Bought a faulty used car :(

buglawton

This is a petrol car right?
If so I'm surprised no on one has yet mentioned the Lambda sensor.
Symptoms described is what happened three times with my petrol cars, first time was coil, other two times was the Lambda sensor that fixed it.
If it's a diesel then I could understand all the mentions of injectors wearing out.

gary_jules

arcon5 wrote: »

They haven't failed in due course though have they!

But they will. There are a lot of electronic systems and a lot to go wrong in that car. Even the battery needs to be registered by a BMW diagnostic machine. I know, my uncle had the E90 330i Sport with BMW performance intake and BMW Performance Exhaust. It was also remapped to near 300bhp. The DTC unit went, locking actuators went, coil packs went, fuel pump and several other items. It's an expensive car to run but when it works it is truly an exceptional machine to drive. An all rounder in performance, comfort and luxury and even quite efficient for its engine size/power but NOT in reliability. My uncle still has the car but that's because his wealthy and can afford to run it.
PS: it's the same car that I put a Castrol oil bottle on the dash to pretend I had an M3.

captainawsome

buglawton wrote: »

This is a petrol car right?
If so I'm surprised no on one has yet mentioned the Lambda sensor.
Symptoms described is what happened three times with my petrol cars, first time was coil, other two times was the Lambda sensor that fixed it.
If it's a diesel then I could understand all the mentions of injectors wearing out.

It is a petrol car but uses high pressure direct fuel injection (similar to a diesel), it's extramly well documented that the injectors are a huge weak spot of the N43 engine. O2 sensors seem quite reliable on them and rarely cause a misfire or rough running if the fail.

bigjl

gary_jules wrote: »

excuse my French but why buy a car (which WILL be expensive on repairs) on finance? Expect things to fail down the line whether it be the DTC unit, injectors, cool packs, door lock actuators etc. these cars are very expensive to run without warranty.

He bought that car and it failed soon afterwards.

If you ask me the problem was there prior to sale.

bigjl

gary_jules wrote: »

But they will. There are a lot of electronic systems and a lot to go wrong in that car. Even the battery needs to be registered by a BMW diagnostic machine. I know, my uncle had the E90 330i Sport with BMW performance intake and BMW Performance Exhaust. It was also remapped to near 300bhp. The DTC unit went, locking actuators went, coil packs went, fuel pump and several other items. It's an expensive car to run but when it works it is truly an exceptional machine to drive. An all rounder in performance, comfort and luxury and even quite efficient for its engine size/power but NOT in reliability. My uncle still has the car but that's because his wealthy and can afford to run it.
PS: it's the same car that I put a Castrol oil bottle on the dash to pretend I had an M3.

Come on now Dark Matter we know you are just talking about the BMW you pretended to own under one of your many sign in names.

But just to confirm that if all those parts failed on a car it doesn't just mean it is expensive to run, it is also unreliable and fragile.

gary_jules

bigjl wrote: »

Come on now Dark Matter we know you are just talking about the BMW you pretended to own under one of your many sign in names.

But just to confirm that if all those parts failed on a car it doesn't just mean it is expensive to run, it is also unreliable and fragile.

The electronics on that car were more fragile but mechanically speaking its okay (except coil packs but BMW had a recall done on this and since hadn't had an issue).
Most of the problems were all electronics; the E90 uses a network system (basically a full on computer with a BIOS and motherboard) which adds to the complexity. That is the reason why the battery needs to be registered when its being replaced. Sensors and electronic units like steering pumps, DTC are common issues. It's over engineered.

Despite this, my uncle still loves the car. It's a joy to drive and that N53 engine is an absolute peach. Very revvy with good low end torque. Those BMW in-line 6 engines had a good reputation for their power, smoothness and sound.

BeenThroughItAll

gary_jules wrote: »

The electronics on that car were more fragile but mechanically speaking its okay (except coil packs but BMW had a recall done on this and since hadn't had an issue).
Most of the problems were all electronics; the E90 uses a network system (basically a full on computer with a BIOS and motherboard) which adds to the complexity. That is the reason why the battery needs to be registered when its being replaced. Sensors and electronic units like steering pumps, DTC are common issues. It's over engineered.

Despite this, my uncle still loves the car. It's a joy to drive and that N53 engine is an absolute peach. Very revvy with good low end torque. Those BMW in-line 6 engines had a good reputation for their power, smoothness and sound.

My God. You really are a gigantic bell-end.

Johnnytwostep

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

My God. You really are a gigantic bell-end.

He really does know what he is talking about, he is an expert.....

...or possibly you are right??

Johnnytwostep

BMWWN wrote: »

Hi

I'll try to keep this brief but I'm gratefully looking for any advice as this issue progresses.


3 weeks ago I purchased a 2009 BMW318i used with 50k miles. It was purchased from a private (Not BMW) dealership which is reputable and deals in the higher end of the market so I felt confident purchasing from them. The dealer is approximately 60 miles from me.


After a few days I noticed the car was idling very rough when cold, misfiring and hesitating to accelerate. The next day after leaving work the engine management light came on and the car went into limp mode (lost all power and engine very noisy). I pulled over and waited a while, restarted and all was 'OK'. I continued home after filming the car in limp mode as evidence.


The next day I contacted the dealership who advised to get a diagnosis done and report back. This took around 5 days due to the garage I used (BMW independent specialist) being fully booked. Once done they advised the problem is the fuel injectors failing and all 4 should be replaced along with coils and spark plugs, estimate cost of approximately £1000.


I contacted the dealer immediately who said bring it over and we will look at it and see what we think. The dealer has a Bosch approved garage attached to them So again I'm confident they will diagnose the same and repair. They however after 4 hours said the issue lies with the coils and plugs on 2 of the 4 cylinders so they will replace those two but It is advisable to change all 4 so I agreed to pay for the other 2.

Unfortunately after returning home the problem is still evident. I still believe the issue is with the injectors as advised by the specialist. I will be contacting them tomorrow to advise the issue still persists and if they will repair.


I think what I want to know is after doing a fair amount of research already...


Is it reasonable to ask them to conduct another repair?

If they refuse for any reason would I still be able to reject the car under SOGA 1979?


The car is part financed through Halifax Car Finance so should I complain to them?


I have kept logs of everything that has been done up to now including emails, call logs, photos etc am I doing the right thing?


I understand buying a used car is always a gamble but the vehicle is not in a satisfactory condition, I like the car I just want it to be a Good buy and to work properly!

The car came with a 3 month 'RAC PlatinumWarranty' which has a claim limit of£300 so essentially useless for this problem which would cost around £800 to fix.

Any advice or insight appreciated on how to proceed next!

Why were they selling BMWs then?

gary_jules

Ermmm because BMW's are in the higher end market? Anything above that we're going into super car Lambo/Porsche/Ferrari territory.

But I see what you're saying, OP has a 318i. Mercedes makes entry level cars but they also make high end super cars