As many of you know, I have been having increasing problems with my car and with BMW-GB's failure to properly address any of my technical concerns.
I recently came to point where I said "let's give it one more chance - surely nothing more can go wrong" - how very mistaken I was!
Following on from my thread last week,
http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=68439&highlight=Holland
...we left for Holland on Friday morning and boarded the Stena Discovery at Harwich. Upon arrival at Hoek Van Holland I turn the key and get... nothing! Then "Bling - transmission fault". I don't friggin believe it! Just a day after getting the car back with a new clutch sensor the thing is buggered again.
We get towed off the boat and have to wait at the dockside. With the wife & kids getting steadily colder in the back seat, the BMW service guy arrives after one & a half hours later only to tell me what I already know - it has to be towed to the dealer:
Here he is trying to see if disconnecting the battery will solve things (no it won't!):
A very sad and common sight these days - my car on the back of a truck:
When we get to the dealer an hour later there's no replacement car (as promised) and we have to ride another hour to get a Skoda hire car from the trucking company. Whilst at the dealer, however, I was interested to see that an M6 was also in for service with "transmission problems":
Finally, five hours after reaching Holland we're on our way and get to our friend's house in Oldenzaal just before bedtime. Thanks BMW!
Of course, being Holland, nothing happens on the weekend so the dealer checks the car out on Monday morning and says that the car is "not recognising when the clutch is engaged so it defaults into failsafe and the car is not driveable". They say they can fix it 'temporarily' and that it may take up to two weeks for a full repair. By this point I've lost all confidence in the vehicle and insist that they keep it and repatriate me and my family by air. "No!", insist BMW customer assistance, "if the vehicle is driveable you must drive it home". Despite my pleas they insist I collect the car and drive it. I tell them that it's too late to catch Monday's ferry so they agree to pay for a night's stay for my family in Rotterdam.
After an extra unwanted day of holiday, we pick up the car this morning and all seems fine. Fill her up with fuel and luggage, onto the ferry and things are looking good.
Then this evening, upon arrival at Harwich....you guessed it "Bling - Transmission Failure!" followed by all sorts of weird messages on the dash like this:
For God's sake, it's pissing with rain, the kids are tired and now this!!
Nothing for it but to get towed passed an amused bunch of customs staff and wait an hour in the cold to get towed home.
Here we go again....
So here I sit and it's past midnight. They've promised to send a truck tomorrow morning (yet another one) to take the car to the dealer to be fixed (yet again!) and give me another rental car (mmmm... which piece of sh*t this time?? let's guess..).
To put it mildly I am extremely pissed off with BMW. They should have fixed the car correctly in the first place. Playing "break down and wait for the tow truck" is not my idea of a fun family weekend. Then to insist that I drive a faulty car.... I'm livid! Heads are going to roll for this...... grrrrrrr
I recently came to point where I said "let's give it one more chance - surely nothing more can go wrong" - how very mistaken I was!
Following on from my thread last week,
http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=68439&highlight=Holland
...we left for Holland on Friday morning and boarded the Stena Discovery at Harwich. Upon arrival at Hoek Van Holland I turn the key and get... nothing! Then "Bling - transmission fault". I don't friggin believe it! Just a day after getting the car back with a new clutch sensor the thing is buggered again.
We get towed off the boat and have to wait at the dockside. With the wife & kids getting steadily colder in the back seat, the BMW service guy arrives after one & a half hours later only to tell me what I already know - it has to be towed to the dealer:
Here he is trying to see if disconnecting the battery will solve things (no it won't!):
A very sad and common sight these days - my car on the back of a truck:
When we get to the dealer an hour later there's no replacement car (as promised) and we have to ride another hour to get a Skoda hire car from the trucking company. Whilst at the dealer, however, I was interested to see that an M6 was also in for service with "transmission problems":
Finally, five hours after reaching Holland we're on our way and get to our friend's house in Oldenzaal just before bedtime. Thanks BMW!
Of course, being Holland, nothing happens on the weekend so the dealer checks the car out on Monday morning and says that the car is "not recognising when the clutch is engaged so it defaults into failsafe and the car is not driveable". They say they can fix it 'temporarily' and that it may take up to two weeks for a full repair. By this point I've lost all confidence in the vehicle and insist that they keep it and repatriate me and my family by air. "No!", insist BMW customer assistance, "if the vehicle is driveable you must drive it home". Despite my pleas they insist I collect the car and drive it. I tell them that it's too late to catch Monday's ferry so they agree to pay for a night's stay for my family in Rotterdam.
After an extra unwanted day of holiday, we pick up the car this morning and all seems fine. Fill her up with fuel and luggage, onto the ferry and things are looking good.
Then this evening, upon arrival at Harwich....you guessed it "Bling - Transmission Failure!" followed by all sorts of weird messages on the dash like this:
For God's sake, it's pissing with rain, the kids are tired and now this!!
Nothing for it but to get towed passed an amused bunch of customs staff and wait an hour in the cold to get towed home.
Here we go again....
So here I sit and it's past midnight. They've promised to send a truck tomorrow morning (yet another one) to take the car to the dealer to be fixed (yet again!) and give me another rental car (mmmm... which piece of sh*t this time?? let's guess..).
To put it mildly I am extremely pissed off with BMW. They should have fixed the car correctly in the first place. Playing "break down and wait for the tow truck" is not my idea of a fun family weekend. Then to insist that I drive a faulty car.... I'm livid! Heads are going to roll for this...... grrrrrrr