BMW garage break my car or unlucky coincidence?

akira181

So my car was affected by the safety recall (wiring issue), everything was working fine but I figured best get it changed anyhow. Took my car in this morning, all was working fine, when I went to pick it up, central locking on the driver side door wasn't working.

They claimed it wasn't working when they moved the car into the garage and it must have broken when I parked up at their garage this morning. Now that's one hell of a coincidence. Driven it home and now the central locking won't on any door.

What are my rights here or do I have to take it as coincidence and pay for repairs?

akira181

Can't seem to edit my post. It's a 2007 320d if that makes any difference. I'll check the fuses later but I find it hard to believe I have pre-existing electrical gremlins unrelated to a battery connector terminal and wiring safety fix.

custardy

What was the wiring recall for?

akira181

Copy and paste from their recall description

Background information relating to the B+ battery connector recall.
Following an ongoing quality analysis at BMW, it has been determined that the plug-in contact of the positive battery cable on the front power distribution box can become damaged. This is caused by vehicle vibrations and frictional corrosion, together with a high load current. As a result, damage to the plug-in contact can impair the power supply of the vehicle.

Until the recall repairs have been performed, it is important to note the early symptoms detailed below:

The vehicle central locking system fails sporadically
It is no longer possible to start the engine
Flickering of the instrument panel
Jerking or momentary power loss from the engine whilst driving
If the above early symptoms are ignored, a loss of electrical power and cutting out of the engine may occur.

custardy

Agreed. Seems a major coincidence one of the potential failures appears when its in for remedial work.

Norman_Castle

Until the recall repairs have been performed, it is important to note the early symptoms detailed below:

The vehicle central locking system fails sporadically

Highly likely to be related to the recall work. Try contacting BMW UK rather than the garage doing the work.

akira181

The issue is that the guy is adamant that the driver door wasn't working before the work was done, he claims it broke after I dropped the car off and before they started work on it. He says it's a coincidence and refuses to accept any responsibility as he says the potential failure would affect all doors and not one.

I'm more than certain they messed it up as its never given me issues before and I don't believe in coincidences as covienent as this. But if they refuse to accept responsibility, what can I do?

Mercdriver

Akira181 wrote: »

The issue is that the guy is adamant that the driver door wasn't working before the work was done, he claims it broke after I dropped the car off and before they started work on it. He says it's a coincidence and refuses to accept any responsibility as he says the potential failure would affect all doors and not one.

I'm more than certain they messed it up as its never given me issues before and I don't believe in coincidences as covienent as this. But if they refuse to accept responsibility, what can I do?

Report everything verbatim to BMW UK

akira181

Are the official garages independent?

So I pulled all fuses related to central locking and 73 was blown. I'm guessing when the driver door broke, it pulled too much current and blew the fuse, which is why none of the doors unlock.

Weirdly, when I first got back, the only way I could get out the car was to roll the driver window down and unlock it with the key as the inner door handle wouldn't unlock the door. Utter safety hazard. Now that the fuse is blown, the inner door handle unlocks the door again. Now what is causing the fuse to blow?

AdrianC

Akira181 wrote: »

Weirdly, when I first got back, the only way I could get out the car was to roll the driver window down and unlock it with the key as the inner door handle wouldn't unlock the door. Utter safety hazard.

No, a security feature - deadlocks.

Now that the fuse is blown, the inner door handle unlocks the door again. Now what is causing the fuse to blow?

Something's pulling too much current, either because it's having to work too hard or because it's shorting to earth.

akira181

It's not a security feature, the doors autolock when you drive and a double pull of the door handle is supposed to unlock incase you crash or the car goes in fire or whatever. The only way I could get out was to climb to the passenger side or wind down the window and unlock with a key from outside. Now that the fuse is blown, the double pull is back but only for the driver side door. No way to open the other 3. This is a serious safety concern imo. Fuse goes in an accident, no one is getting out quick.

I'll replace it with a 15 and see if it goes again. Saw BMW released a service bulliten in 2009 I think to use a 20a fuse instead. If the 15a goes again quickly, then there's a problem. If it lasts 6 months, then I'll replace with a 20A for peace of mind