Fed up, f*cked off (and about to throw the towel in)
Discussion
Whereas our local dealership have been fantastic on the only very occasional visit to them. Could not fault them at all. In fact, it sort of sold me to the brand that little bit more.
Not that I use them - I use a local BMW indy instead and they reset my adaptations for no ££ and it was all done in just over the hour whilst they were doing an oil service.
Never take one dealership experience as a blanket experience for that brand of car. Unless it's a Renault
Not that I use them - I use a local BMW indy instead and they reset my adaptations for no ££ and it was all done in just over the hour whilst they were doing an oil service.
Never take one dealership experience as a blanket experience for that brand of car. Unless it's a Renault
A quick update. Over the weekend I found the company with a Hunter Road Force balancing machine closest to me.
I dropped in there this afternoon and had both front wheels checked on the Road Force balancer.
Long and short :
The O/S/F wheel and tyre combination was perfect.
The N/S/F wheel was perfect.
The ten day old (new) Continental Sport Contact 5 on the N/S/F has high spots and is out of spec.
They used the Hunter to balance the problem out, and now the car is pretty much perfect.
I phoned the supplier of the tyre and they've agreed to do a warranty claim on the faulty tyre. Unfortunately this means having a new tyre fitted (which I'll have to pay for) and the faulty tyre being sent back to Continental for analysis. If the tyre is found to be faulty, I'll be credited the cost of the new tyre. If it's found to be ok, it'll be returned to me.
Whilst the process of making a warranty claim is annoying, I'm off to see the German round of the WRC on Wednesday, so if I put another 1000 miles on the faulty tyre, Continental will reduce the amount I'm credited accordingly, so it seemed pragmatic to get the tyre replaced asap.
Furthermore, whilst the Hunter Road Force machine has balanced the vibration out of the tyre, I was concerned that a high spot is a high spot, and that balancing the problem out rather having a tyre that is within spec isn't the ideal solution.
I'll update once the new tyre has been fitted, but in the meantime to everyone who made useful suggestions/contributions to this thread (especially those who made me aware of the Hunter Road Force balancing machine) a massive thankyou
I dropped in there this afternoon and had both front wheels checked on the Road Force balancer.
Long and short :
The O/S/F wheel and tyre combination was perfect.
The N/S/F wheel was perfect.
The ten day old (new) Continental Sport Contact 5 on the N/S/F has high spots and is out of spec.
They used the Hunter to balance the problem out, and now the car is pretty much perfect.
I phoned the supplier of the tyre and they've agreed to do a warranty claim on the faulty tyre. Unfortunately this means having a new tyre fitted (which I'll have to pay for) and the faulty tyre being sent back to Continental for analysis. If the tyre is found to be faulty, I'll be credited the cost of the new tyre. If it's found to be ok, it'll be returned to me.
Whilst the process of making a warranty claim is annoying, I'm off to see the German round of the WRC on Wednesday, so if I put another 1000 miles on the faulty tyre, Continental will reduce the amount I'm credited accordingly, so it seemed pragmatic to get the tyre replaced asap.
Furthermore, whilst the Hunter Road Force machine has balanced the vibration out of the tyre, I was concerned that a high spot is a high spot, and that balancing the problem out rather having a tyre that is within spec isn't the ideal solution.
I'll update once the new tyre has been fitted, but in the meantime to everyone who made useful suggestions/contributions to this thread (especially those who made me aware of the Hunter Road Force balancing machine) a massive thankyou
Pdelamare said:
I need closure on this one please.
Closure is yours The tyre was deemed to be faulty and I was credited the full cost (though as an aside, the Continentals wore out in less than 9k miles, far,far quicker than any Michelins I've run on my various BMW's)
My tyre supplier sent them back to Continental as they too thought the wear excessive, but Continental deemed the tyres faultless.
The vibration issue problem was improved with the new tyres/accurate balancing, but it never completely went away, and I sold the car to a mate in January of 2014. he ran the car with it's BMW warranty until late last year and when he part chopped it in for a M135i, it had 170k under its wheels.
He used it hard, but didn't abuse it, but it needed a host of warranty work (new gearbox, new torque converter, new TC drive plate, various oil leaks and an ABS ECU.
He loved the car, but it was spending more time at the dealer than him driving it, so it had to go.
Still, a brilliant car, and probably the best daily driver I've owned (with my old E46 330 D M Sport auto saloon a very close second).
I went on to buy a low mileage 10 plate 335D M Sport auto saloon off an independent dealer, unaware that BMW softened the suspension on the M Sport models built after March 2009 (IIRC), the car was a wallowy barge in comparison with the older car, had serious misting issues and it's fuel consumption was hopeless until my local dealer loaded the very latest software updates in to the car. Then it outperformed my old car, but only until they serviced the car a few months later, when it returned to doing 30 mpg. Fed up with it, I stacked it into the back of an Volvo estate (who's owner got very irate !) on Dartmoor. It was repaired (perfectly) but I traded it for a 3 door 120 D M Sport auto the day I got it back from being repaired.....
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I was hoping the tyres would be the final piece of the vibration mystery, it's difficult to imagine what else it could be and you'd have to change every rotating component until it went away to really find out I think. It could have been something as simple as a bit of dirt between a disc and hub or something drastic like the gearbox.
Anyway, brave of you for sticking with BMW after everything that followed, not sure I would have. Everything ok with the 120d?
I was hoping the tyres would be the final piece of the vibration mystery, it's difficult to imagine what else it could be and you'd have to change every rotating component until it went away to really find out I think. It could have been something as simple as a bit of dirt between a disc and hub or something drastic like the gearbox.
Anyway, brave of you for sticking with BMW after everything that followed, not sure I would have. Everything ok with the 120d?
Pdelamare said:
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I was hoping the tyres would be the final piece of the vibration mystery, it's difficult to imagine what else it could be and you'd have to change every rotating component until it went away to really find out I think. It could have been something as simple as a bit of dirt between a disc and hub or something drastic like the gearbox.
Anyway, brave of you for sticking with BMW after everything that followed, not sure I would have. Everything ok with the 120d?
My guess is that what I experienced was the early signs of the 'box or the torque converter failing. Having sold the car I never drove or passengered in it again.I was hoping the tyres would be the final piece of the vibration mystery, it's difficult to imagine what else it could be and you'd have to change every rotating component until it went away to really find out I think. It could have been something as simple as a bit of dirt between a disc and hub or something drastic like the gearbox.
Anyway, brave of you for sticking with BMW after everything that followed, not sure I would have. Everything ok with the 120d?
The 120D was superb, I did 32k miles in a little over 16 months in it. It was totally faultless, in short a brilliant little car. But I sold it as I was piling the miles on it, and I feared it's value would plummet.
I bought a '13 plate 7k miles F30 330 D M Sport auto saloon last Nov. it's superb car, as quick, if not quicker than my old E90 335D, but it feels a bit big, and also a bit too refined (put bluntly it feels a bit of an old man's car), I miss the more compact dimensions of the older car, and the better (for which read heavier) control weights.
The driver function (Eco Pro, Comfort, Sport) button on the F30 seems a waste of time in the later car, added to which you can't separate the functions from one setting to another, I'd like the heavier steering in Comfort without the quicker throttle response and quicker gearchange. Can't be done.
The button would be more useful if it were located in the steering wheel, instead of which it's in the centre console, so you have to take a hand off the wheel to adjust it.
And in their infinite wisdom BMW elected to place the TC switch right in front of the driver function switch, if you decide to alter the driver function switch by feel, it's all to easy to switch the traction control off .... And yes I have, on at least three separate occasions ....
Blimey, a thread revival and a (somewhat) happy ending!
The OP's experience somewhat remind me of my experience of Peugeot Brentford - where I took my first ever car (a 407) to be serviced.
They once gave me a bill for nearly £3k of work they said *needed* doing on a 5K car, which I said sod off. Next time the car was in there, a year later, with none of the work having been done, they couldn't find any faults with it! How mysterious...
The OP's experience somewhat remind me of my experience of Peugeot Brentford - where I took my first ever car (a 407) to be serviced.
They once gave me a bill for nearly £3k of work they said *needed* doing on a 5K car, which I said sod off. Next time the car was in there, a year later, with none of the work having been done, they couldn't find any faults with it! How mysterious...
Slippydiff said:
I went on to buy a low mileage 10 plate 335D M Sport auto saloon off an independent dealer, unaware that BMW softened the suspension on the M Sport models built after March 2009 (IIRC), the car was a wallowy barge in comparison with the older car..
Interesting. I couldn't abide the MSport suspension on our 2008 330 and ended up changing it for Ohlins. Transformed the car from one that I drove with gritted teeth to one that is a joy to use, irrespective of road quality. I am still amazed that BMW would sell a car with such a harsh set up. It wasn't just firm, it was crude and as such completely spoilt the car for me.foxsasha said:
Interesting. I couldn't abide the MSport suspension on our 2008 330 and ended up changing it for Ohlins. Transformed the car from one that I drove with gritted teeth to one that is a joy to use, irrespective of road quality. I am still amazed that BMW would sell a car with such a harsh set up. It wasn't just firm, it was crude and as such completely spoilt the car for me.
I ran the car on Michelin PS2 non- runflats, it took the edge of the harshness you allude to. Whenever I got back in to the 335D after driving a "normal" car, it did feel incredibly taught, and while it wasn't good on poorly surfaced roads, it all made sense at the high A road speeds that I frequently did whilst commuting between N.Wales and the Midlands.The later cars were no doubt an improvement for many, but I found the suspension set up too soft and too much like a pogo stick when you were really pressing on.
What Ohlins did you fit to your car ? Their R & T kit or something more bespoke ?
Slippydiff said:
I ran the car on Michelin PS2 non- runflats, it took the edge of the harshness you allude to. Whenever I got back in to the 335D after driving a "normal" car, it did feel incredibly taught, and while it wasn't good on poorly surfaced roads, it all made sense at the high A road speeds that I frequently did whilst commuting between N.Wales and the Midlands.
The later cars were no doubt an improvement for many, but I found the suspension set up too soft and too much like a pogo stick when you were really pressing on.
What Ohlins did you fit to your car ? Their R & T kit or something more bespoke ?
My car came with Yoko Advan non run flats. I wasn't a fan and have since changed them to Goodyear Assymetric 2s. The later cars were no doubt an improvement for many, but I found the suspension set up too soft and too much like a pogo stick when you were really pressing on.
What Ohlins did you fit to your car ? Their R & T kit or something more bespoke ?
It's the boxed R&T product. Made the car for me. So much so that after test driving an Exige S and again not liking the fidgity overly firm suspension characteristics at slow speed I had a set of Ohlins built for that too. They were a much bigger pill to swallow in terms of price though as they were custom built and based on the more sophisticated Cup R kit but valved and sprung 15% softer. Haven't collected the car with them fitted yet but the Ohlins fella is raving about how much the ride has improved and how much better the car tracks over road imperfections. Better braking stability on poor road surfaces too.
ZX10R NIN said:
If you can try & get the Alpina set up I really can't fault it.
I managed to order an Alpina rear spoiler for my E90 335D off Sytner without a chassis number, would I be able to order a set of springs and dampers without one too ?
foxsasha said:
My car came with Yoko Advan non run flats. I wasn't a fan and have since changed them to Goodyear Assymetric 2s.
It's the boxed R&T product. Made the car for me. So much so that after test driving an Exige S and again not liking the fidgity overly firm suspension characteristics at slow speed I had a set of Ohlins built for that too. They were a much bigger pill to swallow in terms of price though as they were custom built and based on the more sophisticated Cup R kit but valved and sprung 15% softer. Haven't collected the car with them fitted yet but the Ohlins fella is raving about how much the ride has improved and how much better the car tracks over road imperfections. Better braking stability on poor road surfaces too.
I ran Ohlins 3 way adjustables on my Mk1 996 GT3 (they're specially rebuilt ex 996 RS race car items), forget bigger brakes, increased horsepower, even stickier tyres, top quality dampers (and springs) are the biggest single mechanical factor in improving the majority of road cars IMO. The damper control at high speed was otherwordly, and as close to the mythical magic carpet ride as you could get.It's the boxed R&T product. Made the car for me. So much so that after test driving an Exige S and again not liking the fidgity overly firm suspension characteristics at slow speed I had a set of Ohlins built for that too. They were a much bigger pill to swallow in terms of price though as they were custom built and based on the more sophisticated Cup R kit but valved and sprung 15% softer. Haven't collected the car with them fitted yet but the Ohlins fella is raving about how much the ride has improved and how much better the car tracks over road imperfections. Better braking stability on poor road surfaces too.
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