[Theophilus]

Greetings,

I have an issue with my service center and would like to hear your feedback as to what my next step should be.

My i5 M60 has a service bulletin for the HVAC knocking noise. I took it to BMW of Buena Park and they verified the concern. They told me they'd get the parts and call me back to get the repair done. Indeed, they called me back and I brought the car in two weeks ago; they gave me an i5 eDrive40 as a loaner for the entire time.

When I checked on the vehicle a week ago, the advisor told me they haven't even touched the car, because the repair requires removing the high voltage battery and there is only one rack to do that, which was being used by another car.

It has been two weeks now and they haven't done anything with my car. What would you do? Is it normal for BMW dealers to be this delayed with electric cars?

[KeelTiii]

I’d first contact the management at the dealership and then BMW NA if the dealership won’t make it right.

[AiredaleDad]

Originally Posted by Theophilus

Greetings,

I have an issue with my service center and would like to hear your feedback as to what my next step should be.

My i5 M60 has a service bulletin for the HVAC knocking noise. I took it to BMW of Buena Park and they verified the concern. They told me they'd get the parts and call me back to get the repair done. Indeed, they called me back and I brought the car in two weeks ago; they gave me an i5 eDrive40 as a loaner for the entire time.

When I checked on the vehicle a week ago, the advisor told me they haven't even touched the car, because the repair requires removing the high voltage battery and there is only one rack to do that, which was being used by another car.

It has been two weeks now and they haven't done anything with my car. What would you do? Is it normal for BMW dealers to be this delayed with electric cars?

They are probably not lying to you. It's entirely possible they are telling you the truth. The car on that rack might be in a state of disassembly that prevents it from being moved until it is done. However, they should have informed you of this when you came to turn in your car. Then they should have given you the option to have them contact you when the rack was coming open to bring your car in. But they would likely rather have the car there, so as soon as it is freed up they can move onto your car without waiting for you to schedule to bring it in at YOUR convenience. The whole time, they could be working on another car but now have to keep that rack free waiting for you.

I say you should be patient. You do not want to make an enemy of the service dept because they are not stopping work on another car so they can get to yours first. You are not put out as you have a service loaner for the duration until your car is ready. It might not be as nice as yours, but it could be worse. They could put you in a rental Camry waiting for your Bimmer back.

[scas12]

I would say start with a conversation about the expected time till they get to your car and see if that's acceptable to you. If not, propose that they notify you a few days before the slot will be available and agree to bring it back in. I've found the best service with all dealerships is when you talk to people like people and work to a mutual benefit.

[Ossian]

I can say that our local dealers seem to be significantly backed up anytime I have had an issue with our PHEV's. I get the sense that not all techs are necessarily trained to work on hybrid and EV drive trains yet, but I don't know how true that is nationally. Dropping the battery on the I5 looks like quite a production, and who knows how long the repair will take on the other car once they get past the battery. It has taken over a month each time I have taken in a PHEV With hybrid-drive-specific repairs. When I bought our X5, the finance manager mentioned that the service center is overrun in general at all times due to the high number of electronics/software issues that they are having with newer models. So in my limited experience, BMW seems to be struggling when t comes to servicing their electrified models -- interested to hear if others are having more luck. It's also a function of BMW's ever-increasing mainstream success -- I know that only one of our two local dealers was built recently, and the older one was never set up for the volume they are trying to support now.

They should have set some level of expectation for you though -- I know I was furious the first time they told me that it was going to take weeks rather than days, but they had given me a decent loaner so I just rolled with it. The service centers are still apparently catching up with the new technologies. Some day hopefully they will have more than one BEV-capable rack!

My I5 just developed the AC knock but I am holding off on taking it in because I am enjoying it too much to give it up this soon. I'll wait until they drop a service bulletin for the squeaky side view mirror and get those both knocked out at once.

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by AiredaleDad

They are probably not lying to you. It's entirely possible they are telling you the truth. The car on that rack might be in a state of disassembly that prevents it from being moved until it is done. However, they should have informed you of this when you came to turn in your car. Then they should have given you the option to have them contact you when the rack was coming open to bring your car in. But they would likely rather have the car there, so as soon as it is freed up they can move onto your car without waiting for you to schedule to bring it in at YOUR convenience. The whole time, they could be working on another car but now have to keep that rack free waiting for you.

I say you should be patient. You do not want to make an enemy of the service dept because they are not stopping work on another car so they can get to yours first. You are not put out as you have a service loaner for the duration until your car is ready. It might not be as nice as yours, but it could be worse. They could put you in a rental Camry waiting for your Bimmer back.

I agree with this, it could also be worth asking if there’s another dealer within reasonable distance that might have a battery rack that is open and could expedite the situation.

[scottjays]

Originally Posted by Theophilus

Greetings,

I have an issue with my service center and would like to hear your feedback as to what my next step should be.

My i5 M60 has a service bulletin for the HVAC knocking noise. I took it to BMW of Buena Park and they verified the concern. They told me they'd get the parts and call me back to get the repair done. Indeed, they called me back and I brought the car in two weeks ago; they gave me an i5 eDrive40 as a loaner for the entire time.

When I checked on the vehicle a week ago, the advisor told me they haven't even touched the car, because the repair requires removing the high voltage battery and there is only one rack to do that, which was being used by another car.

It has been two weeks now and they haven't done anything with my car. What would you do? Is it normal for BMW dealers to be this delayed with electric cars?

I had the knocking sound. My South FL dealer in Delray Beach knew exactly what the fix was and said the had 2 i7's and another i5 in for same fix (weeks prev) my car was completed in one day and car was returned Even sent me pics sent of battery lowered ( I had posted those pics on this site)
Dealer did say he needed to order parts, took about a 1 week. I kept my car until parts arrived.

[SkykingUSA]

I agree with all of the following.

Originally Posted by AiredaleDad

They are probably not lying to you. It's entirely possible they are telling you the truth. The car on that rack might be in a state of disassembly that prevents it from being moved until it is done. However, they should have informed you of this when you came to turn in your car. Then they should have given you the option to have them contact you when the rack was coming open to bring your car in. But they would likely rather have the car there, so as soon as it is freed up they can move onto your car without waiting for you to schedule to bring it in at YOUR convenience. The whole time, they could be working on another car but now have to keep that rack free waiting for you.

I say you should be patient. You do not want to make an enemy of the service dept because they are not stopping work on another car so they can get to yours first. You are not put out as you have a service loaner for the duration until your car is ready. It might not be as nice as yours, but it could be worse. They could put you in a rental Camry waiting for your Bimmer back.

Originally Posted by scas12

I would say start with a conversation about the expected time till they get to your car and see if that's acceptable to you. If not, propose that they notify you a few days before the slot will be available and agree to bring it back in. I've found the best service with all dealerships is when you talk to people like people and work to a mutual benefit.

[Bklyn]

I wish it was my car . In NY Lemon Law is 30 days out of service. I wouldn't hesitate to file. They are not your friends. Its business. I say F them.

[Scrapula]

Originally Posted by RichardInCA

I agree with this, it could also be worth asking if there’s another dealer within reasonable distance that might have a battery rack that is open and could expedite the situation.

I was going to say the same thing. I have 4 BMW dealers in the greater Seattle area. Check and see if another dealer can accommodate you.

[Theophilus]

By way of update, the last time I reached out to BMW of Buena Park was Saturday, four days ago. Since then, no one has contacted me with any update on my car.