Advice : BMW warranty claim

[fourspoons]

tjs79 said:

I agree but wanted to point out their warranty is far from black and white making it legally difficult to exclude liability on this basis, irrespective of any overriding statutory rights here. Ignore the legal avenue though - I endorse the PR approach as the most simple and effective. I work inhouse and know the fear that management have of any negative press ruining their carefully orchestrated public image.

Edited by tjs79 on Wednesday 4th February 08:44

Thanks for the advice. I agree the PR approach is hopefully the most direct. If it doesn't work, then legal representation and the fit for purpose route will be my next avenue I think. Any recommendations for who could represent me?

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NORTS said:

Call it irrelevant all you like but in the courtroom this is what counts. It's their disclaimer.

The driver's handbook makes no reference to driving on track or racing or anything of the sort as far as I can find

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Minor Update : My email to the MD has been acknowledged and I've been assigned a Customer Service Manager to review my case. I now at least have a name and phone number of a real person at BMW which is more than I had yesterday.

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Soov535 said:

Sadly on this occasion not even I can help.

Car was on track, went bang. BMW fold arms and say "no cover".

So OP has either to sue, or suck it up. And if he loses he will be looking at a £100k bill not a £13k one.

Do you not think given that what I was doing does not seem to be excluded by the wording and the previous case that got resolved in Mr Carter's favour, I have a strong case?

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McSam said:

uch as I'm disappointed you haven't been able to pull anything out of the hat this time, I'm with you on that point. Going to court against a global company with a case that is quite subjective is bonkers.

OP: have you considered my earlier suggestion of contacting Goldtrack for a clarification of what is and isn't permitted on their track days? It may not help, but if they produce a letter clearly stating that racing, timing and competitive behaviour are all strictly prohibited then it can't hurt your case.

Yes I have, I asked them for a letter confirming the nature of the day and that the rules specifically prohibit anything competitive and that I was driving within the rules of the event during the day.

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tjs79 said:

I maintain there's no need to 'get legal' but check your home insurance in case you have legal cover. Talk of 100k expenses in relation to a 13k claim is scaremongering nonsense, no court is going to award that. There are a lot of miles between the pre action letter and a day in court, hopefully if this grabs enough attention none of this will be necessary.

That's a good suggestion, I do have legal expenses cover on my household policy

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xenon said:

I'm expecting a post from the OP at some point today that BMW have agreed to meet his claim.

I really hope you are right!

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SFO said:

Limit is now £10,000

That would cover most of it and would certainly be better than risking covering their costs

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gtdc said:

All of these things are completely prohibited on our days and we are very happy to write, telephone whatever whoever you need us to. This is VERY bad PR for BMW & we are rather taken aback by it. (have only read page 1 of the thread so far in case we have a happy finish later)

Many thanks for the support. I did email Melindi last night asking for a letter confirming that, pleased to see you will oblige.

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HorneyMX5 said:

I'll tweet this thread tonight if nothing has moved on for the OP.

Thanks! I will update the thread with any news. Nothing as of yet

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smithf32 said:

Well I joined just for this thread because I'm outraged.

Can we talk about one thing though:

BMW offers the "TRACK HANDLING PACKAGE" on the 228i, it comes standard on the M235i. Is this a joke? You use the word track in one of your package names for the 2 series, and then claim it can't be used on the track.

Or what about the M Performance LSD for the M235 which says "For the ultimate in TRACK DAY performance, the M Performance Limited Slip Differential is here!"

There is plenty on their own site insinuating that these cars can be used on a track.

That is a very good point, thank you. I will make reference to this in my next letter.

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CarlT said:

OP - just playing Devil's Advocate, are there any running in guidelines or running in service requirements for your car. IIRC on the E46 M3 failure to have the running in service completed on time invalidated the warranty!!!

Yes, there was a 1,200 mile period where it was recommended that you kept below a certain RPM and didn't use full throttle. I followed it religiously.

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Soov535 said:

OP - did you at any point spin the car?

No, no spins or incidents of any kind until the engine let go

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GetCarter said:

As mentioned on page one, The MD of BMW said this to me in 2002 (and then gave me £5000) :

"In an effort to address the main issue of your client's complaint, I would agree that the attendance of the track event by your client as described should not be likened to "racing, rallying or a competitive sport", where even a high performance road going vehicle such as an M3 will require modification to avoid extreme wear and/or failure of engine, suspension or associated components. I would deem our refusal to cover the costs of this repair under the terms of our warranty unacceptable. I will therefore ensure that Mr Carter receives full reimbursement for the repairs carried out. I will also ensure that the wording in our warranty documentation is updated to avoid any further ambiguity."

I found that quote on the original thread and have quoted it back to them in my letter!

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RESULT

Just had a call from BMW UK. They are paying the claim in full.
They acknowledged that the car was not being driven in a competitive event and the damage is covered under the warranty.

To say I'm relieved is an understatement!!

Fair play to them, they did right in the end and came to an answer within a day, so I have to say I'm impressed.

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PPPPPP said:

I suspect it would have resolved anyway, may have taken a day or two longer.

I honestly don't think so. They told me yesterday flat out that the claim was refused, there was nothing I could do about it and there was no course for redress and despite asking, refused to give me a contact at BMW to talk to. Completely left me high and dry.

If I hadn't written a carefully constructed letter to the MD with the help of all the useful info from the folks on here, I don't see there is anyway they would have just reconsidered on their own.

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Agreed - I have added an update to post 1

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Jim1556 said:

The cartoon version...

OP: My engine's blown up, can I have a new one please?

BMW Dealer: Nope, you've been tracking it sir! ...

OP: But, but, but...

BMW Dealer: That'll be £13k please! ...

OP: .........

BMW Dealer:

OP: ... ... ... ... ...

Cue the Pistonheads (and social media) heroes: ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

BMW GB: ... ... ... ... ...

BMW GB: OP, we'll sort your car out as it's only fair and we don't want to give the masses a reason not to buy our cars!

OP: ... ... ... ... ... ...



Yes, I'm bored - away with work for a month and the TV is in dutch!



OP: Great result, common sense has prevailed, I'm just surprised BMW GB didn't sort sooner and your dealer (Bracknell?) was utterly obtuse by the sound of it. I'd be saying to them...

Best of luck!

That is brilliant! And remarkably accurate!

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Thanks for all your words of congratulations! And thanks again to everyone that commented with useful information, particularly of course GetCarter for the hard work in his previous case that set the precedent.

The update is the dealer its at have already ordered the new engine and they say it will be fitted and ready to go by Tuesday night, possibly Wednesday.
I'm going to let them do the work, although to be honest it doesn't seem like I really have an option on that now BMW have authorised them to do it and they've already got underway on it.
To be fair, I've never had any complaint about the quality of their technical work so I'm just as happy for them to do it as anyone else. I think the other local-ish dealer options are all part of the same group anyway.

I asked what the root cause of the failure was and they don't know and its unlikely we'll ever find out. Apparently they just take the complete engine out, put it on a crate and send it back, no actual diagnosis will be attempted.

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I have a number of complaints about the way my case was handled as you can imagine, but I think my main disappointment is how the dealership left me completely high and dry, without a contact at BMW and refused to represent my case back to BMW, even though I was correct and they were wrong. I had to take it upon myself to write to the UK MD in order to illicit a response from BMW UK.

I believe that the dealership I have spent tens of thousands of pounds at over the years ought to be a customer advocate within BMW and be representing ME, not essentially ganging up with BMW to find dubious grounds to reject a claim and then refuse to talk about it.