Login
Start Free Trial Are you a business?? Click Here
Jibin Philip
It is not a trust worthy car at all It is not a trust worthy car at all - put me in a near-death situation I just about avoided a major accident due to a manufacturing fault with timing chain which should last for 200,000 miles (BMW's claim) and my car has only done less than 68000 miles. This was brought to the attention of BMW before the incident but they are trying to hide behind corporate "write-right". It is generally accepted that, for all cars, timing chain should last for the lifetime of the engine. This is a known issue associated with the N42/N43 engine (fitted in models between 2007 to 2011 which my 3 series is from). Even though timing chains are supposed to last a lifetime, clearly this seems to be well known issue with BMW engines and they are well aware of it. We were not aware of it until it was brought to our attention by an external mechanic after taking the car to their garage due to some warning lights. Please note we had taken this to a BMW approved service centre before taking it to an external garage and this was not diagnosed property by BMW approved mechanics (Cooper BMW Cobham to be precise). I informed BMW directly about this issue and also highlighted the fact that the brakes were becoming stiff. They ignored this to a point where the brakes got extremely stiff and non workable, suddenly on my way to home with my 5 year old child. Realising this, somehow with all my strength pulled the car to a nearby shopping place, driving crazily. The recovery man checked the car and found the brakes to be so stiff. He asked me, do you know you would have ended up in a tragic accident, you are very lucky! After the incident, I am still stressed with very little sleep at night. I could not believe that my son and I narrowly escaped a tragic accident. It is unfortunate that neither BMW or the Cooper Cobham, warned me of the health and safety risks involved despite bringing this issue to their attention. They dragged things in the name of diagnosis to be carried out. As this was a known fault, they should have straightway made arrangements for my car to be checked and remedied at their expense. This also reminded me of BMW's electrical failure issue which lead to a fatality and made a lot of press (Narayan Gurung case). In this case, BMW was highly criticised for not recalling cars and putting customers lives at risk. It is saddening to know that these big business minded and money motivated people care so less about precious lives of people. I am not allowed to link the article here but if you google Narayan Gurung road death you will find many articles including reporting on Court criticising BMW. I have taken this matter further with BMW. Even after letting them know of the nearly death accident, they are ignoring it and dragging things in the name of diagnosis. The car is with the garage since Thursday and to date they have not carried out any diagnosis. It is extremely unfortunate that BMW is ignoring such a serious matter. There are more to this story including some crucial evidences, which I am keeping hold of at the moment as I may have to take the matter legally if BMW continues to ignore me despite the seriousness of the matter. But if you are in similar situation, please get in touch as I am happy to share those with you. I am not a car savvy but I have done a lot of research after I found out about manufacturing fault with my car which I use to meet my day to day needs. I am uploading this here so that people are aware of this and am pretty sure there are other BMW users in similar or same situation. I am a person who stand for justice and I am not going to leave it like this. I will keep you all updated of BMW's response to this issue and whether they resolve this at their cost.
5 years ago
Read BMW Reviews
BMW has a 2.3 average rating from 86 reviews

Start Your Free Trial Today

Send 400 review invitations for FREE!

Activate Your Account

Book your activation call by clicking the button below. Or call us now on +1 213-325-5109 . Book a Call

Alice, Customer Support

Start Your Free Trial