The ULTIMATE Horror Story.
Discussion
As not many cars can run on water I'm surprised there wasn't a line of the previous customers cars all broken down and stranded next to your car just down the road from said garage!
If the fuel in the Service Stations tank was seriously contaminated any car using that same pump should have had the same problem and you could all have lodged a joint complaint...or perhaps there were no other customers that night?
If the fuel in the Service Stations tank was seriously contaminated any car using that same pump should have had the same problem and you could all have lodged a joint complaint...or perhaps there were no other customers that night?
BonzoGuinness said:
steverod said:
or perhaps there were no other customers that night?
Or perhaps just no other Ultimate customers?
I always wonder about this - filling up with Super in a garage in an area that doesn't exactly look rammed with new sports cars might be a risk. Super that's been loafing around for months mixed with sludge and water is probably a worse bet than 95 that's being regularly used! Busy petrol stations are a must for this reason.
My father had a very similar experience back in the late 80's when he filled a 900 turbo up with mostly water. The garage admitted it and paid out.
And lastly, commiserations - I'm not a beemer fan per se but the Z4 coupe is lovely, one like yours passed me near Winchester recently and it was gorgeous!
Edited by jwyatt on Thursday 2nd November 09:42
Myself and two friends had a very similar experience with BP Ultimate fuel in France last year. Independent tests revealed the fuel had significant quantities of water and sediment. BP Careline (UK) said they could do nothing as the incident happened in France. The three of us have now appointed a French attorney to persue the matter.
E38 said:
I think its very hard for (Bp, station or) whoever is at blame to avoid liability because of the proximity of the car to the station, seeing as a car wont run on water (I wish).
And you are not going to put water in for ghits and shiggles, not in 50K of ///M.
And you are not going to put water in for ghits and shiggles, not in 50K of ///M.
This is an excellent point. If they're the only garage for some distance, the contamination really could not have come from anywhere else at all.
Tunku said:
cymtriks said:
It's very common for some water to be at the bottom of ANY petrol tank
I never had Any water, or anything else in the tanks of my +300,000 mile Volvos, so I can't see how any other car could.
Your experience isn't everyones, that's why you can't understand how it could happen.
Just read some of the posts regarding filling station tanks! Water is in the supply chain. Condensation inside the tank can cause water to accumulate. The air goes into the tank, condenses and gets trapped under the petrol.
If I'm wrong why do Haynes manuals advise putting alcohol into tanks to stop the acumulated water from freezing? I've never bothered and have had no problems but there must be some reason for this.
I know people who have inadvertently got tank fulls of water.
So why don't you believe me when I say that some water in a tank is common?
Tunku said:
The bottom of my 340,000 miler 740 was covered in a white. pure white nylon baffle and when I last looked in to replace the fuel pump at 300,000 the white was pristine. No gunge and no water. I've never seen water in any tank. Ever.
Not even in my Triumph 250 Trailblazer circa 1970. Old folks tale.
Not even in my Triumph 250 Trailblazer circa 1970. Old folks tale.
Again these cars are your limited experience, other people have problems and the supply chain is contaminated. Have any decent evidence that it's an old folks tale for ALL cars, not just the few that you've owned?
Well after a fairly sleepless night, my mobile went this morning and on not recognising the number I knew it was going to be the garage - BP Customer Services has promised me the owner would call me first thing.
I knew that the first few words spoken would decide whether there was to be mind numbing conversations with Trading Standards, Solicitors, countless letters, endless phone calls...OR my faith in humanity just might be restored....
Well I'm delighted and actually a little surprised to report that the garage owner couldn't have been more honest and up front. The situation is that his Ultimate tank was found to contain between 100 and 150 litres of water and sludge which he admitted right from the off. Apparently so far there has been one other car affected apart from mine and his Product Liability Insurance cover will cover all expenses incurred by me and any other unfortunates.
However, bless him, I'm not sure that initially he quite appreciated the enormity of the situation in relation to a race tuned BMW 6 cylinder M lump contaminated by his effluent. He told me to get my dealer to sort the problem and send him the bill. He would settle up with me and claim from his Insurance company. I told him I was still awaiting for the final assessment by Murketts to be delivered and that I would call him once this was to hand.
Andy at Murketts told me that obviously I would require the car to be returned to it's original condition following its PDI just prior to when I collected it 5 weeks ago. Obviously I said yes. The cost to ensure this was the case would mean ensuring no microscopic particles could find their way into any part of the car and cause damage either now, or in the future. This would mean replacing the tank, fuel injectors, fuel lines, heaters etc etc and as such the bill would run into thousands not hundreds as I‘m sure the garage owner was anticipating. Andy told me there is a certain diesel model currently at Murketts which was mistakenly fuelled with petrol and the bill for this little mind-slip will be in the region of £6000.
Given this info I rang back our friendly garage owner and suggested to him that I certainly didn't have access to the kind of cash that would probably be required to sort the problem and for that matter neither would he. Details of insurance broker would be required and Andy at Murketts has told me he will deal direct as a loss adjuster will without doubt be involved.
I have to say to his credit, the garage owner has been nothing but helpful providing all details I have asked for and giving me his mobile number etc etc, There was no mention of proving it my car was on his forecourt and has stated several times that all he wants is for the matter to be resolved and concluded swiftly and with minimal inconvenience to me. He also confirmed he had received a letter from BP which I reckon basically states he has no choice if he wants to continue to sell their product!
Lessons learned?
Well I'll never fuel up again at an out of town independent station. It's been suggested to me by a friend who works for a company that dip tests fuel tanks, that he only ever uses busy sites such as Motorway Service stations and avoids smaller independent garages like the plague, BP, Shell or whatever.
I've heard about many horror stories through the columns of this and many other fora and can only consider that on this occasion I've been lucky, although the work still has to be done and the insurance company cough up. It also appears that this problem is more prevalent than one might imagine, so next time you entrust your pride and joy to the mercy of the pump nozzle, have a think about just exactly what you might be discharging into your car.....
Cheers for listening.
I knew that the first few words spoken would decide whether there was to be mind numbing conversations with Trading Standards, Solicitors, countless letters, endless phone calls...OR my faith in humanity just might be restored....
Well I'm delighted and actually a little surprised to report that the garage owner couldn't have been more honest and up front. The situation is that his Ultimate tank was found to contain between 100 and 150 litres of water and sludge which he admitted right from the off. Apparently so far there has been one other car affected apart from mine and his Product Liability Insurance cover will cover all expenses incurred by me and any other unfortunates.
However, bless him, I'm not sure that initially he quite appreciated the enormity of the situation in relation to a race tuned BMW 6 cylinder M lump contaminated by his effluent. He told me to get my dealer to sort the problem and send him the bill. He would settle up with me and claim from his Insurance company. I told him I was still awaiting for the final assessment by Murketts to be delivered and that I would call him once this was to hand.
Andy at Murketts told me that obviously I would require the car to be returned to it's original condition following its PDI just prior to when I collected it 5 weeks ago. Obviously I said yes. The cost to ensure this was the case would mean ensuring no microscopic particles could find their way into any part of the car and cause damage either now, or in the future. This would mean replacing the tank, fuel injectors, fuel lines, heaters etc etc and as such the bill would run into thousands not hundreds as I‘m sure the garage owner was anticipating. Andy told me there is a certain diesel model currently at Murketts which was mistakenly fuelled with petrol and the bill for this little mind-slip will be in the region of £6000.
Given this info I rang back our friendly garage owner and suggested to him that I certainly didn't have access to the kind of cash that would probably be required to sort the problem and for that matter neither would he. Details of insurance broker would be required and Andy at Murketts has told me he will deal direct as a loss adjuster will without doubt be involved.
I have to say to his credit, the garage owner has been nothing but helpful providing all details I have asked for and giving me his mobile number etc etc, There was no mention of proving it my car was on his forecourt and has stated several times that all he wants is for the matter to be resolved and concluded swiftly and with minimal inconvenience to me. He also confirmed he had received a letter from BP which I reckon basically states he has no choice if he wants to continue to sell their product!
Lessons learned?
Well I'll never fuel up again at an out of town independent station. It's been suggested to me by a friend who works for a company that dip tests fuel tanks, that he only ever uses busy sites such as Motorway Service stations and avoids smaller independent garages like the plague, BP, Shell or whatever.
I've heard about many horror stories through the columns of this and many other fora and can only consider that on this occasion I've been lucky, although the work still has to be done and the insurance company cough up. It also appears that this problem is more prevalent than one might imagine, so next time you entrust your pride and joy to the mercy of the pump nozzle, have a think about just exactly what you might be discharging into your car.....
Cheers for listening.
Bloody unlucky there - I suffered a recent fuel pump failure due to foreign object ingestion into the pump from the tank. On investigation the tank was full of crap and was bound to occur at some point. Subsequently I had to have the tank itself replaced and was shown the crap that was in the bottom of it - it was truly shocking!
Ok, not even close to the same issue here since my car is a 145k mile 9 year old BMW. But it is surprising that you can build up a lot of crud from petrol without realising. An early incident with my second car caused by crap petrol means that I rarely run it below the warning light....
Ok, not even close to the same issue here since my car is a 145k mile 9 year old BMW. But it is surprising that you can build up a lot of crud from petrol without realising. An early incident with my second car caused by crap petrol means that I rarely run it below the warning light....
My god! Gyrock!!! Thank god you saved the day! Otherwise your fabulous 'M' powered super-duper space rocket/Almost an F1 car, poncemobile, might have been doomed...never mind...you would still have been able to park it legally anywhere in the civilised world (usually in a 'disabled' parking bay).."It's OK,honestly!..It's a really sought after BEEMER!!!so I can park anywhere OK!!!"
Please grow up and buy an AUDI - The thinking mans BMW!
Please grow up and buy an AUDI - The thinking mans BMW!
steverod said:
My god! Gyrock!!! Thank god you saved the day! Otherwise your fabulous 'M' powered super-duper space rocket/Almost an F1 car, poncemobile, might have been doomed...never mind...you would still have been able to park it legally anywhere in the civilised world (usually in a 'disabled' parking bay).."It's OK,honestly!..It's a really sought after BEEMER!!!so I can park anywhere OK!!!"
Please grow up and buy an AUDI - The thinking mans BMW!
Please grow up and buy an AUDI - The thinking mans BMW!
WTF? Are you joking or what?
steverod said:
My god! Gyrock!!! Thank god you saved the day! Otherwise your fabulous 'M' powered super-duper space rocket/Almost an F1 car, poncemobile, might have been doomed...never mind...you would still have been able to park it legally anywhere in the civilised world (usually in a 'disabled' parking bay).."It's OK,honestly!..It's a really sought after BEEMER!!!so I can park anywhere OK!!!"
Please grow up and buy an AUDI - The thinking mans BMW!
Please grow up and buy an AUDI - The thinking mans BMW!
What a tw@t!
Delighted to hear the garage owner is being decent and honest about this. It is a shame that these days we automatically prepare ourselves for the worst in this kind of instance, and expect the culpable party to try and get out of it.
This whole thread also highlights an issue I had never given much thought to - I will now! All thebest for a speedy resolution Gyrock.
steverod said:
My god! I'm a t
t!! Thank god I'm still alive what with breathing and typing at the same time being so complicated!!
t!! Thank god I'm still alive what with breathing and typing at the same time being so complicated!! 
Glad you are getting it sorted OK Gyrock. I was chatting with my mum about it last night, she thought it would probably be cleared up with very few issues due to it being a BP garage (I think that means as you suggest, BP would have left them little option!)
I'm an Audi owner and in no way wish to be associated with the wooden head further up this thread.
It's no-ones fault that some of the trained monkeys get paid enough to drive Audi's. It just happens.
Sounds like Gyrock has found that most rare of breeds in our country these days - an honest and helpful person willing to admit a mistake. For that point alone, i'd actually go back to his services. I'm also damn sure that they won't be making the same mistake again!
It's no-ones fault that some of the trained monkeys get paid enough to drive Audi's. It just happens.
Sounds like Gyrock has found that most rare of breeds in our country these days - an honest and helpful person willing to admit a mistake. For that point alone, i'd actually go back to his services. I'm also damn sure that they won't be making the same mistake again!
steverod said:
My god! Gyrock!!! Thank god you saved the day! Otherwise your fabulous 'M' powered super-duper space rocket/Almost an F1 car, poncemobile, might have been doomed...never mind...you would still have been able to park it legally anywhere in the civilised world (usually in a 'disabled' parking bay).."It's OK,honestly!..It's a really sought after BEEMER!!!so I can park anywhere OK!!!"
Please grow old and buy an AUDI - The drinking mans BMW!
Please grow old and buy an AUDI - The drinking mans BMW!
Steverod, how did you know Gyrock was disabled?
I like your recommendation though
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