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My friends just bought his 1st Beemer a 2001 E39 some 2 months ago. Mileage reading was 89,000kms Problems started to develop after 3 weeks of ownership. Car was idling poorly. (He should have read anxious thread on buying an E36 325i) So he sent the car to a highly reputable BMW specialist in KL. These are the sequence of events at the BMW specialist1. Ask to change plugs - owner said ok (Problem still there)2. Changed ignition coil - owner said ok next (Pro0blem still there)3. ECU problem. Owner said change and they ordered new one costing RM6K+ next (Problem still there)4. Change cylinder head (2nd hand) RM5.5K Workshop told him got hairline crack due to previous overheating. Total bill paid RM19K. Car seem running ok but after 2 weeks the problem came back again. Towed back to the same workshop and this is what happen 1. Workshop now says it's the cylinder block that is warpped and dismantle the whole engine2. After 2 days they showed him a cracked piston3. Fearing of being ripped off he called for my help.4. They now want to charge him for overhaul cost, new piston & piston rings cost minus the top overhaul cost & head gasket Upon closer inspection I noticed that there were already markings on the crank shaft bearings meaning that a previous overhaul had already been done. Upon measuring the piston then the workshop then realised that the pistons were oversized. Now their advise is to get a new piston & new rings. But I told him no to as he could end up with another problem as the other pistons could also give him problem and there will be no end. So they told him to get a second hand block since he already got a second hand cylinder head. I told him no again, because we will not know the condition of the block and besides he will have to pay for head gaskets and bla, bla, bla. To be on the safe side my advise to the owner is to get a 2nd hand engine kosong with warranty. Then sell off cyclinder head that the workshop installed for him. He is proceeding with my recommendation and he has already bought a 2nd hand engine to be installed very soon. However he does not trust the workshop anymore simply because they did not resolve his problem after spending so much money. He doubt very much if indeed he had any problem with his ignition coil, ECU and cylinder head in the first place now that they have discovered that the problem was withone of the piston. This morning he went to the workshop with a tow truck and have since towed the car to another workshop. Obviously the BMW specialist is not too happy and wanted to charged him for work done on openning up the entire engine. Anyway my friend told them to fly kite. Upon further diagnosis we found that the mileage had been tempered. System shows that the actual mileage is 260+ kms. My friend is asking me if he has any recourse against; 1. The dealer for deceiving him on the actual mileage of the car thus misleading him towards making a decision to buy the car in the first place. 2. The Specialist BMW workshop for not being able to diagnose the problem properly thus making him spend / replace the ECU and cylinder head. They probably used a standard cylinder head gasket in the 1st top overhaul instead of oversize head gasket since his pistons were oversized. I know some of our members are experts in such tribunal matters and therefore seek your expertise opinions on how to go about making a claim against the two parties. Thanks in advance.
