Thursday 2nd December 2021

BMW 335i Touring (F31) | PH Fleet

Braking news - running a used car can be wheely expensive...

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We all like to keep our cars looking and feeling tip top, right? A proper petrolhead doesn't mind spending extra on matching premium tyres, the OE-recommended oil, perhaps the odd tank of super unleaded to show you care. Though the BMW is so much more valuable than anything else I've ever owned, I've been keen to maintain it as well as possible. This is someone who spent £400 on tyres for a Civic that cost them £800, after all...

I was told the 335i would need a brake fluid refresh a few weeks after purchase from North Oxford (due in October, bought in August); not ideal but also not the end of the world, as it wasn't going to cost loads. Which is where the fun of the past couple of months really started. My local BMW service centre at Park Royal took the car in, only to report back a couple of hours later that the fluid couldn't be changed owing to "three of the four bleed nipples are seized and could possibly snap off". The solution was two new front brake calipers, at a cost of £1,370.94. Which wouldn't be covered under the approved used warranty, because the car had been outside (!) and this was inevitable wear.

I was livid. The low or old fluid must have been picked up in the "full vehicle preparation and stringent inspection" promised with an approved used BMW, because it was mentioned at sale. At the time I didn't think much of it, but it's hard not to be a bit cynical a few months later. Brake fluid shouldn't be a hard job (should it?), and if the work needed doing in eight weeks then it would make sense to refresh as part of the sale prep; that is, assuming the car didn't need front brake calipers when you've gone to do the change...

Having spoken to Birds BMW about a more affordable fix (half the price, in fact), Park Royal - without me making a fuss, I might add - came back and said that in actual fact the work could be done under warranty because brakes are a safety issue. Which was weird. But credit where it's due, the service there was very good, with regular updates and a clean car at the end. Plus, a 3 Series Touring with shiny new calipers, fresh fluid and an ever so slightly firmer brake pedal.

Then it gets really good. The vehicle inspection from BMW had shown the rear tyres were down to 3.5mm; they didn't need urgently doing, but with winter approaching at this point it seemed the ideal opportunity to ditch the run flats I'd always planned to. The previous owner certainly hadn't skimped, with Continental SportContact 5 SSRs on each corner, but I never wanted to keep them on the car because nobody has anything good to say about performance cars on RFTs. So, I bought a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4s; they were recommended by a lot of people, I've always had good experience with Michelins, and what's a credit card for if not buying nice things for your car?

With £652 paid (thank you discount day), I went to Kwik Fit on a Sunday morning expecting a speedy turnaround on the fresh rubber - rookie mistake, obviously. Whenever the front wheels had been put back on - say, for replacing the brake calipers - the nuts had been massively overtightened. Two hours, some large tools, and a lot of swearing later, only the front left had come off - the front driver's side wouldn't budge. At all.

I was sent away to get a new locking wheel nut key, so that meant another trip to Park Royal. Only issues there being that the nuts on my car weren't what they should have been, and the master set of locking wheel nut keys at the service centre was damaged - you couldn't make it up. Again, however, the staff were extremely helpful, and the key that appeared to be the correct one was, mercifully, the right one when it turned up a week later.

The entertainment wasn't over, though, because the nuts were on so tight that even the new key couldn't entirely solve the problem. In truth I'm glad I didn't see what Kwik Fit had to do to prize them off, but in finally freeing that front-left wheel it had ruined the locking wheel nut there, so another set of four was required. All in with the key and putting the tracking right (again) it meant another £205 on top of the tyres. As well as the expense and hassle of going back and forth between tyre fitters and service centres. Suffice it to say I wasn't especially pleased. I then got home on my fresh Michelins and kerbed the driver's side wheel, just in case it hadn't been through enough. I almost cried.

More happily, the new tyres are indeed fantastic. Imagine if they weren't! A softer sidewall means improved refinement and comfort over the Contis, yet without a loss in grip or response - though, admittedly, that's comparing new tyres with not so fresh ones. If not exactly worth the palaver, the tyres feel the right choice for the 335i right now. And the Michelin font looks cool. Elsewhere the Touring continues to impress, which is why the issues not directly related to it are all the more frustrating. I just want to enjoy my car! That said, with the brake and tyres woes now behind us, it should be full steam ahead, starting with a trip to Caffeine & Machine for our Christmas Sunday Service. It'll be my first meet with the car, and I'm really looking forward to sharing it with like-minded folk. Just don't look at that driver's side wheel...

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FACT SHEET

Car: 2014 BMW 335i M Sport Touring (F31)
Run by: Matt
Bought: August 2021
Mileage: 43,876 (39,995 at purchase)
Purchase price: £19,500
Last month at a glance: Tyred of wheel woes

Previous reports:

• Matt's bought a car!
• First job for the BMW? Holiday!
• Wham, BLAM, thank you mam - the 3 Series gets a new stereo

[James72911]

Great write up! Feel your pain - think most of us have been there at some point...

Dare I say, its (almost!) nice to hear real world stories like this.

[milu]

Folk bang on about using main dealers for service history and resale etc.
Just shows how useless they are if they can’t refit a wheel without over tightening. It’s a pet hate because it causes so much hassle yet is so easy to avoid.
Trusted independents for me.
( yes I know it was warranty work)

[Twinair]

Main dealers, yes. Once had the Subaru (factory rep) and local dealer tell me that my discs and pads were: Within tolerance, but the hardness may be on the limits, so no warranty replacement would be honoured. I said: Ok. If you can provide me with the specs - I will have them done in my metrology lab at work. Within 24hrs - new discs and pads were replaced all round. You just have to stick to your guns. Sorry about the kerbing - that’s a pain.

[Court_S]

Sounds like an absolute ball ache and a bit of a poor show by the main dealer; is there another one in reach? Over tightening the wheels is really poor. I’m sad enough to break out the torque wrench.

I’ll see you at SS.

[numtumfutunch]

Court_S said:

Sounds like an absolute ball ache and a bit of a poor show by the main dealer; is there another one in reach? Over tightening the wheels is really poor. I’m sad enough to break out the torque wrench.

I’ll see you at SS.

Absolutely, even I have a torque wrench
Inconceivable a main dealer wouldn't use one

Top naming and shaming

[itcaptainslow]

Sounds like properly horrendous service by the main dealership…! Not to mention the car being prepped rather poorly.

[Maxym]

Is that a Hurracan STO parked up ahead?

[TheMilkyBarKid]

You have my sympathies Matt, I’ve had similar issues with Jaguar main dealers. One delightfully left the coolant cap off on one occasion following a service - I got 3 miles after picking it up before I noticed the temperature gauge going through the roof, and about 5 seconds later I pulled over in a panic with steaming coolant pouring from under the bonnet. I shat myself, for a second until I got the bonnet open I thought it was on fire!

That main dealership closed that year. How sad.

I’ll see you a week on Sunday too - I’ll do a quick under bonnet check beforehand!

[RobS77]

really poor show about the brake fluid change - it used to be the case that BMW approved used cars should prepped to have at least 4 months without servicing so they shouldn't have let it out like that

[Turbobanana]

I once had a cam belt changed on an ST-engined S-Max 2.5T and the local indie forgot to tighten the engine mount afterwards

[Shappers24]

One wonders if you had to name drop PH and forthcoming article to get them to change their stance on the brakes… seems strange that they rolled over so easily.

Or maybe I’ve been sat reading NPE section too long and see conspiracies everywhere.

[coded2112]

No excuse for overtightening these days!!

[itcaptainslow]

RobS77 said:

really poor show about the brake fluid change - it used to be the case that BMW approved used cars should prepped to have at least 4 months without servicing so they shouldn't have let it out like that

Indeed-it should be a reasonable expectation the car should be able to go x months/miles without needing mechanical attention. Having to replace brake fluid and tyres so soon after purchasing an approved used car is wrong, in my opinion, and a conversation/argument I’ve just had with a north westerly VW dealership (I’d love to name and shame them on here but of course, it’s against PH rules-which don’t seem to apply to this main post!). Of course, said VW dealership didn’t give a toss, and the DP was pretty rude and obnoxious when I eventually did get through to him-it took a week of emails/telephone calls before he’d even have the courtesy to talk to me.

Having been in the trade as a service manager I used to defend it, and took pride that our cars were prepped properly, and with the customer in mind. It’s irritating that a fair amount of other dealerships don’t share those values. Short sighted, too-for the sake of a couple of hundred pounds spent at prep, the dealership are risking losing that customer for good.

Edited by itcaptainslow on Thursday 2nd December 08:38

[Andrewph75]

Wow, deserve some luck after that.

I also swapped out the run flats for Michelin Pilots first chance I had back in 2016 and been using ever since, current Pilot 4S are brilliant and definitely improves ride quality.

Mixed experience with BMW dealers, moved to a specialist soon as service pack was over

[2.5-16]

Why would you not go back to the main dealer and get them to rectify this...?

This is very poor service from a BMW dealer, having worked in the network for over 20 years i saw them 1000's of time torque then correctly, you should gave gone back and got them to sort it!

[samoht]

Thanks for sharing.

I often seem to end up spending money on recently purchased cars. Bought a low mileage 350Z and then the front brake discs were rusty on the inside face, which somehow hadn't been picked up on the pre-purchase inspection I'd had done. So two new discs and four new pads, on top of the set of MPS4 all round, rather pricey.

The only difference is that having bought the car privately, I wasn't too annoyed to have to spend money on it, whereas buying from a dealer one has an expectation of them supporting their product, which is then really infuriating when they try to wriggle out of their responsibilities. Still, good that they replaced the calipers for you in the end (do you think someone there reads Pistonheads?)

Anyway +1 on the tyre choice, have the same on my C55 estate which is somewhat similar configuration and find them jolly good.

[tomkingshott]

I don't really want to be "that guy" but if you bought that approved used the car shouldn't have been showing any servicing due that quickly. I work for a BMW dealer and deal with vehicle prep day in day out and the approved used standard is any servicing due within 4k miles or 4months gets carried out as part of the check as standard. If it's 5/6 months it would be at managers discretion kind of thing but that short a time frame should have been done by the dealer as we all use the same AUC paperwork

[Matt Bird]

Shappers24 said:

One wonders if you had to name drop PH and forthcoming article to get them to change their stance on the brakes… seems strange that they rolled over so easily.

Or maybe I’ve been sat reading NPE section too long and see conspiracies everywhere.

I really didn’t, honest! And if they looked me up they never mentioned it. Then overtightened the nuts anyway!

[RiccardoG]

Well, that is interesting!. My car is at Park Royal this very minute with, you guessed it, need for a new brake caliper as well...! In my case it was when they replaced the front discs and pads.

Perhaps their "brake guy" is a bit ham fisted??

[gofasterrosssco]

Aren't modern BMW 'M-Sport' brake calipers (usually blue coloured) becoming pretty notorious for snapping bleed nipples due to corrosion? There's a brake specialist near me who consistently gets these in for machining the nipple out out and replacing.