530d 2004 - my ultimate driving pleasure or my ultimate driving headache?

[shamkasio]

Friday 4pm - Collected the car from used car dealerSat 2am - Car breakdown. Loss of power. Pulled over. Restart, cranking sound only, engine did not really start, excessive white smoke came out from the exhaust. Disconnect battery, restart, not successful. Left the car by the roadside for 1 hour, restart, engine run but excessive white smoke still there. Towed to AB Glenmarie.Sat 9am - Called AB. Put on hold for hours. Visit AB, spoke with chief mechanic and was informed they do not do breakdown case on Saturday. In any case he can only Mon 12pm -Visit AB again, waited for approx 30 min. Informed by Head of Customer Service Dept that they would start after lunch and promised to keep me updated.Mon evening - Called AB, managed to speak with the senior customer service personnel and was informed diagnostic test is in progress.Tues - After numerous calls to AB and put on hold for hours, managed to speak with the same senior CSO. Was informed diagnostic check still in progress and passed me to the CSO in-charge. Still no idea what's the problem. Assured that he will call me as soon as the QUOTATION is ready despite me asking AB to inform me what is the real problem before giving me any QUOTATION..Wed morning - after numerous calls and on-holds again, manage to speak with the SCSO at about 12.30pm. Passed the call to the CSO in-charge. CSO informed technician working on the car went out for lunch and will call me back right after lunch.Wed after lunch - Call and call and call AB. Manage to speak with the SCSO. Blame went to the CSO in-charge for not keeping his word. Asked the SCSO to email me the status as I was already at the plane doorstep for oversea trip. Response: Yes sir will do that soonest possible.Wed night - Keep checking email. Still no news.Thursday 7.36am - Email from AB came in. HELP! HELP! HELP!, I am getting heart attack!! "Dear Sham, Quotation for XXX1234" (RM) Item Description Qty Price Amount 1 12237786869 Glow Plug. 6, RM115.55 RM693.30 2 13518511826 Light presure pump. 1 RM6,148.94 RM6,148.94 3 13328512369 Fule filter. 1 RM1,080.69 RM1,080.69 4 61312298829 Rmfd Strg.Column Switch Cluster. 1 RM2,195.17 RM2,195.17 5 61218381768 Battery 90amp. 1 RM1,327.48 RM1,327.48 6 11130149327 Oil Sump Gasket. 1 RM161.51 RM161.51 7 11147787262 Flywbeel Oil Seal. 1 RM362.93 RM362.93 8 34116794916 Brake Pad Front. 1 RM797.01 RM797.01 9 34356789492 Sensor Front. 1 RM132.72 RM132.72 10 34216761044 Brake Pad Rear. 1 RM622.79 RM622.79 11 34356789493 Sensor Rear. 1 RM139.37 RM139.37 Total (Above is an estimate only, additional parts maybe required) Subtotal Parts RM13,661.91 Subtotal Labour RM4,770.00 (incl ser tax) Grand Total RM18,431.91 Thursday 9am - Replied AB's email. Salient points:1. Glow plugs and Battery were changed by the same workshop 7k km ago.2. Diesel filter was changed less than 7k km ago by diff workshop.3. Steering warning light appeared only after the battery was disconnected when the car broke-down4. Checked with realoem - no such part at Light Pressure Pump. Part number is for High Pressure Pump.5. The car had been inspected and checked at AB before I decided to buy it. (My wife like it because it is a special edition with F1 drivers signature on the dashboard). No major problem was detected when checked by AB.Your comments, especially those can help me reverse my heart attack are most welcome.regardsShamkasio

 

[aoch88]

Shamkasio, thanks for sharing your experiences but here's my take on your issue:

1. You are buying a car which is 8 years old and as we all know, everything has a life span so no matter how reliable a part is, eventually it will fail. When we buy a car which is more than 5 years old, it would most like require repairs/replacement unless the previous owner takes very good care of it. Even if the owner did, there would still be failing parts eventually so people should not expect such an old car to be free of repairs and perfect condition.

2. If you go back to AB, it will certainly cost you a bomb. Since this is a used car and it is so old, why not you send it to a BMW specialist? Bear in mind that anything that AB can do, the BMW specialist can do as well. The only difference is that you're doing it in AB where they jack up the price almost 2.5 - 3 folds. If the grand total is RM18.4K like what AB quoted you, I am pretty sure you can get it done around RM10K. If you need a reliable mechanic to help you with it, please PM me and I can share mine with you.

3. "The car had been inspected and checked at AB before I decided to buy it." - I believe AB merely plugged in the OBD and check if there are any errors. Honestly, there's no way to tell when a part would fail. If the part is about to fail, it also will not give an error. You only know when it totally fails and it throws the error. Electronic parts can be diagnosed but mechanical parts in the car are not possible. For example, you can't tell if the oil seals are worn off, lower arms are cracked, etc from the OBD. Therefore I believe the inspection by AB does not include opening up the engine and checking for mechanical parts failure. Another possibility is that the dealer has swapped the parts before handing the car over to you (I am not sure but just a suggestion). Unless it is proven, it will not be fair to blame the car dealer for now.

My 2 cents

 

[hakim_radzuan]

Quite expensive bro. I think you should have second opinion from others bmw specialist.

 

[msyizz]

Well bro.. Sorry for u laa... I think u kena main laa.. AB relly does quote high price.. And labour charge in RM 4000? aiyo.. Sometimes persatuaan pengguna must check all this so called BMW center... Sell car pandai... Makan duit orang pon pandai..

 

[aoch88]

Well bro.. Sorry for u laa... I think u kena main laa.. AB relly does quote high price.. And labour charge in RM 4000? aiyo.. Sometimes persatuaan pengguna must check all this so called BMW center... Sell car pandai... Makan duit orang pon pandai..

Actually all authorized service center charges crazy prices. Honda service center charges around RM100 labour for oil change

 

[msyizz]

Actually all authorized service center charges crazy prices. Honda service center charges around RM100 labour for oil change

Agree.... But ridiculous la the price... Thank god my ride had no issue at all... I think the previous owner pon dah hantam kereta tu so badly and already had the issue so sold it? If the owner one of BMWCLUB forumer sure barang baik punya... Rite guys? Hehe

 

[seewai]

The amount of time they took to diagnose and amount of labour charges are jaw-dropping!

"5. The car had been inspected and checked at AB before I decided to buy it. (My wife like it because it is a special edition with F1 drivers signature on the dashboard). No major problem was detected when checked by AB."

It could have been better to get a bmw specialist to do the diagnose + visual verification + handtouch verification instead.

 

[badrul880]

Sham,

Looking at the parts, all of it could not be related to the failure. Its just what the diagnostic computer is showing. You mentioned excessive white smoke. I could be wrong but this could be the turbo bearing failure and engine oil gets into the combustion chamber. Also mentioned is the glow plug failure, this could be ther reason why the car can't be started as there is no combustion or not enough heat for combustion but later it can be started. So its an intermittent problem.
My 2 sen advise is to go to a BMW Specialist and treat the problem 1 by 1. I think its the turbo bearing failure as oil has entered the combustion chamber and could clog the glow plug and once you get combustion the oil is also being burnt with the diesel and therefore the excessive white smoke. Maybe you need a turbo rebuild and to clean the glow plugs.
Whats your mileage now?

 

[ssmann]

Wow...bro...sorry to hear this la bro. Why dont u take your car out of AB and send to either WP Auto (Albert) in Pandan Indah or BG Federal Highway. I am sure the work can be done for lesser than 1/2 what is quoted. They both know the 530d very well....even Anand drives one, so should be able to deal with all this easily.

All the best la bro.

 

[shiva73]

OMG ,, thats is a day light robbery.

 

[dzuljazz2001]

Salam Hj. Sorry for the very late response ...just came across this thread.

My take is the same as badrul as your car has only excessive smoke problem. The "temprorary" breakdown is basically the car going into its shutdown mode to protect the engine from further damage if any. Nevertheless, the diagnose given by AB does not necassarily mean all those in mention needs to be changed.

Remember when I told you "lets go for a drink, come back later and I will assure you your car will be able to "fire"? ... It did start, rite. The only set back was the excessive smoke from the tail pipe. White smoke all the way :frown:

Usually a turbo leak from a diesel engine would hv a mixture of a bit of black smoke and white smoke.

If in Kuantan or Melaka, I know places that can do this things and like sssman mention, yes, Anand can certainly deal with these very easily too.

I will get more info and revert the soonest bro Hj.

 

[ICEMAN 68]

wondering if you've bought a lemon ...ummm just a few days of owning and breakdown bills totalling to almost 20K ...surely get stroke or heartattack bro ...

hope you can get it rectified with ASAP ... few had mentioned the outside pro's and hope they can solve it for you soon ...

 

[shamkasio]

Thanks all for the very constructive and spirit-lifting inputs. If AB is not taking my last email to them seriously, I will definitely take the car out of their workshop and take it to other workshop. In the mean time I am taking the mechanics in AB to task with my queries. The last message I got from the senior Customer Service Officer was "My manager and also xxx (the officer in-charge) is working on it together with technical team...". I guess now they start to take me seriously.

While I am away, I guess thats nothing much I could do other than wait for their next response.

I know some of the parts mentioned in their quotation need to be changed. What I am not happy about is the time they take to come up with that RM18k quotation and they did not bother to check with the history of the car of which was fully maintained by them. Really cant see the logic of quoting me to change the battery while they were the ones who changed the battery last Sept.

I am actually preparing myself to take this issue as high as the CEO of Sime Darby, unless the technical expert @ AB really pull their socks.

Wish me luck friends.. The real action will start on Saturday when I am back in town!

 

[badrul880]

Sham since the car is still fresh from your hands, the dealer also should take the rep on what just happened. If they brush it off, I suggest you take it to the tribunal. If possible also call your bank and stop the payment to the dealer if the bank has not paid the dealer yet (if you buy the car with loan). I know this can be done as 3 days after taking my car from a dealer, the bank called me and ask if everything is ok and they will make the payment to the bank...

 

[creed]

Sincerely felt sorry to hear what you're going through...I'd say talk to the dealer as it happened like within a day after you collected your car. Hope things turn up well for you

 

[erica34]

Loss of power and excessive white smoke from exhaust. 3 days to perform diagnosis and quotation includes changing Strg Column Switch Cluster, Brake Pad Front and sensor, Brake Pad Rear and sensor; all this at almost rm4k parts excluding labour. How on earth can these cause loss of power or white smoke from exhaust? either they're idiots or they think we're idiots.

A friend bought an approved used bmw from AiyaBuyliao with comprehensive how many point checks. Car was problematic, quoted a ton to fix, basically same excrement. When buying car ok, when u need service or getting car fixed get ready for a ton of A1 cowcrap at world class pricing.

Joints like this gives authorised bmw dealers a bad name and the impression of bmw being ultimate driving headache.

 

[BlackCat]

I feel your pain bro.....

Lots of good advice from our fellow forumers and knowing you, this will be water under the bridge soon.

Safe travels and see you soon.

 

[dzuljazz2001]

points to remember Hj., any parts changed will have 2 yrs warranty on it ... irregaradless of mileage. Make sure the changed parts are not a warrantied parts .... thts foc Hj.

...

Thanks all for the very constructive and spirit-lifting inputs. If AB is not taking my last email to them seriously, I will definitely take the car out of their workshop and take it to other workshop. In the mean time I am taking the mechanics in AB to task with my queries. The last message I got from the senior Customer Service Officer was "My manager and also xxx (the officer in-charge) is working on it together with technical team...". I guess now they start to take me seriously.

While I am away, I guess thats nothing much I could do other than wait for their next response.

I know some of the parts mentioned in their quotation need to be changed. What I am not happy about is the time they take to come up with that RM18k quotation and they did not bother to check with the history of the car of which was fully maintained by them. Really cant see the logic of quoting me to change the battery while they were the ones who changed the battery last Sept.

I am actually preparing myself to take this issue as high as the CEO of Sime Darby, unless the technical expert @ AB really pull their socks.

Wish me luck friends.. The real action will start on Saturday when I am back in town!

 

[msyizz]

If u at melaka i can recommend my family fav foreman to look for it..

 

[namidub]

Sorry to hear about that Bro sham,do keep us updated with the rectification.2nd opinion from BMW specialists outside will sound more reasonable i guess..