dealer charging me $2500 for clutch

[Emirates M5]

since i bought my 2006 M5 in late 2005..i was facing many failures and problems which are mostly related to the SMG,i had my clutch changed when my M5 covered only 13000 km and the gearbox at 20000 km,they were both fixed under warranty,and to be honest i did use launch control most of the time .Now my car has covered 30000 km and the clutch is worn again,and i did have some problems on the car before the clutch problem,the M5 was taken to the dealer on a recovery car,it seems that the gear could not engage,anyway i was really dissappionted with the quality of my car and the service from the dealer.The same day i browsed through the BMW website and wrote a complaint on both the car quality and the dealer service.On the first working day i recieved a call from the service advisor asking about the problem,and then told me that its clear,and the clutch will be replaced,the next day i called to see if they were finished with the car,i was surprised by the service advisor telling me about the mail sent to BMW,and told me we cannot have anything done to your car because BMW middle east needs a full report on your M5.The next day i was phoned and told that i am supposed to pay $2500 for a clutch replacement ! as BMW middle east stated that the car was driven very hard!!!!! BTW i did most of the luanch systems when the car was new (the ex gearbox and clutch)and theclutch was replaced with no questions,it made no sence for me,and i did notice that they were going to replace the clutch immediatley if there was no email from me sent to BMW. What do you think,am i supposed to have my clutch changed under warranty like most of the other M5's which i read about their clutch issues on the board,or pay the $2500 for Abu Dhabi motors (BMW dealer)..i dont think so!!
I will see what happens tomorrow and give you any updates,and if they insisted on me paying the fee,am i supposed to contact BMW HQ..?

Really pissed off with this dealership.

[Emirates M5]

This is the complaint sent to BMW middle east

[germaniuk]

Maybe you should not drive it so hard.

[MD318is]

I don't know how it works in UAE but im pretty sure here there is a limit for launches on the car before warranties for things such as the gear box, clutch etc are no longer covered. I'm not positive though. You could drive the car really hard in any other way but if your using LC a ridiculous amount then warranties will be void.

[EricM]

Originally Posted by germaniuk

Maybe you should not drive it so hard.

That is what I was thinking. If BMW found (went through your car memory to find your driving patterns) and found the car to be abused, then there is no reason for you to be mad at them for you burning up your clutch/transmition. Not trying to sound like a jerk, but you cant count on the manufacturer to replace abused parts by the owner. You even mentioned your driving habits when you bought the car and to me, it sounds like you might have been a little too hard on it when it was new, now the problems are starting to show up. And hey, if it wasn't, dont worry about, it will get replaced.

Eric

[LI-M5]

Originally Posted by EricM

That is what I was thinking. If BMW found (went through your car memory to find your driving patterns) and found the car to be abused, then there is no reason for you to be mad at them for you burning up your clutch/transmition. Not trying to sound like a jerk, but you cant count on the manufacturer to replace abused parts by the owner. You even mentioned your driving habits when you bought the car and to me, it sounds like you might have been a little too hard on it when it was new, now the problems are starting to show up. And hey, if it wasn't, dont worry about, it will get replaced. Just my opinion.

Eric

whoa eric hold on, i beat the **** out of my car and i'll admit it if something goes wrong with it you want me to foot the bill no way !! if i wanted to drive nice i'd go get a 530i.thats why i bought this beast, cause if you can't do it in this thing then what ??

[germaniuk]

Originally Posted by LI-M5

whoa eric hold on, i beat the **** out of my car and i'll admit it if something goes wrong with it you want me to foot the bill no way !! if i wanted to drive nice i'd go get a 530i.thats why i bought this beast, cause if you can't do it in this thing then what ??

What else do you beat

[EricM]

Originally Posted by LI-M5

whoa eric hold on, i beat the **** out of my car and i'll admit it if something goes wrong with it you want me to foot the bill no way !! if i wanted to drive nice i'd go get a 530i.thats why i bought this beast, cause if you can't do it in this thing then what ??

I didn't imply that if you play hard and something goes wrong, you should foot the bill. This car is made to be driven differently than a 530. I drive my car hard at times as well, BUT, if you are abusing the car, ie. too many launches w/ launch control, then i thnk that is owner abuse and the manufacturer shouldn't always be resonsable. Would you hold the manufacturer responsable for a clutch replacement if you are "riding" the clutch all the time, (in a manual that is)? No. Not the cars fault the cluch is partially engaged all the time. I know we are talking about SMG, but that is what launch control does, partially holds in/out the clutch and it is bound to burn up and wear out prematurely. But only BMW can determine what premature is though.

E

[DerRudy]

Comon guys!

ITS A M5! They should be build to be driven hard!
Everybody on this board seems have sympathy for the ridiculous amount of troubles this car has (with many examples of failures mentioned on this board). It is simply not build very good!

It's not just the clutch replacement what this owner is talking about, he has had way more problems, one of them caused that his car was in the workshop for a month!

In term of reliability i am glad that i picked a 535D ($ 122K here) over the M5..... I would be afraid to take my family on a trip in the m5.

[EricM]

I have had my car for 11,000 miles and no problems here. Yes there are problems with some M5's (some more than others), but its like beating a dead horse complaining about the problems. New cars have new problems. They will get worked out.

[NB]

I wonder if you would have been asked to pay if you had not sent the letter...

I bet they would have just put in a warrantee claim to BMW and got them to foot the bill.

I think the timing of your complaint may be the issue...

[Jster]

The U.S. New Vehicle Limited Warranty initially excludes items that need replacement due to normal wear and tear such as...clutch disc, pressure plate...subject to wear and tear or deterioration due to driving habits or conditions....(Do you know what in the SMG failed? No and the dealer doesn't know either unless it does a full tear down diagnostic.)

But then the U.S. Full Maintenance Program says items that need replacement due to normal wear and tear and that are not covered by the New Vehicle Limited Warranty are covered provided wear and tear exceeds BMW wear limits. Excluded are items that due to driving habits.

(Your warranty may be different.)

So the argument turns on whether a performance vehicle which includes multiple performance driving modes and launch control and is advertised to have these features as a key ingredient of the product and are what makes this vehicle an M5 yet has no parameters around or warning regarding use of these performance features can have an SMG exclusion due to driving habits that first, exceed BMW wear limits (which are never specified) and second, are due to driving habits (which by their very nature must exceed habits from normal wear and tear for a peformance vehicle).

At the end of the day, unless you threaten and perhaps are willing to use legal action the dealer can attempt to exclude what it wants and make you and your wallet be the bad guy.