Car Faulty after recall campaign
I have a BMW that has the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation valve) replaced every 2 or so years under a recall campaign by BMW. I recently had the second recall and had it in the garage last week. The EGR valve gets replaced for free. On receipt of the car, everything was fine but about 10 miles into drive home I got a drivetrain fault. The car worked fine and got me home where I was going to look into the fault. I looked into it and it didn't really give me much info from the car so I phoned BMW to explain what happened. They said that the next appointment was 3 weeks away which I was disappointed at but accepted.
I then got a after service email about a week later so I explained to the service manager what happened and provided more info as I got a ODB scanner to look at fault codes.
He said bring it in immediately and they will look at it. On going to start the car I realised that it would not let me change from park to drive so I couldn't drive it. I explained to the service manger and he said it would need a recovery and asked a few other things.
I have now gone back and forth to him a few times now but don't really have a resolution and now he is not replying.
What are my rights here? should they deal with the issue as it happened after they have touched the car or is it a grey area where it could be something that I might have to address/pay for.
For me I brough a perfectly working car into BMW and got a car with issues out of it. Ideally I just want them to collect it and fix it.
Here are the issues that I can see on the ODB
ZGM (Central Gateway Module) 801C12 Send Power Down command due to previous sleeping
ICM (Integrated Chassis Management) D02C67 DCS Interface signal invalid
D0157A wheel torque powertrain invalid transmitter
FRM (Footwell Module) E5850F Message data drive train incorrect receiver FRM transmitter
ECM (Engine Control Module) 24A100 Charge Pressure actuator open circuit or short to ground
298700 Charge Pressure Actuator activation open circuit
260100 Exhaust gas temp sensor after exhaust gas recirc cooler signal open or short circuit
EPB (Electrical Parking Brake) D3957A Signal (powertrain 4 wheel torque invalid transmitter DME/DDE
Note that they also did a electronic vehicle inspection after the EGR replacement and none of the above are mentioned.
I am going to give him till Friday to put an action plan together and then I will see about the complaint's procedure. I made contact with him on Monday.
Is this a me problem or are BMW responsible for a botched job?
Replies
Unfortunately you can't prove that the fault was directly due to their actions. You could get an independent report done, but it's best to ask if they will cover your costs and do any repairs for free first. If they say yes then no problem. If they say no then you should tell them that you want the fault independently investigated with a view to gathering evidence of any necessary legal action if it was their fault.
For me, this would include getting it to them a your own cost (initially). If they're now ignoring you, I suppose the options are, wait until your appointment date, physically visit the branch for a face to face, or try another dealer?
Higher-end cars are incredibly complexed and at times they can never put their finger on the pulse.
I wish you luck and I hope it goes in your favour.
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Is there anyone official who can actually dish out advice for this? An ombudsman maybe or consumer advice?
I had it on a 3 series in February 2020. At that point I hadn’t got round to getting the recall done. Luckily the car drove fine as it happened in Stornoway when on holiday.
When I sold the car 9 months later, the drivetrain warning had never reappeared.