The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune...

[dibbly_dobbler]

Ok so I took delivery of my new 330i saloon today (08, 2000 miles, manual, M-Sport saloon). Driven up from Liverpool to Edinburgh by a courier. I checked it over and then signed the docs - dropped the guy off at the station and drove home. Seemed a bit 'wobbly' on the way back from the station so I checked the tyre pressures - two of them were very low so I inflated them fully. No warning lights on at this stage.

Heading out a bit later with Mrs DD. Warning light comes on - I've got two (yes - f*cking two !!) flat tyres !! And to cap it off there's no f*cking locking wheel nut !!!

So I called the dealer - very apologetic about the locking wheel nut and he's offered to split the cost of the two tyres. Technically he could have told me to naff off as I signed for the car as being ok - and technically the tyres could have been punctured on the way to the station and back (5 miles) so I cant really blame him but it's been a bit frustrating to say the least. So I've to take it into the local BMW dealer on Monday morning to get it all sorted out. Gutted

[TheEnd]

should have said 4 flats, and his half would cover the bad two!

[camera]

Dibbly did you genuinely have two flats the second time, or did the warning light just come on? (The tyre pressure monitor system needs to be initialised after inflating the tyres.)
Apologies if this was obvious - not trying to be a clever s**te but may save a bit of hassle.

Dave

[V12Les]

camera said:

Dibbly did you genuinely have two flats the second time, or did the warning light just come on? (The tyre pressure monitor system needs to be initialised after inflating the tyres.)
Apologies if this was obvious - not trying to be a clever s**te but may save a bit of hassle.

Dave

+1

[dibbly_dobbler]

camera said:

Dibbly did you genuinely have two flats the second time, or did the warning light just come on? (The tyre pressure monitor system needs to be initialised after inflating the tyres.)
Apologies if this was obvious - not trying to be a clever s**te but may save a bit of hassle.

Dave

Unfortunately yes - the funny thing was that the warning light hadn't actually come on before I inflated them even though they were virtually flat as a pancake (0.5ish bar). After I inflated them they lost air very quickly and the light came on soon after - I retested them and they were clearly losing air.

Bummer as I was really up for getting the car and initial impression were good.

[camera]

Very unlucky then! Hope you get it sorted soon and then start to enjoy the car. I came back to BMW this year (used to have an E36 330i a few years ago) and got a 330i coupe - brilliant car IMHO.

Dave

[dibbly_dobbler]

camera said:

Very unlucky then! Hope you get it sorted soon and then start to enjoy the car. I came back to BMW this year (used to have an E36 330i a few years ago) and got a 330i coupe - brilliant car IMHO.

Dave

Cheers Dave - hopefully get it sorted on Monday and (snow permitting !) I'll get a few miles under my belt

[abarber]

Hmmm, my 330i on runflats suffered a similar fate. Couldn't believe how many punctures it picked up.

Having ditched them, no punctures since. Also never had any on previous cars.

Ditch them! The ride is transformed too!

[gizlaroc]

You collected a new car?
It seemed wobbly so you checked the tyres??
Two were flat??

The dealer will pay half???

I would be threatening him with legal action for selling me a car with flat tyres!!

[dibbly_dobbler]

gizlaroc said:

You collected a new car?
It seemed wobbly so you checked the tyres??
Two were flat??

The dealer will pay half???

I would be threatening him with legal action for selling me a car with flat tyres!!

Well not quite - the car was delivered (ie driven from Liverpool to Edinburgh) and seemed ok when it arrived (no warning lights anyway - I suspect the tyres must have been soft though). I signed for it as ok - had a short drive - then noticed the tyres - then inflated them as they were flat as pancakes - then shortly after the warning light came on and they were deflating fast.

No obvious nails/screws in them so I hope it's not a problem with the rims ? ie if they were soft then a pot hole was hit it could have cracked them ... Hope not but we'll see tomorrow !

[Neil.D]

gizlaroc said:

You collected a new car?
It seemed wobbly so you checked the tyres??
Two were flat??

The dealer will pay half???

I would be threatening him with legal action for selling me a car with flat tyres!!

Perhaps a little dramatic. I Would hate to see you deal with a real problem.

This is a minor isue that the OP seems to have got a grip of. Remember the car has been driven, from the showroom or whatever to the buyer, so the salesman didnt have any real control of the matter.

[clonmult]

camera said:

Very unlucky then! Hope you get it sorted soon and then start to enjoy the car. I came back to BMW this year (used to have an E36 330i a few years ago) and got a 330i coupe - brilliant car IMHO.

Dave

E36 330? Either a modification or an E46 330 .... ?

[Flat6]

Bad luck mate, hope you get it sorted. I also had a small problem when collecting my 130i (from a BMW dealer in Liverpool strangely enough!) and although nothing major it did take the shine off, which is annoying when a "new" car purchase is something few people can look forward to very often. You obviously want everything to be spot on...

What are your initial impressions coming from the 130i?

[dibbly_dobbler]

Flat6 said:

Bad luck mate, hope you get it sorted. I also had a small problem when collecting my 130i (from a BMW dealer in Liverpool strangely enough!) and although nothing major it did take the shine off, which is annoying when a "new" car purchase is something few people can look forward to very often. You obviously want everything to be spot on...

What are your initial impressions coming from the 130i?

Hi Nathan. Too early to tell very much as I only managed a few miles before the tyre calamity but the interior is very very nice, gearchange is lovely and smooth, the ride is firm but a bit less crashy than my old 1er (se on 18s which was arguably the worst possible combination), refinement levels in general are a bit higher. The steering wheel is lovely to hold compared to the rather hard item in my 130se. No real idea about handling/performance as yet.

One interesting thing was that the fuel economy was crap (ie 27mpg) when I got into it after 250ish motorway miles so unless the courier was doing donuts for half an hour before dropping it off I suspect the tyres were indeed soft and this was a factor. (Mind you he did say he preferred autos and he didn't realise it had a sixth gear )

[camera]

clonmult said:

E36 330? Either a modification or an E46 330 .... ?

I need to take more care typing - E46 330

Dave

[dibbly_dobbler]

Evening All. The new beast is now all sorted and in tip top condition. Absolutely delighted with the car - fabulous bit of engineering and way better than anything that I have owned before

The tyre shenanigans were resolved in the end - tricky situation but well handled by the dealer so it didn't turn nasty.

Now I just need some decent weather so I can get out for a play !

[DSM2]

dibbly_dobbler said:

gizlaroc said:

You collected a new car?
It seemed wobbly so you checked the tyres??
Two were flat??

The dealer will pay half???

I would be threatening him with legal action for selling me a car with flat tyres!!

Well not quite - the car was delivered (ie driven from Liverpool to Edinburgh) and seemed ok when it arrived (no warning lights anyway - I suspect the tyres must have been soft though). I signed for it as ok - had a short drive - then noticed the tyres - then inflated them as they were flat as pancakes - then shortly after the warning light came on and they were deflating fast.

No obvious nails/screws in them so I hope it's not a problem with the rims ? ie if they were soft then a pot hole was hit it could have cracked them ... Hope not but we'll see tomorrow !

Sounds like the car was driven from Liverpool to Edinburgh on two deflated RFTs, maybe with the TPMS un-initialised. That would have fked the tyres, which then wouldn't stay inflated, the sidewalls would be ruined. The tyres are capable of doing that. A mate of mine had a puncture coming off a ferry in Dover. Drove to Stoke on Trent on the deflated, but by then knackered, tyre.

There is no way you should have had to contribute to the replacements. The delivery driver must have been numb or dumb not to notice but sounds like he was if he didn't see the 6 on the gear knob!

[dibbly_dobbler]

DSM2 said:

dibbly_dobbler said:

gizlaroc said:

You collected a new car?
It seemed wobbly so you checked the tyres??
Two were flat??

The dealer will pay half???

I would be threatening him with legal action for selling me a car with flat tyres!!

Well not quite - the car was delivered (ie driven from Liverpool to Edinburgh) and seemed ok when it arrived (no warning lights anyway - I suspect the tyres must have been soft though). I signed for it as ok - had a short drive - then noticed the tyres - then inflated them as they were flat as pancakes - then shortly after the warning light came on and they were deflating fast.

No obvious nails/screws in them so I hope it's not a problem with the rims ? ie if they were soft then a pot hole was hit it could have cracked them ... Hope not but we'll see tomorrow !

Sounds like the car was driven from Liverpool to Edinburgh on two deflated RFTs, maybe with the TPMS un-initialised. That would have fked the tyres, which then wouldn't stay inflated, the sidewalls would be ruined. The tyres are capable of doing that. A mate of mine had a puncture coming off a ferry in Dover. Drove to Stoke on Trent on the deflated, but by then knackered, tyre.

There is no way you should have had to contribute to the replacements. The delivery driver must have been numb or dumb not to notice but sounds like he was if he didn't see the 6 on the gear knob!

Thanks for your thoughts mate - you may well be right. I didn't feel I could push it too far with the dealer as I had signed off the car as ok but maybe I'm just a soft touch !

All sorted now anyway and the car is just fabulous - totally loving it

[Sticks2]

As a footnote I had something similar with my Audi. Had it about a week, checked pressures, one bit down, did it again few days later, ditto. Went to tyre firm for repair, two punctures in same tyre. 2 likely in 10 days? Hmm.

Mentioned it to regular car wash bloke who used to work for Audi. If car on forecourt gets a flat, they pump it up again, and again, and again, and then someone buys it.

As it was going to cost me £350 for the pair, next time I buy a car I'll discuss it first.

Glad you're enjoying it now though

[dibbly_dobbler]

Los Angeles said:

dibbly_dobbler said:

So I called the dealer. Gutted

The chances of getting two flats on the way home must be slight. Sorry to hear of your woes, DD. I hope good drives to come will make up for the initial disappointment.

Thanks LA - appreciate the sentiment . Just nipped out to the shops and to fill up - reset the OBC etc while I was at it (and turned off that god-awful gearchange indicator!) - on the 3 mile trip back through town averaged 18mph and 30mpg. Heaven.

The omens are good and I am in danger of becoming the guy who drones on about his 330i so sorry in advance