don't get it fixed by BMW. Your car and the tranmission may be very valuable as evidence in the class action suit being drawn up just now by the consumer affair attorneys. They certainly would like to disect your transmission (built by General Motors) to show how the defective part was improved in 2001 and the problem went away. I have done a lot of research on my own, and other auto manufacturers that used this transmission took care of the problem. Only BMW denies there is a problem.

ftroha

Can you tell us how we can go about participating in the class action?

dougsilver

I have been browsing around various BMW and Infiniti boards to research future purchase of either 335i or G37, respectively. My previous experience with BMW (1986 325ES) was horrific in terms of reliability and maintenance. For one thing, I had the auto trans replaced TWICE and it looks like the recent BMWs still have trans problems--can't they figure out how to provide a reliable trans?? Not to mention 335i owners being stranded for weeks or longer to replace failing fuel pumps. Apparently the engine also runs quite hot due to BMW neglecting to install oil coolers in all models. Amazing.

Doug

insamji

I recently purchased a 2007 BMW,335i convertible. I think the car is great, except for one, "not so glaring" problem. I cannot read the screen on the radio while I am wearing my prescription polarized sun glasses. This is quite annoying since I am blind without my lenses. Is any one else experiencing this problem? Any solutions except for trashing my glasses? BMW was shocked and offered no solutions.
Mike

grios1

Hello, 2007 335I, use a pair of Maui's, cant c the radio screen. I gotta lift the shades up to c it. I thought it odd also that such a high-tech vehicle would have this issue. At least we can still c the center display. I dont think there wil be a fix for this :shades:

stevecebu

I recently purchased a 2007 BMW,335i convertible. I think the car is great, except for one, "not so glaring" problem. I cannot read the screen on the radio while I am wearing my prescription polarized sun glasses. This is quite annoying since I am blind without my lenses. Is any one else experiencing this problem? Any solutions except for trashing my glasses? BMW was shocked and offered no solutions.
Mike

This really isn't a BMW problem it's due to the polarization in your sunglasses. Take them off and put them up to the light like outside and not far from your face just a few inches and rotate them slowly left and right and you'll see the polarization effect. It's a bit strange at first but you will need non-polarized lenses most likely. BMW could make a radio face that would be resistant but I doubt you will find a fix for it.
here is a link that might be of some help. Maybe you can find another option?
http://www.polarization.com/water/water.html

rbleland

This is a common problem with sunglasses in many other marques as well; NOT a BMW problem.

pat

Welcome to CarSpace, crnhskr80! I moved your post to a discussion where it's a bit better placed. Here's the link: crnhskr80, "Buying a used 3-Series" #129, 6 Jul 2007 7:23 am.

crnhskr80

Hi Pat:

Thanks for the move.

Crnhskr80

grios1

BTW, I turned in a 2004 525 with that was equiped with the screen in the center and did not have this problem. I also had a 2001 330 with the same radio display and didnt have this problem. :shades:

stevecebu

BTW, I turned in a 2004 525 with that was equipped with the screen in the center and did not have this problem. I also had a 2001 330 with the same radio display and didn't have this problem

Maybe it's possible to put some type of film in front of the screen so you can see it with the sunglasses? maybe some saran wrap or something, not pretty but a cheap fix if it works. Lots of possibilities to counteract the polarization of the glasses. Maybe some cheap see through plastic the very thin stuff kids use in school projects at an arts and crafts store would work? I'm just wild guessing but if it was me I'd sure try it considering the low cost. Maybe a colored film would negate the problem?

sunilb

You should check with the dealer... I seem to recall that there was a fix that BMW was implementing.

insamji

Thanx for the ideas.
Mike

tnguyen74

need some expert advice. After driving for about 20 minutes and at a stop light where the engine is at idle the red oil light goes on. If I slightly rev the engine (increase RPM) it disapears and reappears when I let off the gas. I was told the oil pressure sender sensor may be faulty and will replace it. Does anyone know where the oil pressure sender is and is this a DIY project? Has anyone else experienced anything similar? Could it be the oil weight that is in the car now due to the summer heat conditions? This is on an 03 325i.

sunilb

not sure if it's a diy project, but the red oil light is a sign to pull over and add oil to the car. check the oil level, if it happens to not be low, then it's likely that the oil sensor is faulty and needs to be replaced.

davidd3

Reporting back. 2006 330i. Intermittent ticking noise coming from engine. Diagnosed as a lifter problem. New lifters were ordered. I just had the work done.

Finally got the call my car was ready last Friday, 2 weeks to the day after I dropped it off. It was supposed to take 1 week but ended up taking 2 weeks because they didn't have the foresight to order the necessary "tools" when they ordered the parts. Went there to pick up but noticed a nasty scratch. They checked their pics and admitted their responsibility. I ended up leaving the car there, for who knows how much longer. They said they'll take it somewhere on Monday to get it fixed and it'll be ready on Tuesday. We shall see.

Anyway, before noticing the scratch, I received the paperwork on the lifter procedure. Here's the lengthy description, if it may be helpful for anyone experiencing a similar problem:

QUOTE
Replacing all hydraulic valve clearance compensators (HVA). Engine hydraulic lifter order last visit as per shop foreman, battery disconnected, removed microfilter housing, removed all top plastic top engine covers, removed all DME connectors and wires across engine area, removed IGN coils, removed injector connectors, removed valve cover, removed valvetronic motor, removed spark PL UG CYL 1, and engine tyturn to set at TDC and installed spasial tool 11 0 300, alson on top of cams espresial tools 11 4 282 and 11 4 283 was installed and timing chain tensioner released and removed both exhaust and intake adjustment units, using expresial tool 11 4 270 return springs was removed from intake camshaft removed gude blocks and intermediate levers and replaced one by one lifter (roller cams followers) reinstalled springs and retorque all bolts. Removed exhause camshaft cover and removed camshaft replaced all lifters, installed espesial tool 11 4 460 on CYL valves 2, install camshaft back and cover and installled espesial valves 2, installed camshaft back and cover and installed espesial tools 11 4 461, and torque all bolts at specs, reinstalled espesial tool 11 4 280 and reinstalled exhaust and intake timing units replaced bolts and retorque, removed all tools and installed vavle cover using new aluminum bolts, reinstalled all parts and diagnostic head connected to relearn valvetronic motor and clear fault memories, engine starter OK, no noise can be heard, car was test droved OK and tested several times next day OK.
UNQUOTE

They also did some other work on my car during the same visit. Annual maintenance for year 2 at 30,000 miles. In response to my old complaint about a stuck rear cupholder, they installed a part which they had previously ordered. In response to my new complaint that the car sometimes takes a few presses of the start button to start, they detected a defective starter motor and replaced it.

socalsabo

Who is handling the class action suit?

socalsabo

Thanks, I did!

grantchstr

The gas door on my 2005 xi has "popped" open and will not fully close. You can only close it by holding it in the closed position when locking the car.......but when you unlock and/or drive the car the door pops into the "ajar" position again. Very annoying.
Is this a common problem; is it an easy fix? :confuse:

joyrider147

Check the latch holding the lock bolt first. Is it off alignment? Does the lock bolt appear that it's not fitting in the hole perfectly? Is the latch bent, distorted, ground down? Is there marks made by the lock bolt, scratches? Are the hinges bent, distorted, does the gas door look bent, misaligned, distorted when closing, but NOT locked? Does the door appear out of place or properly aligned when closed, BUT NOT LOCKED? Any computer code problems- DOOR LOCK PROBLEM or DOORS NOT LOCKED on diagnostic computer?

Check the electrical connector going to the gas door lock actuator and check the strength of the actuator with the door open, but using the remote to lock the car. Does the acuator or lock bolt vibrate, move slowly, jiggle, does it feel loose, is there a bigger opening or scratch marks near that area by the gas cap or behind that panel? The locking mechanism may be loose or misaligned. If it seems too bad a condition, examine the parts individually once separated from the vehicle (but still connected and re-test) to see what needs to be replaced.