BMW warranty claim, OK in the end but.......

[HoHoHo]

Long story short....

4 months ago I sent image of my 4 F15 wheels with corrosion just by the centre caps to my local dealer (via the sales guy who I know well). I immediately got a reply confirming the warranty head honcho agreed they were corroded and would replace them however I needed to pop along to the dealer to have more photos/video taken to be sent to BMW.

Roll on to today and I pop along for my appointment (I’ve been away so this is the first chance I’ve had) and I await within the showroom for the videos to be taken.

As it happens my service pack includes wipers which I asked for last service but I got an indignant look and no wipers...So I ask for those today. “We can do those but lets wait until the next service Mr. HoHoHo....”, No why not fit them now as I’m here please.....shoulder shrug but it gets done (well, two of them did until I noticed and then the rear got changed!)

After 4 and a half hours wait I got told the wheels were corroded but not sufficient enough to warrant a warranty claim and oh, by the way you’ve got rear shock with some evidence of a leak.

Hang on a minute........

So the wheels are corroded, the car is not 2 years old and as can be seen no strong acid etc. has ever touched them but regardless of the fact they’re suffering it’s not quite enough.....

Oh and what about the shock...”that’s wear and tear” I’m told. However don’t worry £1296 should put it right.... £1296 for one shock.......I am quite literally shocked........

Can I have a quick word with the service manager (they’re not called that these days but that’s what they are).

Roll on another 15 minutes and eventually a rather embarrassed young lady (actually you girl) is thrown to the wolves and stands in front of me - the service manage has the sts or something similar I guess

We have a long chat which results in young lady explaining the wheels are corroded but not enough to warrant a claim. I simply confirm “so the wheels have corrosion but it’s not enough - so in truth they’re faulty but not quite faulty enough, is that correct?”

That sums it up she whimpers.

And the shock absorber issue on a car which is less than two years old with average mileage, is that covered under warranty?

Errrrrr.........yes, apparently so she says and off she goes with her whatsit between her legs with a young man looking startled who has no idea what he’s talking about and could have cost me £1400 (he didn’t but I could have spent the money if I hadn’t questioned the situation)

I ask for a call regarding the wheels once they have their heads together and guess what, within 5 minutes of leaving the dealer I get a call saying really sorry, get your car back when it’s convenient and we’ll change all of your wheels. Apparently the video they took is pants and they can’t see the corrosion howeve the photos I supplied 4 moths ago are great and that’s all they need top confirm all 4 will be replaced under warranty.

So, my conclusion is to stay focussed and don’t be fobbed off!

Minor rant over

[bimjim]

These diamond cut alloys just don't last.

Mine were replaced earlier this year. It'll be interesting to see how long the replacements last.

[anonymous-user]

bimjim said:

These diamond cut alloys just don't last.

Mine were replaced earlier this year. It'll be interesting to see how long the replacements last.

I find it interesting that some of the ‘premium brands’ like BMW and Mercedes (our SLK a case in point) have this issue but others (my son’s Qashqai another case in point) don’t.

The Qashqai’s 4 yo, not a mark. Our SLK was 2.5 yo and 15000 miles and had all 4 replaced.

[HoHoHo]

To be fair the wheels on my F10 M5 were still perfect after 3 years and 36,000 miles when that went back.

The X5 wheels and those on my wife’s old X5 just don’t last.

[Sheepshanks]

HoHoHo said:

We have a long chat which results in young lady explaining the wheels are corroded but not enough to warrant a claim. I simply confirm “so the wheels have corrosion but it’s not enough - so in truth they’re faulty but not quite faulty enough, is that correct?”

I had exactly the same with diamond cut wheels on a VW, but without your ultimate success.

VW CS said "not faulty enough" is not an acceptable answer from the dealer - they're either OK or they're not. Great, I thought. Until the Service Manager looked at them and said "they're OK".

Edited by Sheepshanks on Wednesday 29th August 10:46

[Sheepshanks]

HoHoHo said:

We have a long chat which results in young lady explaining the wheels are corroded but not enough to warrant a claim. I simply confirm “so the wheels have corrosion but it’s not enough - so in truth they’re faulty but not quite faulty enough, is that correct?”

I had exactly the same with diamond cut wheels on a VW, but without your ultimate success.

VW CS said "not faulty enough" is not an acceptable answer from the dealer - they're either OK or they're not. Great, I thought. Until the Service Manager looked at them and said "they're OK".

Edited by Sheepshanks on Wednesday 29th August 10:47

[sjj84]

What is and isn't covered by warranty seems to be very reliant on who you speak to. They clearly have very little training in this area. One particular service advisor at my local dealership seems to think nothing is covered, fortunately most of the others are a little more knowledgable.

[Darlo74]

I think it depends on the dealer - I had the rear shocks on my 335i replaced earlier this year, both under warranty and the car is over 10 years old. They spotted it and came to be straight away to say the warranty have agreed to cover it, job done no cost or hassle to me!

[DanL]

Alls well that ends well, but blimey - use a different dealer from now on.